“I don’t know,” I say, looking up at Rich. He squeezes my knee under the table. “To be honest, I haven’t really given it much thought. I guess I’m kind of taking things one day at a time.”
“The reason I ask,” Min continues, “is because I’ve been thinking. You and I have spent a lot of time together. We get along really well. In fact,” she smiles, “I’ve started thinking of you a lot like a sister. Maybe you could stay in New York?”
“What?” I stumble.
“I can help you get admitted to a good college here, if that’s what you want to do,” Min continues quickly. “It’s the city of opportunity. Besides,” she glances at her brother, “if you stay, I have a good feeling Rich won’t be going anywhere, either. And I like having him around.”
I look at Rich. Staying, in New York? I haven’t considered the option before. I mean, I know that I told Abby I wouldn’t be coming back, but that was just because of all the uncertainty surrounding my life. Now that the weight has been lifted, thinking about the future seems like the right thing to do, but… it’s such an unfamiliar proposition.
“We could get an apartment together,” Rich offers. “New York is the perfect place for me to expand my little real estate venture.”
I look from Min to Rich in amazement. “You want me to move in with you?”
“Like I’d let you live anywhere else,” Rich answers. “I love you. I don’t want to be apart ever again.” Min is hiding a sly smile behind a raised glass of wine. I have a sneaking suspicion that the two of them planned this offer beforehand.
“Rich, of course I love you too,” I say carefully. “But, moving to New York? That’s such a big step. I only moved to Oregon a few months ago. I don’t know if I’m ready to ditch the west coast just yet. I mean, technically I’m still enrolled in college there. I’ve been gone for two weeks but it doesn’t mean I can’t catch up. And don’t you have all your development projects over there?”
“I do,” he nods. “If we live here, I’ll have to fly across the country from time to time. Min already looked up the transfer requirements for NYU. She says you’ll have no problem meeting them.”
“Even if you do,” Min giggles, “I know the Dean of Admissions. He was a friend of my father’s. We can work something out.”
“Really?” I ask.
Min nods. “Yeah. I spoke to him already. I didn’t want to think about you leaving.”
“Wow. Um, guys, this is a lot to take in.”
“You don’t have to decide anything now,” Rich says. “But I think it’ll be good for you to come live in the city. Hell, I think even I missed it after so many years away.”
“I don’t know how I can afford rent—”
“Are you kidding?” Rich laughs. “Babe, you don’t need to worry about rent or money as long as you’re with me. I promise.”
“Thanks,” I mutter. I don’t like the easy way Rich assumes I can just take his money. Even if we are in a relationship, I should be self-sufficient. Shopping today was fun, yes. But it also made me feel like a mooch. I’ve always looked after myself. Just because I’m in love does not mean I want to change that.
Min, always more astute than her brother, picks up on my discomfort immediately. “Or, I can also help you find a job,” she says. “There are so many things available if you know the right people.” She winks. “Thanks to my dad, I definitely know the right people.”
Rich grumbles under his breath but doesn’t object. “Thank you,” I say to Min. I mean it this time. Even though I don’t like feeling like I’m getting charity handouts, I appreciate her concern. “Maybe sticking around here will be a good decision.” I look at Rich. “It’s not like I have anybody waiting for me at home.”
“So it’s settled?” Rich asks, excited.
“Not quite.” I pat his leg. “But I promise I will think about it.”
“There’s no rush,” Min says easily. “I just wanted to give you the suggestion sooner rather than later so it doesn’t feel sprung up on you.”
“I appreciate that,” I smile. “What about you, then? Have you gotten back in touch with Joey yet?”
“Joey?” Rich asks, his eyes suddenly intent. “Tell me I heard that wrong.”
Min’s cheeks color. She looks down at the table, away from Rich. I’ve never seen her flustered before.
Rich notices her reaction. “Don’t tell me you have something going on with that loser?” he asks again, incredulous.
“I love him,” Min answers meekly, her voice barely audible over the din.
“What?” Rich slams his fist against the table. His eyes are afire. “Min, look at me when you answer!”
