“It’s okay,” he says, his voice gruff. “We’re at the hospital.”
“How’s Nana?”
“She’s doing fine. It was a mild stroke, but they’ve run a lot of tests, and the doctors think she’ll be totally fine.”
“Was it because of the chemo?”
“They’re not sure,” he says. “She’s been through a lot this year. It could’ve been anything. But we all know a measly stroke is no match for your nana. Neither are the nurses, as it turns out. I’m pretty sure she made at least one of them cry over a poker hand.”
Mae loosens her grip on the phone. “Can I talk to her?”
“She’s sleeping now, but I’ll tell her you called.”
“I should be there,” she says, which is true, truer than Pop even knows. If she hadn’t lied to them, if she hadn’t gotten it into her head that she needed an adventure, she’d still be there right now. The knowledge of this is like a weight on her chest, and she takes a jagged breath. “I should be home with all of you.”
“It’s fine, kid,” Pop says. “Really.”
But still, she’s hit by a wave of guilt so strong her legs feel a little shaky. “I could get on a plane tonight,” she says, spinning in a circle, taking in the blur of old buildings and distant mountains. “There must be tons of flights from Denver. I could make it back by—”
“Mae,” Pop says, and she stops short. “She told me you’d say that.”
“She did?”
“Yeah. I’m supposed to tell you to stop worrying and enjoy the trip.”
Mae is quiet for a moment. “Should I? Stop worrying?”
“Honestly? I’m still working on that myself. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s to do what Nana says.”
“But you’ll check in with me, right? And let me know if anything changes? I’m getting on another train in the morning, and I’ll be in San Francisco the next afternoon. But I could jump off somewhere along the way if you guys need—”
“Mae, honey, it’s okay. We’re going to take her back upstate with us tomorrow, and then she just needs to rest. We’ve got it covered here. Really.”
She bites her lip, but the knot in her chest has started to unwind. “Okay. Well, make sure to tell her I love her. And Dad too.”
“I will.”
“And you,” she says. “Obviously.”
He laughs. “I obviously love you too.”
Hugo sits at thebar of an Irish pub, watching a football match on the fuzzy television that hangs above the shelves of liquor.
“Go on,” he says as the Chelsea striker drives the ball up the pitch. It’s stolen by one of the Liverpool defenders, and he groans. “Bloody hell.”
He nearly texts George, the other big football fan in their house. But then he realizes he still hasn’t written back to the group message about housing from last night, and the reminder makes his stomach churn.
When the match is over, he asks the barman for the Wi-Fi password and finds that an email from Nigel Griffith-Jones arrived hours ago, just after they got off the train. Hugo takes a long swig of his drink before opening the message.
Dear Mr.Wilkinson,
Thank you for the note inquiring about your scholarship to the University of Surrey, but I’m afraid we cannot agree to defer it at this time. As I’m sure you know—and will see if you refer to the original agreement with the late Mr.Mitchell Kelly—this offer has always been contingent on having all six of you attend the university together. In accordance with his wishes, we’ve organised a great deal of publicity surrounding your upcoming matriculation. Because of these special circumstances, I’m sure you can understand why we must insist you all begin in the same academic year.
If there are other factors I should be aware of with regards to this request—any medical or mental health reasons, for example—please do let me know, and we can talk further. Additionally, if you’d like to consider the possibility of all of you starting in the next academic year instead of this one, that’s something we can discuss. But as it stands now, I’m afraid that if you were to refuse to comply with the terms of your scholarship, certain contractual provisions mean we’d have to reevaluate the other five as well.
Please feel free to call my office with any questions. Otherwise we’re looking forward to having you and the other members of the Surrey Six with us this autumn!
Sincerely,
