He looked at her, thinking hard. Finally, he shrugged again.
“I have an idea.” She sat forward. “Coach Goebel, are you out there?”
Bryan popped his head in.
“Didn’t you say you needed some help after school? Inflating balls, checking gym equipment and scraping the marks off the court?” she asked, hoping he’d take the not-so-subtle hint she was sending him.
“Yes, ma’am.” He nodded, walking into her office.
Kevin looked up at him, surprised. “After school?”
“Yep.” Coach Goebel nodded.
“For at least the rest of the week,” Annabeth added. “I’ll have to tell your mom, Kevin.”
“Okay.” He nodded, looking back and forth between the two adults.
“You can go back to class now,” Annabeth said. “But ask your teacher to send Billy to me.”
Kevin frowned. “Can’t I just apologize to him? He never would have said that if I...if I hadn’t made that stuff up about my mom and Mr. Boone.”
Annabeth’s stomach made another disturbingly loud noise, drawing Bryan’s and Kevin’s eyes her way. “I think apologizing would be the right thing to do. But I still need to talk to Billy about choosing his words more carefully.” She might not be a Winnie Michaels fan, but calling the woman trash wasn’t okay. “Please think about what I said though, Kevin. We can’t pick who we love—that applies to our friends, too.”
Kevin nodded, then hurried out of her office.
She really wanted to rest her head on her desk. And she really wanted to throw up the small amount of cracker she’d just eaten into her trash can. But Coach Goebel was still there, watching her. As ridiculous as it sounded, there was still the chance Bryan Goebel was Ken Branson’s ally. And, even though she felt like quitting this very minute, she would not give up this job.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt, but I heard him yelling and thought you might need backup.” Bryan grinned. “You did a great job with him.”
She smiled. “Thank you.”
“He can hang out with me and Cody for the rest of the week.” He nodded. “Easier to play basketball when there’s more players.”
Cody. She bit back her groan. She’d just forced her son to give up basketball for the week. Or to spend time with the boy who bullied him the most.
* * *
RYDER BALANCED ON the top step of the ladder.
“You know you’re not supposed to stand on that, right?” Annabeth said.
“How would you know? Unless you’ve done the same thing,” he replied, draping the strand of lights over the hook he’d hung.
“Ryder.” Her exasperated sigh made him chuckle.
He climbed down the ladder, his smile fading. “Annabeth, I got this. Why don’t you take Cody home?” She seemed to be getting thinner each day. He knew she was having a hard time keeping her food down, but there had to be something they could do.
“I’m fine.” She waved him away, turning to the last box.
“More lights,” Irene said. “The last of them.”
“Good.” Ryder smiled at the parent volunteers, appreciating the work they were doing for their kids. And he didn’t mind pitching in—he wanted to be an involved parent. But Annabeth had done enough. She’d already been here twelve hours.
“I can get the last of it.” Annabeth opened the box and tilted it onto its side. A huge rat jumped out and skittered across the table where the box rested, leapt to the stage and ran straight for the cover of the curtains. Annabeth jumped back, pinwheeling her arms to steady herself. Ryder was there, his big hands catching her about her waist and steadying her. “Rat! Big big rat.”
“Oh, my God,” Holly moaned. “I brought that into the school.”
Ryder shook his head. “Now we just need to get him out again.” His eyes swept over Annabeth. “You okay?”