CHAPTER SIX
Adalyn
Cameron Caldani, goalkeeping prodigy and Premier League legend, stared at me.
“That’s right,” I mumbled, but it wasn’t right. I didn’t know what was coming out of my mouth. “This is my first decision as… general manager of the Green Warriors.” Oh God. Did I even have a title? “And as the new person in charge of supervising the team’s activities and making sure they live up to their full potential, I’m deciding that we don’t need him. Therefore, he is fired.” My voice cracked, and for some reason I added, “Good day.”
Josie fell silent.
Cameron blinked unbelievably slowly, his lips twitching in a way I couldn’t interpret.
And as he watched me, I knew that if he mocked me right now, if he said something about my daddy, or whether I was lost, or how I didn’t belong here and couldn’t make it a single night, chances were I’d crumble down and cry. Or worse. God knew that I was unpredictable these days.
So when his lips came to a stop, giving shape to a pout I didn’t understand, I held my breath. “You’re going to do what now?” he said.
Okay.
I could work with that. With hostility. Cynicism. Even condescension. I was used to those.
“I’m not going to do anything,” I told him, my voice gaining strength. “Because I already did. You are dismissed from your coaching duties.”
Josie seemed to partially recover because she let out an awkward snicker. “I think the… fun and friendly banter is unnecessarily escalating. How about we let Cam return to practice and discuss this later over a slice of red velvet cake? It’s Josie’s Joint’s special today, and cake is on the house for newcomers.”
“There’s no need to discuss anything,” I answered, my eyes on Cameron, who had tilted his head to one side and was inspecting me in a strange way. “Who hired him?” Something occurred to me. “Did my father send him here, too?”
Cameron Caldani’s eyes narrowed, the green darkening with a new emotion I didn’t recognize. Why was this man a walking riddle I couldn’t decipher? I didn’t like that.
“I… did.” Josie hesitated. “Well, I wouldn’t use the word hire, as he’s not being paid a dime. A better word is… recruited. Yes, I recruited Cam.”
“You volunteered me,” he countered in a bitter tone.
Josie laughed, a little more naturally this time. “I know, I know. But the girls needed a coach, and you needed, well, you know. Peace and quiet. So it was perfect, because you were already here and coaching a team like this is a walk in the park.”
“What I need is coffee.”
I ignored that because… Peace and quiet? The girls? A team like this? Working with a female team was a change that excited me, I decided, but I was still missing something. “I… I don’t understand. Can we backtrack for an instant? Forget he’s here and interrupted us?”
Cameron grunted.
“I guess this is as good a time as any to give you the proper introduction to the team,” Josie told me. “The Warriors of Green Oak is—or maybe was—an institution around here,” she explained with a playful wink. “Back when my mom was young, we happened to have the only female soccer team in the area. At least, until most young people started fleeing to larger cities and it all kind of went… downhill. The team eventually died out and turned into a good memory. Mom is no longer with us, but Grandpa Moe has the best stories.” She patted my shoulder with a sad smile. “I’ll introduce you to him. He runs Cheap Moe’s and Outdoor Moe’s. And he used to own my café, too, formerly known as Moe’s Joint. He’ll love you. Anyway, I brought the team back to life last year. I decided to rename it the Green Warriors so it’d be easier to remember.”
This explained why Matthew had been reticent to tell me what he’d found about the team over the phone. It… It was a lot of information to chew on. The mayor of the town, a woman my own age in green dungarees with tiny daisies on them, had volunteered a lot of personal details in under a minute. And apparently the Green Warriors, formerly known as the Warriors of Green Oak, had been brought back to life only last year. “I… I think I have a few questions. Topics I’d like to clarify and discuss, ASAP if that’s okay.”
“I’ll show you the pictures,” she offered. “My mom kept all of them. And let me tell you, it’s a blast from the past.” She seemed to remember something. “Oh! I almost forgot the most exciting part: we’ll be representing our county in the Six Hills Little League!”
That made me pause. “Little league?”
An enthusiastic nod. “The Green Warriors were the best U10 team in the county last season, so we qualified for the Six Hills. Yay!”
All the blood seemed to leave my face. “U10?” I thought I whispered, but my ears were ringing, and I suddenly felt faint. Josie’s smile fell. “What do you…”
And before the question fully left me, we were being swarmed by kids. Children. Little girls. In colorful shorts and sneakers and ponytails that pointed in all directions and a tutu, shockingly enough. One of them held a soccer ball under her arm. And all of them looked, roughly, under the age of ten.
