Coffee Cup Confessions - Trish Williford Page 0,63

weren’t prostitutes. The company we worked for is an actual, legit dating service. You pay for a companion, not sex. He wasn’t a prostitute, Misha. He didn’t sleep with women for money. He was an escort. He was paid for his time.”

Mandy is waiting for me to say something. Anything.

“I wish you had told me everything from the beginning instead of lying and keeping me in the dark. If I had known about Noah from the start, then this crap would have never snowballed.”

She nods in agreement. “I know, and I’m so sorry, Misha. I should have told you how I felt about Noah from the get-go, but I was scared. It’s not an excuse, but I was. I’m a coward. I’m not as confident as people think I am. I’ve lost my job, Noah, and my home in the last week. I really can’t lose you for good.”

“I’m sorry about Noah.” And I genuinely am.

She’s suffered enough over the years, and for her to lose him after finally getting to be with him must be devastating.

“I’ve moved back in with Mom and Dad … I deserve it all, and I’m taking my punishment.”

“Mandy—”

“It’s for the best, Misha. I need to grow the hell up. Mom and Dad just think Noah and I broke up. They’re going to help me get back on my feet. I’m going to go to college and find a career for myself. I’m not going to give up on Noah though. He’s the only man I’ve ever loved, and I won’t let him go without a fight.”

This is the old Mandy. The one who fought for what she wanted and not relied on her looks. My best friend. My sister.

She crawls onto the bed beside me and puts her head on my shoulder. “I don’t expect you to forget how I’ve treated you by any means, but I do hope we can try to move on from here. I want to rebuild our relationship. I’ll do whatever it takes to get us back to how we were so long ago.”

Looping my arm around her arm, I rest my head against hers. “We have a long road ahead of us before we’ll be okay again. We have to rebuild trust. It’s not going to happen overnight.”

She nods against my shoulder. “I’ll do whatever I need to do to fix us.”

“Okay.”

“Can we start now?”

Yeah, there’s doubt in my mind. Maybe she’ll do it again, and if so, shame on me for believing her.

I take in a deep breath and then exhale all of the animosity, hurt, and heartache out of my body.

Starting anew.

“I forgive you, Mandy.”

She lets out a relieved sob and hugs me hard and long, beginning our healing process.

Things are still awkward between Mandy and me during dinner, but we are at least able to sit around the same table for a meal together.

After dinner, she says good night and goes to her room for the evening.

Bentley and Ally leave shortly after everything is cleaned up, and that’s when I find Drew passed out on a lawn chair by the pool.

Dad is sitting in his den, working on his computer. I take a seat across from his desk like I used to when I was a little girl, and he looks over his monitor and smiles.

Dad has always been a very hard worker and our family’s provider. Mom stayed at home with us while we were young and then volunteered at the senior center when we were all in school. Dad became partner at the law firm shortly after I was born. That title came with long work hours, and growing up, I didn’t realize how much he sacrificed in order to take care of us financially. For a long time, I resented him for not being present in our lives more. He was hardly ever home in time for dinner, he rarely made it to any of our school or sporting events, and what bothered me the most was when he was home, he was locked away in this den, working some more. It wasn’t until I was older that I could truly see what he had done for us. He provided a warm, safe home for our family. His hard work bought meals that were put on our kitchen table daily. The time away from us supplied the money needed to pay for our activities, to keep Mom at home, and for each of us to have a little nest egg when we