Page 81 of The Best Is Yet to Come

“What I’m saying,” Spencer said, quickly losing his patience, “is that you’re making assumptions. I don’t know Ben the way I once did, I’ll admit, but my gut tells me something is up and that we need to find out what it is.”

“You’re overreacting. Ben’s at school.”

“Do any of your friends have first lunch?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Call and ask if anyone has seen Ben at school.”

With a huff, Callie reached for her phone a second time. She went into her contact list and then held the phone to her ear once again.

Standing this close to her, he could hear Alyse pick up. “Callie, dance team is going nuts without you. Is there any way you can stop by after school to review the routine?”

“Maybe,” Callie said. “I’m not calling about the dance team. Any chance you’ve seen Ben? He stayed home from school this morning and—”

“He’s not sick, is he?”

Alyse sounded alarmed, recognizing that if a key member of the football team was absent, it might mean a loss, and a loss at a home game would be devastating.

“He said he wasn’t feeling well when I left him earlier,” Callie explained.

“You left him? Where did you go?”

“To Spencer’s house.”

“You went to Spencer’s house?”

Even standing this far away, Spencer could feel the shock waves.

“Spencer and I are longtime friends,” Callie insisted.

“Since when?” Alyse asked, laughing.

“Since forever,” she muttered, clearly unamused. “Have you seen Ben or not?”

“I haven’t, but let me ask around. Give me five minutes and I’ll call you back.”

“Thanks.”

Spencer had the impression the first four minutes would be Alyse telling all their gal pals the shocking news that Callie and he were together.

Five minutes passed and then ten with no call.

“He’s at school,” Callie reiterated, although she didn’t sound nearly as confident as she had earlier.

“You’re probably right.” He stuffed the tips of his fingers into his rear pockets, lunch forgotten.

“But what if he isn’t?” she asked, her eyes wide, and seeking what looked like reassurance.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we need to.”

“Right,” she said, nodding.

When Callie’s phone finally did ring, it came so unexpectedly that they both jumped.

She answered right away. “What did you find out?” she asked, without giving the normal greeting.

“No one’s seen him, so I asked Scott, figuring he would know,” Alyse said, and then hesitated.

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