I wasn’t sure if he was ready for that.
As I got into the car, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Pulling it out, I found a text from Emma: Coming back. We can go home. I’ll get to know Andy when it’s safer. A second text buzzed through as I watched: I love you.
The car was spinning.
No, that was me. I groaned as I leaned forward. The car wouldn’t stop spinning. I could hear it laughing at me. It was taunting me, calling me a lightweight. Then I realized that wasn’t the car. It was my sister. She sat next to me, patting my back and laughing to herself.
When I looked up at her, she convulsed in laughter again, covering her mouth with her hand.
“Sorry,” she sputtered. “So sorry.”
She wasn’t. She kept laughing. Her entire face was a bright red.
I scowled at her, or I would’ve if my fourth glass of wine wasn’t threatening to spill out. “Too much wine. Way too much.”
“I know.” She couldn’t stop giggling and shook her head. “I’m so sorry.”
“That was four glasses ago. Theresa stopped doing wine nights. I’m out of practice.”
“Oh, Emma.” Her hand rubbed circles on my back. “But we had fun. Who’s Theresa?”
The car hit a pothole, and my stomach lurched into my throat. Oh no. Not good. Chunks were going to blow. I struggled to keep the wine down as I tried to focus on what Andrea had just said. Who was Theresa? That was it. I answered in a mumble, “She’s the one who trained me in wine drinking. I could’ve matched you glass for glass tonight if we hadn’t stopped.”
“What happened?”
“We went to the gun range instead.” Another pothole. The car lurched to the side, and my stomach went right with it. Clamping a hand over my mouth, I felt it coming. I wasn’t going to be able to stop it. No, no, no. Carter spent too much money on these clothes. That was it. I was wearing my own clothes when I got back. Screw how they felt. They were cheap, and I could drink the best wine in them.
“Oh, yeah. Kevin told me about that.” Andrea began petting my hair. She sounded content. “Who would’ve thought this? I’m in the back of a car with my sister, and we’re both tipsy.”
I held up a hand. “I’m not tipsy. That can be fun. I’m sick. That’s not fun.”
“You know what I mean. I feel like we’re eighteen. We snuck out of the house and got drunk on wine coolers. Did you ever have those?” She sighed, leaning back in the seat. “I did. Some of the other girls and I would do that. We’d tell our parents we were sleeping over at each other’s houses, and then all of us went up to Beth Anne’s cabin. Of course, it wasn’t a cabin. It was a log mansion, but it was fun. Wine coolers, gossiping, and swimming. Then we’d wait for the guys to crash our party. Oh, man. I miss those days. It was so simple back then.”
My stomach stopped doing somersaults and settled. Her words were another reminder of how different we were. Andrea snuck out of her house to a log mansion. I snuck out of my foster home. She got tipsy off wine coolers. I got arrested. She got to go back to her adoptive parents. I went to a new foster home. Same face. Different lives.
I forced a smile. “I’m suddenly sober now.”
“That’s good.” She gave me another dreamy smile as she patted my arm. Her eyes had glazed over. I could almost see the fond memories. “I can’t wait for you to meet my parents. They’ve been supportive of me finding you—”
“Andrea,” I started.
“Nope. I told you. Andy. I’m Andy to you.”
I removed her hand from my arm and cringed. “Andrea, we promised to wait to share our past with each other.” I didn’t want to hear any more about her loving family, not when she seemed to want to take away the only family I’d had growing up: AJ.
“I know. I’m sorry. I just…” A wistful look came over her. “I found you. I still can’t believe it. And Carter.” She started fanning herself. “My god, that man. I couldn’t believe it when I first saw you. You were with him, and even though he didn’t look at you, I could tell he loved you—like, really loved you. You were going from a car to a hotel or something. And those guards were all around you. You were so beautiful, Emma.”
I was a trophy to her.
That was how her words made me feel. I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d be so alluring if I wasn’t with Carter Reed? Would I still be so beautiful?
Stop, Emma. She’s your sister. Get to know her. Love her. She’s family.
I could almost hear AJ’s words in my head. No matter what she’d said against him, he would’ve wanted me to know her.
I think. But why had we been separated? That was going to plague me. I had to find out the answer.
“Andrea.” I lifted my head.
She stopped patting and straightened in her seat. Her mouth turned down. “Why won’t you use my nickname? All my family and friends do—”
“Because I’m not,” I snapped. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it to come out like that, but I’m not your friend or your family. Not yet, anyway. We have to go slow. I meant what I said before. I don’t trust easily, and I can’t pretend we’re close sisters. We’re not even close friends yet. My life is complicated right now, and I can’t handle the pressure of forcing this.”
Her voice grew soft. “I thought that was okay, though? We’ve established that we’ll take our time.”
“I know. I know we both said that, and I know you’re excited about finding me. But why were we separated? Our mother was a drug addict. Was she dangerous? Why did AJ take me, if he did take me away? And I won’t hear you talk bad about him anymore. He loved me. He took care of me. He tried his best to raise me the right way, but he died. You grew up in this beautiful life. I grew up in foster care. I had no one to depend on during those years, and you, it sounds like you had an abundance of people who cared for you.”
She had turned away. I had made her cry. Of course. I spoke the truth, but I had hurt her in the process. I sat back. Was I supposed to comfort her now? Was that my place? I couldn’t. Instead, I just continued talking. “I just need you to slow down.” So I could breathe. “Just slow down.”
She looked back at me, and her eyes had softened. She started to smile, but the car swerved to the left. The force of it was so abrupt that we both pitched against the side.
