The Rules of Regret Read Free

like vaulted in Olympic
gymnast fashion. I was a little worried it was going to fly right out of my
mouth and land on our freshly painted wall.
    Lance
and I had been researching engagement rings for a few months now, and the
thought hadn ’ t
escaped my mind that this new summer job might be part of that saving process.
My tastes weren ’ t
extravagant, but the McIverson family ’ s
were, and if I was going to be one of them someday, I ’ d need the diamond to match. My
finger felt heavy just at the thought of it, like some miniature ball and chain
tethered just below my knuckle.
    “ I ’ m going to start calling you Deborah
so you can get used to it, ” Sonja teased, twirling a strand of her hair mindlessly between her fingers. She
had quite the look going on with her paint-spattered hairdo.
    “ Please don ’ t, ” I groaned. “ No one has called me that for at
least fifteen years. ”
    “ Sorry chica, but you have no choice.
Deborah McIverson or Darby McIverson. Which one sounds more worthy? ”
    “ Depends. What do I have to be worthy
of? ”
    “ Worthy of the McIverson name and all
that goes along with it. I hate to break it to you, but if you think your world
is swallowed up in Lance ’ s
now, just wait until he ’ s
got his ring on that pretty little finger of yours. They ’ ll own you. ”
    And
truth be told, Sonja was not too far off in that assumption. Lance ’ s older brother, Heath, was married
just three years ago to Melissa, a petite debutante with straight blonde hair
and piercing green eyes, and they ’ d
already contributed to the McIverson succession plan by producing two little
clones that were the perfect blend of both their mother and father. By all
standards, Lance and I were really dragging our feet — already nineteen
and no proposal, no wedding, and no high-powered internships to boast about in
their annual family Christmas letter. We were totally on the McIverson slacker
track.
    “ I don ’ t see how it will actually be much
different than it is now. ” I gazed around the room at our paint job. Not too bad. I foresaw a cleaning
deposit coming my way in the near future, and if I was also able to secure some
kind of summer employment, I just might have enough money for the surprise
visit I had planned for Lance in a month.
    “ You ’ re right, ” Sonja said. “ You ’ re already part of the family. You ’ ll just have the name to make it
official. ”
    After
six years with Lance, everything about our lives had become intertwined. Our
holidays, our travel, our days and nights — it
was all spent together. And at first I wouldn ’ t have had it any other way. Not that
I didn ’ t
love my own family, but with three older brothers and three younger sisters, it
was easy to get lost in the mix. But that ’ s
pretty much what we all were — lost.
    I
knew my mom and dad loved me and they showed it the best way they could. But
there was something different about Lance ’ s
family. I wasn ’ t
just one of the nine Duncan ’ s
to them. I was Darby, Lance ’ s
long-term, loyal girlfriend and I was an addition to their family. So even if
my life did feel swallowed up in theirs sometimes, and even if things between
Lance and I hadn ’ t
really been all that great recently, I found comfort in the monotony and
consistency. Part of me disappeared on that night my sister did, and sometimes
it seemed like I was never going to reappear. At least that didn ’ t bother the McIversons. They honestly
didn ’ t
know any different.
    “ I ’ m gonna head to the store to stock up
on the Cheetos you said you don ’ t
want. ” Sonja snagged my keys off the hook by the back door. My red Jeep Grand Cherokee
sat under the parking spot overhang behind our duplex. “ I ’ ll only be gone twenty minutes, so
you won ’ t
be alone long. Need anything while I ’ m
there? ”
    “ Nah, ” I answered, collecting the
paintbrushes to take them to the sink to be washed, thankful that Sonja knew