CHAPTER SIXTY
Whitney
“ S uri,” I groan as I fiddle with the blindfold.
“Stop fussing.” She puts her hands on my shoulders and steers me.
“Best friends let other best friends in on secrets. You didn’t let me in on this so does that mean you’re not my best friend?” I tease.
“Look at you thinking you’re funny.” She laughs. “You’re going to go over a step right now,” she says.
I lift my feet and follow her commands. Truth be told, the last thing I wanted to do was go somewhere tonight. I admit it. I’m one hundred percent exhausted. I lied to everyone all day today and said I wasn’t, but I am. It’s a lot to go from nothing but recovering to working a full day on your feet.
And the last thing I want to do is to go out tonight and be put on display.
Which is a lie.
The last thing I want to do tonight is face Hardy and the puppy-dog look in his eyes as I try to figure my own feelings out.
“Okay, stand right here for a second.”
“Why? You know I have trust issues.”
“Don’t I know it.” She laughs. “Humor me.”
And I do just that. I stand here, somewhere outside, if the breeze on my skin and the sound of nearby traffic is any indication, and wait for whatever big plans Hardy has for me tonight.
I hear footsteps and some giggling and tilt my head as if that’s going to help me figure out what’s going on any quicker.
It doesn’t.
Suri’s back. I can tell by the click of her heels and the scent of her perfume. “You guys ready?” she calls out.
A collective “yeah” is yelled at the same time that she undoes the bandana over my eyes.
I’m confused at first at the crowd of kids, parents, coaches, and media that surround me. I’m even more perplexed by the signage on the marquis above the store, “Prestige Goodwill.”
And that’s when I got the nickname that stuck with me through high school graduation— Goodwill .
“I don’t . . . Suri?”
She clasps my hand in hers as tears well in her eyes. “This is our gift to you.”
“What do you mean?” I glance around the crowd as everyone stares at me. I look for one particular head, which is typically taller than the rest, but don’t see him there.
“Prestige Goodwill.” She smiles through the first tear that slips down her cheek. “A place where any member of the academy can come and get whatever they need for free so they don’t go without. And where profit from anything outsiders buy goes to help fund the scholarships for those who can’t afford to pay their dues.”
My head spins for the second time today, and all of that exhaustion I felt after camp today vanishes.
Prestige Goodwill. I’m at a loss. Again .
“Suri.”
We can’t afford this.
How is this feasible?
What a freaking brilliant idea.
What a great concept to allow me to keep sponsoring kids.
“Do you want to go inside and check it out?” she asks as Martin opens the doors and the kids start filing inside.
“No. I just need a minute to take it all in. It’s ...”
“Pretty incredible, huh?”
“Everything today has been overwhelming. I don’t even know where to begin.”
“I do,” she says and her eyes lock with mine. “Everything. All of the academy’s upgrades and the store’s contribution—they were all Hardy’s ideas. He may have recruited us to help set it up in record time, but we gladly helped. If the man has this much stamina for this kind of shit, you’re one lucky woman for many more reasons.”
Her joke is funny but falls flat because I, the woman who never cries, am so overcome with emotion I taste salt on my lips.
“Where’s Hardy?” I ask and search the crowd again. Suri meets my eyes, but I swear there’s disappointment in them.
I’m not sure why though, but for the first time ever, I feel like it’s aimed at me.