Then Ginny lost her jobs too.
A month later, Harvey and Lachlan had been expelled from their school after weapons had allegedly been found in their school bags. It didn’t take much digging to discover the schoolhad recently received a generous payment from an anonymous donor.
At first, we’d thought Benny’s gym was quiet due to the constant reporters, but when some of his most loyal clients had just stopped showing up and Georgio had suddenly quit without explanation, it was easy to see the pattern.
Leon was taunting us from the shadows, using what was probably a ridiculous amount of money just to hurt Benny and his family’s income.
Over the last couple of weeks Matthew had been homeschooling the boys, and Ginny and Rachel had been visiting more often between looking for work.
Benny was trying to be the pillar of strength we all needed. He was happy, optimistic, and he told us we could get through anything as long as we did it as a family.
I could see through it.
He was tired, and he was stressed. He deserved so much better than this. They all did. Because of Leon… because of me… they were all struggling. I didn’t know what to do about that.
I hadn’t told Benny that I’d started applying for jobs. I’d never applied for a job in my life. I didn’t even have a resume until two weeks ago. But I needed to dosomething.
I was dead weight. Without purpose.
Unsurprisingly, I hadn’t received any callbacks.
“Harper!” Matthew called me from downstairs. I sighed, closing my laptop and going down to find him in the kitchen.
He wasn’t alone. I hadn’t heard Ginny or Rachel and the boys showing up, or Benny getting home from work.
They were all wearing cheap party hats.
A familiar box of chocolate box cake rested on the countertop in front of Matthew. I eyed it, and them, with mixed emotions. We hadn’t made it since Logan left. We hadn’t done any of this since Logan left.
“Happy birthday, baby.” Benny beamed at me.
“My birthday isn’t until tomorrow.”
“I know, but I’m takin’ you somewhere tomorrow, so today we’re havin’ a party as a family.”
As a family. It was far from the first time he’d referred to us all as that, and every time he did, something in my chest ached with a yearning I’d possessed my entire life. I still didn’t feel like I’d earned it. Earnedthem.
All I’d done was bring these people pain and problems, yet here they all were, smiling and happy as they threw a birthday party for me.
I didn’t know what to make of it, or how to respond to it.
My body decided for me as I suddenly burst into tears.
Then Benny’s arms were around me, and I was home.
After I’d calmed down, we made the cake. Ginny told us she didn’t understand why we wanted to make that box cake when she could make something much better from scratch. Matthew responded by smearing chocolate on her face, and the kitchen had very quickly devolved into a full food fight.
The mess of a birthday cake tasted just as good as I remembered, maybe even better, with Benny feeding it to me while we were all covered in chocolate and flour.
“Are you ready for your birthday gift?” he asked, and the fact that he’d asked in front of his family led me to believe it was, unfortunately, not going to be a sex thing.
I nodded.
“Close your eyes and wait here,” he told me and took off up the stairs.
I did as I was told, listening to the movement around me and the sounds of him coming back down the stairs a short while later. Then his hands were on my shoulders, and he was steering me toward the dining room table.
“Alright, open them.”
