Page 86 of Just Let Go

She was mid-bite when Grady’s face showed up on a video someone had posted that linked to the Facebook page of the local news. Instinctively, she enlarged the video and turned up the volume.

A blonde reporter proceeded to recount the details of Grady’s “fall from the top,” which she called “more of a crash and burn.” They replayed images of his wipeout last weekend, followed by the mug shot Quinn’s father had taken and someone had released to the press. Quinn’s money was on Walker.

“Matthew Phillips, who has taken Benson’s spot as the next face of Bowman Skis, had this to say about the fallen Olympian.”

The image of a rugged-looking, not-quite-attractive man with sandy hair popped on the screen. “You know, Grady has given a lot to the sport, and we all thank him for that, but I think there’s a general consensus that, you know, when it’s time to go, it’s time to go.”

Back to the reporter. “The Olympic ski coaches all seem to agree with Phillips that, yes, it is time for Benson to hang up his skis and—”

Quinn clicked the video off, minimizing it so her newsfeed showed up again. She couldn’t help it—she felt sorry for Grady. How awful would it be to have your every move critiqued for the masses?

She kept scrolling and came across another video. This one, posted by someone whose name was vaguely familiar, was homemade—filmed on an iPhone. She watched as the video panned to a familiar spot at the top of the bunny hill at Avalanche Mountain, where the image of Grady standing next to Quinn in her puffy white marshmallow coat appeared on the screen.

She gasped.

“What do we have here?” A man’s voice, stifling a laugh, impersonated a reporter. “Looks like Grady Benson is trading in the Olympicsto teach private ski lessons. Leave it to this would-be womanizer to find a way to pass the time.”

A close-up of a look between Quinn and Grady—a private moment, just after she’d finished her first run. Quinn’s heart clenched. There had been people filming them on and off all day. She hadn’t thought anything of it.

Quinn continued to stare at the screen as the video stopped. She felt so... violated. They’d twisted everything. They’d gotten it all wrong. Made Grady look like a laughingstock and Quinn like his latest conquest. She stood and paced across the living room floor. Now she felt even more terrible for the way she’d acted yesterday—she’d had no idea Grady was up against this kind of negativity.

Her phone buzzed. When she picked it up, she saw a text from her sister:

You’re coming to church today, right?

Quinn wasn’t fooled into thinking Carly was concerned for her salvation—she simply didn’t want to sit there with their father and Beverly without Quinn as a buffer. While Gus was the kind of guy everyone in the world seemed to be able to get along with, Carly was the exception.

She texted back a quickYes, then rinsed out her bowl.

She didn’t expect her sister to have any more to say, but another text came through seconds later.

Jaden invited Grady.

Quinn’s heart dropped. She wasn’t sure she could face him yet, not after this humiliating turn of events.

But then she remembered the odds of Grady Benson showing up at church were very, very slim.

“Did I see you in a Facebook video this morning?”

It was Lucy, dressed like she’d just stepped out of an Anthropologie catalog and wearing that you-never-tell-me-anything expression on her face. Quinn cringed. Was she really recognizable in that video?

“Don’t deny it. I’d know my Stay Puft ski clothes anywhere.”

Quinn groaned. She was the first of her family to arrive at church, which meant she was sitting in the second pew, where her father had sat for nearly twenty years, ever since the first Sunday after her mother took off. He’d told them later he knew he needed help—and not the kind any human being could bring. She supposed the good Lord had heard his prayers because his daughters had made it to adulthood in one piece.

Never mind the trouble Carly had been in or the fact that she had had a baby at seventeen.

Gus had done well. It was their mother who’d messed everything up.

“Pretty harsh comments, I thought,” Lucy said.

“I thought so too, and I don’t even like the guy.”

Lucy gave her a quizzical look. “The video of the two of you says otherwise.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

Hailey slid into the pew behind Quinn, next to Lucy. “You’ve been keeping secrets.”

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