A few moments later, Winnie’s response comes through harshly.
WIN:
and here I thought you might grow a heart.
I release a heavy breath and scrub a hand through my hair in frustration. My heart thunders as I move towards my gear. The trip I’d been planning for weeks suddenly feels like a bad idea, but it’s paid for, and I know the guys who booked it won’t back out now.
ME:
Just understand where I’m coming from, Win. What if something happened to them up here? What if they got snowed in and couldn’t get help? What if one of those kids got hurt? Could you live with yourself if anything happened?
Three dots appear, coming in and out over the course of a minute.
Then…
WIN:
fine. Whatever. Have fun on your caveman trip.
Even though that’s the response I need, I can’t help but think it isn’t over. My sister isn’t one to give up that easily. But I have no choice but to believe her as I pocket my cell and head out.
Nothing will be the same between us again, and I can’t help but think it’s my fault.
TWO
CASSIDY
“Any luck?” Winnie asks, passing me a thermos of coffee. I breathe in the familiar, delicious scent of it mixed with caramel and cinnamon, heart aching as I think about everything I haven’t been able to do since arriving.
Slowly, I shake my head and take a sip. “No,” I reply quietly, eyeing Arlo and Cleo sitting in the back of the kid’s section of the library with Winnie’s niece. “There’s a landlord who might give us something temporary, but because I don’t have stable work yet, they’re…hesitant.”
Winnie pulls out two more canisters with what I’m assuming is Lasagne Soup, which she’s been supplying us with since she found us outside the cottage. “I tried my brother, but he’s a giant asshole. The man is going away for an entire week, wants me to check in on his cabin. I brought up letting you guys stay there while he’s gone, but the bastard won’t have it.” She shakes her head in disappointment. “I’m so sorry.”
“Hey.” I take her hand and give it an appreciative squeeze. “You don’t have to be doing anything. And I get it. He probably doesn’t want people he doesn’t know in his house. I probably wouldn’t, either.”
She sighs, offering me a half-smile. “He’s such a stuck-up prick sometimes. Doesn’t want people making a mess of his space. I don’t think he realises it makes it hard for us to like him sometimes. Like, I love my brother, don’t get me wrong, but he can be such an ass, so there are times where I just can’t bring myself to like him.”
I take another sip of my coffee and think about my sister, who just moved to Texas. “I think that’s just siblings,” I reply, looking over at Winnie. Her honey-blonde hair sticks out from the dark-grey beanie she’s wearing, and her light blue eyes are locked on the kids sitting quietly, guilt twisting her features. “I don’t hold it against him—or you. I just need a job.”
Winnie releases another heavy breath and holds her own thermos of coffee to her chest. “I wish I could at least help you on that front. My mom put in a good word for you at Fletcher and Mariott Realtors. I don’t know how far that’ll go, but my family has been here so long we all know each other. Mom used to babysit the Fletcher, and my aunt went to school with the Mariott side.”
“You are already doing so much more than most,” I reply honestly.
It’s true. My ex-husband left me with nothing but the meagre savings I had when I came into the marriage. I qualify for alimony, but he was a tricky, unfaithful, and distrustful bastard, so he hid alotof money and gambled the rest of it away. There’s not much for me to claim. He also didn’t adopt the kids, so there’s no child support there. What alimony I should receive won’t kick in for another month.
We couldn’t afford to stay in New Mexico, plus the inheritance of the house gave us hope for more. I guess I should have known better.
“If things don’t work out, I might have to take the kids and move to Texas,” I murmur, bringing the warm thermos to mylips. “They don’t want to go back south. They hated it there. And I doubt living with my sister will be any better, but…” I take a long sip, watching the kids as they play quietly with Winnie’s niece. “We can’t stay if there’s nothing for us here.”
“Why didn’t you stay with your sister? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”
I shrug. “Olivia just had a baby. Total accident, didn’t know she was pregnant until too late in the second trimester, and she uprooted everything to move to Texas where shethinksher baby daddy is from. But it was a one-night-stand, and she carries a lot of guilt over not knowing anything about him. I tried to help her as much as I could, but...”
“But your husband filed for divorce, admitted all his horrible wrongdoings, and left you to pick up the pieces of your family.”
I nod once with a small laugh. “Yep. Sounds about right. We have both been going through hell the last couple of months. I don’t want to make it worse for her or my kids, honestly.”
Winnie finally tears her eyes off the children. “You know, I think about running away sometimes. It might be fun to go on an adventure.”
