“Now, we both know there’s a bit more to it than that, don’t we?” Ethan said.
Annabelle tried to work out what the hell Ethan was talking about. “Maybe you should go,” she said.
“Not until I’ve said a few things. Then I’ll go, but not far. I’m not leaving you,” Ethan said. The words made her knees go weak with relief, even though his departure was probably better for everyone.
“I don’t need to hear anything you’ve got to say. Now fuck off!”
“Cooper, I said shut up!” Annabelle snapped.
“It’s alright,” Ethan told her. “His words don’t hurt me. What hurts me is that hearing them upsets you.”
Ethan wrapped an arm around her waist and hauled her in to his side before he continued. Annabelle tried to resist but he wouldn’t let her.
“You need to listen to me now, Cooper, and understand that I’m not going anywhere.” He spoke slowly as if addressing a small child. Cooper in turn faced the wall, ignoring Ethan. Annabelle wanted to sink into a dark hole somewhere and shovel in the dirt on top so she wouldn’t have to witness her brother’s behavior.
“I paid your debts,” Ethan said. “A hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars’ worth. Your sister thinks it’s her debt now, but you and I know that the truth is, it’s yours.”
“Please, Ethan—”
“Let me speak, Annabelle.” He squeezed her and she fell silent because she had no idea what else to do. “I’m a fair man, Cooper, until someone pisses me off, and then I can be as mean as I need to be.”
“Ethan—” she tried again.
“Quiet, now.” He tried to shut her up by placing his hand over her mouth and keeping it there, which surprised her so much she didn’t speak again. “Now I’m guessing you know that I did what I did for you because of your sister,” he went on, addressing Cooper, “but let me clear a few things up for you, just so you know how it’s going to go between us in the future. I know you’re suffering and I’m sorry for it, but I won’t let you take whatever you’re feeling out on your sister. She doesn’t deserve that from anyone, especially not you, the man she raised, and who stole from her.”
Annabelle watched Cooper flinch.
“You lay one more hand on her and I find out about it, then it will be me nursing you, me in this house twenty-four-seven until you’re back on your feet. We clear on that, Cooper?”
Cooper hunched his shoulders.
“I need an answer,” Ethan said, “or that caregiving starts now, and you better believe I’m not going to be the pushover your sister is, because I’m not weighed down by misguided guilt, which in my opinion she shouldn’t have, but that’s a discussion for another day.”
She shouldn’t feel warm inside from his words; she should have made him leave. It was wrong that he was here in her brother’s room, censuring him, but she didn’t have the strength to stop him, maybe because deep inside they were words her brother needed to hear.
“I heard you.” Cooper’s words were a snarl, but he’d said them just the same.
“It seems from where I’m standing that you have a lot to live for. A family and friends who love you, and a home here in this special town. Not many people can lay claim to that, and to my mind it’d be a crime not to.”
Cooper’s shoulders stiffened but he still didn’t look at Ethan, much to Annabelle’s shame.
“You walk me out now, Annabelle.” Ethan took his hand from her mouth, then wrapped his fingers around hers before leading her from the room, closing the door softly behind them. They walked out of the house to where Jake’s pickup stood.
“I understand that he needs to hear those words. I’m just not sure that they needed to be said so soon,” Annabelle said now that Cooper couldn’t hear them.
“If he’s lucid, he’s ready to hear them from where I’m standing, and maybe they’ll stop him from behaving like a petulant kid,” Ethan said, moving to lean on the side of the vehicle.
“He’s not petulant, he’s coming down off heroin!” Annabelle said, feeling an unreasonable burst of anger fill her body. Too many emotions, all battling for supremacy, and not enough sleep, she thought. It was a wonder she hadn’t lost her sanity days ago.
“You’re letting him walk all over you because of your guilt, and he’ll keep doing it until you stop.”
“And your behavior in Texas towards your father and brother was rational, was it?” Annabelle snapped back. “You just waltzed right into that palace and told dear old daddy the way it should be, didn’t you? That he was a size twelve bully and that you were there to tell him to stop.”
She watched as he gritted his teeth, jaw clenching as he struggled to hold on to his calm. “That’s different,” he said.
“Why? Because my brother is a drug addict loser and yours is a multimillionaire loser? Your problems are different simply because your family is better than mine? Is that it?”
Her words weren’t rational, and it was wrong that she was attacking him this way because she knew he didn’t really feel that way, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. The words were just filling her head, eager to be spat out in a nasty torrent. After days of holding her tongue, it seemed Ethan was going to pay.
