Nick called Rachel the next morning.<\/p>\n
He put the phone on speaker only after asking whether I wanted to hear.<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
Rachel answered on the third ring.<\/p>\n
"Hi."<\/p>\n
"Did Mom give you money for the television payments?"<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Nick looked at me.<\/p>\n
There was our answer.<\/p>\n
"Rachel."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"How much?"<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
"Most of it."<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
Nick stood beside the kitchen counter.<\/p>\n
"You told us you sold things."<\/p>\n
"I did."<\/p>\n
"Then why was Mom sending you money?"<\/p>\n
"It's complicated."<\/p>\n
"No, it isn't."<\/p>\n
Rachel's voice sharpened.<\/p>\n
"Can you not do this first thing in the morning?"<\/p>\n
"You paid us money while Mom was quietly replacing it."<\/p>\n
"I didn't ask her to."<\/p>\n
"Did you take it?"<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
"Rachel."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
Nick rubbed his forehead.<\/p>\n
I remained quiet.<\/p>\n
This was between them first.<\/p>\n
"Why didn't you tell us?"<\/p>\n
"Because it wasn't your business."<\/p>\n
Nick laughed once.<\/p>\n
"Not our business?"<\/p>\n
"The payments reached you."<\/p>\n
"That's not the point."<\/p>\n
Rachel's voice became defensive.<\/p>\n
"Here we go."<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
Nick's tone stayed calm.<\/p>\n
"Don't do that."<\/p>\n
"Do what?"<\/p>\n
"Turn this into me attacking you because you don't like the question."<\/p>\n
Another silence.<\/p>\n
Rachel exhaled.<\/p>\n
"I told Mom not to send it."<\/p>\n
"When?"<\/p>\n
"The first time."<\/p>\n
"And the second?"<\/p>\n
"I told her again."<\/p>\n
"The third?"<\/p>\n
Rachel didn't answer.<\/p>\n
Nick looked toward me.<\/p>\n
I knew what he was thinking.<\/p>\n
The pattern had returned wearing different clothes.<\/p>\n
Rachel had technically resisted.<\/p>\n
Then accepted.<\/p>\n
"Did you know Dad found out?" Nick asked.<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"He checked their joint account because he thought something was wrong."<\/p>\n
"Oh God."<\/p>\n
"He wants to talk to Mom."<\/p>\n
Rachel sounded suddenly exhausted.<\/p>\n
"Great."<\/p>\n
Nick lowered his voice.<\/p>\n
"Why did you take the money?"<\/p>\n
"I don't know."<\/p>\n
"Yes, you do."<\/p>\n
She snapped.<\/p>\n
"Because I needed it."<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
Nick waited.<\/p>\n
Rachel continued.<\/p>\n
"I paid you faster than I could afford."<\/p>\n
"You didn't have to."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
"We agreed on installments."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
"Then why?"<\/p>\n
"Because I wanted it over."<\/p>\n
Her voice cracked.<\/p>\n
Not dramatically.<\/p>\n
From frustration.<\/p>\n
"I was tired of thinking about that stupid TV every time I opened my banking app."<\/p>\n
I leaned against the counter.<\/p>\n
Rachel continued.<\/p>\n
"So I sold some things. I sent the balance. Then Mom found out."<\/p>\n
"How?"<\/p>\n
"I mentioned selling the purse."<\/p>\n
Nick closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
"She asked why. I told her."<\/p>\n
"And she sent money."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Every month?"<\/p>\n
"Basically."<\/p>\n
"And you accepted it."<\/p>\n
Rachel's voice fell.<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
Nick didn't respond.<\/p>\n
Finally Rachel said, "Say whatever you're going to say."<\/p>\n
"I don't know what you expect me to say."<\/p>\n
