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“How could I forget with you mentioning it every second? You never even gave me a chance to make a go of things.”
“I gave you six months. What did you do in that time? Please, tell me. Because we went even further into the red. And when I turned up the place looked like it was stuck in the ‘60s. You hadn’t even changed the damn sign.”
She thrust her hands into the pockets of her dungarees.
“I was working on it. I had an idea for environmentally sustainable underwear. I was researching suppliers.”
“Who was going to make this underwear? Design it? Finance it? Were you going to do anything with the shop while you were working on this?” He stepped towards her, wanting to shake her for being so unrealistic. Wanting her to grow up.
“I would have been fine. You didn’t need to rush in to rescue me.”
“I came to rescue my savings.”
“Money again.” She looked disgusted.
“Don’t give me that.” He was about ten seconds away from throttling her. “Every time you call, I help you. Every single time. I kept hoping that this would be the time that you grew up, that you saw how the world really worked. I wanted you to learn to stand on your own two feet. I don’t see you calling River, or Brooke, for help. And I’ll tell you why, because deep down you know that they won’t be any help.”
The tears started to fall. He balled his fists. Wi
shing she wouldn’t cry. Wishing she would fight. For once.
“That’s not fair. Brooke is still in a kibbutz and River is really busy with lobbying the government.”
“You mean protesting in a tent camp in London.”
“It’s important!”
Lake threw up his hands in disgust.
“I’m not saying any of this isn’t important—to him, anyway. What I’m saying is that you live in this world, not in some commune somewhere. And your skills for this world suck.”
“In that case, maybe I should just go find a commune and get out of your hair.”
“Maybe you should.”
Rainne wiped her face with the back of her hand.
“See, this is why Mum and Dad struggle to talk to you. You’ve sold out. You’re part of the system. You want to control us. Just like the rest of them. You don’t like free thought, or free speech. You want everyone to behave themselves and do what they’re told.”
Lake took a step towards her, making her flinch. He clenched his jaw and moved away from her again.
“The reason you have freedom of thought and speech is because there are people like me on the front lines fighting for it. So no, little sister, I don’t have a problem with freedom. I have a problem with my family. I’ve listened to this crap all my life. According to you lot having the freedom to choose your own life is great—as long as you agree with it. You don’t want people to make up their own minds. You want them to think what you think. Well, I don’t. I don’t interfere with your life. Or the rest of the family. I let you lot live like natives, now how about you leave me to be me?”
Tears were flowing down Rainne’s face now. Betty looked disgusted.
“I won’t be a part of this,” Rainne sobbed, and then she fled.
“Good riddance to useless rubbish,” said Betty.
“Watch it,” Lake snapped. “You crossed the line. That’s my sister you’re talking about. There’s nothing useless about her.”
Betty actually looked shocked for a change. Her mouth snapped shut. Lake stared at the space where Rainne had been. He had no idea what to do about her. His chest hurt from worry. She wasn’t equipped for the world. How the hell was she going to live? He rubbed his chest through his T-shirt.
“I’m going for a run,” he said.
“Now?” Betty was bewildered and none too happy that the meeting had ended before the juicy part.
“Yeah, now. We’ll pick this up tomorrow.”
