Package Deal (62 page)

“So, what do
people
do for fun
—the wholesome kind
?”

“Look around you.
You used to ski. We’re not that far from the mountains, so you
’ll
be able to
enjoy winter s
ports here. And, there’s hiking
and biking and boating. Get to know the place. Yo
u might like it.” She looked at her watch. “
I need to get home.” She stood, signaling the end of their conversation.

She was silent as
Evan
drove her home
, anxious to check in on Cece
.

Th
e
third
socc
e
r gam
e
of th
e
n
e
w s
e
ason was und
e
r
way and th
e
girls on C
e
c
e
lia’s t
e
am w
e
r
e
down by three
goals
.

“Pl
e
as
e
l
e
t m
e
in,
C
oach
,” sh
e
pl
e
ad
e
d
. “I can do it.”

“Your moth
e
r do
e
sn’t want you playing th
e
whol
e
gam
e
, C
e
c
e
lia
, and you were in
during the first half
. You h
e
ard what sh
e
said.”

C
e
c
e
lia sat on th
e
b
e
nch,
swing
ing her legs back and forth,
angry
with her mother
, not sur
e
what to say
to her coach
.
She tried again.
“But
I ran up and down th
e
fi
e
ld at
e
v
e
ry on
e
of our practic
e
s and I was fin
e
. My l
e
g’s fin
e
. Look
,
you can’t even tell which one
got
broke
!” Sh
e
stretched
h
e
r l
e
gs
in front of her
. “
They’re
just
the same.
Ask Sam. W
e’ve been practicing and she said
I could
—
I
want to play
and I’m all rested—from sitting out so long
.”

The coach looked at his watch
.
“Ok
ay
.
We’ve only got five more minutes.
Go on in.” H
e
bl
e
w his whistl
e
and signal
e
d
to th
e
r
e
f, asking for a substitution. “Miranda. Com
e
sit down. C
e
c
e
lia, you go in for h
e
r.”

Sh
e
ran out and took h
e
r position. Wh
e
n play r
e
sum
e
d
, sh
e
h
e
ad
e
d
for th
e
ball, int
e
rc
e
pt
e
d
it and mov
e
d
it down th
e
fi
e
ld
. Sam ran near her, ready to assist
.

“Go, C
e
c
e
lia!”
A deep voice
ch
ee
r
e
d
h
e
r from th
e
sid
e
lin
e
s.

Marcus’ voice.
Sh
e
look
e
d
up. Th
e
r
e
h
e
was, standing
off to the side, near the center of the field. Closer to
her team’s
goal
,
her mother was standing
n
e
xt to
the
really
tall man
who
had come to their house.
When the referee blew his whistle,
C
e
c
e
lia conc
e
ntrat
e
d
on th
e
game, approached the
ball
and kicked
it to
ward
Sam, who s
e
nt it back in h
e
r dir
e
ction, clos
e
r to th
e
sid
e
lin
e
s. Sh
e
was almost in front of h
e
r moth
e
r wh
e
n sh
e
h
e
ard Marcus’ voic
e
again. Sh
e
frown
e
d
and r
e
fus
e
d
to look
in his direction
, even though part of her
thrille
d that he was cheering for her
. She wished things were like they were before … before she’d seen him in her mother’s bed
.

Sh
e
kick
e
d
th
e
ball toward
Sam
and slow
e
d
to catch h
e
r br
e
ath,
as
her best friend
angle
d
th
e
ball into th
e
goal to ch
ee
ring
from the sidelines
. Wh
e
n sh
e
look
e
d
at h
e
r moth
e
r, sh
e
was
still
sp
e
aking to th
e
tall man
, not
paying attention to
the game
.

Marcus wav
e
d
in
h
e
r
direction
,
and began
clapping
,
his hands high in th
e
air. “Good job, C
e
c
e
lia!”

Th
e
n
e
xt tim
e
sh
e
look
e
d
, h
e
r moth
e
r was moving away from th
e
fi
e
ld, h
e
r h
e
ad down, as if conc
e
ntrating on what th
e
tall man
walking with her
was saying
. B
e
for
e
sh
e
w
e
nt into th
e
building,
her mother
look
e
d
back
in
her
direction
, but w
hy
did she
l
e
ave
when the game wasn’t
even
over
?

“Cece—
here it comes
!” Sam
yell
ed.

She
look
e
d
back in tim
e
to s
ee
th
e
ball sp
ee
d
ing
toward her
. Sh
e
int
e
rc
e
pt
e
d
,
s
e
nt it back down th
e
fi
e
ld toward th
e
goal,
and
ran after
it. Wh
e
n Sam r
e
turn
e
d
it to h
e
r,
just lik
e
th
e
y had practic
e
d
,
sh
e
kick
e
d
it hard. It sail
e
d
into th
e
air and fl
e
w just
past the outstretched fingers
of th
e
goali
e
. Anoth
e
r scor
e
!

“Way to go, C
e
c
e
lia!”
Marcus’ voice carried above the others.

Sh
e
grinn
e
d
and look
e
d
in
his
dir
e
ction. H
e
smil
e
d
at h
e
r, but
then
sh
e
reminded herself that she
did
n’t
want
to lik
e
him
anymore
. N
ot
aft
e
r t
hat
sleepover
with h
e
r moth
e
r
,
even if
Marcus
did like
h
e
r socc
e
r shots
and
it was fun
talking about
the books
she liked—the books
they had read together
, especially when she was in the hospital and after
.
Sh
e
forc
e
d
h
e
rs
e
lf to look away from him.
H
e
had
made her mother cry that day in her office
.
And now he seemed to be following her.

“Good gam
e
, girls—
time to touch hands
,” h
e
r coach said.