27

A long yellow banner announced Sign-ins Here in bright red letters. Beneath that, in a smaller font, there were three distinct groupings, A–G, H–O, P–Z. Beneath each sat a smiling race volunteer who marked off names and handed out numbers, the lines three or four people deep at all stations. Sabrina found herself frantically scanning the entire scene, desperate for a glimpse of Brandy. Where was she? And why wasn’t she answering her cell?

Since there were several hundred people here, it was possible that she’d just missed her in the chaos, right? She meandered through the crowd, spotting several kids that she recognized from the local track team. Over to one side waited a group of maybe a dozen runners, all dressed in cardinal-red shirts and black running shorts. Sabrina didn’t have to see what was written on their shirts to know exactly who they were. Samson Academy kids.

Sure enough, Kayla was standing at the front of the group, directing pre-race stretches, giving a pep talk. Today would be a big day for her.

Sabrina knew the thought was wrong, selfish even, but what she wouldn’t give to see Brandy beat a few of those kids. That would take Kayla down a notch.

She looked at her watch again. There was still a half hour before the race, but Brandy knew that she was supposed to be in Columbia before now. You never arrived at a race at the last minute. You got there early, signed in, stretched out, and took any of the late arrival kind of stress out of it. They’d talked about it numerous times.

Coming in separate cars had been a bad idea. Sabrina should never have let them talk her into this, in spite of the fact that Brandy and her grandmother were going to visit some cousins after the race. She should have insisted that Brandy ride with her and let Mrs. Jenkins ride with her family, then they could switch after it was all over.

Sabrina walked through the crowd again, searching, but finding no one. She called Brandy’s cell phone again, which went directly to voice mail. Again. Her parents and grandmother were standing together over near the start line, so she walked over to join them. “I can’t find her.”

“I’m sure they’re here somewhere. Maudie is always on time.” Nana’s tone didn’t quite match the confidence of her words.

“Your grandmother just hasn’t stopped talking about what a good job you’re doing with that young lady.” Dad looked at his own watch, but then put his arm around Sabrina. “I’m thinking, how about I take the entire group out for a big victory celebration? We can go to the nicest place in town—your pick.”

“Dad, victory sounds like a bit high of a goal. A good finish is what we’re hoping for here. Brandy is still new to all this.”

“Bah. I know you better than that. I’m sure you’ve got her trained up and ready to take this race by storm.”

And there it was. Dad’s expectations spelled out, with him seemingly the only person who didn’t realize how unattainable they were. At this point, Sabrina’s only goal was Brandy’s arrival in time for the race.

The minutes ticked by. The line at the sign-in table began to dwindle, so Sabrina made her way over. “Can you tell me if Brandy Philip has checked in yet?”

The woman at the table flipped through a couple of pages on the clipboard in front of her, then ran her finger down the page. “Philip, Brandy. Nope. Not checked in yet.”

“Make your way to the starting line, please.” The announcement crackled over the makeshift loudspeakers, and the group as a whole began to move toward the large banner that stretched across the street. “We’ll be starting in just a couple of minutes.”

There was nothing for Sabrina to do now but go back over there and admit the truth to her family. Brandy had failed to show.

“Oh, sorry I’m late,” a voice said. “Brandy Philip.”

Sabrina turned to see Brandy at the check-in table. Her face was pale, dark circles under her eyes. “Where have you been?”

“I made it, okay? I don’t have time for a lecture now.” Brandy took her race number and some safety pins, then threaded her way through the crowd toward the starting line and away from Sabrina.

Maudie Jenkins was standing with Sabrina’s family when she made it back to where they were. “Oh, Sabrina, I’m so sorry. She . . . well, she ran into some trouble last night.” The way she said it left no doubt what that trouble involved. “She’s been sick to her stomach all morning. We were barely able to get her here.”

“I’ll just bet.” Sabrina looked toward her father. He wasn’t looking at her at all, but he’d heard the conversation. He was shaking his head slowly from side to side. It seemed that once again, she’d failed to live up to his expectations.

The starting gun cracked and the throng of runners surged forward, leaving Sabrina and her family helpless to do anything but watch what was going to happen next. It was not going to be pretty.

“Sabrina? Is that you? I thought so.” Kayla’s overly perky voice sounded from somewhere behind her. “What are you doing here?”

“I . . . just came to watch the race.”

“I see.” Kayla looked around at the assembled family. “Your whole family, too, huh? Do you know someone racing?”

With everything inside her, Sabrina wanted to deny everything. She couldn’t face the humiliation of what was going to happen today, not if Kayla had the chance to gloat about it. She knew that everyone was looking at her, waiting for her answer, including Maudie Jenkins. Finally, she managed, “A friend of the family is running today.”

“Oh, that’s great.” She paused a moment, touched the bottom of her chin as if in thought, then said, “Wait a minute. I remember now. Someone told me you’ve been helping coach a girl. Is that it?”

“I’ve been helping the high school coach get her ready for cross-country season next fall.”

“Right. I’ve heard she’s a true running prodigy. What’s her name? I’ll look for her at the finish line. I hope she’ll give my kids a run for the money—they’ve been needing a good challenge but it’s hard to find. There aren’t that many young runners with that kind of talent and work ethic around these days. You know what I mean?”

Sabrina knew exactly what she meant. And it had nothing to do with today’s race.

The wait at the finish seemed to drag on forever. At last, a single runner emerged around the final turn. It was a teenage boy, followed closely by another. Both of them wore red shirts and black shorts.

