Chapter 39
TYLER
A week later
Iwas just leaving practice when my phone rang. I didn’t even need to look at the screen once I heard the Batman-theme ringtone. I swiped to answer, a big smile already coming to my face. “Nolan. My man.”
“Hey!”
He sounded good. Cheerful. It felt good to hear his voice again. I missed him. I missed my old team.
“It’s been a minute,” he added.
“Yeah.” I unlocked my truck and opened the door to toss my things inside. I rounded to the driver’s seat, and as I pulled out of my parking spot, the phone synced up with the dashboard. Nolan’s voice transferred to the speakers.
“—to catch up, but I was calling for a reason.”
I frowned. “Yeah, man. What’s up?”
It wasn’t that Nolan and I didn’t keep in touch.
We texted and sent each other funny memes or reels, but we’d not had a discussion of all the details going on with our lives in a while.
I’d been too busy with Skylar at first, then I was distracted by Rain, and now, well, I didn’t have a good reason.
“When’s the last time you talked to your sister?”
My gut churned. “Uh, it’s been a while. Why are you asking?”
Ski knew Nolan. When she and Zoey visited me in New York, Nolan was over all the time. He took to Skylar as if she were his sister, and Zoey was his niece.
“She’s been calling me.”
“What?”
“Yeah, buddy. I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure what to do at first. The first time she called, she cried almost the whole time.
I just listened. At the end, I told her to let you know she’d called me.
She said she would, but I never heard from you.
I know you. You would’ve reached out. I meant to shoot you a message, let you know myself, but you know how it is. Hockey.”
Games were almost every other night. Traveling. Practices. We were busy.
“Anyway, it’s been a few weeks, and she’s still calling.”
I turned in to a parking lot and swung for the closest slot. Letting the engine idle, I sat back. “Ski’s giving me the silent treatment. She got pissed when I told her Zoey should go to a mental health clinic.”
He was quiet for a beat. “Interesting. She didn’t put it in those words.”
“How’d she put it?”
“She said you thought she and Zoey should be separated. When I asked her for the specific wording, she just started crying. Again, I know you, and I was reading between the lines, but she’s not doing so well.”
I pulled up the last few texts I’d sent my sister.
Tyler: Can we talk about this?
Tyler: Please.
Tyler: I miss you. I love you and Zoey. I just want what’s best for her.
Tyler: I’m learning that maybe therapy isn’t such a bad thing.
Tyler: Can you let me know what you decided?
Tyler: Do you need anything from me?
Tyler: I came here for you and Zoey.
Tyler: What the hell, Ski?
Tyler: We’re not fourteen anymore.
That last text had been a threat. If she didn’t respond, I was going to start looking for them. I hadn’t sent it, but it was still there in the drafts.
I sighed. “She’s upset because the hospital wanted Zoey to go somewhere for treatment because of her overdose. I agreed with them, but I told her she could try to find a compromise program where she’d still be able to see Zoey. She hung up on me.”
“Huh.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask for the update.”
“Well, she was really worked up about a text you sent her. Something about if it happened again and Zoey couldn’t be found, it’d be her fault.”
“What?” That came out strangled.
“Her words, brother. Look, I know you didn’t mean it that way, but that’s how she took it. When’s the last time you guys talked?”
“Too long.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah.”
I suddenly felt the world on my shoulders again.
“I’ve been busy, but they’re the reason I came out here.
I’ll go around to her place, and if she’s not there, I’ll try tracking her down.
I shouldn’t have left it this long. If anything, I need to check in with Zoey and see how she’s faring.
I don’t think Skylar gave Zoey her phone back.
She mentioned she was going to keep it, see if that would help her. ”
Suddenly antsy, I pulled out of the parking lot and returned to the road.
“Sky said she was staying with a friend,” Nolan noted after a moment.
“And Zoey?”
“She won’t answer my questions when I ask about Zoey. I haven’t pushed because I’m scared she’ll stop talking to me.”
“I know. You don’t have to be the bad guy.”
“Listen, we play you guys next week, so I’m in town for a night, at least. I can help.
If you want to be bad cop and I’m good cop, I’ll do it.
An intervention? Whatever you need. If Zoey is getting help, I think something needs to be done for Skylar too.
The stress, her TBI—I don’t think she’s handling any of this very well.
After some of her messages, I’m concerned. I’m sorry to call you about this.”
“No. You’re family, Nolan. I’m glad she called you, and I appreciate all you’ve done. I’ve been slacking on my end. I’m sorry you were put in this position. I should’ve been more on top of this.”
He sighed. “It’s not on you. I’ve been beside you when Sky’s cut you off. I know how it goes. I’ve got two sisters of my own.”
I grinned. “Yeah, but both your sisters mother you. You’d be the one to cut them off.”
He barked out a laugh. “As if they’d let me. They’d drive down and threaten to take my balls if I pulled that on them.” He quieted. “It’s different with your situation. You know that.”
“Did she say what friend she was staying with?”
“No. She knew I’d tell you.”
I cursed. “Ski’s got a lot of friends.”
“She does, which is normally a good thing.”
“Okay. Thank you for letting me know, and I’ll start doing the rounds. Ski forgets that I used to live here too. I know her old haunts.”
“Try the hospital first. Maybe they can help you somehow?”
“Skylar doesn’t have me on any of Zoey’s paperwork. I’m on some of hers, but not for this. I’ll call and see, but I’m not holding my breath that they can help.”
“Keep me updated and loop me in when I get to town to beat your ass on the ice.”
We ended the call on a chuckle, and it was then that I realized I’d driven to Rain’s hotel.
I hadn’t even thought about where I was going.
Autopilot had brought me here, but considering the situation, I couldn’t bring myself to leave.
Rain and I hadn’t talked since the last time I was here, which had been a week ago for our hate fuck.
I didn’t know what else to call it. I would never stop hating her brothers.
And I wasn’t sure about my feelings for Rain anymore.
The time when I could’ve asked questions about her relationship with them seemed to have passed, but I knew Rain grew up here as well.
I didn’t think she’d still been at the rink when I left.
Pocketing my keys, phone, and wallet, I hopped out of my truck.
This should be fun.