She had to let Ryan go. Focus only on her family until they were all okay. Then, maybe, she could have something just for her.
“I won’t do it again, Mom. From now on, you all are my only priority.”
“God, I hope not.”
Elissa’s head snapped up. Her father stood in the doorway, a travel mug of coffee in one hand and a bag of donuts in the other. He walked across the room and placed both items on a small table.
“Come here, Elissa.” He held his arms wide open.
She threw herself into them, allowing their quiet strength to soothe her. When she finally quieted, he released her and handed a box of tissues to her. Elissa wiped her eyes and blew her nose before sitting again.
“Have a donut.” He passed the bag as he joined her.
She grabbed whatever was on top. It tasted like sawdust, but seemed to make her dad feel better.
“Where’s Leo?”
“Sleeping like a teenager up all night. Dead to the world.”
“Good. He needed it.”
“I always wondered what was going through your head. You keep things bottled up.” He took a bite out of a powdered donut, getting a dusting of white on his dark slacks. “Your best moments often happened around some of our family’s worst. But, Lissa, one didn’t cause the other. The universe isn’t out to get you.”
“Every time something good happens, something bad follows. What would you call that?”
“That? That’s life. But did you consider you’re looking at it in the wrong direction?”
She shook her head. No, it was always good, then bad.
“Yes, most of the bad stuff came after the good stuff,” her father said. “But we found out your mom’s contract wouldn’t be renewed before you went off to college, giving us time to adjust. You went to the U to begin with, which has an excellent accounting program, if I do say so myself, instead of switching halfway through. And yeah, your knucklehead boyfriend left you in the lurch, but that meant you were here when Ami needed you to bail her out.”
“You knew?” Ami had talked to their parents about what happened. Had hell frozen over?
“Ami told us sometime later. She thought you ratted her out and was surprised you hadn’t.”
“She’s an adult.” Whatever else Ami was, she made her own choices and had solid reasons for them. Reasons neither Elissa nor her parents understood sometimes, but reasons. “I figured she’d tell you when she was ready. It wasn’t my place to say.”
“I never thanked you for that,” her sister said from the door. She walked across the room and gave Elissa a quick hug.
“You paid me back, took the misdemeanor, and worked off the fine and community service. I was kind of proud of you.”
“Did I ever tell you why I hit that asshole?” Ami snagged a donut from the bag their dad still held.
“I’m sure he had it coming, but no, not the exact reason.”
“I caught him sneaking something into my girlfriend’s glass.” She waved the donut around wildly. “It got spilled in the ‘altercation,’ so I couldn’t prove anything. And he flopped like a wuss. I didn’t even hit him hard. I think he found a perverse joy in getting a lesbian in trouble.”
“Aren’t you bi?” Elissa’s donut started to taste like something now. She took a bite and let the carbs do their dopamine work.
“I wasn’t going to explain my sexuality to some asshat. As far as he knew, I was a lesbian. And I’d do it again but hit him harder.” Her sister bit into her own donut, getting frosting on the corner of her mouth.
“Okay, now I’m even more proud of you.” Elissa grabbed another tissue to wipe the stupid tears falling down her stupid face.
“So if you hadn’t been there to pay my bail, Sabrina would’ve. She wasn’t out yet, and her family would have found out. They’re super conservative, and she would’ve been in big, big trouble. Instead, she was able to graduate and get the hell out of that house.”
“And Victor leaving—” her dad said.
“Was a blessing. You were way too interesting for Mr. Snoozefest,” Ami said.