"That I haven't changed."<\/p>\n
I looked at Nick.<\/p>\n
There was hurt beneath her defensiveness.<\/p>\n
She knew exactly what this looked like.<\/p>\n
Nick pulled out a chair.<\/p>\n
"Do you think you have?"<\/p>\n
Rachel laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
"Apparently not."<\/p>\n
"That's not what I asked."<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Then quietly, "I don't know."<\/p>\n
The honesty shifted the conversation.<\/p>\n
Nick sat down.<\/p>\n
"I think you have."<\/p>\n
Rachel didn't respond.<\/p>\n
"But I think this is the part you keep getting stuck on."<\/p>\n
"What part?"<\/p>\n
"When consequences become uncomfortable, Mom makes them disappear."<\/p>\n
Rachel sighed.<\/p>\n
"I didn't ask her."<\/p>\n
"Taking it is still a choice."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
Her voice was small now.<\/p>\n
Nick looked toward me.<\/p>\n
I could see he wanted to say more.<\/p>\n
I shook my head slightly.<\/p>\n
Not because he was wrong.<\/p>\n
Because enough had landed.<\/p>\n
He understood.<\/p>\n
"Talk to Mom," he said.<\/p>\n
"I don't want to."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
"She's going to cry."<\/p>\n
"Probably."<\/p>\n
"She'll say she's only helping."<\/p>\n
"Probably."<\/p>\n
Rachel groaned.<\/p>\n
"I hate all of you."<\/p>\n
Nick almost smiled.<\/p>\n
"Love you too."<\/p>\n
"I'm serious."<\/p>\n
"So am I."<\/p>\n
She went quiet.<\/p>\n
Then she said, "I'll call her."<\/p>\n
"Okay."<\/p>\n
"Are you going to tell Candace?"<\/p>\n
I leaned toward the phone.<\/p>\n
"I'm here."<\/p>\n
Rachel made a sound of pure annoyance.<\/p>\n
"Of course you are."<\/p>\n
"I wasn't hiding."<\/p>\n
"How much did you hear?"<\/p>\n
"Everything."<\/p>\n
"Fantastic."<\/p>\n
I spoke carefully.<\/p>\n
"Rachel, I'm not angry."<\/p>\n
She didn't believe me.<\/p>\n
"Sure."<\/p>\n
"I'm not."<\/p>\n
"You should be."<\/p>\n
"Why?"<\/p>\n
"Because I made a big production about paying you back, and Mom was replacing it."<\/p>\n
"Did you pay us?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Did you ask Linda to reimburse you?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Did you lie when Nick asked whether she was doing it?"<\/p>\n
Rachel paused.<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Then I'm not angry."<\/p>\n
"You're disappointed."<\/p>\n
"A little."<\/p>\n
"That's worse."<\/p>\n
"Probably."<\/p>\n
She sighed.<\/p>\n
"What do you want me to do?"<\/p>\n
Nothing about that question felt manipulative this time.<\/p>\n
She actually wanted an answer.<\/p>\n
"Decide what you want the money to mean."<\/p>\n
Rachel went quiet.<\/p>\n
"What does that mean?"<\/p>\n
"If Linda's transfers are help you genuinely need, then accept that they are help."<\/p>\n
"Okay."<\/p>\n
"But if you're accepting them because you can't stand the discomfort of paying for your own mistake, then you're repeating the pattern you said you wanted to change."<\/p>\n
No response.<\/p>\n
I continued.<\/p>\n
"This isn't about proving anything to me."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
"Do you?"<\/p>\n
Rachel took a breath.<\/p>\n
"I think I'm starting to."<\/p>\n
The call ended ten minutes later.<\/p>\n
She promised to speak with Linda.<\/p>\n
Nick placed his phone on the table.<\/p>\n
"That went better than expected."<\/p>\n
"Your family has really lowered your standards."<\/p>\n
He smiled.<\/p>\n
"True."<\/p>\n
We didn't hear anything for several hours.<\/p>\n
At three that afternoon, Rachel texted.<\/p>\n
Can I come over?<\/p>\n
I answered:<\/p>\n
Yes.<\/p>\n
Half an hour later, she appeared alone.<\/p>\n
This time she rang the bell.<\/p>\n
