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I looked at Gigi and she shrugged. “He did the same thing to ours and didn’t get into trouble.”
I tilted my head. “Okay.”
Jillian walked in right then and cased the place out. “Oh, did Beau take the camera down already?”
Gigi nodded. “It’s in the pool.”
Jillian smiled at her and laughed. “Of course, it is.”
Gigi laughed, too. Once she stopped, she asked, “Jillybean, can you give us a minute? I need to talk to Lexi.”
“Yep, I’ll be back later.” Jillian left and shut the door behind her.
Gigi and I stood there and stared at each other in uncomfortable silence.
Finally, Gigi spoke up, “I fucked up.”
I frowned and said, “No, you didn’t.”
She clamped her lips together tightly and nodded. “Yeah, I really, really did.” Her eyes started to water—which of course made mine do the same thing.
“No, you didn’t.”
She inhaled a choppy breath. “Yeah, I totally and completely fucked up. You’re my friend—” she took a deep breath, “I’ve known you since we were tiny. And I completely hung you out to dry. I’m so sorry, Lexi.” She furiously blinked away her tears. “I should’ve realized you were in trouble,” her chin wobbled along with her voice, “I should have known something was up.”
She was making my heart hurt. “How could you possibly know if I didn’t tell you?”
Gigi shook her head, and gasped, “I should have known something was going on. I should have been on your side, protecting you. Not,” she sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, “not believing Trey. God,” she said, shutting her eyes as her entire face screwed up in pain, “I can’t believe he lied to me and said that he hadn’t done anything wrong.”
“Gigi?” I called her name to get her attention. When she opened her eyes, I continued. “He didn’t think he had a problem. That—was the problem. He wasn’t lying to you. He was lying to himself.” In saying that to her—I felt something inside my head—and my heart—click.
I wasn’t quite sure what, but something significant had just changed.
“He should have gone for help sooner. Why didn’t he tell me he was struggling?” She looked at me with sad, hopeless eyes. And again, my heart hurt for her.
She’d never been disappointed and lied to by an addict before. This was her first time.
“His issues have nothing to do with you. The only person who can help Trey is—Trey.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about him? Maybe—”
I cut her off.
She was going to ‘what if’ herself to death. I’d learned long ago going down that road was totally useless.
“It isn’t your business. It isn’t my business, either. He’s a grown adult and he can make his own decisions. Nothing you say or do really matters. It has to come from him.”
Her shoulders slumped, and her head fell forward. “But I could have helped you. I should have been here for you.”
I set my hand on her shoulder. She looked up at me with wet eyes.
“You didn’t know.”
Her eyes overflowed with tears, now. “And your dad? How long has he been—”
I interrupted her again, “Forever. He’s good for a while—then he’s not.”
Her arms circled my body and she hugged me tightly. The contents of her bag hit me in the back. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I really had no idea. Your dad’s always been my hero. I love him. But I love you more. I wish you would have shared this with me.”
