Page 144 of Just Let Go

It was only Benji he cared about now.

Even so, it had been years since he’d seen his brother too. They spoke on the phone or texted back and forth. It had always seemed like enough, but looking at him now, Grady regretted the lost time.

Quinn slipped her hand inside his, and he drew strength from her presence. She knew so little about his family, yet it was like she understood instinctively. He’d only ever alluded to what had happened to Benji—surely she must have questions now, seeing him here, in his wheelchair.

The air became tense as they approached his family, waiting off to the side as if they were just another group of fans. His mom’s eyes glistened in the sunlight of the clear Colorado morning, and his dad stood there stoic and serious. Clearly it hadn’t been his idea to come.

Benji’s face beamed with the kind of pride only an older brother could have.

Grady stopped short of actual physical connection with any of them. “You didn’t tell me you were coming.”

“We wanted it to be a surprise,” Benji said.

“Benji wanted it to be a surprise,” Mom said. “He got his new chair, and he’s a lot more mobile, so they cleared him to make the trip.”

“Thanks, Gray,” Benji said. “You know I didn’t expect you to chip in for that.”

“It was nothing,” Grady said. The Spectre check had been enough to catch up on his bills and get the chair, something Benji’s physical therapist said would be good for him. It was all Grady needed to hear, and he ordered it the next day.

“Who’s your friend?” Mom smiled cautiously at Quinn, who straightened, probably unsure how to navigate the tension.

“Oh, this is Quinn.” Grady turned to her. “Quinn, these are my parents, Randall and Charlene; and my brother, Benji.”

Her smile was polite, but her eyes were full of questions. “It’s so good to meet you all.”

“Ah, so you’re the one who got him back on track.” Benji winked at her, and Grady didn’t have to look over to know her cheeks would be pink.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Quinn said. “He was already pretty amazing.”

A pregnant pause. He bet his father would disagree.

“Why don’t we go get something to eat?” Benji was obviously going to power through the strain in the air.

“Grady probably has people to see.” Those were the first words his father had spoken—an excuse to get out of spending more time with him.

“Actually, Grady is all yours.” Happy had found them standing there, and what a time to insert himself into the conversation. Happy had made it clear more than once that Grady needed to at least attempt to repair things with his family, but Grady didn’t want that reminder right now.

“Great,” Benji said after Happy introduced himself around. “You wanna come along?”

Happy shook his head. “You all go ahead. I’ll see you when you get back, Grady.”

Way to hang me out to dry, dude.

He turned to Quinn. “You’re coming, right?”

Her eyes were wide. “Do you want me to?”

“Yes, please.” Did he sound as desperate as he felt? “We can just go inside and eat here if that works for you guys,” Grady said.

“Sounds wonderful, Grady.” His mom looked like she might burst as she lunged forward and threw her arms around him. “It’s so good to see you.”

The hug was one-sided for several seconds, but finally he wrapped his arms around her and hugged back. When she finally pulled away, she had to wipe her cheeks dry.

“We’ll see you over there,” Grady said. “I’m just going to talk to the coaches quick.”

“Make sure you’re on the team,” Benji said. “Give us a real reason to celebrate.”

Grady nodded, then walked off, wishing he could rewind to the moment before he spotted them. If only he’d headed in the opposite direction, he could’ve pretended he never saw them at all.

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