Page 128 of Bleacher Report
“She’s been missing salon days. Her best friend Bonnie’s been calling me, worried. Carly’s tired all the time, dropping weight, and brushing it all off like it’s nothing.”
The air turns colder. Heavier.
“Oh my god. This is going to destroy Hunter.”
Bethany nods, just once. “Yeah. Which is why he has to come home. Carly won’t ask him to. She’s too proud—too independent. She lives for Hunter, and she’d never ask him to give up his dreams for her. But if he doesn’t move home, she won’t get the treatment. And you know that.”
I blink at her. “So, what—you want me to tell him to take the trade?”
“No,” she says, lips curving. “I want you to take yourself out of the equation.”
“What?”
“He won’t leave you behind. You know that. He’d give up the Hawkeyes. But you? That’s trickier. He’ll hesitate. He’ll weigh you against his mother. And that delay could cost Carly everything. So do the right thing. Let him go.”
I stare at her, heart pounding.
Bethany leans in. “End it. Tell him you’ve changed your mind. That you don’t want this anymore. That Seattle’s where you belong. And let him belong here. I’ll make him happy…eventually he’ll see it.”
The idea of letting him go eats at me, but the thought of Carly not getting treatment and him losing her? That’s something I can’t allow to happen.
She tucks the envelopes back in her purse, like it’s settled.
“What are you going to do with those?”
“I’m going to confront Carly later. Demand she tell Hunter. But until she does? You’re the only one who can save her.”
She walks out, leaving the door wide open behind her.
So many ideas swirl in my head. Did Bethany make those up? Are they even real? But there’s a part of me that does believe that Bethany cares for Carly, and she seems genuinely concerned.
I have no idea what to do, but I do know that I need to talk to Hunter about all of this. If Carly is sick, he needs to know, andmaybe the trade is the right thing to do. But does that mean I have to let him go?
Maybe there’s another path forward, but I won’t know unless I talk to him.
And maybe, just maybe, Bethany is blowing all of this out of proportion just to get Carly and Hunter to herself.
Hunter
Seeing Bethany at the door earlier almost had me slamming the door in her face. If my mother hadn’t heard Beth’s voice, I would have.
I try to shake the fact that she’s still in my mother’s house, putting a damper on my first Christmas with Peyton and my mother together. But with Peyton and I leaving tonight so I can be fresh for practice in two days, I need to stay present, since I’m not sure when I’ll be back. Christmas music plays softly in the background, something old-school and jazzy, and for a moment, everything feels…steady.
I glance down the hallway and hear the bathroom sink shut off.
Peyton will be back in the room in a few seconds.
Everything feels more anchored when she’s near.
I push off the counter. “Need help with the plates, Ma?”
She doesn’t answer.
The sound of footsteps is near but when I look at the kitchen opening, it’s just Bethany, beaming over at me as she comes into the kitchen.
“Ma?” I ask as I turn toward her.
Still nothing.
