Page 46 of Fake Engaged to the Enemy

We go to the living room, where we take our seats on the sofa. I moved it back to where I like it, beneath the bay windows.

The twilight outside casts a purple glow over Catherine’s hair. She looks like the heroine of some tragic film.

“I was unfair to you on our graduation day,” she says slowly.

I wait, watching as she gathers her thoughts. I can practically see her plucking them from the air.

“I lashed out at you when it wasn’t you that I was angry about. It’s the day that I learned that my mother had another daughter.”

My stomach drops. “On our graduation day? So that’s why she didn’t come to see the ceremony?”

“That’s the reason she gave.” Catherine gives me a hurt look. “But she didn’t want to come anyway. She told me so.”

A sigh whistles from my lungs. “I’m sorry.”

“I hadn’t spoken to June in almost two years,” Catherine says. She wraps her arms around herself. “I stopped calling. That’s all it took for her to pretend as though I didn’t exist. But I still sent an invite to the ceremony. Some part of me hoped that this time, she wouldn’t disappoint me.”

“Just before we were leaving, I saw that we got mail from her. It looked like a card. I was so excited. I thought that even if June hadn’t shown up to support me, she at least remembered.”

The clouds on her face grow deeper and I brace myself for what’s to come.

“It had nothing to do with me. I said ‘we’ got mail from her, but it was really Grandma. My name was shoved in under hers as an afterthought.” Catherine rubs her hands over her face. “I remember every word, announcing the birth of her daughter, Katherina.”

I rub the back of my neck. There’s no use in trying to pretend as though both sisters didn’t share the same name.

“It felt like a slap to the face. I could barely hold it together during graduation. Then…” Catherine shakes her head. “Then you said one wrong word and I exploded. It wasn’t fair to you.”

“But understandable, since you had so much else going on.”

Catherine frowns at you. “It’s not excusable, though.”

I give her a soft smile. “You were a kid. Kids rarely react in mature ways.”

I lean back against the couch, turning over this information in my mind. I’d always known that Lynn had raised Catherine. When I was a kid, it took me quite a while to wrap my head around the fact that Lynn was Grandma, not Mom to her.

My parents never liked June. They’d call her a flake and express how sad it was for Lynn to have a daughter that turned out that way.

But despite that, I never really knew how bad things actually were.

Even knowing that June named both her daughters what was essentially the same name. This makes it even worse. She couldn’t even call Catherine for two years? Couldn’t be bothered to let her know that she was pregnant until after she announced the birth of her baby?

“I’m sorry,” I say again, though I know no words will make it better.

What happened to make June turn out like that?

Catherine searches my expression. “You are, aren’t you? It’s not just a hollow statement. You really are sorry that I went through that.”

“Of course. I never realized how you felt about our rivalry. I was always proud of your accomplishments. You pushed me to be a better person,” I admit.

She lets out a heavy sigh. “I wish I’d known that in high school.”

“I wish I’d known my mother accused you of making me pot brownies.”

She snorted, shooting me an amused look. “Yeah, that wasn’t the best.”

“Knowing what you were going through puts a lot of your behavior into perspective.” I shake my head slowly. You deserved better. You know that, right? You deserved to have a mother that treated you better.”

Catherine gives me the smallest smile I’ve ever seen. “I know. But it doesn’t matter.”

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