Tears fall down her cheeks again, so I rush to her, sit beside her on the couch, and tell her it’s okay as I stroke her hair.
She sniffles. “I-if, I don’t marry Rupert, then you don’t get your money.”
“Thea, I don’t understand. What do I have to do with any of this?”
She sits up and wipes her eyes. “I only have a few hours before I have to head back. I told them I needed some space, but they won't suspect I’ve come here. Hayleigh.” She takes a deep breath before carrying on. “They’re broke. Stone cold, broke. Dad made a bad investment in a new vineyard that turned out to be non-existent. They’ve lost everything.”
And the penny drops.
I nod slowly. “So they want the money left for me, and they’re using you to get it?”
Her eyes drop to her lap as she picks the skin on her thumb, something she often does when she’s nervous.
Her voice is so small that it makes me want to scream at our parents. “Now you see why I don’t have a choice, it’s either Rupert's money or yours. You have to take the money and never look back.”
“Fuck them, Thea. Fuck them and fuck the money. I don’t care about the money, I care about you, and I’m not going to let them use you like this.”
She abruptly stands and smooths out her pencil skirt. I sense the moment she puts that mask back on, the one I used to wear so freely. “It was lovely seeing you, Hayleigh, but I have to go. Take the money because next week Iamgetting married.”
She turns to leave, but I grab hold of her arm, desperate to keep her with me. “No.” My voice is nothing but a whisper as she yanks her hand from mine, striding off and out the front door.
I watch as my younger sister disappears, and think about what it took for her to come to me today and tell me what our parents were planning to do. She’s been so conditioned by them from a young age that she used to follow what they said unthinkingly, but now, she sees them for who they truly are, yet she’s still willing to follow them to save me.
A sense of helplessness rushes through me.
How the hell do I get her away from them?
**********
Help comes in many shapes and sizes, and over the years, I’ve always insisted I was fine and didn’t need help. I was independent and didn’t rely on anyone because Morgana Wallcroft taught me from a young age that relying on people was weak.
It isn’t weak; it’s most likely that the strongest thing you will ever do is to build your support network and lean on them in times of trouble, and be an equal support for them when they need it.
So when May Peterson called me for help today, I jumped at the chance and made my way over to her house, where I am now, helping her put together a baby basket for Lacey. Even if I do think she asked me to help so that she could check on me.
She puts a pin in the ribbon she’s using to wrap around the basket and smiles. “Well, would you look at that. I think we did a pretty good job, don’t you?”
I can’t help but grin back at her. “I love it, I think Lacey will too. Everything looks so adorable.” My voice sounds dreamy, even to my own ears.
May side eyes me. “Ever thought about having kids yourself?”
I laugh at her not-so-subtle approach but nod all the same. “I always wanted three kids, two boys, one girl.”
“Wanted as in past tense?” There is no judgment in her tone, but curiosity.
“I still want them, I’m sure about that, but I’m less intense about it. I think that’s the word I’m looking for.” I pick at my sleeve before carrying on. “I was so focused on how I believed my life should be because I was told it had to be a certain way that there was no room for anything else. Then Nate came up with the idea of me writing a new life list, including silly things I always wanted to do. In time, I realised that all those smaller things added up to the bigger things, and that life isn’t made up of those big accomplishments; they’re fleeting and, for some people, rare. I’ve learned that life is made up of tiny moments that you wouldn’t even consider at the time to be anything but that, yet later on in life, I reckon it’s those smaller moments you remember.”
She considers me for a moment, in the way that Nate always does with those soulful eyes, before smiling. She says. “I think you’ve come a long way; you should be proud of that. You live for yourself and no one else.”
Sadness floods through me. “I wish my sister would do the same thing. She’s marrying a man that she doesn’t love because my parents need the money and the influence his parents provide.”
May scoffs. “I know she’s your mother, but I really don’t like that wretched woman. Why doesn’t your sister say no, to hell with them, it's their fault they’re in a mess.”
I point to my chest. “She does it for me. Apparently, my grandad left me a large sum of money that I’m due to inherit when I’m thirty, and so my parents have told Thea that if she doesn’t go ahead with the marriage, then they’re going to use my inheritance instead. Thea knows I want to be away from them, so she’s going ahead with it.”
To my surprise, May laughs, and when she sees the look on my face, she stops. “Oh, I’m sorry, but that woman is honestly deluded. Your mother, not your sister.” She places a hand on mine. “Hayleigh, sweetie, she can’t take an inheritance from you, that’s illegal.”
“But she was the executor of my grandad's estate?”
