Chapter Twenty-Seven

ALEX SILENTLY CALLED himself names while he drove. Just when Rachel was getting somewhere with Dina, he had to go and push. Just like his parents. No wonder Dina wouldn’t talk to him.

Rachel reached over and squeezed his hand before she changed the subject. “If you don’t mind, Dina, I could use your help setting up the patio. It’s getting late in the summer and things aren’t in bloom anymore, so it’s going to need to be laid out a little differently. I want an elegant, intimate sort of feel for dinner on the roof deck. I’ve been thinking I’d love to find a restaurant with a similar roof space, so this will be a good way to show the kind of ambience I have in mind.”

“What kind of food would you serve?” Dina seemed grateful to be able to move on to a different topic.

“Modern Continental, local and organic. That’s where the trends seem to be staying, the food court and truck craze aside.”

“You should do a food truck,” Dina said. “Rachel’s Roach Coach.”

Rachel groaned. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I would call it.”

“No, really! You could get a red double-decker bus and put little tables on the top if you want roof deck seating.”

“You know,” Alex said, nudging Rachel’s arm, “that’s not such a bad idea.” She shot him an incredulous look, and he joined his sister in her laughter.

Dina started talking about some of the food trucks she frequented in LA, and she pulled out her phone to show Rachel her favorites on Twitter. Rachel took the phone from her and scrolled down with a laugh. “I know this guy!”

“Really?” Dina looked suddenly interested.

“Yeah, he worked for a restaurant in Berkeley where I staged for several months. Great cook, but he always chafed a little at the thought of fine dining. Said that high-quality food should be accessible to all, not just the people who could fork over two or three hundred bucks on a dinner. I hadn’t realized he’d started a food truck. It’s a good fit for him.”

“But that never interested you?” Alex glanced at Rachel, gauging her response. All this effort to find an investor for her restaurant, when she could probably buy and outfit a truck and have it under way immediately.

“Fine dining is what I do best,” she said with a shrug. “Besides, there’s a season for food trucks in Denver, so it can make for some lean winters if you’re not careful.”

“I think there would be a year-round demand for Rachel’s Mobile Kebab Shack,” Dina said.

Despite the Friday afternoon traffic, they got to the truck pod in record time, before their favorites had even arrived. Most of the trucks didn’t arrive until five on Fridays, where they would remain into the wee hours of the morning for the last-call bar patrons and club-goers; they’d be back late morning the next day to start all over again.

“What do you want to do?” Rachel asked. “We can wait for the others to show up, or we can take it as divine instruction to eat bao for dinner today.”

“Bao’s fine,” Dina said. “Woman can’t live on duck-fat fries alone, can she?”

“She can try,” Alex and Rachel said simultaneously, and then shared a grin. Either they were rubbing off on each other, or this was just more proof of how ridiculously compatible they were. Or maybe he was looking for signs now that he realized how unprepared he was to let her go.

They were the first in line at the steamed bun truck when it opened its windows, and soon they had claimed one of the many empty seats on the garishly painted patio. Rachel took the seat directly across from Dina while Alex sat beside her. He dug into his bao, savoring the pillowy texture of the bun. When they’d made a dent in their food, he asked casually, “So how did all the callbacks go?”

Dina hung her head over her food and didn’t answer.

Alex nudged her arm. “Dina?”

When Dina raised her head, there were tears in her eyes. She looked at him, the shame clear on her face. “I lied.”

He frowned, then quickly put away the expression when Rachel shot him a warning look. “Lied about what?”

“There weren’t any callbacks. There haven’t been for a while. The job I booked in February was for a girl’s princess birthday party. I played Jasmine.” Dina dipped her head again, letting her tears drip into her food. “I couldn’t tell you.”

“Why not? You know I support you no matter what. It’s a rough business. I get that.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t. I never expected it to be this hard. But you were so enthusiastic about me following my dreams, and after you stood up to Mom and Dad for me, I couldn’t tell you the truth.” Dina swiped her eyes dry. “That’s why I quit the restaurant. One of my roommates moved out, and even with tips, I couldn’t make rent. I got a job in a call center in Van Nuys. I’ve been working there since I got back.”

