She didn’t.
“Yes. That was Joanne’s goal. Tobias’ father’s some rich night club owner in Manchester. I think she got pregnant on purpose, even though she tried to blame mum and me for her keeping him. I’m pretty sure, because she thought he was her meal ticket, and she liked how she was treated as his girlfriend.” She looked up at me, her expression tired.
Dee hadn’t said much about Joanne before, or Toby’s dad.
“There are a lot of women out there like that. Jade was one.” I hadn’t actually met Joanne and I was hoping I wouldn’t. The chances were she’d flirt with me, then make something up to Dee about how I came onto her.
“I know. I always felt guilty that I was good at football. Joanne tried to be, mainly because she liked the attention I got from it and she wanted it too, but she wasn’t very good.” She shook her head. “This is shit. You had one of the best games of the season and we’re sat here talking about the train wreck that’s my sister.”
I shrugged. “Life, isn’t it? Just don’t feel guilty. That’s what will really piss me off, if you beat yourself up over this.”
Dee stood up. “But it’s not just me she’s going to harm. You get dragged into this, too. And if the press find out about your sister – that’s not fair.”
“I spoke to Genny about my sister. I’m going to link up with the charity that raises money for research into her condition and offer support to families of those with it.” It wasn’t a new idea, and I’d spoken to my mam about it again this week. She was now onboard with it, probably because my image had changed in the last few months.
Dee frowned. “That means the media will find out about your sister.”
“It’ll be a positive news story. People will benefit from it, and I’ll be controlling what’s said, rather than them finding out because they’re digging. You know that’s what Genny’s going to suggest about this? An interview with me and you, and we’ll talk about Toby too.” I’d had enough issues with Genny and the media to know how her brain worked with capitalising on stuff like this.
Dee nodded. “I’m glad about your sister. And thank you for the way you’ve handled this – most people would’ve gone off the deep end.”
Which was what she was about to do.
“I just need a bit of space to get my head together. Do you mind if you don’t stay here tonight? I’m so sorry, I just need a bit of time to myself.”
I stood up, nodding. I could point out all the ways in which she didn’t need space from me but that was only going to make her reverse further back into her corner.
“I understand. Call me when you want me around again and don’t worry about the photos.” I picked my bag up from where I’d left it next to the sofa and headed to the front door, carrying my keys to her house with me.
CHAPTER20
Dee
“How wasRowan after his goal yesterday? I bet he was all fired up.” Izzy undid her boot laces, not looking up to see the worry that was on my face.
I’d messed up.
My default reaction when something bad happened was to deal with it by myself, because that was what I’d been doing for years. I knew that I wasn’t to blame for how my sister had been the last few months – or longer if I was being honest. I knew she was jealous, and yes, I knew she resented having to look after Toby. It wasn’t my fault, and I didn’t need a therapist to get me to that conclusion, but that didn’t mean I could just hold my head up and plod forward.
I hadn’t had a ton of boyfriends, not serious ones anyway. At school, I was more known for being sporty, while Joanne, in the year below, was the beauty queen. I didn’t share my crushes with her, because when I had, she’d either told me that they were interested in someone else, or she’d ended up hooking up with them at a party, always apologising to me afterwards that she hadn’t meant it, and they’d just told her how much they liked her, or some story that I knew probably wasn’t true.
I figured part of the reason I’d avoided serious boyfriends was because of Joanne. This now, with the photos, kind of highlighted why, but it wasn’t Joanne who’d told Rowan to go home last night, although he hadn’t gone home.
He’d headed over to Chemistry, where most of his teammates were, sending me a couple of pics of him and Jesse, with Jesse making a heart with his hands, either to me, or for him and Ro.
It was meant to make me smile, which it did, and to show me that he wasn’t getting up to anything, because as we knew, cameras were everywhere.
Only, sending Rowan away hadn’t solved anything. It’d just made everything worse.
“He went out with the team.” I waited for Izzy to sit down next to me, boots off. Mud was splattered up both our legs, and we were in desperate need of a shower.
She raised her brows. “Really?”
I gave her the Cliff Notes version of what had happened, because in the last few weeks, I’d been opening up more to her about what was going on. She’d started seeing someone, one of the physios, and had managed to get herself in a good place. Her form on the pitch had improved, and she’d stopped with the bad decisions off the pitch.
“Most men would be pissed off by now.” She patted my hand which was resting on my knee. “You’ve gotten with Rowan at the same time you’ve taken a kid on full time and he didn’t flinch, even when you thought he was a dick. Your sister’s tried to fuck you over which could’ve got him in shit too, and he hasn’t run away screaming. And you’re bothered that he’s moving to quick by asking you to move in with him? You must be batshit crazy, Dee Dee.”
“Really?” I had expected more sympathy, to be fair. “I feel like I’m going to screw him over. The drama with Joanne isn’t going to go away any time soon.” Although my solicitor, Claire O’Hara, had advised a course of action that looked achievable, quick and wouldn’t enable my sister to ask for money in the future.
