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Chapters (85)
  1. BOOKS BY LOUISE BAY
  2. ONE
  3. Rosey
  4. TWO
  5. Byron
  6. THREE
  7. Rosey
  8. FOUR
  9. Byron
  10. FIVE
  11. Rosey
  12. SIX
  13. Byron
  14. SEVEN
  15. Rosey
  16. EIGHT
  17. Rosey
  18. NINE
  19. Byron
  20. TEN
  21. Rosey
  22. ELEVEN
  23. Byron
  24. TWELVE
  25. Rosey
  26. THIRTEEN
  27. Byron
  28. FOURTEEN
  29. Rosey
  30. FIFTEEN
  31. Rosey
  32. SIXTEEN
  33. Byron
  34. SEVENTEEN
  35. Rosey
  36. EIGHTEEN
  37. Byron
  38. NINETEEN
  39. Rosey
  40. TWENTY
  41. Rosey
  42. TWENTY-ONE
  43. Byron
  44. TWENTY-TWO
  45. Byron
  46. TWENTY-THREE
  47. Rosey
  48. TWENTY-FOUR
  49. Rosey
  50. TWENTY-FIVE
  51. Byron
  52. TWENTY-SIX
  53. Rosey
  54. TWENTY-SEVEN
  55. Byron
  56. TWENTY-EIGHT
  57. Rosey
  58. TWENTY-NINE
  59. Byron
  60. THIRTY
  61. Rosey
  62. THIRTY-ONE
  63. Rosey
  64. THIRTY-TWO
  65. Byron
  66. THIRTY-THREE
  67. Rosey
  68. THIRTY-FOUR
  69. Rosey
  70. THIRTY-FIVE
  71. Byron
  72. THIRTY-SIX
  73. Rosey
  74. THIRTY-SEVEN
  75. Byron
  76. THIRTY-EIGHT
  77. Byron
  78. EPILOGUE
  79. A month later – New York City
  80. 14 months later - Star Falls
  81. MR. MAYFAIR
  82. Beck
  83. Beck
  84. Stella
  85. BOOKS BY LOUISE BAY

“I know,” I say. There’s no way I’m letting my mom’s need to control Marion stop her getting to college. “Maybe say that some of your friends are going to Applegate Lake for an overnight camping trip in the summer, and you want to go but you need to buy supplies. A tent and stuff. So you get the second job to—wait! I got it.” I interrupt myself. “Ask if you can give her less of your paycheck at the end of every week, just until the summer. Tell her about the trip and how you can’t afford it unless she lets you keep more of your salary.”

“She might just kill me.”

“When she goes crazy, suggest you can get another job. But say you want to keep the money from the extra hours because you can’t fit many more in.”

There’s silence on the other end of the phone before Marion says, “She’ll think she’s so generous for not taking a cut, and she’ll be relieved she doesn’t have to give up any of my paycheck.”

“Exactly,” I say. “We’re beating her at her own game. Manipulating her to get what we want.”

“It could work. It’s worth a shot.” She squeals. “I knew you’d have a solution. You always figure everything out.”

Her words take me by surprise. I’ve never seen myself as a problem solver. If you listened to my mom, you’d think I was the root of most of the world’s problems. “Thanks, Marion.”

“I mean it. I miss you so much. Mom… she’s worse since the whole wedding thing. She’s constantly complaining.” Then she bursts out laughing. “And the other day she suggested Lydia date Frank.”

Her words are like a slap to my face. “You’re kidding. Lydia and Frank?”

“Don’t worry. I don’t think Frank has any interest in Lydia. But that’s her latest scheme.”

We’re all just pawns in Mom’s game of chess to secure her own future. I don’t know how I put up with it for as long as I did. I hope Lydia and Kitty find their way out. Or their way to me, like Marion has.

“How does Lydia feel about that?”

“She’s going along with it. What choice does she have? I think the first thing Mom wants to do is get her a job at the garage.”

Going along with it? My heart starts to ache at the thought of Lydia dating a man over twenty years older than her, just to keep Mom happy.

Lydia has a choice, just like I did. I only hope she realizes it before her wedding day.

THIRTY-ONE

Rosey