That New York Minute. Abby Gaines
phone signal was stronger “—and call LeeAnne. She’ll want to see you.”
Good thing Rachel had plenty more twenties in her purse. Her younger sister, LeeAnne, was the mother of three-year-old twins. The twins’ father had taken off before they were even born, so LeeAnne depended entirely on her parents for backup. She usually tried to live within a few miles of Nora and Burton. Though as Rachel often pointed out, part-time work that paid a decent wage and allowed her time with the kids was hard enough to find without the added complication of moving so often.
LeeAnne always agreed, but she still packed up and moved each time.
“Seen any good ads lately?” Rachel asked her father.
Her dad rumbled on about a Toyota truck commercial—TV with radio and print backup—that Rachel also considered pretty good. “But my favorite is that Lexus ad with the bridge,” Burton said.
Rachel stiffened. “Really? You like that?” It was one of Garrett’s campaigns, the first one he’d done at KBC. “You don’t think it was bit over-the-top?”
“Over-the-top!” her father scoffed. “It’s sheer genius.”
Rachel grunted. A sound that reminded her of Garrett, as if she needed to think of him.
“It sure would be convenient if you could win a beer company as a client, hon,” her mom joked. “Your dad won a gas grill in a raffle at work, so we thought we’d get some friends over to christen it. A few freebies wouldn’t go amiss.”
Her parents had been here long enough to make friends to invite over. Could they actually be settling down? Rachel treated it with a healthy dose of skepticism, but, still, it was a tantalizing thought.
Rachel’s childhood was a blur of different homes—cheap apartments, trailers, the occasional small house. Sooner or later, the Fryes had left them all, most with a cheery toot of the horn to the neighbors, a few in the dead of night in the hope the landlord wouldn’t chase after them.
It was amazing none of those landlords had tracked them down and taken them to court … but then, her folks were nice people who always meant well. Their creditors always seemed to end up excusing them.
Rachel excused them, too. They were loving parents, and if she’d had to be particularly tenacious to burrow herself into each new school and earn the grades she wanted … well, that was character building. And it wasn’t as if Mom and Dad didn’t work hard or try to get ahead.
The problem was their method of doing so.
For as long as Rachel could remember, they’d been suckers for the promise of good times around the corner. Over and again, they’d uprooted themselves so Burton could chase after an exciting new job. Or borrowed more than they could afford to invest in a “sure thing.”
Just once, they’d had a great return. They’d lent a thousand bucks to a guy who’d patented a new can opener, and got three thousand back. Other than that, to give it the most charitable interpretation, they were the unluckiest investors in the world.
Rachel had long ago agreed to disagree with her parents. She loved them, but she didn’t want their lives, and she couldn’t share their excitement about the Next Big Thing. And they’d had enough of what they called her cynicism.
They talked about harmless subjects until LeeAnne and the twins, Kylie and Dannii—named after the Minogue sisters—arrived for lunch. After they’d eaten and cleared away the dishes, the girls stayed at the table with crayons and coloring books, while the adults spread out in the living area, ready to bend their brains to Rachel’s latest problem. Her family treated it like a game, and with them it felt like one.
As opposed to feeling as if her life was on the line.
“So let’s talk about how people without a college background choose a college for their kids,” she said. “I’ve been trying to remember the discussions we had when I was in high school.”
“You girls could have gone to college,” Nora said. “You were both bright enough.”
“We looked into the whole student loans thing,” her father reminded Rachel. “But you said you didn’t want to go.”
They’d had no way of funding a college education beyond massive loans. And Rachel had seen firsthand the consequences of excessive borrowing; she’d wanted nothing to do with it.
“I’d love it if Kylie and Dannii went to college,” LeeAnne said wistfully. “Maybe they’ll end up in these schools you’re advertising and really make something of themselves.”
“They already are something,” Nora scolded. “They’re the two most adorable girls that ever lived. After you and your sister.”
“There is that.” LeeAnne smiled.
Threads of ideas began to float in Rachel’s mind. She knew better than to try pinning them down when they were this ephemeral. If she let them float a while, they might coalesce into something solid.
Solid. That’s how Tony had described her work. She needed better than solid.
“Takes four years to get a degree,” Burton warned LeeAnne.
“I know.”
“I guess we have a few years to come into some money,” Burton joked.
Oh, boy. Rachel hoped her sister had more of a plan than that. Maybe Rachel could start a college fund for her nieces.
They talked for a while longer. Then LeeAnne glanced at her combined watch and pedometer, which sported the name of a well-known cereal company, one of Rachel’s clients. “I’d better go, I’m trying to get the girls into more of a daily routine before they start nursery school. It’s time for their nap.”
Rachel walked her sister out to her rusting Toyota. They each held one of the twins by the hand.
“So this routine thing is new,” Rachel said as she buckled Dannii into her car seat.
“Yeah, I sound almost like you.” LeeAnne flashed her a grin and clipped Kylie in.
“Don’t knock it—it works.” Rachel kissed Dannii, then closed the door, stuffing a twenty into the door pocket as she did so. “So they start nursery school in September?”
“Yep.” LeeAnne climbed into the driver’s seat and lowered the passenger window so they could continue talking. “There’s a great school right near us. I hope we’re still in the neighborhood.”
Had her sister ever expressed a desire to remain in one place before?
Rachel leaned in through the window and said casually, “You could stay. If Mom and Dad move, I mean.”
“You know I need to be near them. I couldn’t raise the girls without their moral support, not to mention Mom’s babysitting.” LeeAnne looked in her rearview mirror, back at the trailer.
“Dad’s work is steady, right?” Rachel asked. “There’s no reason to move.”
“Only if something too good to miss comes up somewhere else.” LeeAnne let out a breath that was almost a sigh.
“Maybe if you refused to go with them, Mom and Dad would stay put,” Rachel suggested. LeeAnne had grumbled a bit when they were kids, but she’d never been upset by their constant moves as Rachel had. Maybe, at last, she was developing an interest in stability.
Her sister looked skeptical. “I’m not sure that’s what I want. Moving can be exciting. Though maybe not as often as we do it,” she admitted.
“You should think about staying. For the twins’ sake.” Rachel figured she’d better not push her luck. She stepped back and patted the side of the car. “Off you go, sis.”
She watched until the Toyota turned out onto the road. As she headed back inside, a couple of images that might work for Brightwater Group flashed