After he spoke, there was twenty minutes’ worth of silence. I knew this because I listened to every second of the rest of the tape to make sure he hadn’t said anything else. Then I rewound the tape all the way to the beginning and played the whole thing again, taking note of the songs now that I knew what they represented—songs that made him feel alive.

It was late in the afternoon by the time I finally pulled myself from the cab and went inside. I hung the keys to the truck carefully back in their glass box in the kitchen. Not that it would help. My parents would still know I had taken them out. My phone had died an hour before so I plugged it in.

Three missed calls were waiting for me when it got some charge back. All from my mother. Did she know? Had my neighbor called and tattled? There was no way someone hadn’t seen what was going on this morning.

As I was contemplating whether to call her back or not, my phone rang again, her name flashing on the screen. I took a deep breath and answered.

“Hello.”

“Hadley, hi. I’ve been trying to call you.”

“My phone was dead. Is the race done?” Maybe if we talked about that first, she’d know I was still a good daughter.

“It finished a couple hours ago.”

“It went smoothly?”

“Very. I was going to stay until tomorrow, but I’m tired and your father is coming home tonight and I just want to have all day tomorrow with the two of you. I need some family time. So I’m already on my way home. I should be there by nine.”

Family time? Now she wanted family time?

“And Dad?” I so needed my dad to be home first. He would help me explain this all to Mom. He would make it better.

“I think he’ll be home closer to ten.”

I swallowed. When the lump in my throat didn’t budge, I swallowed again. “Okay.” It wasn’t too late to run away. My grandparents might take me.

“How was your weekend?” she asked. “Fun?”

I might as well prepare her now. “Interesting. I need to tell you something when you get home.”

“Did you throw a party?” she asked, laughing like she knew it wasn’t a possibility.

“No.”

“What is it, then?”

“I’d rather not talk about it over the phone.”

“Okay, we’ll talk when I get home, then. Love you.”

“Love you too.” I was glad we’d said it now because it might not be said for a long time after today.