Min pulls her shoulders back and sits up straight. She matches her brother’s eye contact. “I love him,” she repeats, louder this time.
Rich looks totally shocked. “Fuck me,” he mutters. “Min, since when? For how long?”
“It’s my life, Richard! You can’t tell me who I can and cannot love!”
Rich’s jaw works as his eyes settle on Min. I’ve never seen a fight between them before. Clearly, Joey is a hot-button topic.
“For. How. Long?” Rich repeats. I can hear him trying to curb his anger. I’ve seen him try before. It’s not going to work.
“Rich,” I say softly, placing my hand on his arm. “Calm down. What’s the big deal?”
Rich jerks away from me. It feels almost like a physical slap in the face. “Tell her,” he challenges his sister.
Min shakes her head. I can see the beginning of tears in her eyes. “No.”
“If you don’t,” he warns, “I will. I don’t keep secrets from Penny. You called her your sister. You shouldn’t have secrets either.”
Min shakes her head harder. I can see her trembling, and she’s blinking away tears. “No, Rich.”
“Richard, stop it!” I hiss. “Can’t you see you’re upsetting her? She’s right. What does it matter to you who she loves?”
“It matters because I care about her, Penny,” Rich growls. “Our father sure as hell doesn’t, if he let her date this scumbag.”
“If you care about her, then you’ll drop this!” Min is on the verge of breaking down. I feel horrible for being the one to bring Joey up.
Rich does not relent. “Tell Penny the truth, Min, or I will.”
“No!”
“Fine.” Rich looks at me. He takes a deep breath. When he speaks, his words are flat. “The asshole got her pregnant and ran when she came to him. She wouldn’t have an abortion. After eight months of carrying their child on her own, she went into premature labor. The child was stillborn.”
I can hear the pure hatred in Rich’s voice. “I found out later from Amanda, who I was dating at the time,” he continues. “She reached out to Min by complete fluke about a month after it happened. I wanted to kill the bastard, but he disappeared.” He gestures sharply in Min’s direction. “And now, I learn you’re back together?”
Min stands up so fast her chair topples over. Dark lines trail down her cheeks from where her mascara had run. She looks like she’s about to spew venom at Rich.
Instead, she spins around with a wordless cry and takes off for the restroom.
“Way to go,” I spit at Rich. “Real, real smooth. What a caring older brother you are.”
I get up and hurry after Min.
Chapter Eleven
I find Min crying in the restroom stall. I rap my knuckles gently against the wood. “Min? It’s Penny. Can I please come in?”
I hear her sniffle as she tries to pull herself together. “Just give me a minute. I’ll be fine.”
“Min, please,” I beg. “I’m so sorry for bringing Joey up. I didn’t know.”
“It’s not your fault. I knew Rich would react like that.” Another sob. “That’s why I didn’t tell him. I just wish it didn’t happen tonight.” One more sob. “Now I’ve ruined a perfect evening.”
“Min, nobody can blame you. Rich acted like an ass. He was selfish and mean.
Now, can I please come in? I feel like I’m talking to the wood here.”
After a moment, I hear the latch come free. I push the door open. Min is a mess. She’s sitting on the toilet lid, her head in her hands. Silent sobs rock her body. All her makeup is ruined, and her hair, which had been so perfect just minutes ago, now falls in chaotic waves to her shoulders.
“Oh, you poor thing!” I say. “Come here.” I wrap my arms around her and let her cry into me. I make shh-ing noises like Rich had for me when I broke down on the beach. If this had happened even two weeks ago, I wouldn’t know how to react. Thankfully, I’ve had a lot of experience getting in touch with my emotions since then.
When Min calms a bit, I hold her by the shoulders and look into her eyes. “You are a beautiful, strong woman,” I tell her. “The strongest I’ve ever met. If you say you love Joey, then so be it. I remember the advice you gave me. Rich doesn’t know what it’s like for us girls. He thinks we can turn off our emotions with the flip of a switch. And he’s in no position to try to control your relationships.”