“Adalyn,” Josie’s voice made it through the haze of confusion and disbelief that was my head. “It is my pleasure to introduce you to the Green Warriors.”
I blinked at the team. The kids. As they blinked at me in return. “But my father…” I started, but all I could come up with was a jumbled mess of questions. “My father never— This is not— Why— They’re kids?”
Somehow, my eyes ended up on Cameron, who was looking at me like I was some puzzle he couldn’t figure out. Or as if I was about to sprout a second head. I wasn’t sure. It didn’t make sense. Nothing did. I—
“Juniper,” he called for one of the kids. “Can you please bring an ice pack for Adalyn?”
“I’ll do it!” someone exclaimed, and a blur of pigtails and messy black hair passed right by me.
“Thanks, María,” he grumbled under his breath, eyes still on me.
I should have probably complained. But I didn’t think I had the energy. As I stood in that spotty field of grass, I really was feeling at my lowest. I’d thought that assaulting my team’s mascot in a clear lapse of judgment had been rock bottom. Then, when I found out there was footage of it and the clip had gone viral, I was sure that had been the rock bottom under the rock bottom. But then, I’d been banished and sent away, only to realize I was stuck in some tiny and tacky hunting cottage in the middle of the mountains. And I’d thought, this is it. This is the real bottom.
I’d been wrong.
This was.
The Green Warriors were. This children’s team that held the key to my redemption was my real rock bottom.
The girls moved around us, and I was vaguely aware of Josie interacting with them. My eyes blinked back to reality, and I found myself gaping at Cameron. At all that dark hair, the unkempt beard, the green eyes flashing with something between curiosity and… concern. He was even wearing workout clothes. A long-sleeved thermal that clung to his chest and made his shoulders look even broader, and shorts. Nylon shorts that reached the middle of his thighs.
“What…” I heard myself mumble. “What are you doing here? Why are you here? It doesn’t make sense.” I also didn’t make sense. But I was so confused and blindsided, and my brain seemed set on fixating on the fact. “You’re Cameron C—”
Josie’s panicked face materialized beside Cameron, who was now looking at me with a hostility that hadn’t been there before. “Oh no. No, no.” She chuckled, but there was tension in her voice, now lowering to a loud whisper. “He’s just Cam around here.”
My still dumbfounded gaze flickered in Cameron’s direction, and before I could prepare, he was turning around and walking away.
Josie sighed.
And I… What had just happened? Why was Cameron leaving so suddenly? And why was Josie concealing Cameron’s identity?
But instead of asking any of those very valid questions, I watched him stride along the sidelines of the unkept facilities and asked, “Does he always storm out of places?”
“Don’t think too much about it,” Josie said with a conviction that made me glance at her in surprise. “Cam’s a bit… standoffish, but I’m pretty sure he’ll be back.”
“I genuinely hope you’re wrong,” I blurted out, obtaining a curious glance from Josie. “I fired him for a reason.” I simply needed to decide exactly what that reason was.
She laughed, as if that’d been a joke. Although perhaps it was just the way Josie operated. Maybe she was one of those always glass-half-full people. Always laughing. Smiling. Positive.
“It’s for the best,” I told her. “The dislike for each other is mutual. We didn’t exactly start off on the right foot and he… has a good reason to hate me. I—” I shook my head. “I might have almost run over his pet this morning.” Josie’s eyes widened. “I know. I feel horrible, but it’s not that easy to spot a chicken crossing a driveway.” Neither was spotting a six-something pro soccer player, apparently.
Josie muffled a cackle with a hand, the corners of her eyes wrinkling with humor. “Oh, don’t worry about the poor thing, they are resilient creatures. I’m sure it’s still alive and clucking. Did you see it running?” I nodded and she smiled before pointing at my forehead. “Is that how you hurt yourself? I didn’t want to be rude and ask, but it looks recent, and Cam asked one of the kids for the ice pack.” Concern entered her expression. “You should get it checked out.”
“So I’ve been told,” I whispered, defeat entering my voice.
“I’ll take you to Grandpa Moe when we’re done here. He used to be a paramedic and still volunteers around town sometimes.”
“It’s nothing,” I assured her, wondering what else the man did. “It barely hurts.”
“I insist.”
