Fighting for the Edge by Jennifer Comeaux Page B

leather couch, kicking off her heels. In the background of the phone line, she heard her dad and her smile faded. He was obviously too busy to get on the line and talk to his daughter on Christmas.
    “I really wish you would’ve come home, even if it was only for a few hours,” her mom said. “It’s not the same without you here.”
    Aubrey rested her head on her hand. “It was just easier to stay here. There’s a lot going on.”
    “You hardly ever come home anymore, and you know how much I miss you.”
    The sadness in her mom’s voice pierced her heart, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Maybe she should’ve sucked it up and gone to visit her family. Her mom wasn’t the main reason she wanted to stay away. But she did tolerate her dad’s crap, and that made her partly responsible for the mess that was their marriage. A mess Aubrey couldn’t stand to be around.
    “It’s just hard…” Aubrey’s voice croaked with tears. Ugh, she hated crying. She’d done enough of it all those Christmases ago when she’d discovered her seemingly perfect family life was a lie.
    She looked up and caught Chris watching her with concern, and she dipped her head. He set the remote control on the coffee table and went into the kitchen.
    Her mom sniffled. “So, I guess we won’t see you until nationals?”
    “Probably not. We have a lot of work to do the next two weeks.”
    “Well, call me and let me know how you’re doing.”
    Aubrey cleared her throat. “I will.”
    “I hope you have a good day tomorrow. Don’t work too hard.”
    Guilt swam in her stomach, knowing she’d be doing a lot more playing than working. “I’ll talk to you soon,” she said and ended the call.
    She leaned back and closed her eyes again, taking slow breaths. She wasn’t going to let her mom make her feel guilty for keeping her distance. It made her too angry to go home and see how unhappy her parents were with each other but refusing to change their situation.
    “Are you okay?” Chris’s voice sprung open her eyes.
    He’d loosened his tie and opened the top button of his shirt. In one hand he held a bottle of beer. He joined her on the couch, and she sat up straighter.
    “Yeah.” She nodded quickly. “Just my mom… you know, she wishes I was there and all.”
    He continued to watch her with the little bend of concern between his eyebrows. “I feel like there’s more to the issues with your family than you’ve said. Just seeing how upset you looked when you were talking to your mom.”
    She stared at her phone, wiping the tiniest specks of dust from its screen. She hadn’t told anyone what had happened. Not even Em. It had made her so sad and angry that she’d just wanted to bury it.
    “If you wanna talk about it…” Chris paused. “I just want you to know I’d be glad to listen.”
    She looked into his eyes. There was something in them that gave her a feeling of total trust. She did want to talk, to finally let it all out. So she put the phone aside and began.
    “When I was in high school, I used to help out at my dad’s office after school sometimes. I thought it was cool to see all the building plans and to watch neighborhoods and shopping centers created from scratch, and it was fun because I got to see my dad more since he was always at work.”
    She shifted on the sofa so she was angled more toward Chris. “The Christmas I was sixteen, I found a black velvet box and a card in my dad’s desk. Inside the box was the most gorgeous diamond bracelet I’d ever seen. I knew I shouldn’t, but I opened the card, and my dad had written this really romantic note, mushier than anything I’d ever heard him say to my mom. And I thought, that’s so awesome he’s giving her this amazing gift and telling her all these wonderful things. She’s going to absolutely love it.”
    “Well, Christmas morning came, and I watched excitedly as my mom opened her gift bag. But the velvet box wasn’t in there. It was a gift card to a spa,