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“How dare you, Regan. Get back here.” Passion stomped over and halted me. I turned on her.
“How dare I? You’ve done nothing but lie to me since I got here.” I started ticking off examples using my fingers for emphasis. “The suite upstairs? Nice digs for a dancer. Your relationship with Frank? Why our family is really here? Why I’m the one writing the story on the hotel?”
“The family is here for your stupid wedding. Nobody wanted to come ‘just for my show.’”
“Maybe if you stuck with something longer than two months, we’d be supportive.” The world around me shrank down to just Passion and I. Frank and Gray disappeared. The crowds and the hotel vanished. The sirens and lights from the emergency vehicles were silenced by the blood pounding through my veins. I only saw Passion and the feelings between us.
“We can’t all be perfect like you. Mom and Dad brag about you like you hung the moon,” Passion yelled.
“Oh, please. They’re parents. They brag on all of us.”
“Not true. It’s Regan this, and Regan that. How’s anyone supposed to live up to that?”
“I dropped out of college. I’m homeless. And I can carry all of my worldly possessions on my back. There’s not a lot there to brag about.” My anger propelled me closer to her. If I still had my heels on, I’d be nose-to-nose with her.
“That’s the point! ‘Regan follows her passion. Regan can do anything she sets her mind to. Regan. Regan. Regan.” The venom coming off her words struck my heart, but I didn’t back down.
“Stop being a drama queen. You’re beautiful. I wish I was half as pretty as you are.”
“That’s the point!”
“How many points do you have?”
“Regan does and Passion is. You make things happen. You push through until you’ve achieved the goal. I. Just. Am. One day my prettiness will be gone. What will be left?”
My anger dissipated and my heart broke for my little sister. Passion was the pretty one. Peyton was the kind sister. Me, the adventurous one. It really wasn’t all her fault. She’d been fawned over for her looks her whole life. She never had to work to be the smart one. She never had to set goals and work to achieve them. Because of her looks, people fell over themselves to give her things and just be near her. She’d never had to really try at anything. But I’d been witness to her putting her all into this one show. She may have thrown it all away after the run was over, but for now, she was actually trying and working toward something. I ignored the fact that with Frank as her boyfriend, she may not really have had to try all that hard.
I sat down on the grass and patted the area next to me. Passion’s shoulders slumped as she deflated. She plopped down next to me. I put my arm around her and pulled her head onto my shoulder.
“Passion, did I ever tell you the story of Ben when I was in college?”
“That guy you dated?” she asked.
“Yes. He almost broke me. Almost.” I related the story to her. Coming home to an empty apartment while the doorman dumped me. Thanks to our run-in in Chicago recently, I was able to tell the story without emotion. I’d finally put it in the past. “Here’s my point, Passion. I learned to be strong and push. I learned to fight for what I wanted. A lot of the lessons came from Gray. He encouraged me to go after my dreams. I wasn’t born this way. I learned it with age and trials and failures.”
“Ugh, the doorman, huh? Rough.” I laughed out loud. Passion focused on the doorman and not my heartfelt speech. Oh well, you can’t win them all.
“It was rough. At the time.”
“Does this mean you’ll help us, Regan?”
“No.”
“Come on! You’re my big sister, you’re supposed to help me.” Just like that, the moment was gone. Passion and I both got to our feet, ready to square off again.
Passion tried every tactic she’d used since she was four. She begged and pleaded and cajoled. She tried whining, humor and just looking cute. Her switching of tactics made me dizzy, and her whining made me nauseated. It wasn’t cute at any age. I was over it. I just wanted the truth. “We’re not six anymore. Stop trying to manipulate. It’s your turn to come clean.”
“Fine.” Passion pouted and kicked at the grass with her foot before she continued. Passion mumbled her words. “I set it all up.”
I cupped my hand behind my ear.
“I set it all up,” she said more clearly.
“And...”
“I asked Frank to request you when he told me about the article.”
“Why?” I asked, rolling my hand for her to keep going.
Passion kicked around at the ground some more. My temper flared again. I started to leave.
“Wait. You always cancel your trips here at the last minute. You writing the article would guarantee a visit. The wedding guaranteed everyone else coming out for my show.”
“Why’d you have to manipulate everything? You could’ve just asked. We would’ve come.”
“Because I needed you.”
“I got it. You needed me to snoop around.”
“No. Well, yes, but not just that. I needed you. Listen, it used to be me trailing after you and Peyton, but now you’re all too busy. Peyton has her kids and she loves being a mom. You have Gray and your travels. You are always off doing something and don’t have time for me. You both left me behind.”
Guilt warred inside of me. I’d always felt protective of Passion. Peyton and I both nurtured her and babied her, but when I took off with Gray I didn’t give her a second thought.
“I’m not letting you make me feel guilty over living my life. We didn’t leave you behind. It was just time for you to stand on your own.”
“I’m not trying to make you feel guilty. I swear!” Passion reached for my hands. “I just wanted my big sister. I wanted to have fun like we used to. I wanted you to see me on stage and be proud of me.”
“Oh, honey. I am proud of you. You work hard at your craft, but I’m not proud of your behavior. You were raised better than that.”
“Now you sound like Mom.”
I bristled at the accusation but pulled Passion into my arms anyway. “Are you done being a brat?” Her affirmation was muffled against my neck. I rubbed her back and held her against me. Her height made the hug awkward, but neither of us minded.
“Are you going to help me?” Passion asked.
“Why does this mean so much to you?”
“Because I love him and he’s hurting.” Passion pulled back and looked me in the eye. “I can’t stand seeing him like this. Please.”
I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly before answering. I looked at Gray. He nodded his acceptance but I knew I would live to regret this. “Fine.”
“Regan? One more thing?” I tensed my muscles in preparation of her next words. “I am more than a pretty face, right?”
“Yes, Passion. You are annoying and manipulative and caring and loving. And, sometimes even smart when you allow yourself to be.” I pulled her head down and gave her a noogie.
“You two ready to end this round?” Gray asked. My world grew larger again. Frank stood off to the side talking on his cell phone. The crowds around us were thinning out as people were being let back into the hotel. The emergency crews shuffled around, but no one hustled. I assumed the fire must’ve been minor otherwise the chaos would still be going on.
“Come on.” I put my arm around Passion and led her back to the hotel. I assumed Gray and Frank would follow us. “I will try and help. I don’t know what I can do, but I will try. I have one condition, though.”
“Oh, boy. What?”
“I don’t start until the morning. This is my honeymoon after all.”