Page 38 of Keeping Collette

“No, you keep it. And before you say anything, I don’t expect you to pay me for it. I brought you dinner.”

How he knew she was going to offer to pay him, didn’t surprise her given the first time they had dinner together, but she wasn’t going to be rude and demand he accept money from her. It was a gift, and she was going to look at it that way.

The bonus about it all was, she wouldn’t have to think about dinner for a couple of nights, and there was still enough left over so she wouldn’t have to have the same thing twice.

“Thank you again,” she chuckled. “I seem to be saying that a lot tonight.”

“Maybe, but I’m sure there will be times I’ll be thanking you a lot, too.” His expression turned serious, and she braced herself for what he was about to say next. “Have you made any arrangements for Courtney yet?”

The question shouldn’t pierce her heart the way it did. It was a reasonable one, and one that many people would ask someone after a relative had died. “No. I—” She shook her head and swallowed down the tears that threatened to swell up. She was done crying. Courtney wouldn’t want her to be sad all the time, she’d want Collette to be happy and move on with her life, just like she would’ve wanted Courtney to do if she was the one left living. “I need to. I also need to tell my parents. I should do that first before I make any decisions about her funeral. Not that they’ll likely want to contribute anything. But they need to know.”

Given how little her parents cared for her and Courtney, it shouldn’t be so difficult to go and tell them what had happened, yet she was finding it was. They were the last people she wanted to face, but given that the only reason she’d kept her parents in her life had been because of Courtney–after seeing them this one last time–she could now cut them out of her world permanently.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Of course, Deal was offering to support her. It wasn’t a surprise that he’d asked, and she shouldn’t clutch at it like a life preserver, but that was exactly what she was going to do.

“I should say that it’s not necessary and I can do it myself, but I’d really appreciate it if you did come with me.” She was beyond caring what anyone thought about her parents. Or the home they lived in.

How they chose to live didn’t define her. It may sound arrogant, but she’d risen above them and created her own life.

“What you’re about to do is one of the hardest things anyone ever has to go through. You shouldn’t have to do it alone. When do you want to go?”

With Deal saying he would go with her, she wanted to get it over and done with. “Tomorrow? Would that work for you?”

“It does. How about I get here by ten?”

“Perfect.”

The walk to her front door was short, and she wished it was longer. Saying goodbye to Deal was going to be hard, but knowing she’d see him in the morning would make it a little easier.

He brushed his lips against hers, lingering for a few heartbeats before he stepped away. “Sleep well and lock the door behind me after I go.”

“I’ll try and I will.”

She closed the door as he walked out, flicking the locks and sliding the chain into place, grateful that Deal had come into her life.

Chapter Eighteen

Knowing what he did about Collette’s parents, the state of disrepair of their house still shocked him. The porch listed to the left as if it was sinking into the ground. The garden was a mass of weeds and dead plants. The paint was peeling from the siding, and the windows appeared to have years of grime coating them.

Granted, the other houses surrounding them weren’t in the best condition, but Collette’s parents’ house looked the worse.

“I can’t believe they think living this way is acceptable.” Collette shook her head as they pulled to a stop in front of it.

And Courtney lived there? Had seemed happy to live there when she could’ve stayed with Collette? There’s no way the woman sitting beside him would accept her sister living this way. Yet, she had, and he suspected it was more because of Courtney’s wishes than Collette’s.

“It’s not the best,” he murmured.

“I know what you’re thinking.” She turned to face him.

“What’s that?”

“You’re wondering how I could’ve let Courtney live amongst this squalor.” He gave a short nod, and she continued. “This was the one thing we constantly argued about. I wanted her to come live with me, but for whatever reason, Courtney wanted to wait until she finished school. Which made no sense. Our parents didn’t care about our education. I kept telling her it was a ridiculous reason, but when she stopped talking to me for a couple of weeks after we argued about it yet again, I stopped mentioning it. I’d rather have her in my life than not at all. I took her out to eat, or had her over for meals as much as possible. Sometimes she stayed a couple of nights, but she always went back.”

Her words confirmed his suspicions it was Courtney’s wish to stay in the house in front of them. Deal couldn’t understand why her sister would do that, she obviously had her reasons. Perhaps part of it was feeling a sense of daughter duty to look after her parents, make sure they ate, drank, washed themselves. The questions he had about it all would never be answered though, because Courtney was gone.

“What about the schools you went too? You said the principal at your school was aware of your situation, why didn’t they get CPS involved.”

Collette scoffed. “They tried, but my parents always managed to look together and lucid every time they called by. It was a joke, but they couldn’t do much. The house didn’t look as bad back then as it does now. Also Courtney’s school knew I was in her life, and if there was an issue, they called me instead of my parents, which wasn’t what they should’ve done but they did. There’s always ways to slip through the system.”