Page 72 of The Snowball Effect

All right, so maybe Audrey’s text – and the subsequent weird feelings – had made her a little… sharp.

“Sorry,” she sighed, folding her arms around her waist, not offering any further explanation.

Not only did she not want to get into talking about her sisterat all, but she was also still treading lightly on certain topics with Emma. The last thing she wanted when she was trying to completely win Emma over was to let her know that Regan’s own family totally agreed with every negative belief Emma had ever held about her.

Emma’s eyebrows furrowed as she watched Regan closely before she shook her head. “Honestly, it’s fine. I’ve said way worse to you,” she added, tilting her lips in a teasing smile.

It made Regan chuckle, breaking through her weird mood. “True. I take my apology back because I believe in a level playing field.”

Now, Emma laughed, but she still watched Regan closely. Disarmingly closely. “I was asking because you’re the one who told me you love partaking in a little scheme, so I figured you’d be more excited right now. In the last two days, you’ve texted me four times aboutour relationship details. And that’s not even counting how you spent last night making a batch of cookies because you didn’t want to show up empty-handed tonight.”

Regan tilted her head in acknowledgment. “True and fair points.”

“Listen, if you aren’t up to this, it’s not too late. We can go back home, and I can tell Kimberly that you aren’t feeling well,” Emma offered.

The eagerness in her voice snagged Regan’s attention, and she shifted to face Emma in the back of the car. “Why do I get the feeling that you’d like that you’d like to do that more than I would?”

Emma’s generous lips drew together tightly, and she turned away from Regan’s gaze to look out the window.

Her own family issues completely pushed aside, Regan couldn’t help the question that escaped her. “Can I ask – whatisthe story here? Between you and your mom?”

She knew that Emma didn’t want to talk about it; Emma was the way she was because she valued her privacy so deeply. Regan had accepted that about her – finally – given everything that had happened since they’d moved in together.

But,god, she was so fucking curious. Since the morning Kimberly had shown up on their doorstep weeks ago, she’d been ravenous for the truth.

“I’m not asking because of, like, wanting to gossip oranythinglike that,” she swore. “This stays between you and me – all of it. Even if you don’t tell me the whole story.”

She really hoped Emma could hear her sincerity because it was all true.

Regan had taken some of what Emma had said to heart. Shedidlike to gossip – not out of malice, but because she loved a good story, and she loved regaling them to others. But she understood that Emma didn’t like people knowing her personal business, and she could honor that.

She had been honoring that.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I get it; family stuff can be complicated.” With the texts from Audrey sitting on her phone, Regan really,reallyunderstood the truth of thatstatement. “But I want you to know, especially before we see your family, that I haven’t said anything about this to anyone. Not even to Sutton.”

And she’d really,reallywanted to tell Sutton; she told Sutton just about everything. And Sutton had been texting very regularly, pointedly asking how everything was going with Emma, so it had taken Regan more than a little restraint to hold back.

As Emma slid her gaze from the passing cityscape to Regan, she fully expected to not get an answer.

“You’re right – I don’thaveto tell you,” Emma allowed, several seconds later, seeming as if she’d come to terms with some internal debate. “But you are going out of your way to help me out, which you’ve been doing since the second you’ve been thrown into this mess. You didn’t have to do any of this, but here you are.” She used her hand to gesture at Regan, up and down.

Regan found herself sitting at attention, eager anticipation working through her. She was so,sowanting to know, she was practically vibrating with excitement.

Emma’s dark eyebrows drew together as she took a deep breath. “My mom had me when she was fifteen,” she began, and Regan’s eyebrows shot up in surprise – not where she’d expected the story to start.

Then again, as she pictured Kimberly, she could easily connect the image with this information.

“My grandpa – her dad – had died the year before that, and she… obviously, didn’t handle it that well.” Emma shrugged. “So, she wasnotready for me, in any way.”

Regan nodded. “Sure. What teenager could be?”

“Exactly. So, we lived with my gram, and Gram… well, she did everything for me. She’s amazing,” Emma informed Regan so seriously, and with such warmth in her voice Regan couldn’t help but smile.

“Makes sense why you’re more worried about what she thinks about me than what your mom thinks, then,” she commented without any bite. Regardless of that being the starting point of their argument, Regan understood the root of it now, at least.

Emma’s face was full of consternation as she hummed softly, clearly thinking over what to say next.

Regan almost told her that she didn’t have to say anything more, now that she understood the fundamental aspects. But like hell was she going to stop Emma from sharing with her, not when she was so ready to soak up every drop of information.

---