My car door suddenly opened, and Vance leaned down, bringing us face-to-face.His eyes roamed over every inch of me.“Is everything okay?I saw you swerve.”
God, how could this get worse?He must think I’m a basket case who can’t even drive properly.
“Everything is splendid.Operations are running as expected.”
Okay, now I really need this seat to provide a place for me to hide behind.What in the world is wrong with me?
Vance held out his hand, and I placed mine in it automatically, as I seemed to have been conditioned to do.His fingers gently closed around mine, and he helped me out of the car.
“I’ll unlock the door, and then we can start bringing everything inside.”
I hurried upstairs, avoiding the two broken steps that I’d nearly fallen through the first time I’d come here.“Watch out when you come up.There are two steps that are broken.”
There were three more that looked about ready to collapse, but they should hold for now.
I unlocked the door, cringing at the dingy apartment.I’d already scrubbed it from top to bottom, but there were a few stains that not even bleach could remove.I’d brought a few of the rugs from the house with me to cover the worst of them.
At least I knew the apartment was clean, even though it might not appear so at first glance.
Rushing back downstairs, I climbed into the back of the truck, picking up a box.“Everything can go in the living room.Except for the white dresser and the bunk bed—those go into the bedroom.”
Thad was holding two chairs, Sebastian behind him with three boxes.They stopped, and Thad frowned.“We can put everything where it goes.It’s really no problem.”
“That’s where it goes.”My throat suddenly felt like a desert.“There’s only one room for living, dining, and kitchen.”
Both men gaped at me, and I rushed out of the truck and up the stairs, almost stepping on the damaged steps in my haste to get to the apartment.This was humiliating.When I accepted their help, grateful for the extra hands, I hadn’t thought of what that would mean.Everyone would see the place I would be calling home for the next however many years.
Keely came up the stairs when I was on my way back down to grab more boxes, breathing heavily.“I’m”—huff—“not”—huff—“done”—huff—“talking”—huff—“to”—huff—“you.”
“Let’s get everything inside first.”
And then I’d find an excuse not to talk to her.I’d been getting good at evading my friends when they asked questions I didn’t have good answers to.
It took an hour to get everything inside.I stood amid the stacks of boxes, wondering where I’d put everything.The kitchen was tiny.So was the living room.Only a small gap remained between the table and couch.
But since I could neither afford new furniture nor had any inclination to move anything ever again, it would stay that way.
The girls would have to share a room.The only way that worked was a bunk bed, which Addy already owned since she’d begged for one last year.I’d had to get rid of Elana’s princess bed, which I hadn’t told her about yet.But there was no choice.
I hoped the excitement of the move and getting to sleep in the bunk bed would lessen the force of Elana’s anger over losing her beloved pink bed.
Vance’s face grew darker and darker as he looked around the apartment.
“Thank you so much for all your help.”
Four sets of eyes turned to me.There was confused—Keely—and thoughtful—Thad—and frowning—Sebastian—and, of course, angry—Vance.The latter looked ready to break the back of the chair he was braced against.
Thad was the first to unfreeze and walked up to me to give me a kiss on the cheek.“We’re family.Anything you need, you call.”
He waited for me to nod, then left with the promise to let Malena know she could bring the girls back to the house.I wanted them to have one last night there before I upended their lives.
Sebastian was next, giving me a gentle hug.“I know you want to be independent, but you don’t have to do everything yourself.We’re here for you.You say the word, and we’ll find you somewhere else to live.”
I choked back tears.I never doubted that my friends would help me out, but I couldn’t keep taking their handouts.They were too important to me to lose.I wouldn’t survive if they eventually had enough of my constant neediness.
Keely was next, her confusion having turned into anger.She glared at me, then drew me into a tight hug.“You are a stupid cow.Next time, you goddamn call me if you need something.And you can move in with me anytime.Living with three smelly boys is miles better than staying in this death trap.”
“Keely.”My voice sounded like I was underwater.