I noticed.<\/p>\n
I always noticed now.<\/p>\n
When I opened the door, she looked exhausted.<\/p>\n
"Coffee?"<\/p>\n
"Please."<\/p>\n
We sat in the kitchen.<\/p>\n
Nick joined us.<\/p>\n
Rachel wrapped both hands around the mug.<\/p>\n
"I gave Mom the money back."<\/p>\n
Nick raised his eyebrows.<\/p>\n
"All of it?"<\/p>\n
"Most."<\/p>\n
"What does most mean?"<\/p>\n
"Enough to cover what she reimbursed me for."<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
"How?"<\/p>\n
"I still had part of it."<\/p>\n
"And the rest?"<\/p>\n
"I transferred it from savings."<\/p>\n
Nick looked concerned.<\/p>\n
"Are you okay?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Actually okay?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
Rachel sounded irritated.<\/p>\n
Then she stopped herself.<\/p>\n
"Sorry."<\/p>\n
Nick leaned back.<\/p>\n
"It's fine."<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
She rubbed her forehead.<\/p>\n
"I'm trying not to make every uncomfortable question into an attack."<\/p>\n
That was growth in real time.<\/p>\n
Messy.<\/p>\n
Visible.<\/p>\n
Awkward.<\/p>\n
I respected it.<\/p>\n
"What did Linda say?" I asked.<\/p>\n
Rachel laughed.<\/p>\n
"Everything."<\/p>\n
"Meaning?"<\/p>\n
"That I was punishing her for caring about me."<\/p>\n
Nick closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
"Sounds right."<\/p>\n
"That parents are supposed to help their children."<\/p>\n
"Also sounds right."<\/p>\n
"That I was being dramatic."<\/p>\n
"Definitely sounds right."<\/p>\n
Rachel glared.<\/p>\n
"Are you enjoying this?"<\/p>\n
"A little."<\/p>\n
She took a sip of coffee.<\/p>\n
"Then she cried."<\/p>\n
Nick's humor disappeared.<\/p>\n
"And?"<\/p>\n
"And I almost let her keep doing it."<\/p>\n
No one spoke.<\/p>\n
Rachel stared into her mug.<\/p>\n
"I almost said, fine, forget it."<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
"Because the second she started crying, every part of me wanted the conversation over."<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
The family mechanism.<\/p>\n
Not just Linda rescuing Rachel.<\/p>\n
Rachel rescuing Linda from discomfort too.<\/p>\n
"I think we all do it," Nick said.<\/p>\n
Rachel nodded.<\/p>\n
"But I didn't."<\/p>\n
"What did you say?"<\/p>\n
She gave a tired smile.<\/p>\n
"I told her I loved her and transferred the money anyway."<\/p>\n
Nick laughed softly.<\/p>\n
"How'd that go?"<\/p>\n
"She hung up."<\/p>\n
"Progress."<\/p>\n
"That's what I told myself."<\/p>\n
Rachel became serious.<\/p>\n
"Dad called after."<\/p>\n
"What did he say?"<\/p>\n
"He apologized."<\/p>\n
Nick straightened.<\/p>\n
"For what?"<\/p>\n
"For letting Mom keep doing it."<\/p>\n
Rachel looked down.<\/p>\n
"He knew she gave me money sometimes."<\/p>\n
"But not this?"<\/p>\n
"Not the amount."<\/p>\n
She traced the rim of the cup.<\/p>\n
"He said he thinks they've spent years using money to keep me close."<\/p>\n
Nick frowned.<\/p>\n
"That's a big statement."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
Rachel looked uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
"He said every time I got into trouble, they fixed something."<\/p>\n
She counted lightly on her fingers.<\/p>\n
"Credit-card balance. Car repair. Rent twice. The restaurant."<\/p>\n
I hadn't known most of that.<\/p>\n
Neither, apparently, had Nick.<\/p>\n
Rachel saw our faces.<\/p>\n
"Exactly."<\/p>\n
Nick leaned forward.<\/p>\n
"You never told me."<\/p>\n
"I was embarrassed."<\/p>\n
I resisted pointing out the irony.<\/p>\n
She caught it anyway.<\/p>\n
"Yes, yes. Apparently I've been embarrassed for fifteen years."<\/p>\n
"That sounds exhausting."<\/p>\n
"It is."<\/p>\n
