Page 32 of The Do-Over
THEA
Things were weird from the moment Thea woke up on Thursday morning.
First of all, her phone was full of missed calls and texts, and that never happened. She scrolled through them. Most of them were from Stephanie, who was being weird and vague, saying things like did you hear the news? and are you okay?
There were also several missed calls from Carlo, and even one from her mother. That was what really started Thea worrying. Stephanie’s idea of news that might upset someone was usually a celebrity breakup. But if Thea’s family was trying to get hold of her, it meant that something had really happened.
She wrestled for a moment with who to call, and then decided on her brother. If something serious had happened, he would be the most likely to keep calm about it.
He answered after two rings. She heard the familiar sounds of the kitchen in the background, and immediately felt herself begin to relax. If anything was seriously wrong, he wouldn’t have gone to work.
“Thea,” he said. “I was wondering if you were going to call. So I guess you heard?”
“Heard what?” Thea demanded. “What’s going on, Carlo? I woke up this morning and it was like everyone in the world was trying to get in contact with me.”
“It’s that boyfriend of yours,” Carlo said.
“What?” Thea struggled to keep up. “I haven’t got a boyfriend.”
“I know that, kid. I’m talking about the guy you dated in high school.”
“Rob Honeycutt?” She was a little embarrassed that his name came to her so quickly, even now. That had been half a lifetime ago. Surely it would be more normal to have to struggle to remember his name, his face, details about him. “Why do you bring him up?”
“There was an article in the paper this morning,” Carlo said. “And it’s online, too. He’s going to be accepting some fancy medical award.”
“Oh,” Thea said, bemused. “Good for him, I guess.” Why should that have prompted everyone to blow up her phone like this? It had nothing to do with her.
“You don’t understand,” Carlo said. “He’s coming back to Deer Ridge. They’re giving him the award in his hometown.”
Thea’s breath caught.
She hadn’t spoken to Rob since the day they’d broken up in her parents’ kitchen. She had seen him, of course—they’d had school together, and they’d spent the last few awkward months avoiding each other until he had left for college at Larrimore. But they hadn’t actually exchanged words.
She hadn’t wanted to talk to him. Not after the way things had ended. He had left her feeling as if she wasn’t smart enough or successful enough to be worthy of his attention.
And then, of course, he’d gone off to college and had that winning basketball season, and he had been absolutely impossible to ignore. The people of Deer Ridge had been beside themselves about their hometown hero. There had been posters of him in the local grocery store, and everyone at Iowa State had been talking about it. Thea had spent most of the basketball season in the library, hiding from the hype and pretending that her heart wasn’t breaking all over again.
It was a painful memory. But it had been nearly twenty years ago. She didn’t even think about him anymore.
But if he was coming back to town to accept an award, the place was probably going to go crazy over him again.
She sighed. “Maybe I should go on vacation.”
Carlo laughed. “You’re not serious, are you?”
“What? Why shouldn’t I be?”
“I know you were cut up about it when he dumped you—”
“He didn’t dump me. It wasn’t like that.” She felt stupid even denying it. What difference did it make what had happened seventeen years ago?
“Whatever,” Carlo said. “My point is, you’re not going to let yourself be run out of town over this, are you? Just because he’s coming back for a few days?”
“Are you saying I shouldn’t take a vacation?”
Carlo snorted. “When was the last time you took a vacation, kid?”
“I don’t know.”
