Page 122 of Perfectly Complicated
“And ruin their Christmas?” he asks, his eyes flying wide.
“Or, I don’t know…how about you tell them truth?” Miles says with an innocent shrug.
“The truth? What a revolutionary concept,” Leo deadpans. “Next you’ll suggest he should actually talk to Scarlett like an adult.”
Brendan holds up his hands in surrender. “Listen, I’m not going to ruin their Christmas, so I’ll make up some excuse, then drop a big announcement that’s going to make them so happy.”
“What big announcement?” Tate asks.
Brendan pauses. “You didn’t get the email?”
“It’s Christmas,” Tate reminds him. “No one is checking email.”
“I checked my email this morning!” Miles says.
“Okay, no one except rookies,” Tate clarifies.
“Guess who just got hired as assistant coach?” Brendan says.
“What?” Brax yells. “You’re the new AC? Congratulations, man!”
“Yep,” he says, smiling for the first time since the video call started. “Now I just need to prove that Uncle Marco isn’t the reason I got the job.”
“You will,” Brax says. “Guess we have two things to celebrate when we’re all back together.”
“Two things?” I ask. “What’s the other one?”
“It’s part of the reason we called,” Brendan says. “Mr. Marco couldn’t reach you to tell you himself, so he asked us to pass it along. You won the volunteer challenge.”
My stomach drops. “I won?”
“You get the bonus, and the organization gets the matching donation,” Brax adds.
“Wait…” I can barely process this. “The school gets twenty thousand dollars?”
“Yep.” Brax grins.
Janie’s hands fly to her mouth, her eyes going wide. “Twenty thousand?” She practically shouts in my ear, “Oh my gosh, Rourke! Do you know what this means?”
She grabs me by the shoulders, having totally forgotten we’re still on camera. “We can hire an assistant director for the pageant! Or buy new costumes for every kid! Or put it toward next year’s set!” She stops, pressing a palm over her eyes now. “I can’t believe this. The kids are going to be thrilled!”
“But why me?” I ask, still stunned.
“Word got back to Mr. Marco how much you hated this time of year,” Brendan explains. “He didn’t come to the pageant, but he got dozens of emails about it. Said he knew it took a lot for you to fulfill your hours, and then you kept going beyond what was required.”
Janie reaches over and squeezes my hand. “You earned this,” she says softly. “You changed so many kids’ lives this year.”
“It was nothing, really.” I shake my head. “If Janie hadn’t been so committed, I’m not sure I could’ve seen this through.”
For a few minutes, the conversation drifts to everyone’s Christmas plans—who’s going where, what they’re having for dinner, the usual holiday chaos.
Then Brax’s tone shifts. “One more thing, Rourke.” Brax moves closer to the phone. “Don’t disappear like that again without telling us where you’re going. We’re your family too. And what you did—running off like that—was crazy stupid.”
“Thanks, guys,” I say, trying to appear normal, even though my throat feels tight. “I’ve never had a family that cares about my crazy stupid stuff before.”
“And now you won’t be able to get rid of us,” Brax jokes.
“All right, enough mushy stuff,” Leo announces. “Go eat your breakfast and do whatever disgustingly cute couple things you’re planning to do now that you found each other.”
