“Find Cassidy?”
“Yeah, the story ofthatsummer. Besides you.” He shoved his empty mug aside and leaned over the table. “I wanted to be there, believe me, especially if I’d known ...”
20
CALEB
Then . . .
“Caleb, can you work the evening session?” Mr. Caster caught him on break in the concession area. “Brandon called in sick again. I’m going to have to let him go.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Mr. Caster patted his shoulder. “One day maybe you’ll run this place.”
Caleb doubted it. College couldn’t come soon enough for him. Last night, Cassidy had announced she wasnotgoing to college and, in fact, was dropping out of high school.
“Not finish your senior year? Not graduate?”Mom looked like a cartoon character whose eyes and teeth bugged out of its head.
“You heard me.”Cassidy slammed out of house. Never came back.
Caleb hid in his room, blasting Dave Matthews Band, wishing he’d stayed with guitar lessons, but football was more fun.
As the lights of the rink came up, indicating the end of the early evening session, Caleb wolfed down the last of his sandwich and drained a bottle of whole milk.
In the boot room, he organized and disinfected the used skates, checking the wheels and trucks for safety.
He volunteered for the ticket booth at the start of the next session, half hoping to see Emery. Since the night her father sent him home, he’d not seen or heard from her. He’d texted and called, but no response. Until tonight.
Emery:
Meet me at the palm tree stand?
Caleb:
Working until 10.
Emery:
See you then.
Caleb:
You okay? Where you been? Come by the rink.
Emery:
Can’t. Stuff going on.
Caleb:
Like?
But she never answered.
The late session crowd was light. Thursdays usually were, so Caleb eased around the rink as floor guard, ignoring the flirtations of the girls stumbling past him. What did Emery mean about stuff going on? Was it her parents? Mr. Quinn seemed serious when he asked for a family-only dinner.
A little after nine, he looked up to see Dad by the boot room, waving him over. He looked drawn and sad, like he’d not slept in weeks. As Caleb skated over, Mom walked in, looking even more ragged than Dad.