Alex sat back, simultaneously stunned and guilty. She’d been hiding the truth so she didn’t disappoint him? That was the last thing he’d intended when he encouraged her to go to Los Angeles against their parents’ wishes. That was the same thing his parents had done to him, causing him to stay in psychology long after he began to suspect the field wasn’t for him.

“Dina, I’m sorry. I never meant —”

“It’s not your fault. I was desperate to get away from all Mom and Dad’s plans, and I’d always been good at acting, you know? I got a lot of practice at home ‘living up to my full potential.’ When you jumped in to back me up, I thought, why not?”

Alex saw Rachel watching them with puzzlement. “Dina is a genius.”

She still looked confused, so Dina said, “He doesn’t mean that metaphorically. They tested me. Off the charts in math. MIT offered me a full ride before I finished my junior year of high school.”

Rachel blinked. “Wow. And you didn’t want to go?”

“There’s a difference between being good at something and wanting to do it for a living. Alex convinced me that counting cards in Vegas wasn’t my best career move, and the last thing I wanted to do was spend the rest of my life locked in a lab with a bunch of nerds.”

Alex gauged Rachel’s reaction and saw she didn’t quite believe what she was hearing. But they’d had that exact conversation after Dina got caught playing poker in an illegal home game with a fake ID —the hazard of having a brilliant sister with dark leanings and a rebellious streak the size of Colorado.

“So what are you going to do next?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know.” She peered up at him. “I can’t let Mom and Dad know I failed. It was bad enough that I crushed their dreams. Even worse that I did it for nothing.” Dina looked to Rachel, wide-eyed. “What do you think I should do?”

Rachel shook her head. “This is purely your decision.”

“But I value your opinion. What do you think?”

Alex watched Rachel wrestle with words for several moments. “I think you’re giving up far too easily.”

It was the last thing either Alex or Dina expected from her. “W-what?” Dina stammered.

Rachel leaned across the table, her voice tight. “Here’s the thing about dreams. Everyone thinks that if something is meant to be, it’s going to come easy. Life isn’t easy. It isn’t supposed to be. Doing something worthwhile takes sacrifice. Do you think I’ve loved every minute I’ve spent at work? I’ve spent years being miserable. But I’ve given up everything to get to where I am, and I’m not going to let one little setback get in my way. I’m going to prove them wrong. No matter what. That’s what it takes sometimes: sheer stubborn will.”

Alex looked between his sister and Rachel, a stirring of disquiet in his stomach. Somewhere in that speech, she’d stopped talking about Dina and started talking about herself. He glanced at his sister and saw from her stricken, tear-filled expression that she thought it was directed toward her.

He covered his sister’s hand with his own. “Dina, has acting ever really been your dream?”

Dina swallowed, the first tears sliding down her cheeks. She shook her head.

“Then come home.”

“I —I can’t.” A sob lingered in her voice. “Rachel is right. If I come home and tell Mom and Dad I’ve failed . . .”

“Forget Mom and Dad. This is about you and what you want to do. Dina, I spent way too long doing things because I was afraid of disappointing them. I should have quit school years earlier than I did.”

“But if I come home now, it’s like all those years were wasted.”

Alex shook his head with a gentle smile. “Nothing’s wasted. Not with God. Even those supposedly useless psychology degrees come in handy now, and I’m betting what you’ve learned as a struggling actress won’t go to waste either. Sometimes you just need to have faith that He’s got what’s next.”

Dina’s posture straightened a degree. “All my stuff is still in LA.”

“We can drive back and get it if that’s what you want to do. You can stay with me until you figure it all out. I’ll support you in whatever decision you make.”

Dina’s glance flicked to Rachel, then back to him. “You’d do that for me?”

“Of course I would. I’m your brother. I’ve got your back.”

Slowly, she nodded. “Okay.”

“I’ll go throw these away.” Rachel began to gather their containers, her voice hoarse.

