Page 90 of Rainbow Kisses

Rebel didn’t take the bait, even though I was being fairly serious.

“I—”

The door opened, and I turned to see Maddy walk through.

She gave me a smile that quickly turned into a wide grin when she noticed our company.

“Rebel! What are you doing here?”

With an ease I hadn’t seen in a while, she walked up to Reb and gave him a hug, which he returned.

“Good to see you, Mads. How’s school?”

She shrugged, her gaze sliding away. “It’s okay.” Maddy had agreed to go back to her old school, so she wouldn’t be home alone while Lin and I were at work. But I could tell she hated it. Another item to add to the worry list. “Uncle Bri said you’re playing for another team now. He said we could go see you when you play here.”

“That’s another reason I’m here.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out tickets. “The Redtails play here tomorrow night. I hope you’ll come.”

She looked at me. “Can we?”

“Of course, if you want to go. Why don’t you go tell your mom. She’s in her room.”

Maddy knew when she was being dismissed. “Good. I miss hockey. See you at the game, Reb.”

Once she disappeared into the bedroom and closed the door, Reb crossed his arms over his chest. “You need to text Rain. And then you need to figure out what the fuck you’re doing. Because whatever it is, neither of you are happy.”

“Will Rain be at the game?”

“No. The Devils play. Mom and Pop will be though. And you’re sitting with them.”

I huffed out a laugh. “Thanks for the warning.”

“I gotta go. I hope you use the tickets. And don’t disappoint my sister again. She cares about you.”

TWENTY-FOUR

Rain

“Why don’tyou just call him?”

“So he can swipe me into voicemail? Nope. Not happening. If he missed me, he’d text me back.”

Erin and Caity exchanged a glance as we worked in the kitchen of Crack One Open, finishing up the s’mores kits for the carnival. We’d already finished the hot chocolate mix and were moving onto snowman kits. Giant marshmallows that I would shove in their faces if they continued to talk about Brian.

“When was the last time you texted him?”

I shrugged, not meeting their eyes. “A few days ago.”

Which was more like a week, because his first text had been:

Brian

Hi. Busy here. Getting Maddy squared away at school and Lin in her new job. Getting my workout in at lumberyard

Nothing about missing me. Of course, I hadn’t given him a great send-off. I’d basically told him to have a nice life. I was surprised he even texted at all.

And yet he had.

And I’d let him hang for a week.

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