Look to the Rainbow by Lynn Murphy Read Free Book Online Page A

John.”
     
         Evan needed a few minutes before he called Ross, because the conversation with Skip had been just a little too close to home. He had just given Skip advice he hadn’t heeded himself. There were things he never talked about, even to Ross, and seldom to Mary Katherine that still haunted him. Things tied to Baltimore and Johns Hopkins. He faulted Mary Katherine for holding on too tightly to the hurts of the past, but he had ghosts in his closet too that refused to go away, no matter how hard he had tried make them vanish. He’d learned more about faith and prayer than he had ever considered possible since the tragic events that had ended his Olympic career and changed his life forever. “God,” he whispered, “help Skip right now. And maybe me too.”
     
         His phone rang and he saw Ross’s name on caller id. “Hey Ross.”
     
         “I just had an interesting conversation with Faulkner.”
     
         “I’m sure you did.” Evan said.
     
         “Sounds like you’ve already saved me the  trouble of asking you to ask Skip what’s going on. Faulkner said- and I quote- “Duncan seems totally disinterested in anything related to his studies.’ What did Skip tell you?”
     
         “Is Molly there? Can you put this on speaker so I can talk to both of you?”
     
         “Sure. Hold on. Okay we’re both here.”
     
         Evan took a deep breath and hoped this went well. “How often do you talk to Skip?”
     
         Molly said, “He usually calls me a couple times a week and talks to Ross once a week.”
     
         “When was the last time you talked to him?”
     
         “Actually I’ve just gotten his voice mail for the last three weeks. Maybe more. He’s sent me a few texts, but that’s it.”
     
         “When a kid that usually calls his parents three times a week suddenly doesn’t call for almost a month that should be a red flag, Molly. I’m not being judgmental here, and I haven’t talked to him in at least that long either. But the truth is, we should all have realized something was wrong and we didn’t.”
     
         “Evan, what’s going on?” Ross’s voice sounded anxious.
     
         “Skip had become fairly serious about a girl he was dating. Serious enough he was going to bring her to meet you. He went to pick her up for a date and found her dead. She’d committed suicide.”
     
         “Oh Skip,” Molly said softly.
     
         “For his grades to be that low, he had to have been doing pretty much nothing long before this happened. He doesn’t want to be in medical school Ross.”
     
         “So why couldn’t he just say that?”
     
         “He thinks you’ll be crushed. He has this idea you’ve always wanted him to follow in yours and James’ footsteps.”
     
         “Only if that’s what he wants to do. I don’t want you to take this wrong way Evan. but it hurts me that he’d tell you this and not me.”
     
         “I understand and I’m not offended, Ross.  All I can say is that for some reason he doesn’t think he can talk to you and maybe you can take this opportunity to change that. I do know he loves you and doesn’t want you to be disappointed in him.”
     
         “What is he planning to do,” Molly asked. “Did he mention that?”
     
         “John and Kel need some help with the campaign. Skip can take a leave of absence instead of just dropping out and if he doesn’t go back, he just doesn’t. That lets him be with family and away from Hopkins and he’ll be too busy to think about what’s happened and that’s what he needs right now.”
     
        “Is he with you right now?” Molly asked.
     
         “I imagine they’ve all gone to the debate. I’m heading there myself.  He probably needs a little time before he talks about this again. Call him after that.” They talked for several more minutes about how to handle the situation