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“Hush. I don’t want to share more than what she’s ready to. I’m going to let her tell you what she wants you to know. In the meantime, just know I’m trying to help take some stress off her shoulders.”
“Her mom is doing pretty bad, huh?” Greer asks.
“Yeah. Her illness has been progressing rapidly.”
Her shoulders drop, and she looks as though she might cry. “Summer hasn’t told me much. I didn’t know that.”
It doesn’t surprise me that she hasn’t told her friends. She always puts everyone else’s needs before her own. That will stop going forward.
“I’m sure she didn’t say anything because she didn’t want to burden you or make you worry. But now that I know what’s going on, I need you and the other girls to help out now and then. Summer has been taking care of her mom day and night and she’s getting worn down. She needs a break sometimes, but she doesn’t like to leave her mom alone for long.”
Greer nods. “Of course. I’ll help however I can. So will the other girls. We want to help; we just don’t know how.”
“Thank you. I’ll let you know when I need something.”
Our meals come, and I watch in disgust as my sister uses her chicken tender to scoop up some ranch. Not dip, but actually scoop. Good God, I should have known she was a Little all along. I don’t know how Nash and I didn’t figure it out sooner.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were struggling again?” I ask after a few minutes.
She lowers her eyes and sighs. “I didn’t want to burden you. I know how exhausting it was for you and Nash dealing with me after my divorce.”
I rub my temple, angry with myself for not checking in on her more. What the hell is it with these Little girls not wanting to burden anyone? Don’t they know the people in their lives who love them want to be there to help? To hold their hand when they need it? To be a shoulder to cry on? Or to take the load and handle it when it becomes too much?
“Look at me.”
She slowly lifts her gaze to mine. Her eyes are watery, and I feel bad for bringing this up in a restaurant instead of in a more private setting. But I didn’t want to wait.
“Sweetheart, you’re never a burden in our lives. Nash and I love you so fucking much it hurts. We weren’t exhausted after your divorce, we were worried. You started cutting again, and it scared the hell out of us. You’re our baby sister, and all we want is for you to be happy and healthy. And if you’re struggling, we want to know about it. I know we’re overbearing and nosy and bossy, but it’s only because we care so much.”
“I know. I’m sorry, Dane. I thought I was handling it okay, but I started having panic attacks. They came out of nowhere, and Austin happened to find me while I was in the middle of one. He was so mad at me when I asked him not to tell you.”
The corner of my mouth twitches. I can imagine the scolding he gave her over it. When Austin is unhappy, you know about it.
“I’ve been doing a lot better, though. He made me start going back to therapy, and it’s helping. I’m back on medication too. I didn’t hurt myself this time. I never even thought it.”
That’s a huge relief. The first time we found out Greer had been cutting herself was when she was sixteen, and both Nash and I lost our shit. We were terrified and pissed. Other girls at school had been giving her a hard time about her weight and continuously bullying her about it. She used cutting as a way to cope. Our parents put her in therapy, and she stopped harming herself for years. Then she married her asshole ex, and he constantly put her down and called her fat.
As time went on, the insults got worse, and the emotional abuse became so bad she started hurting herself again. When I found out about it and confronted her husband, he couldn’t have cared less. He had already been sleeping with his secretary. Nash jumped on a red-eye flight and came home that night. The next day, we moved her into my house. The next year was an emotional rollercoaster for her. Nash stayed home for six months to help take care of her. It took time, but finally, she got back to her old fun-loving self again and we were thrilled. We still worried about her, but she was so much happier and thriving without that fuckwad. It hurts my heart that she’s been struggling again. Though I’m glad she hasn’t tried to hurt herself.
I pin her with a stern stare. “From now on, no more keeping that kind of stuff from me. I don’t expect you to pour your heart out to me if you don’t want to, but I do expect if you’re struggling with your mental health, you tell me. Or Nash. Or Austin. That way, we can at least keep our eyes on you and help however we can. Understood?”
She chews on the inside of her cheek and nods. “I understand. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry, sweetheart. I get that you were trying to shield us, but we’re your big brothers. We’re supposed to shield you. Okay?”
“Okay. I love you.”
I grin. “I love you too. Now eat your fucking ranch.”
Austin is still throwing around tools when I get back from lunch. I hoped by now he would have calmed down, but obviously, something is bothering him, so instead of giving him space, I lean against his toolbox and cross my arms.
“Having a good day?” I ask.
He looks up at me from under the hood of the Chevy he’s working on and scowls. “Your sister is a pain in my ass.”
I grin and nod. “Yeah. Mine too. What did she do to you?”
“Ever since she found out I told you about her mental health, she hasn’t spoken to me. I stopped at her place last night, and she threw a fucking glass at my head before she literally shoved me out her front door and slammed it in my face. She said I’m untrustworthy, and she doesn’t want to be friends anymore.”