As I got into the car, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Pulling it out, I found a text from Emma: Coming back. We can go home. I’ll get to know Andy when it’s safer. A second text buzzed through as I watched: I love you.
The car was spinning.
No, that was me. I groaned as I leaned forward. The car wouldn’t stop spinning. I could hear it laughing at me. It was taunting me, calling me a lightweight. Then I realized that wasn’t the car. It was my sister. She sat next to me, patting my back and laughing to herself.
When I looked up at her, she convulsed in laughter again, covering her mouth with her hand.
“Sorry,” she sputtered. “So sorry.”
She wasn’t. She kept laughing. Her entire face was a bright red.
I scowled at her, or I would’ve if my fourth glass of wine wasn’t threatening to spill out. “Too much wine. Way too much.”
“I know.” She couldn’t stop giggling and shook her head. “I’m so sorry.”
“That was four glasses ago. Theresa stopped doing wine nights. I’m out of practice.”
“Oh, Emma.” Her hand rubbed circles on my back. “But we had fun. Who’s Theresa?”
The car hit a pothole, and my stomach lurched into my throat. Oh no. Not good. Chunks were going to blow. I struggled to keep the wine down as I tried to focus on what Andrea had just said. Who was Theresa? That was it. I answered in a mumble, “She’s the one who trained me in wine drinking. I could’ve matched you glass for glass tonight if we hadn’t stopped.”
“What happened?”
“We went to the gun range instead.” Another pothole. The car lurched to the side, and my stomach went right with it. Clamping a hand over my mouth, I felt it coming. I wasn’t going to be able to stop it. No, no, no. Carter spent too much money on these clothes. That was it. I was wearing my own clothes when I got back. Screw how they felt. They were cheap, and I could drink the best wine in them.
“Oh, yeah. Kevin told me about that.” Andrea began petting my hair. She sounded content. “Who would’ve thought this? I’m in the back of a car with my sister, and we’re both tipsy.”
I held up a hand. “I’m not tipsy. That can be fun. I’m sick. That’s not fun.”
“You know what I mean. I feel like we’re eighteen. We snuck out of the house and got drunk on wine coolers. Did you ever have those?” She sighed, leaning back in the seat. “I did. Some of the other girls and I would do that. We’d tell our parents we were sleeping over at each other’s houses, and then all of us went up to Beth Anne’s cabin. Of course, it wasn’t a cabin. It was a log mansion, but it was fun. Wine coolers, gossiping, and swimming. Then we’d wait for the guys to crash our party. Oh, man. I miss those days. It was so simple back then.”
My stomach stopped doing somersaults and settled. Her words were another reminder of how different we were. Andrea snuck out of her house to a log mansion. I snuck out of my foster home. She got tipsy off wine coolers. I got arrested. She got to go back to her adoptive parents. I went to a new foster home. Same face. Different lives.
I forced a smile. “I’m suddenly sober now.”
“That’s good.” She gave me another dreamy smile as she patted my arm. Her eyes had glazed over. I could almost see the fond memories. “I can’t wait for you to meet my parents. They’ve been supportive of me finding you—”
“Andrea,” I started.
“Nope. I told you. Andy. I’m Andy to you.”
I removed her hand from my arm and cringed. “Andrea, we promised to wait to share our past with each other.” I didn’t want to hear any more about her loving family, not when she seemed to want to take away the only family I’d had growing up: AJ.
“I know. I’m sorry. I just…” A wistful look came over her. “I found you. I still can’t believe it. And Carter.” She started fanning herself. “My god, that man. I couldn’t believe it when I first saw you. You were with him, and even though he didn’t look at you, I could tell he loved you—like, really loved you. You were going from a car to a hotel or something. And those guards were all around you. You were so beautiful, Emma.”
I was a trophy to her.
That was how her words made me feel. I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d be so alluring if I wasn’t with Carter Reed? Would I still be so beautiful?
Stop, Emma. She’s your sister. Get to know her. Love her. She’s family.
I could almost hear AJ’s words in my head. No matter what she’d said against him, he would’ve wanted me to know her.
I think. But why had we been separated? That was going to plague me. I had to find out the answer.
“Andrea.” I lifted my head.
She stopped patting and straightened in her seat. Her mouth turned down. “Why won’t you use my nickname? All my family and friends do—”
“Because I’m not,” I snapped. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it to come out like that, but I’m not your friend or your family. Not yet, anyway. We have to go slow. I meant what I said before. I don’t trust easily, and I can’t pretend we’re close sisters. We’re not even close friends yet. My life is complicated right now, and I can’t handle the pressure of forcing this.”
Her voice grew soft. “I thought that was okay, though? We’ve established that we’ll take our time.”
“I know. I know we both said that, and I know you’re excited about finding me. But why were we separated? Our mother was a drug addict. Was she dangerous? Why did AJ take me, if he did take me away? And I won’t hear you talk bad about him anymore. He loved me. He took care of me. He tried his best to raise me the right way, but he died. You grew up in this beautiful life. I grew up in foster care. I had no one to depend on during those years, and you, it sounds like you had an abundance of people who cared for you.”
She had turned away. I had made her cry. Of course. I spoke the truth, but I had hurt her in the process. I sat back. Was I supposed to comfort her now? Was that my place? I couldn’t. Instead, I just continued talking. “I just need you to slow down.” So I could breathe. “Just slow down.”
She looked back at me, and her eyes had softened. She started to smile, but the car swerved to the left. The force of it was so abrupt that we both pitched against the side.
