Chapter 23

“Somebody would ask me who ‘she’ was,” she continued, “and I’d say something like, ‘Well, one of them is a ‘she’’. Somebody would say, ‘Wait a minute, I thought you didn’t like guys,’ and I’d say something like, ‘Not on their own.’ After a while, the girls all pretty much decided I was fucking a couple, though they weren’t entirely sure what kind of couple it was.”

I was actually pretty impressed, but I still had questions. “So, what about Aubrey?” I asked. “She obviously knows a lot more about us than just vague guesswork.”

Delaney got a very serious look on her face. “Aubrey is smart, and she was just as curious as everybody else on the team. Maybe even more so. I had pointed out your driveway once when we were on our way to practice. I told her that a very nice, young couple from out of state lived there. She gave me a really curious look, then really gave your place the once over.

“A few weeks ago, we were texting back and forth about different things and I asked her if she remembered my pointing out the house with the steep driveway. When she said she did, I told her that the couple who lived there was clueless when it came to clearing driveways, and that all she probably had to do was help you guys to shovel some snow and who knew where that could lead?”

“That’s all?” Jackie asked. “That’s all you said?”

Delaney nodded, and replied, “Yeah, I figured that was vague enough that she’d get the hint but it would still give all of us ‘plausible deniability’, as they say.”

“But why?” Jackie asked, with a puzzled look on her face, “Why would you do that?”

“Because I worry about you guys, and because she really needs your help,” she said, simply.

“You don’t need to worry about us, we’re fine,” I said, maybe a bit too quickly.

“Really?” she responded. “Because this semester hasn’t been easy for me. All I could think about was you two. I mean, I love college, and I’m obviously doing well, but the idea that what we had is gone ... I mean, there were plenty of nights I cried myself to sleep.”

We both looked at her for a moment. The thought of our Delaney lying alone in her room crying over us was heartbreaking.

“I ... I’m sorry,” I said, stepping over to her and taking her into my arms. “I didn’t mean to imply that we weren’t missing you. God, of course we do.”

“It’s been easier for us,” Jackie added. “We have each other. You’ve been alone. Of course it’s been harder on you.” She crossed the room to Delaney and wrapped her up in a hug as soon as I let her go. “There have been times when I – each of us – has just ached to hold you like this.” For a while, that’s all they did. And for a while, that’s all I needed – just seeing my two girls in each other’s arms again.

Eventually Jackie broke the embrace. “So, tell us about Aubrey,” she said, leading Delaney over to the couch and sitting down with her while I took a reading chair close by. “What’s so special about her that you decided to give her a subtle push in our direction?”

“Well, first of all, she needs a place to stay,” she responded.

“What?” I exclaimed. I couldn’t quite believe what she’d said.

“She needs a place to stay,” Delaney repeated. “Look, she’s a good kid, but her family is totally whacked. She’s the oldest, and she has four or five younger brothers and sisters. I’m not sure any of them have the same dad. Her mom drinks a lot. Aubrey’s spent most of her life taking care of those kids. Then, this past summer, her mom met another guy. It’s true love this time, I guess,” she added cynically. “Anyway, Prince Charming wanted to move to Florida and start over, and mom agreed to go with him – but without Aubrey.”

“What?” we both said at the same time, completely shocked.

“Yeah, apparently there wasn’t enough room in whatever shithole they’re renting for her and all the littles. So, they just took them and left her behind.” For a moment, or several moments, both Jackie and I were speechless. How could anybody possibly leave their daughter behind like that? It made my heart drop just thinking about it.

“What did she do? What about her father?” Jackie asked.

She nodded, as if that was the question she was waiting for. “Her dad’s never been completely out of the picture, I guess. He’s just never around. He’s in a band, I think since he got out of high school. He’s a decent guy, but he’s on the road, like, 40 or 50 weeks a year or something. He owns a mobile home out in some trailer park way out in the country and that’s where he stays when’s he’s back from the road. He’s letting her stay there now so she can stay in school and finish her junior and senior years.”