“Okay,” I relented, returning my gaze to the group of girls, now sitting in the grass and chattering between themselves. The one with the tutu shot me an accusing glance, as if I’d just ruined all the fun, causing an unexpected pang of guilt to surge in my stomach. I turned to Josie. “I know you must have been very excited about the perspective of having someone like… Cameron coaching the team, but I can assure you: you’ll be fine without him now that I’m here.”
Josie smiled, but it was short-lived. “I’d appreciate if you’d keep under wraps who Cam is.” Her expression turned serious. “Nobody in town knows.”
“But…” I trailed off, the wheels in my head turning. Was Cameron Caldani… hiding? Was that the reason for him staying in a place like Green Oak? I shook my head. “How is it possible that no one has recognized him?”
“The beard?” Josie offered. “The fact that he doesn’t play football or baseball or isn’t an influencer giving away cars?” Another shrug. “You’re the first. And we should keep it that way. It’s important to him, and I want to respect that.” Her megawatt grin returned. “And you know how small towns are, the moment someone finds out, everyone in Green Oak will know, then the whole county, and before we can blink, there’ll be journalists trying to snap a photo of a”—she lifted her hands—“retired soccer star, feeding the chickens.”
I could see how that would make good news. Cameron Caldani had never gained celebrity status in the States, but I knew well how something like this could be turned around.
“Also,” Josie continued, “besides the Vasquezes, I really am the only one who cares about soccer around here.” A puff of air left her lips, falling quiet for a moment until she sent me a secretive glance. “I was engaged to someone in the MLS once. That’s how Cam and I met.” Her lips pursed with a flash of emotion I didn’t catch. “He witnessed the whole thing go up in flames.”
I turned away slightly, my eyes drifting toward the group again. I wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, but that was a lot of personal information Josie kept volunteering. And I was a complete stranger.
“Oh, don’t worry, honey,” Josie said, misinterpreting my silence. “I’m okay now. It wasn’t my only failed shot at love, either. But that’s a story for another day.”
“I’m glad you’re okay,” I ventured, racking my brain for something sensitive or friendly to say. “I…” God, I was so bad at these types of interactions. “I don’t date in the MLS, either?” I offered, causing Josie’s brows arch. “Most players are more work than they’re worth and, well, last time I got involved with someone remotely related to the world, he— This is TMI. I—”
A blue-and-white ice pack was thrust in front of me, saving me from babbling something I’d regret.
I looked down at the small hands offering it. “Thanks,” I said, snatching the pad from the kid’s grasp and placing it against my forehead. It immediately stung.
“You’re welcome,” a brown-eyed kid said with a toothy smile. “I’m María Vasquez. When is your birthday? I need date, time, and exact place.”
I heard Josie’s snicker. “María, what have we talked about going around asking people’s ages?” She patted the kid on the shoulder. “This is Adalyn, she’s coming from… Miami, right?” I gave her a nod. “And she will be helping with the team.”
“Helping is a simplification,” I countered. “I will—”
“Are you the one who booted Mr. Cam’s ass?”
“María,” Josie warned again.
She rolled her eyes. “Sorry, I meant Mr. Cam’s butt. He called it a bum the other day. He doesn’t speak much but he uses funny words sometimes. I think he’s a Taurus. And I don’t trust Taurus men. What zodiac sign are you, Miss Adalyn?”
“Hmm, Virgo? But—”
“Exciting! Are you our new coach?” She shot a look at me, giving me a once-over. Her eyes found my feet. “Are you going to coach us in those?”
I glanced down at my heels. “I’m not—”
“Oh my God!” she squealed, the ponytails atop her head moving with the three words. “You look like Vanessa Hudgens inThe Princess Switch. Are you doing a makeover of the team?” She turned around. “Guys, come here! We have a new coach!”
“I…” My lips bobbed. “What?”
The rest of the kids looked over at us, but none of them seemed anywhere near as excited as María. In fact, even in the distance, a couple of them looked… a little scared of me. One of them even grumbled, “She doesn’t look like a princess.”
“Can’t Coach Cam continue to coach us?” someone else said.
“I’d rather have Grandpa Moe, honestly. He lets us play games most of practice.”
“I also want Coach Cam. Why did she scare him away?”
My jaw fell to the floor at that last comment.
Josie linked her arm with mine.
“Welcome to the Green Warriors, Adalyn,” she said in a cheery voice that didn’t match the tone of the girls’ debate. “I’ll show you around town when we wrap up practice. There’s not much to see besides a few shops on Main Street and the Vasquez farm, which is a few miles south, but you’ve made an important acquaintance: me.” She grinned. “And that piece of red velvet is up for grabs if you want it.”