She took another drink.<\/p>\n
"Dad said he and Mom need to talk about it."<\/p>\n
Nick nodded.<\/p>\n
"Probably."<\/p>\n
"And I told him I'm not taking money from them for a while."<\/p>\n
That surprised us both.<\/p>\n
"At all?" Nick asked.<\/p>\n
"Unless there's a real emergency."<\/p>\n
"Define real."<\/p>\n
Rachel gave him a look.<\/p>\n
"Hospital. House fire. Kidnapping."<\/p>\n
"No car tires?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Broken dishwasher?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Unexpected casserole dish theft?"<\/p>\n
She almost smiled.<\/p>\n
"Shut up."<\/p>\n
Then she looked at me.<\/p>\n
"I returned your actual casserole dish."<\/p>\n
"You found it?"<\/p>\n
"It was under my oven."<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
"How?"<\/p>\n
"I don't know."<\/p>\n
"How does a casserole dish get under an oven?"<\/p>\n
"I have children."<\/p>\n
That explanation was somehow sufficient.<\/p>\n
We laughed.<\/p>\n
The conversation lasted another hour.<\/p>\n
Before Rachel left, she took an envelope from her purse.<\/p>\n
"What is that?"<\/p>\n
"Nothing dramatic."<\/p>\n
She placed it on the table.<\/p>\n
I opened it.<\/p>\n
Inside was a check.<\/p>\n
I looked at the amount.<\/p>\n
It was larger than the television balance had been.<\/p>\n
"Rachel."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
"What is this?"<\/p>\n
"The difference."<\/p>\n
"Between what?"<\/p>\n
"The insurance covered some of the television."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"You paid the rest."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
She nodded toward the check.<\/p>\n
"That's for the protection-plan deductible, the technician visit, and the wall remount."<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
"We never asked you for those."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
"Then why are you paying them?"<\/p>\n
"Because they happened because of what I did."<\/p>\n
Nick looked at the check.<\/p>\n
"Rachel, this is too much."<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Seriously."<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
I studied her.<\/p>\n
The earlier payments had become tangled with pride, guilt, rescue and obligation.<\/p>\n
This felt different.<\/p>\n
"Can you afford it?"<\/p>\n
She hesitated.<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Without selling anything?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Without your mother reimbursing you?"<\/p>\n
A reluctant smile appeared.<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
Then I tore the check in half.<\/p>\n
Rachel stared at me.<\/p>\n
"What the hell?"<\/p>\n
Nick laughed.<\/p>\n
I tore it again.<\/p>\n
Rachel looked genuinely offended.<\/p>\n
"I just wrote that."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
"Checks aren't free."<\/p>\n
"They cost twelve cents."<\/p>\n
"That's not the point."<\/p>\n
I dropped the pieces on the table.<\/p>\n
"You already paid what we agreed."<\/p>\n
"But\u2014"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
Her expression darkened.<\/p>\n
"Candace."<\/p>\n
"This is the other side of the lesson."<\/p>\n
"What lesson?"<\/p>\n
"Accountability doesn't mean endless punishment."<\/p>\n
She stopped.<\/p>\n
"You owed us the remaining television cost."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"You paid it."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"You apologized."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"You talked to the boys."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"You changed your behavior."<\/p>\n
She didn't answer.<\/p>\n
