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I scowled at her. “No. I owe you both an apology.”
“For what?” Riley asked.
“When I lived here, I missed a lot of rent payments, but I never told you why. The truth is, I was leading a double life.”
“Come again?” Anna said, taking a seat on a dining chair.
“I met a man named Alessandro in Italy before I moved here. I brought him back with me and got him a cushy apartment. It was fine until my parents cut me off because my grades were slipping. That was why Rebecca asked you both to move in. We needed help financially. I was working as a nanny and a massage therapist. In my practically nonexistent spare time, I tended bar at a club.”
“What the hell?” Anna asked. “I had no clue.”
“Yeah, I know. Neither did my sister until a few weeks ago. Anyway, even with all those jobs, I still didn’t have enough to pay the rent at his place and here. So I need to apologize for choosing him over you guys.”
The room was silent, and my heart hammered in my chest. I was so afraid they were going to kick me out and never speak to me again.
“Damn, I don’t know what to say,” Anna said.
“Kat, I can’t believe you did that,” Riley said. “Why?”
I sat back in a huff. “I thought I loved him. The worst part of it all is that I flew to Vegas and almost married him, but when the doors opened and it was time for me to walk down the aisle, he was standing at the end with another woman.”
“Ho-ly shit,” Anna said.
“Oh my gosh, Kat. I’m so sorry,” Riley said.
“Yeah. That’s why I flew to Oak Springs. I was so embarrassed, and I needed to get away from the mess I’d created. I thought I’d hit rock bottom, but I guess I was wrong because this sure as hell hurts more.”
“That’s because you loved Sid. Otherwise, you’d be fine,” Riley said.
“You’re right. I did.” I sniffed and dug around under my blanket tent to find the Kleenex box.
“Can you take that off? I can’t take you seriously,” Anna said.
I pulled the blanket off my head, and she cringed.
“It’s worse than I thought.”
“Shut up,” I said, throwing a used tissue at her.
She screamed and ran away. “I forgive you!”
“I hope she means that,” I said.
“She does. I forgive you too. It’s in the past, and I’m sorry you held on to it for so long. You could have come to us. We would have understood. At least, I would have.”
“Thanks.”
“Do you want to talk about what happened with Sid?”
A fresh wave of tears threatened to fall. Just the mention of his name made my heart hurt. I missed him so much, but I was so angry at him.
“I don’t understand what was going through his head. He humiliated me in front of everyone I care about and said what we shared wasn’t real.”
“Are you sure he wasn’t just scared?” Riley asked.
“Even if he was, he never should have treated me the way he did. I didn’t deserve that. I’m so embarrassed. There’s no way I can go back to Oak Springs and face everyone.”
“That’s not the Kat I know. The Kat I know is fearless and faces things head-on with a smile.”
