Ellen stared at the words, reading them a second, then a third time. What was he talking about? There was no visit planned. She hadn’t agreed to any visit and Coop hadn’t said a word.

But Jeremy and Coop had talked about it, she thought, fighting the hurt growing inside of her. Coop obviously wanted to spend more time with his father—something she might not like but could understand. What she didn’t get was the fact that he hadn’t said anything to her.

“You okay?” Lissa asked, studying her.

Ellen shoved her phone into her pocket. “I’m fine. Everything is great.” She hoped she was lying convincingly. She didn’t want to get into any of this with Lissa. “Aren’t we supposed to meet the guys by Star Tours? We should get going.”

Lissa hesitated before nodding slowly. Ellen returned stuffed Sven to the shelf, then hurried out of the store.

They made quick time to the meeting place. The guys were all there, looking tired and happy. Keith spotted her and waved.

“Ready for round two?” he asked.

Her throat was tight and her chest ached. She glanced at her son, but Coop was talking to his friends and didn’t even look at her.

Why hadn’t he told her about the invitation? What else had he and Jeremy talked about that he was keeping from her?

“Ellen?”

She looked at Keith and faked a smile. “You go ahead. I’ll wait here.”

His dark gaze searched her face, then he turned to the group. “Everyone go on the ride, then meet back here. We’ll discuss the rest of the afternoon and evening. We need to be on the road by eight tomorrow morning to get to Santa Barbara before eleven.”

“Sure, Coach,” Luka said. “Come on, Lissa. You can sit with me this time.”

They all rushed to get in line for the ride. Ellen motioned toward them. “You should go with them.”

“You should tell me what happened.”

She shook her head and looked away. “I can’t. I’m going to cry and you don’t want to be a part of that.” She held up a hand. “I’m fine. Everything’s fine.”

“It’s not fine if you’re about to cry. Come on, Ellen. You can tell me anything.”

She thought maybe that might be true. Keith was her friend and he’d always been there for her. He’d rescued her when she’d had a flat tire, even though it had been seven on a Saturday morning and he’d been asleep when she’d called. He’d finished the job in what felt like minutes, all the while teasing her about her lack of car knowledge, then he’d bought her breakfast.

He’d been the one she’d texted with a frantic plea because her period had started early and with gusto, leaving her unable to get up from her seat in her classroom. He’d taken her class to the gym, giving her the chance to duck out and head home to change clothes.