"At some point, Rachel, if I keep collecting from you because you feel guilty, then I'm not teaching you accountability."<\/p>\n
I pushed the torn check toward her.<\/p>\n
"I'm teaching you that mistakes can never be finished."<\/p>\n
Her eyes lowered.<\/p>\n
Nick remained silent.<\/p>\n
Rachel picked up one piece of the check.<\/p>\n
"You really don't want this?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"You're not going to bring this up again in six months?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"At Christmas?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"When I annoy you?"<\/p>\n
"Tempting, but no."<\/p>\n
A small smile appeared.<\/p>\n
"So we're done?"<\/p>\n
I considered the question.<\/p>\n
"With the money?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
Then she asked the harder question.<\/p>\n
"With the whole thing?"<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
Her smile disappeared.<\/p>\n
"But not the way you mean."<\/p>\n
I leaned back.<\/p>\n
"The television is finished."<\/p>\n
She waited.<\/p>\n
"What happened between us changed things."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
"I don't want to go back to what we had before."<\/p>\n
Rachel looked hurt.<\/p>\n
I continued.<\/p>\n
"Because what we had before wasn't as good as we thought."<\/p>\n
Her expression softened.<\/p>\n
"We were polite."<\/p>\n
"We were careful."<\/p>\n
"You were careful."<\/p>\n
"Mostly."<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
"And you were mean sometimes."<\/p>\n
"Mostly."<\/p>\n
I laughed.<\/p>\n
Rachel looked embarrassed.<\/p>\n
"I don't want that either."<\/p>\n
"Good."<\/p>\n
"So what do you want?"<\/p>\n
"Something new."<\/p>\n
The answer came before I'd planned it.<\/p>\n
She stared at me.<\/p>\n
"Meaning?"<\/p>\n
"Meaning you ask before assuming."<\/p>\n
"Okay."<\/p>\n
"I say something when I'm irritated instead of storing it for five years."<\/p>\n
"That sounds terrifying."<\/p>\n
"It probably will be."<\/p>\n
She smiled.<\/p>\n
"What else?"<\/p>\n
"You stop treating my life like evidence that yours is failing."<\/p>\n
Her smile disappeared.<\/p>\n
"That's fair."<\/p>\n
"And I stop treating you like a problem Nick brought into the marriage."<\/p>\n
She blinked.<\/p>\n
I hadn't realized how true that was until I said it.<\/p>\n
Rachel looked away.<\/p>\n
"Also fair."<\/p>\n
Nick stared at both of us.<\/p>\n
"Should I leave?"<\/p>\n
"Yes," we said together.<\/p>\n
He raised his hands.<\/p>\n
"Great."<\/p>\n
He walked outside.<\/p>\n
Rachel laughed.<\/p>\n
Then she became serious.<\/p>\n
"I've spent years thinking you looked down on me."<\/p>\n
"I've spent years thinking you resented me."<\/p>\n
"I did."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
"Did you look down on me?"<\/p>\n
I considered.<\/p>\n
"Sometimes."<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
"Thanks for lying."<\/p>\n
"You asked."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
"And sometimes you deserved it."<\/p>\n
"There she is."<\/p>\n
We both laughed again.<\/p>\n
When Rachel left, she gathered the torn check.<\/p>\n
At the door, she turned.<\/p>\n
"Sam wants to come over next weekend."<\/p>\n
"Fine."<\/p>\n
"Wyatt too."<\/p>\n
"I assumed."<\/p>\n
"They want to sleep over."<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
"Absolutely not."<\/p>\n
She grinned.<\/p>\n
"I told them you'd say that."<\/p>\n
"Maybe eventually."<\/p>\n
Her expression changed.<\/p>\n
"Really?"<\/p>\n
"Maybe."<\/p>\n
That one word meant more to her than I expected.<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
"Okay."<\/p>\n
Then she left.<\/p>\n
A week later, the boys came over again.<\/p>\n