“Is she okay?” Dina asked in a small voice as soon as Rachel left the table. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate her advice —”

“Don’t worry about it,” Alex said, but that unsettled feeling was back. Far more had just happened than a pep talk gone awry. When Rachel returned, they went back to his car, the mood muted.

“You can drop me on your way home,” Rachel said.

“Actually,” Dina said, “since it’s still early, I’m going to go hang out with a friend. You can take me to the DU dorms. I’ll get a ride home later.”

“Are you sure?” Alex asked. “Who is this friend? Do I know him?”

“She is Marcella Trujillo. You remember her, right?”

“Sorry, no.”

“Yes, you do. She was the one who asked you to her senior prom.”

Beside him, Rachel cracked a vague smile.

“I remember that. Excuse me if I don’t walk you in.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Dina shot back. Hard to believe this was the girl who had been crying forty-five minutes ago. Now she seemed light, unencumbered. He wasn’t sure which was stronger: his relief that she’d finally come clean or his guilt over making her feel like she had to lie in the first place.

He dropped her in front of campus housing for the University of Denver, where Marcella was apparently a business major. Then he looked to Rachel. “Home now?”

“Probably best. It’s a long day tomorrow.” Rachel paused. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come on so strong with Dina back there.”

Alex chose his words carefully. “I think we both know that had nothing to do with Dina.”

Rachel didn’t speak, just stared out the window. Alex tried a different tack. “What happens if Mitchell doesn’t want to invest in your restaurant?”

Rachel whipped her head toward him. “Do you think he’s going to turn me down?”

“No, I think he’s going to beg you to let him invest in your next venture. But what if he doesn’t? What if no one does?”

“That’s not an option. I can’t fail now. Not after coming this far. I won’t.”

“You’ve really never considered doing anything but cooking.”

“Not once.”

A quick glance confirmed what he expected: she was dead serious.

“What else would I do, Alex? I don’t have a college education. I barely have a GED. My high school grades were a disaster. But everything clicks when I’m in the kitchen. It’s who I am. Without it, I’m nothing.”

“That is absolutely untrue. You are so much more than just a chef.”

Rachel let out a harsh laugh, one that sounded suspiciously teary. “Really. Tell me one thing that you like about me besides my cooking.”

“Well, for one thing, you’re gorgeous.” The words slipped out before he could consider them, and he knew they were wrong the moment they passed his lips.

She snorted derisively. “It figures.”

“Rachel —”

“No, don’t ‘Rachel’ me. That right there is exactly why I’m so single-minded about cooking. Given the choice to be known for my abilities or my looks, which do you think I’d prefer?”

“Rachel, you know I didn’t mean it that way. There is far more to you than your cooking or your looks. You’re stubborn and determined —”

“Both of which came from my years in the kitchen,” Rachel said flatly.

Alex took a steadying breath, feeling the conversation slipping away from him. He was nearing Rachel’s house, so he took a moment to pull up to the curb and put the car in park. “All I’m saying is, that’s a lot of pressure to put on yourself. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from publishing, it’s that most of it is completely out of my control. Don’t you think there might come a point where this is all too much? Where you might want something else?”

“Tell me, Alex. If your career completely tanked and you married a woman who made a lot of money, would you quit writing? Would you lounge around and let her pay the bills?”

“Of course not. I would feel —” He broke off when he realized what she was getting at.

Rachel smiled at him, but the expression held no humor. “I have to go. It’s getting late and I’ve got a lot of work to do before tomorrow.” She pushed open the passenger door and stepped out.

“Rachel, wait.” Alex jumped from the driver’s seat and caught her on the sidewalk. “We need to talk about this.”

“Alex, really, there’s nothing to talk about. I’m just rambling. I’m tired —”

“No. You’re not.” He took her elbow. “Don’t shut me out. I’m just trying to understand you. That’s what you do when you care about someone.”

She stared at him for a long moment and then gave him a single nod. He took that as an invitation and uncertainly followed her up the path to her front door.