There are very big, very public downsides.
Buzzing interrupts the conversation. Arden is instantly digging in her purse, cursing under her breath. She goes a bittense when she sees who is calling, but doesn’t hesitate to answer it either.
“Hello?”
She’s quiet for a moment, eyes staring right out the window. After a few seconds, she shuts her eyes in a wince and her head falls back to the seat.
“How, Serena?” she grumbles, letting out a long breath. “He doesn’tneedto move, you just wanthim to.”
I focus on the road, but there is no way to avoid eavesdropping in this situation.
“Yeah, well, that’s forty-five thousand dollars more than I can afford,” she snaps, dropping her hand to her lap. She’s burning a hole through my windshield with her glare. “Right, because the couple hundred dollars a month you’ve given me over the years has beensohelpful.”
I really wish I were anywhere but here right now.
“I can barely handle the bills now!” she says loudly, then glances at me, all cautious, like she forgot I was here. “You know what? Now’s not the time, Serena. I’ll call you back.”
There’s a pause.
“In what world does this need to be decided right now, at this very moment?” After another beat of silence, she physically deflates in her seat. “Fine. Fine, yeah. Get them to call me. Yeah, whatever.”
Her voice cracks at the end there. She drops the phone in her lap and immediately buries her face in her hands, letting out the saddest and most tormented sound I have ever heard in my life.
I risk a glance at her.
Her shoulders are shaking, and for a moment, I’m unsure if she’s laughing or crying.
She drops her hands, and fuck, those are tears. Frustrated tears.
Instinct takes over as I reach for her, placing my hand on her shoulder. “Shit, are you okay?”
She chokes out a laugh, trying to regain her composure, but her lip is still shaking and the tears are still pooling. She shakes her head, covering her mouth with her hand. I’m struck with the realization that she feels the same way about showing her emotions as I do with pockets of silence. We choose to avoid it if we can.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” I say quietly. I squeeze her shoulder again, but she doesn’t look at me.
She sucks in a breath. “My dad is sick. He has ALS.”
I freeze a bit, stunned by the admission. I truly didn’t expect her to open up to me in any capacity, so hearing something that big about her life takes me a second to process. That’s a hard one to stomach, a hard disease to have to watch slowly take your parent from you.
“Mom’s dead,” she says so casually, I have to look back at her to make sure I heard her right. “I’m the oldest and I’m not there to take care of him, so I front most of his bills, and they’re not small bills.”
I nod, but say nothing. That explains the area where she lives a bit more now.
“That was my sister, Serena,” she continues, and finally meets my eyes. I see the heaviness there, the burden she’s carrying. I understand why canine therapy was needed enough that she agreed to come with me tonight. “She wants to move him to a new home for better care, and so they’ll be closer to him. I’m an asshole for pushing back against that, right? Like, a total and complete asshole of a daughter and a sister?”
I choose my next words carefully. This is sensitive territory, and I don’t want to offend her again, but I want to be honest.
“Not if you’re footing the bill, Arden.”
“Exactly.” She sniffles, wiping her cheeks. “But they’ll push and push until I do what they say because, above everything, I want to take care of my family. Of those girls. I promised… I made a promise.”
I pull into her neighbourhood, but I debate going back on the freeway and driving around the city until she’s done. Let her talk it out. Let her get it out of her system. I have a feeling she’s been bottling this up and that call was just the blow that broke her armour.
It should have been her friend Whitney, or the other one… Autumn? But it’s not. It’s me.
“I’m sure they’d understand.”
