“I know the timing sucks, but I’m leaving for Park City next weekend. Kincaid is sending me.”
“Wait, Kincaid?” I asked.
“I didn’t tell you?” Kason asked.
I shook my head.
“Slopes let me out of my contract?—”
“With some coercing,” my father added, implying there was more to the story.
“Hey, whatever it took to be rid of Cora and her father,” Kason continued.
Thank God. His ex-girlfriend Cora was a real piece of work. “What did she do this time?”
“Oh, she just committed a misdemeanor,” he said. “And Daddy didn’t want that information going public, so…”
“He bought your silence?”
“Yup. Now Kincaid’s sponsoring me,” he explained. “And, they want to shout it from the summits. That’s why they’re sending me away. They want some killer footage to use when they announce me at their sponsorship event.”
“That’s amazing, Kase. You deserve it,” I said, wanting to feel as happy as I should’ve been for him.
His eyes cast down like he didn’t want to show his excitement after what had happened to me.
“How long will you be gone?” I asked, suddenly feeling as though I needed my brother around.
Sensing it in my voice, he exchanged a glance with my parents. “Five days.”
“That long?” I asked, not meaning to sound as distressed as it made me feel.
“Come,” he said.
“What?” my parents and I asked at once.
“Shay, Thayer, and Jesse are coming. The house has like eight bedrooms.”
I glanced to my parents who remained stoic.
“I couldn’t.”
“Why not?” Kason asked.
Again, I glanced to my parents for confirmation that this was a crazy idea. They had to be thinking what I was thinking. How could I leave after what I’d been through? I was scared of my own shadow. Leaving the state would be a monumental mistake.
“You should go,” my father said.
“What?” my mother asked, likely as stunned by his urging as I was.
“It would be good for her to get away from Colorado, don’t you think?” my father continued, his eyes imploring her to agree.
“I guess I hadn’t thought of it,” my mother said.
“We’ll have fun,” Kason assured me. “And Shay would love knowing she’s not the only girl. There’s only so much snowboarding talk she can take.”
“I don’t know. Won’t the police need to talk to me again?” I asked my parents.
“You have a phone. If they have questions, they can call you,” my father said.