“Dad said if I sat out practice, I’d lose my starting spot on the team,” Grace said.

She glanced at the door before pulling her gray sweatshirt sleeves back over her thumbs.

“He told me not to say anything to you,” Grace whispered.

I stopped twisting the silver band.

“When did he say that?”

“On the drive home five weeks ago,” Grace said.

Her voice caught in her throat as she looked down at her sleeves.

“He said if I told you, you’d just panic and cancel our weekend trip to the lake.”