Chapter 19

Danielle

Tucker, Myles, and I were sitting on the couch when Zoe came in the front door. She walked slowly toward the stairs, not saying anything. Tucker and I exchanged a look. He shrugged. We watched her reach the steps and begin to climb in the same kind of dream state manner.

I twisted around. "Zoe?"

"Hmm. Oh, hi." She kept walking.

Tucker tried. "Good night at work?"

"What? Yeah. It was okay. So.... I'm headed to bed. Good night."

We followed her progress up the stairs, then we turned to each other.

"That was weird." He frowned, then continued shaking a rattle in front of Myles, who was flailing away like a madman. It was his active time of night. "She didn't even stop to visit you, mister. I guess you're chopped liver already. Girls are like that sometimes."

I smirked. "Don't you think he's a bit young for dating tips?"

"Oh, no. It's never too early to learn about the mysteries of the female race, is it, buddy?" He put the rattle in Myles' open hand, which instinctually caused his little fingers to curl around it. "Good job."

"Yeah. He'll be fielding in the Majors in no time."

"Could happen. Did I ever tell you I was a pretty decent ball player in my day?"

"Numerous times."

"Oh." He sounded disappointed. "Well, I haven't told you, have I, Myles. I played...."

I tugged on his sleeve. "Hey, coach? I'm gonna sit this one out."

"You don't want to listen to my story?"

Not really.

"I'm going to go check on Zoe."

"Oh. Good luck with that. Okay. So I played—"

I tuned out the story I knew would end up circling around to the citywide championship he, his childhood friend/now rock star, Chase Hatton, and a field full of teammates he never dwelt on describing, won, though touted as the underdogs. I wouldn't actually mind listening; he was cute when he told his stories. But I was worried about Zoe.

Things hadn't seemed right with her since the night of the accident, and even worse in recent days. It surprised me Tucker didn't notice how much weight Zoe lost. So much so it would seem her body was reacting, if the huge mound of Zoe hair in the shower was any indication. Then she skipped school. She'd never done that. Tucker chalked it up to kids being kids, but I knew something was the impetus for her acting so far out of her nature. I climbed the stairs, but waved at Myles, who seemed bored with Daddy's story. He cooed.

Tucker looked over his shoulder. "Oh. What's Mommy doing?"

Myles had intelligent eyes. I sometimes wondered if he thought, "What's up with these people?" when we babbled meaningless sentences to him.

I drummed my knuckles against Zoe's door.

"Come in."

When I opened the door, she was clutching Mr. Barely Bear to her chest. Her eyes shone. "You did this?"

I sat next to her, examining my work again. "Yup." The head was no longer wobbly and the stuffing was concealed.

She threw her arms around me. I was so surprised I didn't react for a moment.

"This is very special. It was so sweet of you to do this for me."

"I wanted you to know," I drew inspiration from Sam's stepfather. "I know we haven't gotten along lately, but I don't want to be your evil stepmother. I'd like to be your friend and an adult you can trust."

She squeezed me again. "I'm so sorry, Dani. I know I've been kind of hard to get along with lately. I—"

I waved my hands. "No need to apologize. You've had a lot to deal with. Two new women in your territory...."

"I had to adjust a little, but that's all on me. You might as well know, I don't adapt well to change. I need to learn to be more like Scottie and 'roll with it.'" She did the arm wave thing Scott did whenever he used that phrase. Holding her arms out to the side she lifted then dropped each section of her arm in succession, starting at her fingertips on one hand, and undulating all the way across to the other.

I rolled my eyes. "If everyone was as mellow as Scottie, nothing would ever be accomplished in this world."

She laughed. "You're probably right."

I put my hand out to knuckle her. "Of course I'm right. We emotional/non-flexible types need to stick together."

"You got that right." She stood and put her bear back in its spot of honor between her pillows, gazing on it lovingly. "This means a lot. It was such a thoughtful gesture."

"Ehh." I waved it off. "So. How was work tonight?" I stood and straightened her sheets.

"Okay. It was busy for a while. Then Daniel had to go home sick."

"Oh? Who'd they send to replace him?"

"No one. I closed by myself, but Mr. Olava came to lock up afterward."

"He walked you out to your car, right?" Busy street or not, I didn't like the idea of a young girl walking by herself in the dark.

She removed the rubber band from her hair and fluffed it. "A-actually, Zack did."

"Zack? Is he working there, too?"

"No." She stopped outside her bathroom door. "I'm going to brush my teeth, but I'll be listening to you." She entered the room but left the door open. I watched her in the mirror as she ran a hand through her hair. With a frown, she shook the strands interwoven in her fingers into the trashcan. She turned the faucet on to wet her toothbrush.

"So, I'm sorry, did you say he did or didn't quit his job at Starbucks?"

