Chapter 17 Micah #3
Lots of people are glad to see the Core Four together, and Stephen, too.
He occasionally talks quietly to Audrey, who seems to be fading as the game goes on.
Toni Francesco comes up to say hi . . . Micah knows her, of course, and knows that she and Audrey are friends. Audrey looks up. “Hello,” she says.
“Hey, Core Four! Still glam as ever, I see. And hello, stranger!” Toni bends down to give Audrey a hug. “We haven’t gotten together in ages. I miss you! We should set a date.”
“I miss you, too,” Audrey says. “And we haven’t gotten together in ages. We should find some time.”
Toni tilts her head, frowning slightly. “That would be nice,” she says, glancing at Micah. “You guys have a great weekend. Nice to see you all.”
“Nice to see you, too!” Audrey says. She watches Toni leave, her eyebrows coming together. “She’s my friend,” she says. “Right?”
“Yep,” Stephen says. “I’ve met her a few times. She’s great.” Again, his arm goes around her shoulders. Not for the first time, Micah wishes she had a sibling like Stephen.
The Bobcats intercept a pass, and everyone roars with approval.
Audrey hasn’t forgotten football, it seems, because she jumps to her feet with everyone else, chanting the traditional “Claws out, Bobcats, claws out!” But when they sit back down, Audrey leans closer to Micah.
“She’s very pretty, don’t you think?” She points to Kylo, who’s sitting a few rows down and to the right, shoulder to shoulder with Everest.
Oh God. Does Audrey not recognize her stepdaughter?
Kylo must sense their eyes, because she turns and looks their way. Audrey waves. Kylo waves back, looking a little surprised. “Hey, Uncle Stephen!” she calls.
“Hey, Kylo! Hi, Everest!” Micah says, hoping the use of their names will cue Audrey in.
“Kylo,” Audrey mutters. “Who names their kid Kylo?”
She doesn’t know her. Micah meets Stephen’s eyes over Audrey’s head. Unfortunately, the girls are on their way to greet them. Micah knows from hearing Kylo talk at the bakery that she idolizes her uncle.
Kylo hugs Stephen and introduces Everest. “Are you hungry, Mathilda?” Audrey asks. Phew. “Want a hot dog?”
“My name is Kylo,” the kid growls. “Come on, Audrey.”
“Aw, give her a break,” says Beck. “We hear the name change is pretty new. She’s known you by something else for years.”
“Kylo,” Audrey says, “this is Beck Morrow, who’s, um, a . . . a film person. And . . .”
“Kylo met us all this morning, Audrey,” Micah says. “You were still asleep. Kylo, we were all besties in high school. They called us the Core Four.”
“We were mythic,” Beck says, smiling.
“A hundred percent,” Jasmine says.
“The Core Four,” Everest says admiringly. “Sick.”
“We should get back to our seats,” Kylo says. “Um . . . see you, Uncle Stephen.”
“You will,” he says. “I’m staying till Monday.”
Kylo looks at Audrey, starts to say something, then changes her mind and follows Everest down the bleachers.
“She can barely stand me,” Audrey says. Micah is getting whiplash from Audrey’s in-and-out state. It must be so hard for Stephen and Clay.
“She’ll outgrow it,” Stephen says. “Already is, I think.”
“But will I be around to see it? That’s the question. Oh, touchdown, Bobcats!” She jumps to her feet to cheer.
Logan has almost never been arrogant or snappish. Always kissed her good night. Whatever she and James did as parents, as young as they were, landed just right. Logan is the son anyone would dream of. “How on earth did you get the best kid in the world?” Eve likes to ask.
Speaking of Eve, she’s sitting in the front row, tossing her hair and talking to Ché, laughing too loudly in that I’m somebody!
way. No way in hell Eve is here to see Mom, not when she could be seen instead.
But Micah has to give it to her: Eve’s worked hard to get where she is.
There was no guarantee that Micah would’ve been a fraction as successful as her sister is.
“You and James seem good,” Beck says, offering her some fries.
