Infinite in Between by Carolyn Mackler Read Free Book Online Page A

there and lived in the dorms. He came home every few weeks to do laundry. Zoe hid in her bedroom whenever he was here. She’d never had a sibling or even a cousin before. She didn’t know how to do the family thing.
    â€œRich is coming with his wife, Glenda, and their daughter,” Jane said. Rich was Jane’s ex-husband, David’s father.
    â€œIsn’t it awkward to have your ex-husband over with his new family?”
    â€œIt’s been a lot of years.” Jane cut open a bag of pecans. “A lot of water under the bridge. We go with it.”
    Zoe nodded. It was cool how Jane talked to her like an equal. She’d even told Zoe a little about her grandparents, Sierra and Jane’s mom and dad, who had died in a car accident more than twenty years ago. Sierra rarely talked about them because it upset her too much, but Jane told her stories about them, and even explainedcarefully how Sierra had been in bad shape after they died. The one thing they never discussed, though, was why Sierra and Jane had had a falling out.
    â€œYou should know,” Jane said as she handed Zoe a measuring cup, “that the best recipe for pecan pie is on the corn syrup bottle.”
    â€œReally?” Zoe studied the label on the glass bottle.
    Jane’s phone rang. She glanced at the counter. “Max.”
    Zoe wrinkled her nose. “Why’s he calling again?”
    â€œNot sure.” Jane wiped her hands on a dishrag. “Hello?”
    Zoe reached into the pecan bag for a few nuts.
    â€œOh. Oh no.” Jane walked into the living room and sat down on the piano stool.
    Zoe tried to drum her fingers to “Graceland,” but all she could hear in her head was pounding, like her brain was on the spin cycle of a washing machine.
    A few minutes later Jane came back into the kitchen.
    â€œOkay, so . . .” Jane said, turning her phone around in her hands. “Max talked to Lani. . . . Sierra didn’t come home today. She’s still at . . . the place. She needs a few more weeks.”
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” Zoe asked, her throat tight. “Did I say something wrong on that phone call?”
    â€œOh no, honey. No, no.” Jane reached over and touched Zoe’s arm. “He didn’t say what was wrong exactly. I’m sure she’s just working things through. But you’ll stay here and have Thanksgiving with us.”
    Lani had promised that her mom would pick her up at the airport in Los Angeles. Zoe was going to bake her a pecan pie andsomehow carry it cross-country.
    â€œI’m sorry.” Jane set her hand on Zoe’s shoulder, but Zoe wriggled away.
    She ran upstairs to the bathroom and grabbed the nail polish remover from the cabinet. With a few swipes she erased all the remaining purple from her toes.

WHITNEY
    OF COURSE KYRA had to go all drama queen at the mall. She and Whitney were shopping for their lucky audition shirts, but Whitney was also planning to tell Kyra that her parents had separated. Her dad had told her and Alicia that awful weekend that he forced them to go camping. Her mom had moved into a rental house six weeks ago .
    Kyra’s mom had dropped them off at the mall. Christmas music was blasting, and holiday shoppers were shoving around with their armfuls of bags. Whitney wanted to find their shirts for the Grease auditions and then get to Auntie Anne’s so they could share a cinnamon-sugar pretzel and she could tell Kyra about her parents. She’d already told Laurel, but then made her promise not to say anything. It was stressful keeping her stories straight. Whitney was so stressed, she’d gotten a migraine a few days ago and stayed home from school, puking in pain.
    â€œIt’s not fair!” Kyra shouted, pushing her bottom lip out.
    They’d just left the cashier at Bloomingdale’s. Several people looked over at them.
    â€œWe’ll find you a good shirt,” Whitney said, dropping her