Driving With the Top Down (36 page)
He didn’t want her. She knew that. She couldn’t even take it personally, because he had not wanted her before he ever knew her. “What about Jay? Wouldn’t he be pissed if someone else moved in?”
Colleen smiled. “Trust me, he needs a sister to torture him. I’d
pay
you to whip him into shape.”
Tamara kneaded her hands in her lap. “Do I have to think about this?”
Colleen’s face fell. “I guess not.”
“Because the answer is yes. Absolutely. Yes, yes, yes. I don’t have to think for one second about this.”
Oh great, more tears were gracing her Maybelline mascara’d eyelashes.
Colleen smiled, then smiled broader. “You’re sure?”
“Are
you
?”
“Never more sure of anything. We’ll have a blast.”
Tam tried to catch her breath. “I can’t even believe this—”
“Okay, so now that we’ve got that piece of business out of the way, here are the rules: No smoking, no drugs, no drinking, no whipped cream alcohol exceptions, no Vince. No one even
like
Vince. Can you live with that?”
Tam nodded. “I think I can. Except, maybe a little whipped cream on Christmas?”
“We’ll see.”
“Deal.”
Tamara’s phone dinged. A message from Conor.
Haha, nope, no calls. New pizza place came in, though, and it’s pretty decent. Hit me up when you’re back and it’s on me. Want to talk about the last ep of Breaking Bad. It was amazing!!
And just like that, it was over. At least as far as Conor was concerned. And she wasn’t used goods, dirty, tainted, anything; she was still Tam, and he wanted to take her out for pizza.
“Whatcha smiling about there?” Colleen asked.
“Everything,” Tam said. “Absolutely everything.”
Colleen pressed the accelerator and Tam tipped her head back, turning toward the sun. Bitty had been absolutely right: There was nothing better than opening up and driving with the top down.
EPILOGUE
Once upon a time, there were three happy girls, none of whom were born into easy, uncomplicated lives. They had each been through their own hell, and come out on the other side. Each one could look back on some moments in the past and shudder or cringe, hoping those memories never saw the light of day again, and each one could look back at other past moments with a smile and a coo of nostalgic wistfulness. Each one had a life that didn’t follow the yellow brick road they always hoped it would. But the road they ended up on had put them in a far better place.
First, there was Bitty. Since the road trip that had changed the direction of her life, she had changed. When she looked in the mirror now, she didn’t see an extra ounce of fat on her hip bones or a wrinkle by her eyes that she really ought to take care of. Not because the ounces or wrinkles weren’t there, but because she saw herself. She just saw Bitty now. Ounces and wrinkles be damned.
On this particular Saturday, Bitty was tossing on her favorite baggy red sweater, paired with a pair of simple black leggings, and black boots. Her hair was a little longer and less tamed than she used to wear it. She wondered now why she’d gone so long the other way—it looked way better this way.
“Come on, babe, we’re gonna miss breakfast if you don’t hurry your cute ass up!” Blake shouted up the stairs.
She laughed. A real laugh, not a polite one because someone had made a joke. He couldn’t hear her either way. “I’m coming!”
“You wearin’ those leggings I like?”
Screw makeup, she’d rather head down the stairs than even fuss with eye shadow. She left their room and stopped at the top of the stairs.
“Are these the leggings you like?”
He tilted his head and looked thoughtful. “I’m not sure if they are. Could you turn around for me?”
She gave an indulgent roll of the eyes and turned.
“Yup, those are the ones.”
Bitty laughed again and went down the stairs. He gave her a wink as she walked past him and then a smack on the ass. “Let’s get moving.”
Out she trotted to his truck, and into the passenger seat. He climbed in himself, and they set off for breakfast. After, they were stopping at the hardware store. He had some tools to get of some kind, and Bitty had talked him into letting her paint the bathroom, and she was dying to look at the color swatches.
An Eagles song played on the radio, Blake was singing along—badly—and they set off, the truck jostled by the uneven road. And Bitty had never been happier.
* * *
A FEW STATES
north, Colleen was in the kitchen. A timer was going off, the sink was running, and everything was ready at once—which is not exactly the dream come true, because that means everything needs action all at once.
“Tam, shut off the timer, will you?”
“Uhhh—” She rushed over, her mismatched fuzzy socks almost making her slide into the wall. She looked at the microwave, and pressed a button. The fan came on, adding to the cacophony. She pressed more buttons until she got it.
“Okay, now can you go outside and grab the tray that’s been cooling out there?”
“Got it.” She went off to complete the task, clearly glad that this one made perfect sense.
She heard the front door open, and Kevin came into the kitchen. Zuzu was all claws-on-hardwood as she scrambled to him. “Hey, there, Zuzu, let’s get you outside.” He did so.
A moment later, Jay came in the back door, laughing at Tam, who was saying, “Don’t make fun of me!”
“I’m not! Okay, no, I totally am.”
Kevin shut the door on the dog and turned off the sink. “It smells incredible in here.”
“Right?” agreed Tam. “It smells like a restaurant or something.”
“All I can smell is me, and I smell like cats from the Shapiros’ house,” said Jay.
“Gross! Go take a shower, nasty!” Tam said after getting a whiff. “And hurry, cuz, I am not waiting for you to eat.”
