A/N: This part jumps back and forth several times between Rebecca's conversation with Miguel in 2010 and the events of 2004 and 2005. So rather than having headings for all of the time periods, I just italicized the stuff that takes place further in the past (2004 and 2005).

At the end of this chapter, you will finally find out the real reason Rebecca doesn't speak to her sister. In typical TIU fashion, it's [hopefully] something you haven't seen coming.

If you would be so kind, please review and let me know what you think!

SUMMER 2004 – CONNECTICUT – THE NEXT MORNING

Rebecca heads toward the kitchen of her mother's house, but stops when she hears her mother and sister talking.

"Jenny, I know what you're going to say – it's not fair, when you asked me for help so you could leave Ted after you found out he was cheating on you I said no. But I don't want to make the same mistake again. So I'm going to help your sister get a new car, because I just don't feel safe with her driving that old piece of junk."

"Mom, I don't think...it's not about the money," Jenny says.

"Oh come on, it's always about money with you."

"No, I mean for Rebecca – I don't think she keeps that car because she can't afford a new one. She's got a decent job and a little bit of money from Jack's life insurance policy. I think she's holding onto that car because she's not ready to let go emotionally," Jenny says, ignoring the sting of her mother's accusation.

"Life insurance? That doesn't make sense. Jack's not dead – keep this on the DL, but Rebecca told me last night that she's leaving him because of his drinking."

"No, mom, you told me that, and I played along because I was too tired to argue," Rebecca says, entering the room. "Jenny's right – Jack died six years ago, and that car was our family car, and I'm not ready to replace it yet."

Janet just stares blankly, confused. "Mom, you were at his funeral, remember?" Rebecca asks. Janet still looks like a deer in the headlights. "Okay, how about last year, when one of my coworkers who was comfortable but bored in her marriage said she was jealous that I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted with whomever I wanted free of guilt – you know, as if I asked to become a widow at 47 – and I called you to commiserate about all the dumb stuff like that people say to us?"

Janet thinks for a minute, then nods. "I'm sorry. I guess I just…got confused," she admits in a rare moment of letting her guard down.

"Mom, it's okay. It's not your fault," Rebecca says gently. "The same thing happened to gr…" she starts to say, but Jenny shakes her head and silently urges her not to continue.

"What Rebecca's trying to say," Jenny cuts in, "is that it's perfectly normal to forget things as you get older. But she's worried – actually, we both are – about you continuing to live in this big house all by yourself as you get older. There are a lot of things that aren't safe, and I think maybe you're hanging on because…actually, I think you're hanging onto this house for the same reasons Rebecca's hanging onto that old car. So how about this: Mom, you come with us to look at this nice retirement community Rebecca found for you and keep an open mind, and then after that we'll go car shopping and Rebecca will test drive a few new cars with an open mind. How does that sound?"

Rebecca glares at Jenny, not at all happy at what she perceives to be a false equivalency. But Jenny silently begs her to go along.

"Fine. I'll agree to that if Mom does," she says grudgingly.

"Jenny was always the peacemaker, ever since we were kids," Rebecca remarks. "So we went to see the place, which was one of those age-in-place retirement communities with different levels of care, and the goal was to get her to agree to move into their independent living but ask the on-site doctors to evaluate her, with the plan of eventually moving her to the special assisted living units they had for residents with dementia or other brain disorders – memory care, I think it was called," she explains to Miguel. "The place also had a skilled nursing facility on-site, and when Mom saw that she was convinced the whole thing was a ploy to put her in a nursing home. Even though I had zero hope of her agreeing to the move after that, I still went along to the car dealership because I didn't want to be accused of not honoring my part of the bargain."

"So, what do you think?" Janet asks Rebecca eagerly as she finishes test-driving a Lexus that she and Jenny picked out for her.

"I don't know…the seat is definitely comfortable, but it's too much. Too expensive, and too flashy. It's just…not my thing."

"I was going to suggest that we got next door to the Toyota lot, where they would at least have something a little closer to my price range, but then my mom started telling more lies about Jack, and I just...lost it."

"I just wanted you to have something nice, dear," Janet laments. "You deserve it. And your kids deserve it too. They already lost one parent to drunk driving. They don't need to lose another one driving an unsafe car that breaks down on the side of the road."

"No, Mom, Jack didn't die driving drunk. He died saving our lives when our house burned down the night of the 1998 Superbowl. And the fact that you don't know that, despite coming to his funeral, despite all the conversations we've had about it over the past six years, makes it abundantly clear how ridiculous it is that we're talking about my car not being safe when you shouldn't be driving at all!"

Jenny taps Rebecca's arm, urging her to stop, but Rebecca is too worked up at this point to pay attention. "You shouldn't be driving, you shouldn't be living alone..."

"Oh, here we go again. I'm crazy! You can't stand the thought that maybe I was right about Jack – and believe me when I say I didn't want to be – so you start in with the "Mom's losing her mind like Grandma" nonsense again!" Janet snarls. "I was just trying to do something nice for you, but forget it. Let's just go home."

"I know that in her mind, the things she was saying about Jack weren't lies, but I just couldn't take it anymore. Even after six years, the wounds were still so fresh, and of all the things she said, the thing about drunk driving hit me the hardest. Maybe because…because it could have been true," Rebecca admits.

"What do you mean?" Miguel asks.

"Six months before he died, Jack drove two hours to Cleveland to see my show after having way too much to drink."

"Yeah, I remember," Miguel says softly.

"I know Jack wasn't perfect. Of course he wasn't. But I guess since he died I just don't like to think about the parts of him that weren't, and...I'm sorry. Is this weird, me telling you that?"

"No, not at all," Miguel reassures her, squeezing her hand. "I told you last year in Houston - you don't ever have to apologize for missing him, okay?"

"I know," Rebecca says softly. "Thank you," she says sincerely.

Miguel kisses her hand and smiles at her. After a minute, she continues telling the story.

"Anyway, when my mom said that I just got this pit in my stomach and I felt like I couldn't breathe for a minute. I know that I should have been stronger…"

"Rebecca, what are you talking about? I'm amazed you showed so much restraint for as long as you did. I'm pretty sure I would have punched the woman the first time she started talking sh*t about Jack."

"Really? You would have punched an old woman showing signs of dementia?"

"Okay, maybe not literally. But I wouldn't have been nearly as nice about it as you were. You did the best you could. It's not your fault she was in denial."

"I know. But a few months later, she got dressed up in high heels and went out in the snow late at night. Based on what she had told Jenny the day before, we think she thought my dad was taking her to the opera that night. She slipped and fell on her way to the car and broke her collarbone and needed surgery, and the anesthesia significantly worsened her cognitive state, and everything just went downhill quickly after that. I know that in some ways she was better off declining and passing away as quickly as she did instead of it being drawn out for years…it's probably what she would have wanted. But sometimes I still wonder if I hadn't gotten so agitated that day, maybe I could have convinced her that it wasn't safe to be living alone anymore…"

"Honey, stop," Miguel urges, putting his arm around Rebecca and guiding her to the couch as he sees her get choked up. "You can't blame yourself. Your mother refusing to accept help is not on you. If your sister tried to make you think otherwise, then I don't blame you for not speaking to her."

"No, she didn't," Rebecca answers. "That's not why…the reason I don't speak to Jenny now is because after our mom died, I found out that right before her 75th birthday, Jenny had enabled her, in her compromised condition, to change her will from leaving all of her money in equal parts to her children and grandchildren, to leaving it in equal parts to her children and grandchildren by blood."