No disaster.<\/p>\n
No broken electronics.<\/p>\n
No dramatic lesson.<\/p>\n
We made pizza.<\/p>\n
Sam carefully asked before using the rolling pin.<\/p>\n
Wyatt tried to feed cheese to the dog next door through the fence and was stopped before success.<\/p>\n
Nick showed them how to use a tape measure.<\/p>\n
Rachel stayed for dinner.<\/p>\n
At one point, Wyatt pulled the small soccer ball from his backpack.<\/p>\n
The room went quiet.<\/p>\n
Not intentionally.<\/p>\n
It simply happened.<\/p>\n
Rachel saw it.<\/p>\n
So did Sam.<\/p>\n
Wyatt looked confused.<\/p>\n
"Can we play?"<\/p>\n
Before anyone answered, Sam took the ball from him.<\/p>\n
"Outside."<\/p>\n
Wyatt frowned.<\/p>\n
"Why?"<\/p>\n
"Because balls don't go in the house."<\/p>\n
He carried it toward the back door.<\/p>\n
Rachel looked at me.<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
Nothing needed to be said.<\/p>\n
That night, after they left, I found something on the coffee table.<\/p>\n
A folded sheet of paper.<\/p>\n
Sam's handwriting covered the front.<\/p>\n
FOR AUNT CANDACE.<\/p>\n
Inside was a drawing of our living room.<\/p>\n
The television was on the wall.<\/p>\n
Four stick figures stood beneath it.<\/p>\n
Me.<\/p>\n
Nick.<\/p>\n
Sam.<\/p>\n
Wyatt.<\/p>\n
Rachel was drawn near the doorway.<\/p>\n
Above everyone, in crooked block letters, Sam had written:<\/p>\n
WE ASK FIRST NOW.<\/p>\n
I sat on the couch holding the paper.<\/p>\n
Nick read it over my shoulder.<\/p>\n
"Frame it."<\/p>\n
I laughed.<\/p>\n
"Seriously?"<\/p>\n
"Absolutely."<\/p>\n
So I did.<\/p>\n
Not beside the television.<\/p>\n
That would have been too obvious.<\/p>\n
I put it in the hallway where family photographs hung.<\/p>\n
Two days later, Rachel saw it.<\/p>\n
She stopped walking.<\/p>\n
For nearly a minute, she stood in front of the frame.<\/p>\n
Then she turned toward me.<\/p>\n
"You kept this?"<\/p>\n
"Of course."<\/p>\n
Her eyes filled.<\/p>\n
She looked back at Sam's drawing.<\/p>\n
"I think that's the first time I've seen something about the whole situation and not wanted to crawl into a hole."<\/p>\n
"Good."<\/p>\n
Rachel wiped one eye.<\/p>\n
Then her expression shifted.<\/p>\n
"I need to tell you something."<\/p>\n
The seriousness in her voice made me straighten.<\/p>\n
"What?"<\/p>\n
She looked toward Nick, who was helping the boys outside.<\/p>\n
"I talked to Mom and Dad again."<\/p>\n
"Okay."<\/p>\n
"And I made a decision."<\/p>\n
"What decision?"<\/p>\n
Rachel took one slow breath.<\/p>\n
"I'm done letting them fix my life every time I make it uncomfortable."<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
"And there's something I've been hiding from everyone because I knew Mom would rescue me if she found out."<\/p>\n
The room seemed to grow quieter.<\/p>\n
"What?"<\/p>\n
Rachel looked down.<\/p>\n
For the first time in months, the fear on her face had nothing to do with the television.<\/p>\n
"I have debt."<\/p>\n
"How much?"<\/p>\n
She swallowed.<\/p>\n
"A lot."<\/p>\n
I didn't ask the next question.<\/p>\n
She answered it anyway.<\/p>\n
"More than you think."<\/p>\n
Then she looked at me.<\/p>\n
"And this time, I'm going to fix it myself."<\/p>\n
Nick called Rachel the next morning. He put the phone on speaker only after asking whether I wanted to hear. I nodded. Rachel answered on the third ring. "Hi." "Did … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chapter-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2357"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2369,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2357\/revisions\/2369"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}