She looked very seriously at him. Colleen smiled. Their interaction had surprised her. She had taken on a “responsible for Jay’s well-being, even if it means tough love” sort of attitude, and he had adopted one that said “I don’t have to listen to you, but it seems like it’s good for you when I do, so I will” attitude. It worked out.
“I’ll go change really quick and come back down.” Kevin went off, and Colleen was left alone in the kitchen. Okay, finally everything was handled, everything was done.
They sat at the table together, as they did sometimes nowadays. Tam had a boy she liked, Jay had met a teacher who seemed really on his side, and Jay didn’t want to mess that up. Kevin was doing great at work. Colleen’s business was doing great with all her “domestic imports” as she was calling them.
After dinner, once Jay had retreated to his room and Tam had gone upstairs to get ready for the movie she was going to with her friends and—ooh, the boy!—Colleen and Kevin were left alone. She stood at the sink doing dishes.
“That dinner was incredible, Col, as always.”
“Thank you, and I
know,
that seasoning I got in Georgia was really the—” She stopped as he kissed her on the neck from behind.
“Colleen, I have something I want to tell you.”
There was a small drop in her stomach as she turned. She didn’t even have to keep wondering or work up any fear, however. He was smiling at her when she looked at him. His hands were planted on the counter behind her. “What is it, Kevin?”
“I know you said you’re almost out of stuff to sell. And I know how well you did with all of that. And … I was a little jealous last time that I didn’t get to go along.”
Colleen laughed. “Oh, I’m so sure.”
“Hey. I had a great time. But you weren’t trapped with a bunch of dudes and one cackling cougar-wannabe that whole time.”
A small win for Colleen. “True.”
“So.” He pulled out an envelope from his back pocket. “I was thinking maybe now that we’ve got the built-in babysitter”—he indicated upstairs, where Tam was—“maybe you’d be interested in taking a little you-and-me trip.”
“Really?”
He opened the envelope and handed it to her. “Really.”
She pulled out two plane tickets. “Two one-way tickets to Portland?”
He nodded. “I thought maybe we could start at the top and drive down the other coast. You can get some different stuff over there, and we can see some new sights together, and then get a flight back or drive back, whatever we feel like. Neither of us have ever been there. I thought it would be pretty cool. I remember in college you used to talk about some program in California you had considered.”
“Yeah—wait, the program … That was before I even knew you.”
“Yeah, before we
dated
. But I remember you talking about it with other people, and I was there. Being a creep and eavesdropping on the hot girl with big dreams.”
He gave her that grin that had always gotten a smile out of her.
She wrapped her arms around him. “This is so exciting. I love you so much.”
“I love you too.”
Yes, dinner had been a catastrophe as always. It was a madhouse between the teenagers, the dog, the beeping oven, and everything else. But she was happy. Truly, truly happy. This was exactly the kind of life she could never have planned for herself.
* * *
UPSTAIRS, TAM’S PHONE
lit up with a text from her friend Kelly.
Hey b-face, I’m here!
K, be right out!
Don’t spend too long getting ready just because kylllle is commmmingggg
Shhhh!
Tam laughed and put on her jacket before going down the stairs, where Kevin and Colleen were hugging.
“I’m not looking at you guys, but I’m leaving, K—love you, bye!”
She heard them laugh as she got to the front door. Colleen yelled after her, “Text me when you get there, and don’t be out past midnight or I’ll murder you!”
“I knowwww!”
She shut the door, to which she had a hot pink key to now, and got in the car. On the way to the movies, Kelly and Tam blasted the new Justin Timberlake album and sang their hearts out. There was a whole bunch of them meeting up for the movie, but she was mostly excited to see Kyle. Who, when she walked up, handed her a movie ticket with a shy smile and said, “I grabbed you one, so I’m glad you came.” He laughed. “It didn’t occur to me till after I bought it that you might not.”
She bit her lip, biting back the huge grin she wanted to wear. “I thought about bailing.” She gave him a look to let him know she was kidding, and they all went in to the movie.
Finally she was able to play it cool. Be the girl someone wanted. Be the girl she had always wanted to be, and envied. The one with dark, damaged hair and a drinking problem seemed like a stranger now. But the girl walking into the movies with a group of friends who would have been disappointed if she hadn’t come was a happy girl. One who had herself together. One who had climbed out of that well, key in hand, and set out to find the lock.
ALSO BY BETH HARBISON
Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger
When in Doubt, Add Butter
Always Something There to Remind Me
Thin, Rich, Pretty
Hope in a Jar
Shoe Addicts Anonymous
Secrets of a Shoe Addict
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BETH HARBISON is the
New York Times
bestselling author of
Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger; When in Doubt, Add Butter; Always Something There to Remind Me; Thin, Rich, Pretty; Hope in a Jar; Secrets of a Shoe Addict;
and
Shoe Addicts Anonymous
. She grew up in Potomac, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C., and now divides her time between that suburb, New York City, and a quiet home on the Eastern Shore. Visit
www.bethharbison.com
.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
DRIVING WITH THE TOP DOWN.
Copyright © 2014 by Beth Harbison. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
Cover photograph © Horst Neumann/The Image Bank/Getty Images
eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-04380-1 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-4218-2 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781466842182
First Edition: August 2014