Free The Matchbaker (A Romantic Comedy) by Jerrica Knight-Catania Page B

whole family. I didn’t really need her to bring donuts for me to know she’d slept with Colin, but confirming it makes me a little nauseated.
    Holly gives me a wink as she walks up the porch stairs. I give her a tight smile in return. Colin is right behind her and I’m suddenly reminded of last night and how horrible I was. Jealousy is no excuse for bad manners.
    “Why don’t we take those in to Mom and see if she needs any help with the rest of breakfast?” Dad says as he puts an arm around Holly’s shoulders.
    They disappear inside and I’m left standing on the porch alone with Colin. There’s a moment of awkward silence.
    He points to the door as if he wants to follow Dad and Holly. “Well, I should probably go help—”
    “Yeah, totally,” I interrupt. “I’ll see you in there.”
    Colin starts to move, but I can’t let him go without saying something. “Colin, wait.” He turns to me, his hand poised on the doorknob. “Look, I’m really sorry about last night. I was drunk, and…”
    “Hey, no worries.” His face has softened and he’s actually smiling a little. “We were all drunk.”
    “Yeah, but I said some horrible things…didn’t I?”
    He shrugs. “Your sister assured me you weren’t usually like that.”
    Ah. My sister. My pain in the butt, back stabbing, man stealing, always-gets-what-she-wants sister. “So, we’re good?”
    “Definitely.” Colin swings the door open and heads inside just as my cab pulls up in the driveway.
    I feel like such a coward. I should go in and tell everyone I’m leaving and I’m not coming back. It’s horrible of me to ditch Mom to do my dirty work. But the cab is here, and I anticipate the interaction would turn into more than simply “Hey guys, I changed my mind! See you at Christmas.”
    I hear Holly. Her voice is getting closer and I panic. I have to get out of here. I grab my Louis and make a beeline for the cab. I throw the bag into the backseat and climb in next to it.
    “New Haven train station, please,” I say to the driver.
    As he pulls around the circular gravel drive, Holly emerges onto the porch. She’s staring dumbfounded at the car, and the guilt stabs me so hard, I have to struggle to sit upright. It’s official–I’m the biggest bitch I know.
    ~*~
    By the time my train pulls into Grand Central I’m feeling much better about my decision. Not so much about how I left, but still, I did what had to be done. I can make amends later. They’re my family—they’ll forgive me, right? Besides, I’m back in New York, and I have a dinner date with Luce tonight. I know she’ll tell me that I made the right decision. That’s what best friends are for, after all.
    I check my phone as I emerge from the bowels of the train station. Hm. Not a single call this morning. I really expected my sister would have called a thousand times by now to find out what had happened. And to chew me out, of course. Somehow the silence is worse.
    I shrug it off. Mom probably did a good job of explaining, and I’m sure she told Holly not to bug me about it. Mom might be annoying sometimes, but she knows when to back off. Usually.
    A reckless cab takes me from Grand Central to my apartment in Chelsea. We pull up to my building and I’m all at once overwhelmed with gratitude, both for the end to the harrowing cab ride and my apartment. It’s really beautiful. And it doesn’t matter that it’s a little off the beaten path and almost to the west river. It’s worth the extra in cab fare every day to have the floor-to-ceiling windows and a view of the water.
    My phone rings in my purse. I’m pretty sure it’s Holly calling to chew me out. Maybe she just wanted to wait until I got home, which, under the circumstances, is very considerate of her. Or maybe it’s Mom and Dad calling to say they completely understand my decision and that they’re sorry for even putting me through this horrible ordeal.
    But when I look at the phone, it’s none of them. As a