Page 181 of The Snowball Effect

And she loved that.

Yes, okay, she was probably hallucinating, because she’d been too caught up in Emma lately – too caught up in the excitement, in something so good – that her mind wanted to remind her that there were some downsides to life, still. Before Regan got so filled with bright, fun times and simply floated away.

Blinking her eyes open, she found that – nope. The sight in front of her remained. Isaac and Dierdre Gallagher remained standing in front of her, their pinched expressions the same as Regan could always conjure up in her head.

“Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?” She asked, confused and a little scared, honestly. “Did someone die?”

Oh, god. Who could have died that was so important her parents needed to come and find her to tell her in person?!Audrey?

Her mother pursed her lips, shooting a dark look toward Regan’s apartment. Following her gaze, she realized that the door was open, and Emma was standing there.

Her arms crossed over her chest, with a stubbornly serious glare that mirrored Regan’s parents’ expressions. Huh. Wow.

Regan remembered that look! It was crazy, really, to think that she’d so often been on the receiving end of a similar expression, because she hadn’t seen that look on Emma’s face in months.

“We’dintendedto see your home.” Her mother sniffed, haughtily, and gestured at Emma. “But when we arrived this woman – your… roommate? – refused to let us in.”

“They arrived less than two minutes ago,” Emma interjected, her tone exacting and sharp. “It’s not like it’s been an hour.”

Baffled, Regan took a few steps closer. Only to stop as soon as she was within a few feet of her parents, feeling that awful, heavy sensation in her chest – like she was the world’s biggest failure and disappointment – that only her parents knew how to bring out in her with just a look.

And, boy oh boy, were they giving her the look. A look she was, also, more than familiar with.

“But what are you doing here?” She repeated, because that comment hadn’t really explained anything. “You never come here when you’re in the city.”

She knew her parents traveled to New York at least once or twice a year, coming to see shows, meet up with friends, have weekend getaways; they’d done it since she was a kid. Sheimagined they’d likely been in Manhattan a lot more frequently in the last year, too, since helping to plan Audrey’s wedding.

But they never came to seeher. If anything, they’d extend an invitation to join them and Audrey for dinner, but even that was a rare occurrence. The only time Regan was guaranteed to see her parents in a calendar year was over the holidays. So, this? Unprecedented and disconcerting.

Her father exhaled, impatiently. “We just had an early dinner with your sister. We hadn’t even planned on coming into the city this weekend, but she insisted that she had to talk to us in person.” He arched her a look. “Do you have anything you want to take accountability for?”

Confusion growing by the second – and that feeling inside of her, like she was the world’s worst person, multiplied with it. God, how did they do that so well? – Regan slowly shook her head. “Um… no?”

She hadn’t even spoken to Audrey in nearly two weeks, since the wine bar. So why in the world was she on the receiving end of their accusing stares?!

“Typical,” her father muttered.

Ugh, Regan’s stomach twisted, and she felt her shoulders slump at the tone. Still, she did her best to respond and push past the feeling, as it was the only coping mechanism she’d ever figured out in this kind of situation. Push through as fast as possible, so it could all be over. “I don’t know what you’re even talking about.”

“Audrey told us that she’s no longer planning to marry Armando,” her mother informed her, in that classic icy tone she had.

Regan’s mouth fell open, shock rushing through her. “For real?”

“Yes,for real,” her mom echoed, disdainfully.

“Wow! That’s wild.” Regan should text her! Damn, she hadn’t seen that coming at all.

Before she could go too far down that mental rabbit hole, though, she looked back at her parents, quizzically.

“Um… so, what does this have to do with me?” She slowly asked, pointing at herself. “Shouldn’t you be taking this up with, like, Armando?”

After all, he seemed to be the cause of Audrey’s unhappiness.

Her father – in his long-sleeved button-up, tie, and well-ironed slacks, despite the fact that it was the end of August, and the humid heat was still among them – pursed his lips. “Audrey –veryatypically for her – was unable to give us a succinct explanation as to why she wants to try to call off the wedding. What shedidtell us, in a ramble that was much more befitting of you than her, is that you are the only person she’s talked to about this, and that you encouraged this behavior.”

Regan shook her head quickly. “No! Well. I mean – yeah? But, only because she told me that she was unhappy, so–”

“So, youdidtell her to call it off,” her mother interrupted, eyes narrowing to a glare. “Why am I not surprised? Despite the fact that all of our friends and associates are invited to the wedding, despite the fact that we’ve already paid tens of thousands in nonrefundable deposits.”

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