“Yeah. I . . . I really learned to appreciate him,” she says.
James is on the sidelines, talking with one of his fellow members of the Bobcat Brigade, the booster club.
He sees her and waves, and she blows him a kiss, which he pretends to catch and tuck in his pocket. Her heart swells. Such a good guy.
Then she looks back at her sister, and her heart stops.
Eve is talking to Logan.
Micah’s on her feet, stumbling down the bleacher stairs, before she realizes she’s moving. “Hey!” she says. “I didn’t know you were coming home this weekend! Hi, honey!” She moves to hug him, but his face stops her cold.
“Me and my favorite nephew were just talking about how dumb these things are,” Eve says. “Reunions. You know.”
“And yet here you are,” Micah says. “At mine.”
“I ran into Ché Anderson. We’re gonna do a TikTok together about our favorite vacation spots after the game.”
Ran into. Same way a lion runs into a gazelle. “Logan, did you tell Dad you were coming?” she asks, trying not to wring her hands.
“No. It was a spontaneous trip. I wanted to talk to him about a few things,” Logan says. His eyes are on the game.
Her insides go icy with fear. “Would you like to meet my friends?” she asks, her voice higher than normal.
“The fabled Core Four,” Eve says, rolling her eyes. “You know those girls who think they own high school? That was your mom and her gang.”
“They’re right up there,” Micah says, ignoring her sister. “Please? They’d love to meet you.” She takes a chance and puts her hand on his arm. He doesn’t shrug it off, at least, or yell at her. He’s more like James than like her. Back in the day, she would’ve definitely made a scene.
Without a word, he follows her up the bleachers.
She stops when they’re out of Eve’s earshot. “Are you going to tell him?” she whispers.
His dark-brown eyes, which can be as warm and happy as hot fudge, are muddy with anger now. “I think he deserves to know, don’t you?” he says.
“No, Logan. I think he deserves not to know.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not your call, is it?” A cheer goes up around them as the Bobcats do something good.
“Just . . . think carefully about it, honey. I don’t—”
“Can I just meet your friends and be done, Ma?” he says, glancing away from her.
“Sure.” They make their way over to the others. “Guys,” she says, putting her arm around Logan automatically. He stiffens. “This is my son, Logan James Paulson. This is Beck, and Jasmine; this is Audrey and her brother, Stephen.”
“Great to meet you,” Logan says, shaking everyone’s hands.
“You’re in Boston?” Beck asks. “I lived there for a couple years.”
“Oh, yeah?” he says affably. “Which neighborhood?”
“West End.”
“I’m in the Back Bay.”
“So you’re fancy, then,” Beck says.
“Not exactly. Just got lucky.” He’s downplaying it . . . He had a fantastic job offer before he even finished his MBA, and his apartment has floor-to-ceiling windows and a fireplace. But he won’t brag, not her boy. Or rather, not James’s boy.
“And you work in finance, your mom said?” Jasmine says.
“I do,” Logan answers. “It’s not the most exciting, but it’s good for now.”
“Hey! I worked in finance,” Jasmine says. “We’re the secret geniuses of the world.”
Logan smiles again, then turns to Micah. “Will you be home later on?” he asks.
“Um . . . I was going to stay at Audrey’s,” she says, glancing at her friends. “But since you’re here, I’ll—”
“No,” he says sharply. “Stay with your friends. It’ll be nice to hang with Dad.”
Is that a threat? Her heart feels like a lump of dirty ice. “Okay. Um . . . talk to you later, honey. Maybe text me?”
He ignores that. “Have a great weekend, folks,” he says, then clumps down the stairs.
“What a cutie!” Beck says. “Nice manners, too. God, I sound old! I should’ve said, I don’t know, nice ass or something.”
“Nope. Not that,” Stephen says. “He’s a child.”
“He’s twenty-four,” Beck says, grinning at Stephen. “Well into adulthood.”
Micah watches as her son says something to Eve, then heads over to James. James’s face lights up as he wraps their son in a hug.
Don’t tell him, Logan. Please.