Page 29 of When to Call a Blitz

“Well, they’re happy. I just feed them dad, I promise.”

I nod, heading to the kitchen. “How about I feed them today?”

She hesitates, her lips comically pursed before she lets out a slow nod. “Fine. You can feed them. But say good morning, okay? They like being told good morning.”

“Isn’t it technically goodnightfor them?”

Juniper grabs a yogurt from the fridge, ripping the top off before digging in. “Something like that.”

“Hey, can I talk to you for a second?” I ask my trainer, Ben as he’s hanging up some equipment in the training room.

“Yeah man, what’s up?”

“I was wondering if I’m okay to start running some in my off time. I have someone who’s trying to get into it and I’d love to do it as well.”

Ben pauses, a foam roller in his hands. “Where are you looking to run?”

I shrug. “I think just around my neighborhood. It wouldn’t be that much, just a mile or two and I don’t know how often yet.”

“Sure, let’s just make sure that you’re warming up properly beforehand and after. Are you looking to do it before practices?”

I nod.

“Okay. We can come up with a plan for you. You’ll have to eat some more to maintain your weight. I’ll let the nutritionist know and we can come up with a meal plan, but I will come up witha plan you should really stick with before and after, how about that? And if you eventhinkthat something feels off, or that a muscle is going to get pulled, you walk your ass back to your house, stretch a little, and get your butt here, got it?”

“Yeah, thanks Ben,” I say with a wave.

The only thing I could think of all day was how alone Heidi must be feeling, and for whatever reason, my stupid head won’t let me leave her alone.

Go with her,my brain kept whispering to me every single second it got a chance to.

She doesn’t want me to,I would argue back.

You don’t know that.

And I don’t know that. It’s not a secret that Heidi wanted to be friends after our trip. We spilled out guts to each other and I ran away like a petulant child, leaving her in the dust. But I can’t keep doing that.

She’s going to be around a lot, and I need to realize that and get a grip.

15

HEIDI

The kitchen smells like homemade pasta sauce and banana bread, which is quite the combination of smells, if I do say so myself.

After Emmett had left for the day, I brought Juniper to school and I stopped by the market for some dinner ingredients. I’ve been craving pasta lately, and I thought there would be no day like today to make it. The day after a really great win from the guys, and Juniper got an A on a project we had worked on the other week.

It’s always weird to me to see how different schools work, because when I was her age, we were barely doing math on paper. Juniper takes FrenchandSpanish and has been helping Elara a little to catch up with the rest of the grade, since her previous school didn’t require it that early.

While I can’t really help with the language part of her homework, I’ve been decent with math—meaning, I know how to add and subtract—and her other classes are fairly easy for me.

My favorite is when she brings home books to read. We’ve sat out back on the porch together as she reads me her book. I always give her a small treat after when she does particularlywell and sounds out a difficult word, which is usually a Berger cookie.

“Is that garlic bread?” Juniper’s head appears from around the corner. Just her head. Nothing else. This is a particularly troubling habit of hers I haven’t quite figured out how to try stopping. She and her dad love scaring the shit out of me.

“Uh,” I look toward the oven. “No? It’s banana bread though.”

She steps into view, her jaw hanging open. “No garlic bread?”

---