“You said yourself that you need to reconnect with people. Janet’s the glue in the group. She’s the only one who talks to everyone else, besides me. If you want to convey a message to the group or an apology, it’s smart to go see her.”

That made my decision. The words apology and message were enough. “You know, now that I’m remembering, I had a call from my last boss. She wanted me to come back and see her. Maybe I could get my job back.”

“You’re lying.”

I was. I didn’t care. “Have you really never heard Janet talk shit about people? You do know that’s what she does.”

“She’s not that bad.”

“Because you’re a guy. She loves you. With girls, it’s another thing. She’ll talk shit about who you’re dating, but she won’t talk shit about you. If you have a vagina, you’re fair game to her.”

My phone buzzed, and pulling away from my ear, I saw a text.

Reese: Just landed. Coach said we’re doing lunch there. I brought you a shirt from the airport.

“Hold on a second, Trent.”

Me: What airport?

Reese: Congratulations. It says you’ve visited New York.

Me: Always wanted to be a New Yorker. One second. On the phone.

He buzzed through again, but I was speaking once more. “Hey.”

Trent’s voice twisted. “So you’re going to lie and avoid more camp people?”

I sighed. “Janet and I were never close. And you don’t get it. You don’t know what I went through…”

“Because you won’t tell me. I’ve been gone for two weeks, and you’ve not once called or even texted. I thought you wanted to change, reconnect with the group, but you’re still avoiding us.”

I tried to be gentle. “Look, seeing you, coming here, reconnecting with Owen, Hadley, Grant, and you—that’s been huge for me. And it’s all I can handle right now.”

I didn’t get why he was upset. When he’d gone through his divorce—the main reason he’d become a motivational speaker—Janet had ripped his ex to shreds. I mean, that’d been around the time I began leaving the group, but I’d seen the emails. She’d been vicious. Yeah, she’d been talking about his ex-wife, but Trent had loved her and married her. I knew he wouldn’t have been okay with what she was saying.

He was silent, and I didn’t know what else to say. “Maybe we can talk more when you get here? When do you arrive?”

“I’ll be coming in tomorrow evening. You’ll be free?”

“Depends on the time, but should be. I’m usually at the courts till I close down.”

“Okay. I’ll let you know when I’m supposed to arrive. Maybe we could go somewhere to talk?”