“Thank you, Penny.” Min rubs at her eyes. “I know Rich means well. But the way he brought it up just made me remember everything I went through losing Grace. Rich doesn’t even know the truth. Joey disappeared because his father sent him to military school the minute he found out about me. We were both seventeen. That’s why I didn’t hear from him. I hated him, too, while I went through all that hell. But it wasn’t Joey’s fault. His father stopped all his attempts to communicate with me. Joey didn’t even know about the stillbirth. When he found me years later, he was expecting a little kid—” Min bites back more tears, “—a girl or a boy, who looked just like him. When I told him what happened, he looked like his soul had been ripped out and torn in two.”
“Min, I’m so, so sorry.” I smooth her hair. “Your brother is a brute. I love him, but he’s just a great, big brute. Of course he’d overreact like this. He loves you, but he has his own way of showing it. He thinks you still need protection from the big bad world. He treats me the same way sometimes. I’m trying to get him to see things straight.”
“He’s lucky to have you,” Min says with a little smile. “And I’m sorry for all…” she gestures at herself, “…all this. It’s just, losing Grace when I was so young made me grow up very fast. I thought I’d buried all the pain deep down. Today, it came back with a vengeance. You know,” she admits, “for the longest time, whenever I’d look in the mirror, I’d see a weak, pathetic woman.” She laughs delicately. “What kind of mother can’t even care for her own child? I was going down a dangerous path of self-loathing and depression. And you know who fixed it? Joey. When he came back, he helped me become the woman he’d fallen in love with again.
“That’s why it hurt so much to leave him. He means everything to me. If it weren’t for him, I’d probably be on my way to an early grave with a drug addiction or something. He rescued me. He’s my angel. But tonight, the way Rich talked about him… I just felt like I was that wretched, broken woman all over again.”
“You’re not,” I tell her firmly. “You are the strongest person I know. I thought so before you told me about Grace. Now, you’re just… just unbelievable,” I finish.
“Thank you, Penny,” Min whispers. She hugs me. “You don’t know how much that means. I really do feel like you’re my sister now. Nobody except Joey knows what I’ve told you. Thank you for listening, and thank you for being such a good friend.”
“Come on,” I take her hand. “Let’s get you cleaned up, and let’s go face your brother.”
--
I leave the restroom arm-in-arm with Min. I have a newfound respect for her. The whole time I’ve known her, she’s always been so upbeat and happy. Now, knowing the nightmarish past she’s overcome, her cheerful attitude is absolutely awe-inspiring.
Rich is waiting at the table. His body language defines his mood. He’s slumped back with one arm over his chair, his legs crossed, and his eyes dark. I’m angry at him for the way he treated his sister.
He barely acknowledges us when we return. I give him a “we’re-going-to-talk-later” look. I’m not sure he gets it.
Min retrieves her jacket, avoiding her brother’s eye the whole time.
“We’re leaving,” I announce. None of us has any desire to remain here any longer.
“Fine,” Rich says gruffly, standing up and shooting a glare at Min.
“Don’t you have something to say to her?” I prompt, fishing for an apology. I know it won’t correct everything, but it will be a start.
“I said everything I wanted to,” he tells me.
Min snorts without looking up. I’m on her side. Rich is acting like a jerk.
Noticing everybody standing, our waiter comes over to start thanking us for the visit. After one look, however, he notices our disposition and wisely retreats.
We leave the restaurant together, but separate. I walk with Min. It feels like a glass wall has been erected between us and Rich. Any bystander, seeing our group, would rightfully say we look like strangers.
As we walk into the cool night, I think I catch a familiar face when we near the parking lot. I look over. But, there’s nobody there. I suppress a shiver. For half a second, I thought I saw Amanda.
The valet brings our car to the front of the underground lot. Rich tips him and takes the keys. Min shuffles into the back. After a moment’s hesitation, I climb in after her. She moves to the other seat to make room.
Rich frowns in the mirror at me. “Why aren’t you in the front?”
“Because I don’t want to sit with you after the way you acted tonight,” I tell him straight-out.
