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“Well, if you promise…” I could give him another chance. There was no harm in that.
“Cross my heart.” He did, which made me laugh.
Dale came back around the corner, slamming the phone down on the receiver.
“Uh oh, now what?” I groaned. I couldn’t stand one more thing.
“Greg says they’re presenting us with our platinum album plaques today.”
“Oh no, what a disaster.” Chrissy rolled her eyes.
There was the Chrissy I remembered. I looked over at her and she grinned, shrugging one shoulder.
Dale ignored her. “They want the band there at four.”
“Today?” I made a face. “We had dinner plans with Aimee and Matt.”
“I know. And the band’s got a show at eight. He promised we were supposed to get a little break this week.”
“Well, we’ll just have to go,” I said. “I’m not missing it.”
“Go where?” John asked, coming over, wiping his hands on a dish towel.
And of course John wanted to come. And when Chrissy found out it was going to be on Sidney Clare Ramirez’s talk show, she wanted to go too.
“Want to come, Ben? Sounds like the whole family is going to be there!” I wondered if I would ever start calling him “Dad.”
“Sure,” he agreed. “It’s Saturday. I don’t have to work.”
I called Aimee and Matt and told them to come to the show taping—we’d squeeze dinner in afterward. Then I called Greg to make sure he held enough tickets for all of us.
“Some of you may have to sit in the green room,” he said.
“Fine, just as long as we can be there.” I wasn’t missing Black Diamond receiving their platinum album awards for anything. We’d barely even had time to celebrate, but I mentioned it to Chelsea last night and she had given me a grin and a thumbs up so I knew she was on it.
Ben went home to get changed and we all started getting ready. There were four of us to get through the shower and Dale alone could take an hour. He liked to just stand there under the water.
John knocked on our bedroom door while Dale was in the shower, asking if he could bring a date.
“Debra?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. “Getting serious.”
“Maybe.” He actually blushed. He’s stopped bringing her home when Chrissy was being such a brat. John called it her “testing” phase. I called it her “psycho bitch” phase but not out loud.
“Hey, what’s up with her.” I nodded my head in the direction of Chrissy’s room.
“You know, she’s gotten a lot better,” John said. “Her attitude’s improved since you two have been gone. I think she felt jealous—she hasn’t wanted to spend a lot of time with me since the divorce. I think she blamed me.”
I looked at him, not saying anything. Chrissy knew the real reason for the divorce—her mother was dead set on getting Tyler Vincent to leave his wife for her. And after having met her, I could tell she was a woman who got what she wanted—and if she didn’t, well… I was sure her daughter came by her “psycho bitch” side honestly.
Of course, I couldn’t say that. John knew nothing about Tyler—still thought Tyler was his friend. And of course, Tyler continued to play into that delusion. It was so sick and twisted it made everything in my family—alcoholism, domestic violence, suicide—pale in comparison.
“We’ve had some long talks,” John went on. “And she’s started school and is doing well. I’m… hopeful.”
“She really is like a whole different person,” I said. It was true—although I was still wary. “Maybe she was just possessed by a demon before? Because I’ve seen crazy, but that was…”
“Chrissy’s always been a little dramatic,” he said with a smile.
“Right. And you’re the master of understatement.”