She stuck her head back in the room as she applied toothpaste to the bristles of her brush. "Oh, he still works at Starbucks. As far as I know. He was waiting outside to talk to me after work. He wanted to talk about some problems he's having with his girlfriend."

She brushed her teeth, then came over to slide into bed. Once beneath the sheets, she wiggled her way out of her jeans and brushed them onto the floor. "I'm sorry, Dani. I'm exhausted. I'm hitting the sack, and I'll get up early to do homework in the morning."

I stood. "Oh. That's fine. But... do you think you're getting enough to eat? That could be why you're tired."

She laughed and turned over on her side, her back to me. "Or it could be because I had school, then worked all night."

I hate to push things when we're getting along so well, but... I think something's bothering her.

"Are you sure, honey? Because, to me, it looks like you've lost an awful lot of weight."

She slowly rolled over and looked at me, but didn't say anything.

"I'm worried. You're not sick, are you?"

"No. I'm not sick." She flipped over again. "I'm good. No worries."

I guess our conversation is over.

"Okay. Good night." I quietly closed the door behind me.

* * *

Zack

When I stepped outside, Dani was sitting on our front stoop.

"Hi."

"Hello, Mrs. McCord. My mom said you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes, Zack. Come sit." She patted the concrete next to her. So this was a sit down kinda talk. Odd.... I thought she was just coming to ask me to feed the cat or something.

I lowered myself next to her. "So, what's up?"

"I.... To tell you the truth, I'm not sure if I should talk to you."

Odder still. Not knowing what to say, I waited.

She was looking out over the lawn. The wind whipped her hair around, and she pushed it back. She took off her shades and tapped them against her knee. "Here's the thing," she turned to look at me, "Tucker and I are concerned about Zoe—only Tucker is too big of a wimp to come talk to you himself, and I didn't want to double team you."

I smiled. Mr. McCord never struck me as a wimp. "I appreciate that." It would have been way worse with two of them talking to me. And there wasn't any more room on the stoop. Then the rest of her statement sunk in. "Why are you concerned about Zoe?"

"Do you think she's lost too much weight?"

I thought back to the day at Zesto's. That's what was making her look different. She was thinner. "Well, I did notice a change."

"I thought you might have. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but... she skipped school, I found—"

"Zoe skipped school?"

"Exactly. And I've found her asleep a couple of nights on the nursery floor. I know she's ga-ga about Myles, but... I don't know. I think something's troubling her. And she won't talk to us."

"Well, I'd like to help you, Mrs. McCord, but—"

She spun her glasses by one of their arms. "Dani. That Mr. and Mrs. thing is for grownups. I'm not there yet."

She was funny. "Dani. I'm not sure I can help you. Zoe and I haven't talked in a while, and—"

"See. That's the thing, too. She hasn't talked to you. You guys were so tight."

"Well, we still are, it's just... between practice and work and school...."

She swung the glasses faster. "No. I get it. You're both very busy. I understand that. It's just... I don't know... have you sensed something different with her?"

"Uhh...."

Before I could think out my response, she jumped in. "I'm not asking you to reveal any confidences. That is not why I'm here. I only wanted to express our concern and find out if you shared it."

I looked at the sidewalk. "Now I feel kind of bad. I've been so wrapped up in myself...."

"Well, I don't want you to feel bad, Zack. Life gets crazy. It's hard to keep track of everything."

"I do think something's different. Has been for a while."

She grimaced. "Ahh. I thought so." She looked out over the lawn again.

I thought about it. Zoe was distant, and I was pretty sure the weight loss thing was on the mark, too. And sleeping on the baby's floor? That was weird. And skipping school? "Have you noticed anything else?"

She turned her head. "No. Have you?" Her face was tight. She was really worried.

"No. But like I said. I haven't seen much of her."

"Do you think you could—no. I don't want to put too much pressure on you."

"No. What were you going to say?"

"I don't know. Do you think you could maybe talk to her? She doesn't seem to have very many friends except you and Nick—and Nick hasn't been around in forever—"

"I could do that."

"You could?" She smiled for the first time. "That would be great. You know, if something's troubling her, it might help to have a friend to talk to about it. A friend who isn't her father or stepmother."

"Okay."

"Good." She tapped my knee with her glasses, then rose. I followed suit. "And it's not like you need to come report to us or anything... just kind of keep an eye out for her. And we'll try to find opportunities to get her to open up, too."

"Sure. I can do that, Mrs.—Dani."

"Great." She seemed lighter. "We really appreciate it."

"No problem."

She started to head across the lawn, but turned halfway back. "Thanks, Zack."

"Sure thing."

I headed back inside, but my mind rewound every conversation I had with Zoe of late. A half hour later, while doing homework, it dawned on me. Could it have something to do with that night Dani was in an accident? Zoe'd never answered me about those scrapes she had.

I was more determined than ever to get to the bottom of things. And maybe even get our friendship back on track.

I texted her.