Page 14 of The Glittering Edge

“A friend needs me. That’s all.”

“The same friend who gave you that necklace?”

Anita laughs and tucks a curl behind Penny’s ear. “I promise I’ll tell you more when I get back, okay? I love you.”

“But—” Penny starts to object, but Anita is already gone, the back door to the parking lot drifting closed behind her.

Penny almost runs after her. But Jojo is behind on orders, and Ron needs his break, so she returns to the front of the café. She’ll grill her mom about this mystery person the second she gets back.

But Penny can’t ignore the feeling of wrongness in her bones, because her mom is never this secretive. What could she possibly be hiding?

Corey

COREY BLOWS ON THE WHISTLE. “TIME’S UP! BLUE TEAM WINS!”

The kids erupt with cheers and angry screams, but nobody cries today, which is progress. Corey adjusts his baseball cap, squinting against the bright green and blue of the hot summer day.

“I was about to do a score!” says Milo Park, clutching the kid-size football to his chest.

“That’s ‘make a touchdown,’ Milo.”

“Don’t be a sore loser,” says Jenny Toneppi, sticking out her tongue. Milo’s face grows red, but before he can say anything, Corey blows once on his whistle, making Jenny jump.

“What’s the most important quality in a winner?” Corey asks.

Jenny blushes. “Humblility.”

“I think you meanhumility. But hey, apart from that, you did a good job this week. You’re a quarterback in the making.”

Jenny forgets her embarrassment and gasps. “Really?” Then she takes off like a shot, heading for someone behind Corey. “Did you hear that, Dad? I’m a quarterback in the making!”

Mr. Toneppi claps Corey on the shoulder as Jenny clings to his legs. “You’re doing a great job with these kids.”

Corey smiles. Beside him, the players sort their mesh jerseys into piles divided by color. “They’re good kids to begin with. Makes it easy.”

“We’re all hoping you’ll coach the high school team one day,” Mr. Toneppi says. “Not that you’ll have much time once you and your cousin take over your family’s company.”

Corey works to keep the smile on his face. Those comments shouldn’t bother him. He’s always known he would stay in Idlewood and work at his family’s company, but it’s annoying when other people point that out. They always say it like it’s a secret, as if Corey confided in them, when everyone in Idlewood already knows it.

Anybody else would be more than happy in Corey’s situation. He already has a high-paying job lined up after college, as a vice president at Barrion Heating & Cooling, which employs over half the residents of Idlewood. He’ll get to work with his cousin Julian, who will be taking over as CEO.

Corey will be happy about it, too. Someday.

Mr. Toneppi picks up his daughter. “Tell your dad I say hi, won’t you? I haven’t seen him around the office in a while.”

“Absolutely.”

“And you should sue the De Lucas for that shiner,” Mr. Toneppi says, laughing as he carries Jenny to the parking lot.

News spreads fast in Idlewood.

After all the kids are with their parents, Corey slings his duffel bag over his shoulder. A King Ranch truck idles in the parking lot. Dylan leans on the steering wheel, watching him walk up.

The ease Corey felt when he was coaching the kids disappears. He tugs at the collar of his T-shirt as the sun grows hotter than it was a minute ago.

Calm down. This is your girlfriend of three years. Be yourself.

Except he can’t. The ease they had early in their relationship has disappeared, and when he’s with Dylan, Corey finds himself tongue-tied and unsure how to move, how to touch her, how to even look at her. Every time he’s with her, his brain maps out everything that could go wrong. If Corey asks about her day, she might accuse him of not really caring. If he says he’d like to visit Dylan’s family, she’ll remind him that he never lets her come over, that she barely knows his dad even after years of dating.

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