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Sandra stared at the ceiling in the way she always did when he was being especially obtuse. “I’m referring to Rose.”
Right. “I’ll talk to her, but she’s got a lot on her mind right now.”
“With the wedding?”
“And the fundraiser.”
Sandra’s eyebrows shot up. “A fundraiser? For what?”
Steven ran a hand through his hair and dropped his gaze. “Um, me? Well, and the wedding. I was supposed to help Rose pay off the final balances to our vendors, but after all the work I missed while I was in the hospital, my finances are dismal at best.”
Sandra stood and crossed the room before laying a hand on his arm. “You should have told me. I’d do anything to help the two of you.”
“I know,” he mumbled, shifting away. “But it’s embarrassing.”
Her head tilted. “Because of the money?”
“I should be able to support us on my own, but failing that, I should at the very least be able to pay for a wedding.”
“Hey.” Sandra squatted so they were at eye level. “You’ve been through a lot. And I can only imagine how the medical bills are piling up. It’s okay to ask for help.” She smiled. “I planned to pay for my own wedding, but we ended up accepting some assistance from my family. They thought it was the least they could do since both my parents died.”
Steven gave a weak smile. “Thanks, Sandra. That means a lot.”
“So, this fundraiser…” She raised an eyebrow. “When is it?”
He shrugged. “July twenty-second. Lanie and Trudy are planning it. Er… Lanie was. I’m not sure if she’ll do it now.”
“She’ll do it. And I’ll help her.”
“You don’t have to—”
Sandra held up a hand. “I want to.” Leaning against the wall, she peered out the door toward his office. “Did you finish the will?”
He nodded. “I want to go through it again before I send this version to Mr. Rochester, but I’ve included his latest additions.”
“That man has more money than God.”
Steven laughed. “Or at least, more money than he knows what to do with.”
Her eyes took on a mischievous gleam. “Make sure you send him the latest version before the fundraiser.”
His eyebrows pulled together. “Why?”
“Because he’ll probably be a lot more eager to donate if you’ve finished the job he hired you to do.”
Chapter Eighteen
“He’s being unreasonable,” Lanie declared as she sank into the booth across from Rose at Bea’s Diner. After shoving her bag into the corner of the bench, she began violently flipping through the jukebox by the wall.
“Who is?” Rose set down her menu and took in her future sister-in-law’s uncharacteristically disheveled appearance. Her dirty-blond hair was pulled up into a messy bun, and her cheeks were blotchy, as if she’d been crying.
“Steven.” Lanie said it like an expletive instead of a name. “I asked him if he would help me with vendor contracts for my wedding.”
“He said no?” Rose couldn’t help the incredulity in her voice. Though Steven had a lot going on, she couldn’t imagine he wouldn’t help his sister.
Waving a hand, Lanie shook her head. “No, he was fine with that. But he asked if we’d finally chosen a wedding date, and as soon as I told him the day we picked, he went ballistic.”
That didn’t sound like Steven at all. Rose put her hand on Lanie’s to stop her frantic search for a song and to keep her from breaking the mini jukebox. With a sigh, Lanie sat back and crossed her arms.
