Veronica
"What the hell are you doing?" Vinnie growled.
I swiped at the giant tears rolling down my cheeks. "Packing." I shoved yet another shirt into the duffle bag, only to pull it back out when I remembered it was the shirt I'd worn to the aquarium.
"I can see that. The real question is why?"
"Travis lied about being sober. He drank. With Kylie, of all people."
It was no secret to anyone that Kylie had harbored a crush on Travis for years. When I'd moved to town, everyone had harped on me about it. She was a total princess, everything I wasn't. Seeing them together irked me as much as knowing that she'd known something about him that I hadn't.
"I know."
My head nearly rolled off my shoulders I twisted so fast. "What do you mean you know?"
"Our athletic director is his sponsor. He gave me a head's up."
"Doesn't that void his contract with the team?" My heart swelled with panic.
Vinnie was quiet for too long. Finally, he asked, "Is that what you want?"
"Of course not."
"Are you sure about that? Because correct me if I'm wrong, but this scene looks awfully familiar to me."
I glanced around me. Clothes and miscellaneous other things were strewn all around the room. My duffle bag was haphazardly filled with a collection of things that didn't even make sense. The whole bag would be useless if I actually tried to take it anywhere.
The room was like a time capsule straight from my eighteen-year-old bedroom. It was in the hospital after the accident when I'd found out I was pregnant with Stella. I'd been avoiding Travis because of the accident and the pregnancy. Between the painkillers for my arm and the guilt I'd had about drinking before I'd known I was pregnant, it was days later before everything had sunk in. In a panic, I'd begged Vinnie to take me away to anywhere but there.
I'd chosen to run away instead of facing the problems head-on.
A few weeks later, our family had relocated to Kentucky. I changed my phone number, shut down my social media accounts, and even got a new e-mail address. I became virtually untraceable. Then, about a year later, I'd taken my infant daughter and followed Vinnie to his new job in North Carolina.
Once I'd started running, I'd never stopped.
"I hope that look on your face means you're rethinking all of this." He gestured in the general direction of my bag. "Because I hate to tell you this, but I can't help you run from your problems this time."
"Ugh." I buried my face in my hands.
"I think some of this is my fault. I should never have babied you so much."
"You didn't baby me," I protested, my head rising.
He laughed at me. Literally laughed. "Hell yeah I did, Ronnie." He stepped further into the room so that he could close the door behind him.
"Look," he lowered his voice, "All I wanted to do was protect you. You were so vulnerable after the car accident, and at the time we all agreed that taking you away like you wanted was the best option. I had my doubts over the years, but then you panicked all over again when Travis turned up here."
"I was just surprised."
"I know that now. But at the time, it seemed like maybe I needed to work overtime to protect you again. I think that was a mistake. I haven't forced you to face your own problems. I think you need to do that."
"I think you're right," I whispered. "Vinnie…"
"Yeah?"
"I was the one that suggested we leave the party."
"What?"
I took a deep, shuddering breath. I needed to finally say it out loud.
"Travis had already gone upstairs to sleep in one of the empty bedrooms. Nathan—he was the guy that always hosted those parties—started hitting on me. He was being a real asshole, and the more he acted like a jerk the more I kept drinking to put up with him. Finally, I'd had enough, and I went to find Travis. I woke him up. I begged him to drive us home. He didn't want to do it, but I kept asking until he gave in."
"Fuck, Ronnie."
I buried my head again. I couldn't bear to look at the disappointment that I was sure would be all over my brother's face. All the times we'd rehashed what had happened, never once had I mentioned the role I'd played. Over time, I'd managed to convince even myself that the blame laid squarely on Travis' shoulders.
"I really messed up, Vin."
"God, I wish you had told me. I would have dealt with all of this so differently if I'd known that."
"I'm sorry."
"Dammit, Ronnie. We kept him from his own kid. When all along you should have been shouldering just as much of the blame as he was."
I chanced a glance up but immediately regretted it. There was so much anguish in his expression. I'd pulled the rug out from under him. He'd uprooted his whole life for me, including leaving a coaching job with a high school team that he'd really loved.
"Vin, I'm sorry," I tried again.
"You're gonna have to give me some time to digest all of this. You're basically telling me the story I knew was a lie. We based so many decisions on what the rest of us thought had happened, and now you're saying that was never the whole story. I just… I'm gonna go by work for a little while. I'll see you later." He turned and pulled the door open with an eery calmness.
"Wait," I stopped him. He did pause but didn't look at me. "You never answered me about what Travis' relapse means for the team."
"Our athletic director went to bat for him. He really believes it was a one-time thing. Travis isn't going anywhere."
"Good," I said, but by then I was talking to an empty room.