Junior Year Box Set

“You Dawsons really are all alike,” she said, then got serious. “When you and Tami were working things out, I told her what I thought of the whole situation. My advice to her was that she shouldn’t be in a hurry to settle down. Looking back, it probably wasn’t what you wanted me to say.”

I could guess, and really didn’t want to hear it. My relationship with Tami hadn’t turned out how I wanted during the summer.

“Why did you do it? And not just back then, but with the interview? I thought you were part of the family,” I said.

Angie looked away and took a moment to gather herself.

“Leave it to you to get to the heart of the matter. I didn’t set out to be mean. The interview just popped out, but since then I’ve had to face myself, if for no other reason than I think Greg is ready to kick me to the curb.

“You know my family life. When I got pregnant, they turned their backs on me. What I saw in your family was something I didn’t even realize was possible to have. You all are closer than is probably healthy. You talk about stuff that would have had me run screaming from the kitchen table in embarrassment if it had happened at my home. What amazed me was that you all took me in, as if I’d always been a part of your little clan. In many ways, I sympathized with Tami when you wanted to push her out. She’d been a part of something unique, and suddenly it was gone.

“One of my fears is that you all will find me out. I’m not like you, I need to have some things secret that I can’t tell the whole family. What I need to tell you to make this right, I can’t, for fear you’ll tell Greg,” Angie said as a tear formed at the corner of her eye.

“What you don’t know is that I’ve had the same issues recently. I was upset that my mom wouldn’t tell me why she was upset with Dad concerning Phil. I have my own secrets now, because of that. If you need me to keep something just between the two of us, all you have to do is tell me,” I said.

“Do you mean that? I’m serious here. Can I trust you?” she asked.

I didn’t answer right away, because my first loyalty was to Greg, just as I had found out that Uncle John’s loyalty was to my dad. What if Angie told me she was having an affair, or something worse? This all would go to my character. Was I really a man of my word? If I told her yes, I would have to mean it. The only way I would break my word would be if it put someone in danger or it would hurt the family.

“Yes, you can trust me. The only thing I ask is that you don’t abuse that trust,” I said.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Come on, Angie, use some common sense. If you tell me you’re banging your college professor, it would be pretty shitty to tell me and force me to stay quiet.”

She nodded and told me what was up.

“When I first met Greg, he was my ideal man. Self-assured, loved me, and made love to me better than I ever imagined anyone could. He was someone I felt I could make a life with. The only problem was Greg only dated someone for a couple of months, and then moved on. I decided to keep him,” she said, and let me take that information in and put two and two together.

“Shit, Angie! Does he know?” I asked.

“No.”

Then something struck me about what Angie said. Tami always called me a ‘stupid boy’ because I missed the obvious concerning relationships. Well, she called me a ‘stupid boy’ for many reasons, but in particular, I was terrible at picking up a secret crush. Once Tami pointed it out to me, then it was obvious. What Angie had said was when she first met Greg, he was her perfect man. That meant she had found someone else; or did it?

“There’s more, isn’t there,” I stated.

“You started to grow up,” she said, which made me take in a sharp breath and step back.

“I’m not going to jump you,” Angie teased.

“But, but, I would never …”

“Therein is my problem. Let me lay all my cards on the table. When I first met Greg, you were a little dweeb. A lovable dweeb, but I looked at you like his little brother. Then I saw you after Cindy had done her makeover. Cindy was a real bitch because she gave me every detail about how you were in bed. It wasn’t only the sex. I had Greg, after all, and could get him to up his game just by teasing him that someone told me you were better in bed than he was.

“What made me start to doubt my choice was when you started to model. It became apparent that you’d surpass your brother professionally. Then you became an actor, and then out of the blue, you were asked to buy into the farm. While Greg never said anything, I knew he envied your success.

“The final thing is how you treat my kids. They love their Uncle David, and I know you love them. You’ll make a great father. I just wish you were older. You’ll have to do a whole lot of growing up, and way too soon. It makes me sad to think of what you’ll face in a few months,” Angie said.

“I’m confused.”