The confirmation that Green Oak was that small of a town wasn’t exactly uplifting, but Josie was nice. And I wasn’t used to people welcoming me with open arms. As much as I’d led a privileged life with hundreds of opportunities that had allowed me to peek into all kinds of social circles, I’d always kept to myself. It wasn’t easy for me to click with people, or perhaps it was me making it hard. Either way, the truth was that, besides Matthew, I didn’t have many people I considered friends.
So I wouldn’t turn away her offer. Or the cake. Being friends with the mayor would come in handy—and I definitely had more curves than Vanessa Hudgens, which had a lot to do with my sweet tooth.
Unfortunately, before I could even open my mouth to accept, one of the kids playing with her phone gasped loudly, drawing our attention.
“Isn’t this Miss Adalyn!?” she all but yelled, pointing at the device. All the girls drew closer. My heart tripped and my eyes widened in alarm. Josie frowned in confusion. “Holy cow.” The kid’s jaw dropped in shock. “Why is she beating the crap out of a giant bird?”
Well, so much for that respite.
I was on my way to bed when my phone pinged with Matthew’s message ringtone.
Before the silly five-second tune he’d set for himself last time we’d seen each other was up, my phone was in my hand.
MATTHEW: Have you checked socials since we talked? Or at all?
I sat on the edge of the horrendous, and I feared infested, mattress, staring at the screen for a few seconds. We’d talked on the phone a couple of hours earlier, while I was driving back to Lazy Elk from Josie’s Joint. It’d been a short call where I’d brought Matthew up to date—I had cake, possibly made a friend, Grandpa Moe is a charming old man, Green Oak is unbelievably small, there’re lots of outdoorsy things, my philanthropic venture is a children’s team, they already know about Sparkles, one of them wears a tutu. And to that Matthew had said, I told you so. Or an extended version of those four words that encouraged me to pack my things and go back to Miami. I’d hung up on him.
ADALYN: I haven’t been online since the airport. Much to do and reception is spotty.
The three dots jumped on the screen for the longest of moments, making me shift in place and rubbing the worn fabric of the comforter against my bare legs. Unfortunately, I’d only packed a matching set of silk sleeping shorts and a tank top—which was what I always slept in and yet another way in which I’d been uncharacteristically careless. Had I done the proper research and known my rental was going to be covered in things like antlers, dust, and coarse flannel comforters, I would have ordered the thickest, longest pajamas I could find.
MATTHEW: Just keep in mind that I am sending you this because I know you would hate not knowing about it.
That made my stomach drop. He was a shoot-first-and-think-later texter.
ADALYN: Why are you warning me? Just send me the link.
MATTHEW: Before I send it to you I want you to promise me that you will call me the moment you start spiraling.
ADALYN: I don’t spiral.
MATTHEW: Call it what you want.
ADALYN: LINK.
A strange, scratchy noise made me look up from my phone. I inspected the barely lit cabin, wondering if on top of everything else, I also had to deal with some… wild animal sneaking in.
A link popped on the screen.
I clicked and was immediately redirected to TikTok. The clip that started was familiar. I was wearing my burgundy pantsuit now packed in the suitcase under the horribly large antlers hanging on the wall, and my Louboutin heels. The memory might have been blocked or buried somewhere in my head, but I recognized the clip that had flipped my life upside down. I knew what came next. I was about to—
A techno beat started playing. Although it wasn’t a beat. Not really. It was the rip of the polyester of Sparkles’s costume that was being repeated—looped—to create a beat. With horror, I heard more sounds being added to the mix. My grunts. Growls. Squawky sounds that had left me and I couldn’t recall. Paul’s “What the fuck.” All of it. And it was…
“Horrible,” I heard myself whisper.
Appalling. Really.
Because I was a remix now. A song.
My eyes closed as I remained there, the thirty-second techno mix echoing around the cabin in a loop. I felt a burst of pressure climbing up my sternum, and a noise that sounded a lot like a sob left my mouth. But I knew it wasn’t one because I didn’t cry. I wouldn’t. Or couldn’t. So my eyes remained dry.
I reminded myself I was an unbothered queen. A queen of ice.
Then, I swallowed it all up, shook my head, pushed that pressure down, as deep and far as it would go, and returned to my messaging app.