Kayla was by now standing among a group of supporters just a bit further down the race course. Sabrina could hear her voice as she cheered her runners on to victory. The clock passed seventeen minutes and it wasn’t long before the first female runner appeared around the corner, also wearing red and black. There was a twenty-something woman tight on her heels and they raced up until the very finish, the Samson Academy girl just eking out a victory. Another girl from her team followed soon after, making an amazing showing for Samson Academy. The clock passed eighteen minutes and then nineteen minutes with no sign of Brandy anywhere on the horizon.

More and more runners rounded the corner, clumped into groups now, making their finish places a bit more difficult to determine, not that it mattered. Brandy was nowhere among them.

Finally, at twenty-six minutes, Brandy slogged around the corner. She was partially bent over and had one hand across her abdomen. She stumbled across the finish line without ever looking toward Sabrina, hobbled over to a nearby tree, and vomited white foam into the grass.

A woman wearing a race volunteer T-shirt handed her a water bottle, which she took and went to sit on the curb. After a couple of sips, she looked as though she might vomit again. Her time of 26:15 was at perhaps the fiftieth percentile for the race participants, which included grandmothers and young mothers pushing double strollers. Brandy put her head in her hands, refusing to even look at Sabrina, much less speak with her.

When it was finally all over, the group in red giggled and squealed, gave out hugs and high fives all around. Kayla looked over the shoulder of her bouncing third-place finisher and smiled a fake sweet smile at Sabrina. She waved, one finger at a time. Sabrina simply nodded a response.

Maudie Jenkins petted Sabrina’s arm, murmuring something about thanks and being sorry. She leaned over and said something to Brandy. Brandy didn’t respond at all, but about a minute later, she slowly stood and took a couple of steps toward Sabrina.

“Thanks.” She mumbled the word in Sabrina’s general direction without ever actually looking at her, then turned and walked to the parking lot with her grandmother. It was that sullen complete lack of gratitude that finally pushed Sabrina over the edge. She pulled out her phone and sent a text message to Brandy.

Find someone else to train you. I’m done.

Sabrina’s parents were standing off to the side, behind a large oak tree, having a conversation of their own. She had to face the music at some point, might as well do it now. As she neared them she could hear her father’s voice, raised in anger. “You told me to come here and be supportive, and that’s exactly what I did. I told her I was proud, offered to buy a celebration lunch, but I mean, come on. . . . That girl hardly looked like she’d run a day in her life. And speaking of coaching, have you noticed the way Sabrina looks?”

Sabrina’s mother said something that Sabrina couldn’t quite hear, but his response was loud and clear. “Gained a little weight? She’s completely out of shape. I’m thinking it’s time she got some coaching of her own.”

Sabrina stopped dead, her feet unable to move and on the verge of getting as sick as Brandy. She looked down at her body, thinking about what she’d just heard her father say. She knew her jeans had gotten a little tight, but really? Looking down, she knew her father was right. This was not the same person she’d been for most of her life. How could Koen possibly be attracted to someone who looked like this? She knew the answer. He wouldn’t be for long.

She turned around and walked back to her grandmother’s side. Nana lifted her hand to Sabrina’s cheek. “This wasn’t your fault, dear. You did everything you could have done and more.”

“I guess.” She just couldn’t think about it anymore.

“Did you find your mother and father?”

Sabrina glanced toward the tree where her parents were still arguing and shook her head. “No. Couldn’t find them anywhere. I’m sure they’ll meet us here if we just stay put.”

Her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out to see Koen’s name in the display. She pushed the button, taking a step away from her grandmother.

“Hey.”

“How’d it go?”

How did it go? There was a question that Sabrina couldn’t bear to answer truthfully. “Pretty well.”

“Great. How’d she finish? What was her time?”

“I’m, uh, not sure.”

“Huh? When have you ever been not sure of Brandy’s run time? Come on, I’ve seen your spreadsheet. I know better.”

“I don’t know, all right?”

“O-kay.” He paused for a moment. “So are there family plans tonight? Jared was talking about round-robin tennis. You up for it?”

“I’m pretty sure we’ll just be sticking close to the house for the rest of my parents’ visit. You go ahead and have a good time. I’ll see you in class on Monday.” Sabrina hung up the phone, not waiting for a response. It would be better for all of them if he wasn’t around this weekend.

The family drove into Nashville for lunch and then walked through the Opryland Hotel conservatory in almost complete silence. Nana tried to make small talk, but her words disappeared into the thick fog of awkward silence that encompassed them. By the time evening rolled around, the car ride home occurred with less than a dozen words spoken between them.

They were driving past the university, almost to Nana’s house, when Sabrina’s father said, “Hey, isn’t that your friend Koen?”

A group of about a dozen people, tennis racquets in hand, were heading toward the school courts, talking and laughing. Koen was in the middle of them, as were Jared and some of the others. But the one that caught Sabrina’s attention was standing on Koen’s left side. Her tennis dress was cute, white, and short. Lindy Stewart.

“Yes. . .” Sabrina’s chest had squeezed so tight it was hard to say the word, but she knew not to leave it at a single syllable. She tried to sound upbeat, “and a group of our friends.”

Sabrina looked at the beautiful Lindy, her entire attention focused on Koen, smiling as she swatted toward him with her racquet. Everything about her was so perfect. Her beautiful blond hair, her long limbs, her completely flat stomach. Sabrina looked down at her own midsection and thought about what she’d overheard her father say that afternoon. She touched the side of her nose and the puffy red blisters that seemed to be growing larger every day. Of course Koen would prefer Lindy. Who could blame him for that?