Ashley laughs. “That sounds like Liam. Look, he’s the oldest of four boys. He had to rein his little brothers in somehow.”
“True. But seriously, I’m game if he is.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to Mia, and you text me from your end. Big hugs, Haley.”
We hang up, and I head for the store.
As I’m milling through the aisles, my phone rings again.
My sister. Finally.
I pick up, but before I can get out even a hello, Debbie quickly wishes me a happy birthday and then launches into a request.
For money.
“What do you need it for? Rent?”
“Not exactly. For Hal.”
Hal.
Her ex.
“I thought he was out of your life.”
She tells me how they just spent the night together.
Unplanned, of course.
Never mind that he’s still involved with his ex-wife and he’s completely untrustworthy, which is why I finally convinced Debbie to break things off six months ago.
“You’re back in contact with him?” I ask her, trying not to sound as frustrated as I feel. “We went over this, Deb. And your therapist said how toxic he is for you, remember?”
“Haley, you don’t understand. We have this cosmic connection in bed. And he needs to keep his lights on. You can send a little something, can’t you?”
“I can’t support Hal, no. I just sent you money last week. Do you have any left over?”
“I’ll figure it out.”
I take that to mean she’ll ask our father for cash.
“Can you help me to find a new tax accountant? I don’t like the one you got for me last year.”
“Deb, you need to start doing these things for yourself.”
“I can’t. You’re so much better at it than I am. And you always seem to have more time.”
My sister has never supported herself and never held down a job for more than a few months. She’s a photographer, but her occasional freelance jobs are never enough to pay the bills. She always swears she’s on the verge of making it big, and my dad and I always swoop in and give her cash when she falls into trouble, which is more and more often.
She keeps talking for over five minutes before I interrupt her.
“Deb, I can’t talk long. I was in New Orleans this morning. Remember?”
“Oh, right! I completely forgot. How did that go?”
“Not well. Pretty horribly, actually.”
“Oh, wow…Fluffy, stop! You’ll get mud on the carpet! I swear, this dog will be the death of me. Haley, can I call you later?”
