Free Two Steps Back by Belle Payton Page B

late.”
    â€œOh, yeah, sorry,” said Alex, and she blushed to the roots of her hair. “I was unavoidably detained by—well, tell me what’s up first, and then I’ll tell you why I was late. Why couldn’t I just meet you at home?”
    â€œBecause it’s about Coach Byron,” said Ava. “I didn’t know what to do. I was just at home with Coach and Mom, and I swear I wasn’t listening on purpose, but I was carrying a basket of laundry downstairs and I heard them talking in the kitchen. I guess Mr. Kelly went to the athletic director and demanded that Coach fire Coach Byron for missing so many practices.”
    Alex gasped. “No! He can’t!”
    â€œWell, yes he can, actually. I heard Coach tell Mom that he doesn’t think there’s anything he can really do about it, that he sort of has to fire him because he’s not fulfilling his obligations, and he’s going to have a talk with him Monday morning.” Tears welled up in Ava’s eyes, and she swallowed down a lump in her throat. “I’d babysit for his kids every second if I could, but football takes up so much time, and the times they need babysitting—during high school practices—are usually at the same time as my practices. I want to do something, though, Al. I love those kids.”
    Alex put a hand on Ava’s shoulder. “That’s bad,” she agreed. “You’re right. We need to do something. Let’s sit on the swings so I can think.”
    The park was empty, and the girls sat down side by side on the swing set. It brought back memories for Ava of endless hours swinging together in their backyard in Massachusetts. Ava had always been the daredevil, swinging as high as she could and leaping off.
    Now they sat quietly, barely moving. Ava could almost see the wheels turning in Alex’s brain. Alex was so good at organizing and strategizing, way better than Ava. And Ava knew Alex adored Shane and Jamila too. Plus, Ava still felt like Alex really owed her one after almost going ahead with her news story about Briar Ridge when Ava had asked her not to.
    â€œLet me ponder this a little more,” said Alex at last. “It sounds like nothing’s going to happen before Monday. We have a little time to come up with a plan.”
    â€œOkay,” said Ava, feeling a tiny bit better, but still wishing Alex had jumped into action like she normally did. “Thanks for coming. Now tell me where you were, and why you were late.”
    Alex swiveled her swing so she was facing Ava and told her about her new idea for her story. “Tommy’s trio is so good, Ave. And they’re all really good-looking, so they’ll look great on television. It’s the perfect piece. Marcy mentioned something about interviewing Coach, too, about his son playing piano and football, but I don’t think Tommy will mind. The story will be great publicity for the trio.”
    Ava nodded. Her suspicions about Marcy Maxon were growing. It really did seem as though Marcy’s main priority was to use Alex to get to Coach, from whatever angle she could. First she’d wanted the story to be about Coach’s daughter, denied the right to play football. Now it was Coach’s son, the misunderstood artist forced by circumstances to be a football player. Well, maybe their mom was right. Everyone could use an angle. If this was a good way to get publicity for Tommy’s trio, then maybe Marcy’s motives in using Alex didn’t matter.
    â€œAva, I know I owe you a gigantic apology,” said Alex. She hung her head. “You were right. I did want you to sit out so I could do my piece. Marcy asked me to, and I was so anxious to get a good story that I forgot that sisters come first. I’m really sorry, Ave.”
    Ava stared at her sister. She couldn’t exactly say she was surprised to hear this, but still. Her suspicions about Alex’s motives