“Sure.” I sound about as deadpan as I can get. Doesn’t matter now, does it? If Sarah figured out who I was, anyone can. Am I foolish to hope my father has no interest in hockey and won’t ever see it?
Sarah whips around to stand next to me while my sister scans the article.
“Sophie wrote this?”
I grunt while fake-smiling for Sarah’s picture.
“She’s a really great writer.” She hands the magazine back to Sarah. “I even made it in there.”
I snag the magazine before Sarah can take it back. “Where?”
Kinsley leans in and points to a paragraph on the second page. “There. I thought you would have seen it already.”
Sure enough, Sophie mentions that I have a younger sister,who I “raised after our mother’s death,” making me sound so noble. Or something.
But right now, I’m feeling anything but noble. I’d tear the magazine to smithereens if it would make it go away permanently. The article even states that Kins is a student at Columbia.
“No, I didn’t want to read about myself.”
Kins does her eye roll thing again. “So humble.”
I hand the magazine to Sarah and drag Kins along by the elbow. “Let’s go get ramen.”
Kinsley gives Sarah an awkward wave over her shoulder. “Don’t mind him. He’s always this way.”
I grunt at her comment but keep us moving toward the stairs. I need air. I need to think this through. I need to know why Sophie would do something like this.
Yet, I already know, don’t I? This is even better than a column in the local paper, isn’t it? National exposure will go a long way in getting her that and more, I’d imagine.
As much as I’d love to see her realize her dream, I just wish it didn’t come at my and my sister’s expense.
Now, I have to tell Kinsley about our father’s release from prison. Because if he sees the article, he’ll know where to find her. And that makes the already sinking feeling in my gut plunge a lot deeper.
Once we get our orders and sit down, I lean back in the hard plastic booth, close my eyes, and try to center myself. The anger I’ve kept buried is like a pot of pasta about to boil over. I can’t lose control. Not now.
When I open my eyes, Kinsley’s staring at me. “What’s going on?”
I consider my words as she slurps up ramen noodles. “I got a notification that our father was released from prison to a halfway house several weeks ago.”
She wiggles in her seat and glancesaround. “Okaaaay. So?”
“If he sees that article, he’ll recognize me and know where you are.”
She drops her gaze to the bowl in front of her, running her chopsticks in a circle through the noodles. “Is that a bad thing?”
“Yes!” I run a hand over my mouth, schooling my temper. The woman at the table next to us darts a glance my way and frowns.
I lower my voice to a whisper. “Yes, that’s a bad thing. I don’t want him back in our lives.”
She drops her chopsticks into the bowl. “Why not? He’s the only parent we have now, Luke.”
I grunt. “We don’t need him.”
She presses her lips into a line and knits her brows together, which tells me the wheels of her brain are working overtime.
“But what if Iwantto meet him?”
I almost choke on a bite of noodles. “That’s a bad idea too. I may have been young, but I remember how much better things were for us after he left. Mom became happy.”
