Page 79 of Just One Kiss

“Now you have to tell me.”

“They interviewed the coach,” Grady said.

“Who did?”

“The newspaper, Carly. It was dumb. Not even worth reading. And I counted three typos on the same page,” Quinn said.

“Great.” Carly took out her phone and searched for theHarbor Pointe Gazette. Right there on the front page was a bold headline:Heart Condition SidelinesHarbor Pointe Ski Phenom.“This is just what he needs.”

“Don’t count him out,” Grady said. “Josh and I have both been reading about this. I think maybe your doctor is a little senile.”

She shook her head, annoyed that everyone was discussing her son’s health. Or maybe that she would soon be faced with a choice: take Dr. Roby at his word or find another doctor and say goodbye to that promotion.

The elevator ding drew their attention and Jim and Gloria Dixon strode out.

Over the years, Carly’s family had grown and changed, but her dad, Beverly and Quinn had been a constant.

A little less constant had been Josh’s side of the family.

Carly’s eyes darted to Josh, who sat in a heap across the room. He straightened at the sight of his parents, and the surprised look on his face brought back decades-old memories of the boy she’d wanted so badly to protect all those years ago.

The Dixon family sure had everyone fooled. If she hadn’t seen the cigarette burns on the bottoms of Josh’s feet or the bruises across his back, she might never have believed anything other than perfection went on in that house.

But she had seen. And she did know. And whenever Josh knocked on the back door, she walked him out to the shed and made sure he was okay.

He made her promise to never tell.

She knew now that some promises weren’t meant to be kept.

As he got older, his stays in the shed grew more frequent. He never said much about what triggered his father or even what horrors he saw at home.

He never said much of anything.

And then one night, in middle school, he showed up more spooked than usual.

Carly fetched a clean blanket and pillow from the spare room and met him in the shed. She turned on the flashlight they’d stashed in one of the buckets and Josh quickly turned away.

“Josh—”

Carly rarely asked questions. She knew better.

But he sat in a ball in the corner, shivering and trying not to cry, and one question raced through her mind—what happened to you?

Finally, he looked up, holding on to her gaze as if it was the only thing giving him life. “I couldn’t protect her.”

Carly’s skin turned cold, but she said nothing.

“It’s all my fault. Dylan. My mom. What else am I going to ruin?”

Carly stilled at the mention of his brother’s name. Josh never brought up Dylan—ever. All Carly knew was that Josh had a brother who’d died before they moved to Harbor Pointe, but the information stopped there.

“I tried. I tried to get him to come after me this time. I thought I could take him—I’ve been working out. I’ve gotten stronger.” Josh stopped trying to stifle his sobs, pulling his legs up to his chest and burying his face in his knees.

Carly knelt down beside him.

“She told me to run, and I did.” He cried softly. “I left her.”

Carly’s mind spun. She’d never known anyone in this situation before. Her home life was far from perfect, but nobody had ever struck her. Even when her father lost his temper, he wouldn’t have dreamed of doing something like this.

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