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My hands clenched on the handrails as I sped up, but I couldn’t run fast enough not to hear him. I couldn’t shut his voice out of my head.
“She’s a smart chick, and she knows her own mind. And I’ll support whomever she finds worthy of her.” Fox paused, and I shut my eyes. “No matter who that is.”
When I opened them again, Fox was gone.
Twenty-One
The family meeting didn’t happen that night. Fox realized I needed some space to wrap my mind around things, though he explained if I didn’t tell Mia within a few days, he’d have to, on account of his not wanting to couch it for the rest of his life.
I had to respect his honesty.
Friday afternoon, one week before the fight and three days since my life had crashed down on my head, I found my sister at the building she’d just purchased, since her offer had been accepted in record time. She was wandering around with a tape measure and making notes, completely occupied by her task.
Seeing her immersed in something she loved made me tear up, unless that was due to th
e fact that I was hauling around a mini future Italian grandmother in my belly.
Either/or.
“Hey.” I lingered in the doorway with my hands shoved in the back pockets of my jeans. “Am I interrupting?”
I kind of hoped she said yes and sent me away. Okay, no kind of about it. I really didn’t want to have this conversation.
I’d suggested to Fox we just let her see me get bigger. Eventually, she’d figure it out, right? Or else she’d tell me to knock off the brownies at three a.m.
“No, not interrupting at all. Come in here and help me plan.”
I tried not to drag my feet as I headed deeper into the room, but I wasn’t at all sure I managed it. A broom and dustpan stood in the corner.
“You’ve been cleaning already. It’s not even officially yours yet, is it?”
“All that’s left is paperwork.” She waved it off. “The seller wants to offload the property. They don’t care if I install a stripper pole in here.”
All the blood in my face drained.
“What’re you measuring for?” I asked quickly.
“Couches and loveseats. I want to put them all over. I need to see how many I can get in here.”
“You’re really planning on running through that money with the quickness, aren’t you?” I couldn’t stifle the pride in my voice.
My sister had struggled financially for years, and when she came into money, the first thing she was doing was trying to give back to others. If only I could ever be one tenth as selfless.
“Nah, I have plenty left. I only put down a chunk on the property. I got a loan on the rest.” She crouched to place a strip of masking tape, probably blocking off space for one of the couches. “Kinda weird how they’ll give you loans when you already have the money, yet when you’re poor, forget it. But the important thing is—”
“Ame, I’m pregnant.”
She stopped moving across the floor. Stopped moving entirely. Then she let out a loud laugh. “Wow, you almost had me there. I almost believed you.”
I blinked away the grittiness in my eyes and crossed the room to her. Taking those steps was the hardest thing I’d ever done. I knelt at her side and stared at the tape on the dusty floor. Here she was making her dreams come true, and I was about to crush one of them.
“I let you down,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
She clasped her hands between her jean-clad thighs and bowed her head, and if I hadn’t been on the verge of tears already, that would’ve done it. They spilled over, hot and thick, and I nearly choked on them as I fought to speak. “Don’t hate me, please. I need you. I can’t do this alone.” I didn’t think I could do it, period, but if she wasn’t by my side…
I covered my mouth and rocked.
Her shoulders shook, and seeing her cry was like a blow to the chest. I couldn’t breathe through it, couldn’t do anything but throw my arms around her and bury my face in her hair. Her body was as stiff as board, completely unyielding to me. “I love you. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
