That New York Minute by Abby Gaines Read Free Book Online

ads lately?” Rachel asked her father.
    Her dad rumbled on about a Toyota truck commercial—TV with radio and print backup—that Rachel also considered pretty good. “But my favorite is that Lexus ad with the bridge,” Burton said.
    Rachel stiffened. “Really? You like that?” It was one of Garrett’s campaigns, the first one he’d done at KBC. “You don’t think it was bit over-the-top?”
    “Over-the-top!” her father scoffed. “It’s sheer genius.”
    Rachel grunted. A sound that reminded her of Garrett, as if she needed to think of him.
    “It sure would be convenient if you could win a beer company as a client, hon,” her mom joked. “Your dad won a gas grill in a raffle at work, so we thought we’d get some friends over to christen it. A few freebies wouldn’t go amiss.”
    Her parents had been here long enough to make friends to invite over. Could they actually be settling down? Rachel treated it with a healthy dose of skepticism, but, still, it was a tantalizing thought.
    Rachel’s childhood was a blur of different homes—cheap apartments, trailers, the occasional small house. Sooner or later, the Fryes had left them all, most with a cheery toot of the horn to the neighbors, a few in the dead of night in the hope the landlord wouldn’t chase after them.
    It was amazing none of those landlords had tracked them down and taken them to court…but then, her folks were nice people who always meant well. Their creditors always seemed to end up excusing them.
    Rachel excused them, too. They were loving parents, and if she’d had to be particularly tenacious to burrow herself into each new school and earn the grades she wanted…well, that was character building. And it wasn’t as if Mom and Dad didn’t work hard or try to get ahead.
    The problem was their method of doing so.
    For as long as Rachel could remember, they’d been suckers for the promise of good times around the corner. Over and again, they’d uprooted themselves so Burton could chase after an exciting new job. Or borrowed more than they could afford to invest in a “sure thing.”
    Just once, they’d had a great return. They’d lent a thousand bucks to a guy who’d patented a new can opener, and got three thousand back. Other than that, to give it the most charitable interpretation, they were the unluckiest investors in the world.
    Rachel had long ago agreed to disagree with her parents. She loved them, but she didn’t want their lives, and she couldn’t share their excitement about the Next Big Thing. And they’d had enough of what they called her cynicism.
    They talked about harmless subjects until LeeAnne and the twins, Kylie and Dannii—named after the Minogue sisters—arrived for lunch. After they’d eaten and cleared away the dishes, the girls stayed at the table with crayons and coloring books, while the adults spread out in the living area, ready to bend their brains to Rachel’s latest problem. Her family treated it like a game, and with them it felt like one.
    As opposed to feeling as if her life was on the line.
    “So let’s talk about how people without a college background choose a college for their kids,” she said. “I’ve been trying to remember the discussions we had when I was in high school.”
    “You girls could have gone to college,” Nora said. “You were both bright enough.”
    “We looked into the whole student loans thing,” her father reminded Rachel. “But you said you didn’t want to go.”
    They’d had no way of funding a college education beyond massive loans. And Rachel had seen firsthand the consequences of excessive borrowing; she’d wanted nothing to do with it.
    “I’d love it if Kylie and Dannii went to college,” LeeAnne said wistfully. “Maybe they’ll end up in these schools you’re advertising and really make something of themselves.”
    “They already are something,” Nora scolded. “They’re the two most adorable girls that ever lived. After you and your