Page 113 of The Overtime Persuasive

“I’m aware.”

“Eva would scream if she walked in here and heard this.”

“Shows what you know. Eva is okay with this song, these days, and also…Eva isn’t walking in here.” I reach for the sandpaper, then realize the box doesn’t need it and toss it back down. “She isn’t answering my calls or texts either.”

Lucy comes into the garage and takes a closer look at the box. “How many times have you called?”

“Three.”

“And texted?”

“Four.”

“What did you say?”

“That I was sorry. The meeting ran late, Coach asked me to stay, and I got to the studio as fast as I could.”

“So you delivered an apology on the surface”—she looks at me pointedly, her sisterly patience visibly wearing thin—“but chose to come in hot with explaining yourself, huh?”

I toss my hands in the air. “I apologized.”

“Did you ask how her taping went?”

My mouth opens, but I don’t have anything to say.

Lucy sighs and leans against the workbench. “Liam.”

“Of course I want to know how it went.”

“Then why didn’t you ask?”

“Because I’ve been trying to explain why I wasn’t there.”

She pushes herself away from the workbench, clearly frustrated. “That’s what I mean.”

“No, what you don’t understand, Lucy, is that I had to stay after when Coach told us to.” I turn off the music, then look at my sister. Things have been so upside down and I haven’t even gotten to share the news with her. “I got named alternate.”

“Liam!” She jumps in the air. “That’s great!”

“And then I didn’t show up for Eva.” The words come out sharper than I intend. “So forgive me if I’m having a hard time feeling great about anything right now. I’m currently feeling like a piece of crap.”

Her smile fades. “Liam,” she begins.

“I told her I’d be there. She was nervous. She tried to pretend she wasn’t, but I knew.” I drag a hand over the back of my neck. “She didn’t want to walk into that studio alone.”

“Then that’s what you apologize for. Not for being named alternate. Not for staying when Coach asked you to. You apologize because you knew what she needed and didn’t make sure she had it.”

“I couldn’t be in two places at once.”

“No, but you could’ve called me. Or Juliette. Or Vivian. Heck, you could’ve sent a puppy in his goalie mask for moral support. The point is, you had options.”

I look down at the box. “I thought she’d understand.”

“Of course you did. Eva always understands.” Lucy rests her hip against the workbench. “She’s been cheering you on this entire time. She saw the leader in you before anyone thought about putting a letter on your chest. You wanted to be seen so badly that you forgot to see her.”

The words hit me somewhere around my center, and crack me wide open.

“That taping, for once, wasn’t about her dad or the building or helping someone else get what they wanted.” Lucy’s expression softens, but she doesn’t let me off the hook. “It was hers. She needed someone to stand beside her and say, ‘I see what you built. I see you.’”