He grunts. “Fine. Suit yourself.”
“I will.”
He gives a fake smile through the mirror and starts the car. The tension surrounding us is thick. It reminds me of driving with Rich in his truck, back in Oregon, before I knew what the hell was going on.
A deafening silence shrouds the interior of the car as Rich maneuvers to the street exit. He pulls up and turns the blinker on. The pestering tick-tick-tick of the right turn signal is the only sound to break the silence.
As Rich is waiting for a gap in traffic, another car pulls up behind us. Rich taps the steering wheel in irritation. Traffic is heavy and nobody is letting us through.
The car behind us starts flashing its high beams on and off. Rich inches forward. Still no gap. The lights continue to flash. Rich grips the steering wheel harder and growls. I look over my shoulder at the aggressor in the other vehicle. I can’t see anything against the bright glare of the other car’s headlights.
One of the cars on the street slows down, as if to let us through. It’s a miniscule space. The driver of the car behind us sees it and lays on the horn.
“Fucking asshole,” Rich mutters under his breath. The pressure gets to him, though, and he steps on the gas to turn onto the street.
Tires screech behind us at the same moment.
Time slows for me.
I turn my head to the right by instinct. I see past Min, through the window. I see the bright lights of the car that had been behind us quickly approaching. The scream that forms in my throat has no time to escape.
I hear a sickening crunch and feel the heavy impact of the other car. My head whips back and cracks against the window.
A heavy black curtain falls over my eyes.
--
Sounds are the first thing to penetrate my consciousness. They morph together into one incoherent mass. I strain my ears to pick out something distinctive. But, it’s incredibly hard.
Darkness dominates. It threatens to take over as I teeter on the edge of wakefulness. It wants to pull me into the abyss.
Somehow, I know there will be no awakening if I let it win.
The realization spurs my efforts to gain control over my body. With a great heave, I force my eyelids open.
An unfamiliar male face hovers above mine. “She’s awake!” the stranger screams behind h
im. Cold air rushes past my cheeks as I’m being lifted. Red, blue, and white lights flash all around me. I hear sirens in the distance, and wonder: Are they coming for us?
I’m being laid onto a flat, horizontal surface. After a few seconds, my head gets propped up. Something about the repositioning reminds me to focus. I put all my efforts into actually seeing what my eyes are showing me.
I see the chaos before me for the first time. The car we were all in—Rich’s rental car—is a mass of twisted metal. It lies flipped over. The windows are shattered. The frame is crushed in two places: at the rear fender, and at the right side passenger door—right where Min was sitting.
Oh my God. Min. Rich!
I jerk upright. A wave of dizziness threatens. Two firm yet gentle hands take hold of my shoulders and ease me down.
A different male face comes into view. “Look at me,” he says. He shines something bright into my eyes. I close them to stop the shooting pain that rockets through my temples.
“Easy now,” the stranger says. “Just breathe. Slow and steady. I won’t do that again.”
The deep breaths I take help calm me. Eventually, the pain in my head fades. I open my eyes to find two people looking down at me. The newcomer is a uniformed female police officer.
“Miss, you’ve been in an accident,” she informs me. My brain barely registers her words. It feels too surreal. “You’re being taken to the hospital. Is there anybody we can call to meet you there?”
“Rich…” I manage. My voice sounds desperate to my own ears. “Min…”
The two people above me exchange a glance. “The man and woman you were with are both alive,” the officer says. “They’re being taken to the hospital as well.”
I exhale in relief. Alive. That had been my greatest fear.
“What’s your name, Miss?”
“P-Penelope,” I croak. Even my own voice makes my head pound.
“Penelope. You’re going to be just fine. You sustained some minor bodily injuries…”
“My head,” I struggle. “Why does my head hurt so much?”
“…as well as head trauma resulting in a concussion.” I register the words, and understand their meaning, but thinking past that is… fuzzy. My body feels battered and bruised, but nothing is intolerable. I’m most concerned about my head.
Uncovering You: The Complete Series (Mega Box Set) Page 214