It’s kind of funny, and maybe I’d laugh in another situation, but my eyes are wide as I take in the aftermath I left behind. For years, I played on this tension between us, and instead of doing something, I dropped a couple excuses and took the first flight out. And maybe it would’ve made it different if I hadn’t done the next part, but I didn’t look back. Not once. Because I knew I’d screwed it up.

She picks up on my realization right away, the laughter subsiding slowly. She drums her fingers on her beer bottle, and after a long beat, she says, ‘I heard everything you said that night in Albuquerque.’

Wait. Albuquerque? When she was asleep?

Evidently, not asleep.

‘Oh. Oh.’ I scratch the back of my neck. Fuck. That wasn’t my brightest moment. My chest tightens with anticipation. I wait expectantly for something to come next, but May pushes herself to her feet with a yawn and a big gulp of her beer. ‘Probably a good time for us to start heading back. Thanks, by the way. For having us over.’

‘Yeah – um, it’s no problem at all.’ I blink a couple times. It’s not easy to recover from the fact that we had just, almost, had a pretty deep emotional discussion. We had just, almost, touched on the topic I’d been waiting to touch on since I left Prosperity, and then, with a flip of the switch, we’re back on neutral ground. I’m jealous of May’s emotional regulation, honestly.

With one more glance back at the rubble surrounding the bones of the Velasco ranch home, I stand up and, half-empty bottle in hand, head after May.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

All Tied Up

May

‘There’s no way. We can’t concede. It’s the final game.’

Maddie leans forward, a fist pressed to her desk, firm punctuation after each word. We rarely do team meetings formally like this but, after the storm, we’ve had something come up that arguably required a greater deal of discussion.

Coach Dillon looks pained. ‘Maddie, I understand that. But the school—’

‘The school can think whatever they want,’ puts in Jordan with a passionate wave of her hand. ‘They’re just trying to save money. Sure, our stadium’s still a little way away from being ready to host. But look at men’s soccer. They’re not telling that team to “take it down a notch”, are they? So why us?’

We all know why.