More than Once

25

I set the card on the table, taking a deep breath. “This is very generous and kind of you. I am so, so grateful, but…I can’t accept this.”

My parents exchanged a startled look. “Why not?” Dad asked.

“Because I haven’t been entirely truthful with you.” I met Andrew’s eyes. He looked shocked, but he nodded like he wanted me to go on. “Brett isn’t really my boyfriend. His name isn’t even Brett. It’s Andrew.”

“I don’t understand,” Dad said, glancing at Andrew, who bowed his head.

“What do you mean, he’s not your boyfriend?” Mom asked. “Not Brett?”

“I was dating a guy named Brett, but he dumped me yesterday. I knew you wanted me to have a perfect boyfriend like him, and I was scared to tell you that we’d broken up. Then I ran into Andrew and asked him to help me out at dinner by pretending to be Brett. The story about us meeting at a party was real. We just never started dating after that.”

Trish and Matt watched with wide eyes, while Hannah focused on her new iPad. I was so thankful for whatever game she was playing that made her completely oblivious to all of this.

“Is this true?” my mother asked, turning to Andrew, like she believed him more than me. “Why would you pretend to be Brett?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, not meeting her eyes. “I’m really sorry about the deception. I didn’t have anywhere to go on Christmas, and when Becca asked me to help her, I couldn’t say no, especially since she’d just gotten fired because of me and—”

“You got fired, too? Oh, Rebecca,” Mom said, in that disappointed voice I’d heard so many times before, her forehead pinching together. I wanted to shrink down and disappear into the gaps in the hardwood floor.

Andrew gave me an apologetic look, but it didn’t matter at this point if they knew about my job. I’d already ruined everything with my parents, reminding them why they couldn’t trust me, why I would never ever make them proud.

“We really thought you had changed,” Dad said. “But you’re still lying to us and can’t seem to hold down a job.”

“Was it all a lie?” my mom asked. “Everything you’ve told us over the last few months?”

“No, not all of it—” I started.

“So who are you, then?” Dad asked Andrew. “Do you really work for Statewide Airlines? What about everything else you told us?”

Andrew opened his mouth to respond, but my mom cut him off. “I thought for sure my baby had finally found a nice guy, but it was all a ruse,” she said, taking a swig of her mimosa.

Dad shook his head. “Rebecca, this is really disappointing. We thought, with Brett, that you were changing your life and finally settling down. But now…I don’t think we can help you with college after all.”

I was almost in tears, but at the same time, I was kind of pissed off, too. I understood why they were turning me down and why they were upset, and I didn’t blame them at all. Yes, I had seriously f****d up by lying to them, which is why I’d confessed and turned down the money. But it was like they cared more about the fact that “Brett” wasn’t my boyfriend than anything else I’d done in the last few months to show them I had changed.

I slammed my napkin down on the table and stood up quickly, rattling the silverware. “I already said I was turning down the money. I know I messed up, and I don’t deserve your help. But really, if the only measure of how I’ve changed is who I’m dating and whether I’m on my way to marriage and babies, then I’m not sure I want your help anyway.”

I left the table and ran outside, slamming the front door behind me. The snow had stopped coming down but it was still frosty, although I was so upset I didn’t care if I froze. I just needed to get away from them.

Ten seconds out on the front porch, I changed my mind. My sweater wasn’t nearly thick enough for this weather. I really wished I had brought a jacket. Or a blanket. Or a space heater. But I wasn’t going back in there, no way in hell.

I rubbed my hands on my arms, my breath misting the air as my parents’ words replayed in my head. They didn’t understand me, and it was becoming more and more clear that they never would. They wanted me to be Trish, to settle down and live a quiet, content life as a wife and mother. But that would never be me. Sure, I wanted to get married and have kids someday, but not anytime soon.

Maybe they were right and I hadn’t really changed. Maybe I was still the exact same girl who had dropped out of college to become a rock star and then managed to f**k that up, too.

God, I really wanted a cigarette.

My phone beeped in my pocket, and I groaned and pulled it out. s**t, what now?

A text from Hector this time. We need your help. Call me.

No other words, but Hector was always succinct and to the point. One of my favorite things about him.

If they were contacting me this much, and on Christmas morning, it had to be important. I’d call them back later if only to get them to stop bugging me. But worrying about my former band members’ problems was the last thing I cared about right now.

I had enough problems of my own to deal with.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

ANDREW

Becca rushed out of the room, leaving her parents staring after her with shocked expressions. I should probably leave, too, but I didn’t want them to think I was a complete liar. Or that I cared nothing for Becca and was just using her for free food or something.