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“I’m not… I just…”
“God, you think you’re so much better than me, don’t you? You can’t even visit because you’re too good for us and you can’t stand seeing the way we live.”
“That’s not…”
She crosses her arms. “Are you saying you haven’t been scheming for a way to buy me a bigger house?”
I open my mouth, but my words get stuck in my throat. Is she really mad at me for wanting to help take care of her?
“I know it’s not much, but I’m damn proud of the life I’ve built. I don’t need your pity handouts. I’ve been doing just fine all on my own.”
“Greer, I don’t pity you. I see all that you’re juggling with work, going back to school, and everything you’re doing with the kids, and it’s more than anyone could manage on their own. I just don’t want you to have to work so hard.”
“You act like I asked you to do that. I’m so tired of feeling like I owe you. Just because I moved away from a life in the spotlight doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with the way I’m choosing to live.”
Her words are a sharp slap in the face.
I clench my jaw, feeling that old resentment rise to the surface, but instead of pushing it back down like I usually do, she’s finally pissed me off enough to unleash it.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now? You really think I wanted this?” I hold up my phone where the video plays on repeat. “This was your dream, Greer. The spotlight, the performing, the fame. It has always been all about you.”
She tilts her chin up but doesn’t correct me, so I keep going. “You were the blonde bombshell girl next door that everyone wanted. You were the talented one, Mom’s greatest achievement and the basket she put all her eggs in.” I take a step closer, my blood boiling now. “You were the rising star with all the potential in the world, but then you had to go and get yourself knocked up. Somebody had to pick up the pieces. Somebody had to help us pay the bills.”
Her eyebrows furrow.
I shake my head, my eyes welling with tears. “I only got the auditions that I did because I was your sister, which would only come back to bite me in the ass because I’d inevitably be compared to you.
“Kira, I…” Greer stares at me, tears streaming down her face. “I had no idea… I never wanted to put that burden onto you. Why didn’t you say something?”
I throw my hands in the air. “And ruin everything for you and Mom? We were finally able to breathe. I wasn’t going to be the reason we lost everything. All I wanted was for everyone to be taken care of,” I say with tears in my eyes. “Besides, I had no idea what I was agreeing to. I didn’t know it would turn into this.”
“You should’ve told me. I could’ve helped.”
“You weren’t exactly in a position to be my big sister anymore, Greer. You were busy trying to raise a baby on your own.”
“You still could’ve told me. Every time you called, you made it seem like life was great. What was I supposed to think?”
“Yeah, well, I guess we both made a few assumptions about each other, didn’t we?”
I can’t fault her for not being honest with me when I was doing the same thing. All this time, we were both struggling, but we were both too proud to admit it, both of us trying to protect the other’s peace.
She pulls me into a hug and presses a kiss to the top of my head. “You’ve done enough. We don’t need you to fix our problems anymore.”
Hearing those words lifts a crushing weight off my chest. Relief washes over me, and I finally draw a full breath.
I peek up at her. “I can’t sit back and do nothing. This is my mess, and I need to clean it up.”
Greer rolls her eyes and tousles my hair. “Just as long as you don’t expect me to go into hiding. I have way too much shit to deal with as it is. I don’t need a vacation forced on me.”
I rub my fingers together, miming the world’s smallest violin.
“You’re such a brat.” She slaps my hand away. “So what happens now?”
“I need to do what I should’ve done a long time ago,” I say, pulling out my phone and dialing the number.
Tabitha answers on the first ring. “I had a feeling you’d be calling…”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