ADALYN: Impressive.
Matthew sent one of those gifs I didn’t understand. But I didn’t ask this time. I was on a mission. This wasn’t important, and I was brushing it off.
ADALYN: So people are in need of more productive things to do with their free time. What’s new?
MATTHEW:…
MATTHEW: You okay?
ADALYN: I’m not spiraling, if that’s what you’re asking.
MATTHEW: You sure? This is a lot. It would be okay if you were… I don’t know. Running naked into the woods screaming bloody murder just out of pure frustration or something.
I rolled my eyes.
ADALYN: That’s very specific.
ADALYN: Is that how you picture someone spiraling? In the nude?
MATTHEW: I picture everyone naked. Even you. I’m a simple man with a simple enough imagination. It’s Occam’s razor theory.
ADALYN: That’s not what Occam’s razor means.
MATTHEW: You know what I mean.
I actually did.
ADALYN: Well, I’m not spiraling. Or naked.
MATTHEW: Okay. I believe you. But… call me if you need me, yeah?
ADALYN: Sure. Good night.
MATTHEW:… You’re such a bad liar. Night, Addy.
Yes. I was lying about both things.
With a sigh, I locked my phone and plugged it into my charger. I rolled on the bed, incapable of shaking that strange pressure off. As much as I tried my hardest not to give it any importance, learning of the remix had affected me. The clip was still getting attention. I was still viral. I was #LadyBirdinator, for crying out loud. And the girls—the kids of the team I was supposed to manage and use to create a success story that would redeem me and buy me a ticket back to Miami—had already found out about it. Josie had laughed it off, even bought my explanation about it being an accident. But it was a matter of time before the whole town knew and saw that video.
A very specific set of green eyes popped into my mind. I don’t think you’ll make it a single night there.
I shook myself, as if that would help shove that man’s face out of my head. I needed to relax if I ever wanted to get any sleep, and Cameron Caldani had the opposite effect. So I focused on loosening up my limbs and tried to keep my mind blank.
The tune of the techno remix slammed right back into me.
“God,” I muttered, reaching out for my AirPods.
I put them in, grabbed my phone, and hit play on a podcast.
“Hello, my true crime lovers,” the voice of my favorite podcaster started. The guy’s voice wasn’t as deep as Cameron’s, but he had a very similar accent. Which was ironic. And unimportant. I closed my eyes and let out a breath. “In today’s episode I will be taking you along with me to the wildest tundra of Alaska. So lock your doors, sit back in your comfiest chair, and let’s travel back in time, to the case of the Alaska’s slaughterer of…”
Head burrowed in the pillow, I focused on the soothing tone and rich images painted in my mind. This was an episode I’d been saving for a rainy day, but as I ventured into the story, I wasn’t so soothed by that voice anymore. And the images were no longer rich and in my mind. They were spooky and disturbingly familiar. Specifically the antlers that—
Something cackled in the cabin. Or cracked. Or creaked.
I paused the episode.
I sat up very slowly and searched the shadows filling up the cabin, praying that I was imagining things. But the truth is that I’d never had a great imagination. And I was sure I’d heard something on the other side of the cabin.
Another creak echoed. This one closer.
I held my breath, the beating of my heart quickly reaching my temples. I tore my AirPods out and searched every corner and shadow again, not finding anything.
A shiver crawled down my spine at the mere of thought of an animal or—Jesus—some crazy Alaskan butcher sneaking into the cabin and watching me. So out of some stupid instinct, I closed my hands around the comforter and brought it to my chin. The fabric was so itchy that it felt like something was crawling on my skin. But it had to be paranoia speaking. I grabbed my phone and turned the flashlight on. There couldn’t be—
A set of small feline-like eyes blinked from the darkness.
And at the exact same time, something moved under my ass. Underneath me.
I screamed. I jolted straight out of that bed, snatched everything on my bedside table, and ran.
“No, no, no, no, no. No.” I went for the first pair of shoes I found. The stilettos I’d worn today. “This wasn’t part of the deal.” I raced across the cabin. I was terrified and furious at the audacity of the universe to throw this on my already full plate. “I was supposed to be on the bottom,” I continued, making it to the antlers and grabbing my purse from where I’d hung it. “All the things that came before were supposed to be my rock bottom. There shouldn’t be more.”
But there was, apparently.
And what was worse, Cameron Caldani had been right. I was not going to make it. Not even for the night.