The Redemption of Callie and Kayden Read Online Free PDF Page B

from the kitchen.” He pauses and his throat muscles move as he
    swallows hard.

    I realize my own hands are shaking and my heart’s
    hammering inside my chest. “What happened? When you went
    back into the kitchen?”

    He stares at the other side of the rink. “Kayden was on the
    floor and his father was standing above him, with his knee bent,
    like he was getting ready to kick him. Kayden had blood all over
    his hands because he was crawling through the shards trying to
    pick them all up. He had this huge cut on his face and there was a
    piece of the cup in his dad’s hand.” He pauses. “Kayden denied his
    father did anything to him, but I can put two and two together.”

    I breathe through my nose over and over again, fighting
    back the tears. “Did he ever tell you the truth?”

    “About that day?” He shakes his head. “But there was one
    time I was over there and he got into this huge argument with his
    father and his father hit him right in front of me, so after that the cat was kind of out of the bag.”

    I wiggle my foot out of the skate, shut my eyes, and let my
    lungs expand as cold air fills them. “Do you ever feel guilty for not saying anything?”

    He’s quiet for a very long time, and when I open my eyes,
    he’s watching me. “All the God damn time,” he says with fire in his
    eyes.

    There’s a moment when Luke and I are connected by a piece
    of thread that’s frayed and thin and very breakable. Then it’s over
    and he gets to his feet, collects his skates by the laces, and heads
    for the locker that’s holding our shoes. I follow him, grabbing my
    skates before rounding the bench. We put on our shoes and walk
    to his truck, not speaking and allowing the guilt to seep into our
    already chilled bodies. He starts up his old battered truck but
    dithers when he’s about to shove the shifter into gear.

    “Maybe we should go see him,” he says and pushes the stick
    shift forward into drive. He cranks the wheel to the right and turns
    up the heater before pressing the gas and pulling out of the
    parking spot. “I’ve got only one more class before Christmas break,
    but I can blow it off. I already took the final.”

    “But they’re not letting anyone see him except for family,” I
    remind him as I bend my arm and reach behind me for the seat
    belt. “At least that’s what my mom told me yesterday when I called
    her. She said that Maci told her he wasn’t allowed visitors except
    for her and that he can’t even talk on the phone.”

    His gaze cuts to me as he stops the truck at the exit and
    looks both ways at the empty street. “You believe her?”

    I pull the seat belt down and buckle it, and then my
    shoulders lift and slump. “I don’t know. Maci Owens is a lot of
    things, but why would she lie about that?”

    “To cover up what really happened.” The truck fishtails as he
    pulls out onto the main road that’s slippery with snow. It’s late, the sky is gray, and the lampposts lining the street highlight the flakes falling from the sky.

    I’m about to tell him yes, let’s drive down the highway and
    fly toward Afton. I was planning on heading back in a few days
    anyway, but then my phone starts playing “Hate Me,” by Blue
    October.

    I frown. “It’s my mom.” I take my phone out of my pocket
    and stare at the glowing screen. I briefly consider letting it go to
    voicemail where she could yammer to it about how messed up she
    thinks it is that Kayden beat up Caleb. But giving her an open door
    to a one-sided conversation is like Christmas morning for her and I
    don’t want to have to listen to her go on and on in hopes of
    hearing something important.

    I press TALK and put the phone up to my ear. “Hello.”

    “Hi, sweetie,” she singsongs and my face instantly sinks.
    “How are you?”

    “Fine.” I ignore Luke’s questioning stare and watch the road.

    “You don’t sound fine,” she replies and then sighs. “Callie,
    you’re not going back