“Do you want to talk about it?” I say.
“Um…” She pulls back further and fixes her face again with that frozen, impassive look I’ve learned means she’s about to shut me out. “I really do have to go inside,” she says. “My mom could come out and see us.”
“Can I have your phone number and address?” I hand her my phone. “Type them in for me, please?”
She hesitates. Her instant of pause is subtle, but I see it clear as day.
In hindsight, I wish I’d realized what that hesitation meant. In the moment, I think she’s scared I’ll blow her off. So, I try to reassure her.
“I’ll call you,” I promise. “As soon as we get home to Montana. I won’t bug you, though, so I’ll wait to reach out. Sound good?”
She looks up at me, the saddest smile on her face. “Sounds perfect. Like a dream.”
She types quickly into my phone and then hands it back to me. I glance down.
“Sparky?”
“That’s what you call me, right?”
Her emerald eyes are shining with emotion. I lean in and kiss her one more time, and then she turns and runs to her trailer. I wait until she’s safely inside before I walk slowly back to my motor coach.
I’m smiling as I unlock the door and step inside. Even the sound of Dad’s intermittent coughing can’t stop me from feeling optimistic.
I just met the girl for me.
My dad will get better, I’ll go to college and get drafted, and Skylar Rosewood and I will end up together. Sure, we’re still in high school and live across the country from each other.
But I believe we’ll get there somehow. Tonight, right now, as I hear my Dad’s coughing, I have to believe it. It’s a bright moment in the dark night, and I’ll hold onto it for all it’s worth.
Chapter Twenty
Skylar
“You did the right thing,” Mom assures all of us the next morning as we drive out of the campground just before dawn.
Ben, Nick, and I have been talking about how awkward it was when kids asked us for our contact information. Both my brothers ended up giving out fake numbers too, and we all feel like shit about it. Mom feels so badly she insists on driving the first part of the way. Ben and Nick try to assuage her, saying they’re getting used to walking away from people without a goodbye.
They both had best friends back in our first home in Indiana, not to mention their football teammates. I didn’t have any close friends, and I feel for them. But both my brothers were single, and the night I spent with Colton is weighing heavily on me.
I miss him already. And the fact that I’ll never see him again? That’s enough to start the tears.
“Hey, don’t cry.” Ben pats my back awkwardly. “We’re all together, right? And we’re safe. Those are the two most important things.”
I stop my tears and nod at him. “You’re right. We’re so lucky. And I’m grateful.”
I may not be getting everything that I want, but Ben is right—I’m alive and unharmed, and my father isn’t going to catch us again.
As for Colton, I send up a quick prayer for him and his family. I hope everything works out for him.
Epilogue
Two Months Later
Colton
As the casket disappears into the ground, my innocence goes with it.
My hero is dead and gone, and now I’m the man of the house. I have to be strong for my mom. I can’t cry in front of her. Or anyone here.
