The Hardest Cut by Jamie Bennett (book club recommendations .TXT) 📕

Tiara hung back but the rest of went together to the parking lot in a light spring rain to wait to hear Parys’ news when she came out of the meeting.  We chatted nervously, all of us aware that it could have been any of us in that office instead of her.  Except Addison, who was totally calm.

Suddenly, Tiara came running out of the stadium.  “You guys!  You have to hear.”

“Parys?” Caitlyn asked, but Tiara shook her head.

“I was just telling Coach Sam and stadium security.  You know who my cousin and I saw yesterday?” Tiara paused for effect.  “Vanessa!”

We all recoiled.  “Did you call the police?” Nicole asked.  “I hope they got her.”

“I did, but they didn’t seem too interested.  It was really weird.  Vanessa was all calm and friendly, and she said that her mom had sent her to an anger management retreat in Bimini right after she got cut.  Like, she was on a plane immediately afterwards and she just got back yesterday.”

“Bimini is a real place?” Caitlyn said, amazed.  “I thought it was made up, like Kathmandu!”

“If she was on a plane to the Bahamas so fast, then how did she have time to get the accelerant and light up Sam’s car?” Bexley demanded.  “Does she just drive around prepared to start fires?  She’s so crazy!”

“If she just back yesterday, then how did she throw the fake blood all over Rylah’s front door on Friday night?” Macy asked, but then Parys ran out of the stadium, crying, and we turned to comforting her.

I definitely felt terrible for Parys, but I also was exhilarated that I was coming back tomorrow.  I’d been dancing this week, but not very well on the ankle that wasn’t quite yet at its best.  And Parys had been going all out!  Maybe too much, because she’d lost some of her sharpness, and maybe her desperation was showing a little in how she had gotten even more extensions in her hair.  Addison had snickered and asked if she’d borrowed the lion’s mane from the zoo, but it wasn’t that bad.  I moved one of the new pieces from where it was poking me as Parys continued to cry on my shoulder.  Maybe there were a few too many.

Parys’ boyfriend eventually arrived to get her and I drove Caitlyn over to her dad’s body shop to pick up my brother’s car, which was finally done.  She talked a mile a minute, thrilled and excited because she was fairly sure now that she wouldn’t get cut herself.  “I think the trainees who will make it are Bexley, Macy, Jayden, me, and…you, of course,” she finished, lying through her teeth.

“Besides me, who would you pick?” I asked casually.

“Addison,” she said immediately.  “I’m sorry, because I don’t like her, but it would be Bexley, Macy, Jayden, me, and Addison.  That’s who I’ve always thought would make it, the five of us.  No, I mean, you too, G!  That’s what I should have said.”

I nodded glumly.  Ankle or no ankle, I was going to have to do better.  Four more cuts.

“Hi, Daddy,” Caitlyn yelled when we went into her father’s shop.  One of the guys working under a hood looked up and I swore that I could see cartoon bubbles of hearts leaving his eyes when he spotted Caitlyn.  She ignored him and gave her dad a kiss on the cheek.  “Where’s Gaby’s car?” she asked him.

He pointed, and when I saw it, I burst into tears.

“We did the best we could,” Mr. Waite told me, his forehead crinkled with worry.  He listed the repairs they’d made, and added, “We matched the color and there’s not much you can do to improve the look of this model—”

I held up my hand.  “It’s beautiful.  It looks so gorgeous, I can’t even believe it!  It’s never looked better.  Thank you, thank you, for saving my brother’s car!”

“I told you she was a sweetheart,” Caitlyn said to her dad.  But he was even more, because when he gave me the invoice, I saw that he had only charged me for parts, not the labor.  I cried even harder, so emotional that the man who was still giving Caitlyn the looks of love asked me if I was all right to drive.

I was, and I hurried over to pick up Tessa.  We had a big day planned of going to the toy store to look at potential baby dolls as a present her upcoming birthday.  Plus, I wanted to discuss the idea of having a party with her.

“Your car is so nice!” she said admiringly, and I hugged her.  “It’s so pretty and green again.  It’s like Oscar the Grouch’s color.”

“It is like Oscar,” I agreed.  As long as it wasn’t Oscar molting into an overripe banana, which had been its former look, I was thrilled with it.  Tessa also remarked that it was a lot easier to talk since the car didn’t make the funny noises anymore and that now she didn’t have to hold her nose.  All those things were also true.  She told me about day care, about some sharing problems and an issue with Scotty not enjoying the snack he’d brought.

“Daddy always gives me good snacks,” she said with satisfaction.

“He takes good care of you,” I said.  “He loves you, very much.”  I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw her nod firmly.  It was one of the best things about Ben, in my opinion.  Any guy who loved his daughter like that, who took such good care of her—I jammed on the brakes, way too close to the truck in front of us.  I had to pay better attention, stop thinking about Ben, and never, ever put one other mark on this car.

“What do you think?” I asked Tessa when we were in the doll aisle of the toy store.  We’d already been there for a while, but I knew that shopping couldn’t be rushed.  Once, I had sat