She gave her name and showed her ID to the sergeant at the desk. “I can confirm that the car wasn’t stolen,” she said. “It belongs to my husband’s business, as you’ll see on the registration. Brianna borrowed it to drive while she’s in town, visiting her father in the hospital.” Allison forced herself to stop talking. The sergeant’s expression told her she’d said enough.
“The car isn’t the issue,” he said. “It’s the alcohol. The legal drinking age in Missouri is twenty-one. This young lady is nineteen. Her blood alcohol level was .07, under the legal limit for an adult. But for a minor caught driving, anything over .02 qualifies as a DUI, punishable by a fine of up to a thousand dollars and up to a year in jail.”
“But she’s in college, and her father’s recovering from an accident, and . . .” Allison stifled a groan as she realized her words carried no weight with the stone-faced cop.
“Five hundred dollars bail and you can take her home now. You can pick up the car tomorrow. You’ll hear when we’ve set a trial date. Meanwhile you might want to get her a lawyer.”
Allison produced her credit card at the window and collected Brianna’s purse and suitcase, which had been taken from the car. A few minutes later a policewoman ushered a scared and bedraggled Brianna into the waiting area. She looked so pathetic that Allison wavered between hugging the girl and shaking her till her fool teeth rattled.
“Come on, Brianna. Let’s go home.” She turned away and headed for the exit. “You can’t drive tonight. You’ll have to ride with me.”
Brianna trailed after her without a word. But her demeanor changed when they reached the parking lot. “Where’s Garrett?” she demanded. “He’s the one I called, not you.”
“Garrett’s busy. He asked me to pick you up.” Allison opened the passenger door. Brianna plopped into the seat, staring straight ahead as Allison put her suitcase and—after a moment’s thought—her purse in the trunk and walked around to the driver’s side of the car.
“Where’s my phone?” Brianna asked.
“I’m guessing it’s in your purse. You can have it after we get home.” Allison started the car and drove out of the parking lot. She kept quiet, giving the situation time to sink in.
By the time they’d reached the highway, Brianna was sobbing. “Please don’t tell my dad about this!” she pleaded.
“What if Garrett tells him?” Allison asked, playing devil’s advocate.
“He won’t. He promised me. But you need to promise, too. Please. Dad will be so upset with me. That can’t be good for him right now.”
“We don’t have to tell him right away,” Allison said. “But sooner or later, he’ll have to know. When the time comes, you need to take responsibility. You should be the one to tell him. Agreed?”
“Oh, all right.” Brianna sighed. “I just hope he won’t change his mind about buying me that new car.”
Allison swung her car onto a side street, pulled up to the curb, and turned in the seat toward her stepdaughter.
“It’s time you faced reality and grew up, Brianna,” she said. “There’s not going to be any new car. Your father’s financial troubles are worse than Garrett told you. A lot worse. If things don’t go right, he could be in danger of losing everything—the theater, the real estate properties, maybe even the house.”
“But . . .” Emotion welled in her voice. “Dad said it wouldn’t be a problem.”
“Your dad loves you,” Allison said. “He’d do anything to make you happy. But the truth is, buying an expensive car like the one you want would be a huge sacrifice for him right now. It would put him that much closer to financial ruin.”
“But what about you?” Brianna flung the words at her. “What about all the money you spent fixing up the house, and this car? He’s given you everything you ever asked for. And now you’re telling me I can’t have the one thing I really want.”
The accusations hit home. They stung, but this was a time for truth. “You’re right, and I understand why you’re angry,” Allison said. “But so help me, at the time I was redecorating the house, I didn’t know about the money problems. Burke told me to spend as much as I wanted. And I didn’t ask for the car. He surprised me with it. I had no idea what was happening with his finances until the night of the accident. If I’d been aware that he was strapped for money, I would’ve made do with the house as it was. As for the car—now that I know, I’ll probably sell it and get something cheap. And once your dad’s on his feet, I plan to look for a job. I’ll do everything I can to help him weather this crisis. As long as you’re here, you’ll want to help him, too.”
“But what about the investors? Garrett says they’ve got plenty of money, and the contract is drawn up and waiting. It would solve everything. Why won’t Dad sign?”
“You’ll understand if I tell you.” Allison took a deep breath, feeling as if she were about to step off a precipice. Telling Brianna could be a game changer—for better or for worse. “Here’s the thing,” she said. “It’s got to be our secret. You can’t tell anybody, not even your boyfriend.”
“But why?”
“Because your father wants to protect you. He’s keeping you in the dark for your own safety. If he knew I was about to tell you, he wouldn’t be happy
with me.”
“What about Garrett? Does he know?”
“He knows, and he thinks it’s all right. But you’re not to talk to him about it. You can’t be involved in any way. But knowing will help you understand what’s going on. So, can I trust you to keep this to yourself ?”
She shrugged. “I guess.”
“That’s not good enough. Can I trust you? Or would you rather not have the secret to keep?”