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Gunner stood up. “I’ll help you,” he told her, then looked down at me. “That is, if you don’t need me.” The concern in his gaze made me feel warm inside where I had been cold before. I always needed him. Especially now I was finding my strength from him but I couldn’t lean on him to face this. It wasn’t his fault.
I shook my head. “No, I’m fine.”
He kissed my head and whispered that he loved me, then followed Nonna into the kitchen. I waited only a few minutes before Chance reappeared.
“They’ve gone to clean up the kitchen,” I told him.
He let out a weary sigh and sank back down onto the sofa.
“So, talk to me. How are things? Is Mother being difficult? Does Bella know?” I wanted to apologize for not knowing. For not being there. For everything but I knew ifI did I would start to cry. I could barely keep from it now.
He massaged his temples a moment, then lifted his gaze to mine.
“When is Mother not difficult? And yes, Bella knows. Mother is very verbal about her death and using it to manipulate and lash out. You would think with death being near, she would change, but she’s just gotten worse. I just couldn’t keep Bella there any longer. I had to get her out. I’ve stayed in that house for Bella, but this morning I went and signed a lease on an apartment in Little Rock. It’s located in Bella’s school district, so she can keep going to her school. We are staying here two days to visit, then I am going back there to move Bella and me out of that house. I warned Mother last week if she couldn’t speak with kindness to her daughter, then I would take her away and no court would stop me.”
“Do you need money?” I asked him. I had to do something. He’d done it all for far too long. I wanted to offer more but my head was spinning with what it was I could possibly do.
He shook his head. “No, my job pays well. I may not have gotten to go to college, but that’s not needed for all careers in this world. I’m good at what I do.”
Chance had been working for the power company for the past two years. He was a hard worker and a fast learner. I was proud of him and all he’d accomplished.
“What about furniture? Could I at least buy Bella a bedroom set? Something girly like I never had?” I asked him.
He grinned. “She’d love that. Especially is she knew it was from you.”
I wanted to do more but I didn’t know how to or what that could be. I leaned forward and reached out to grab his hand. “I wasn’t there for you. I didn’t think you needed me. I thought they were good to you. She acted like she loved you. I was wrong, I am so sorry, Chance. I failed you. Both of you.”
He shook his head and squeezed my hand. “I was fine. Dad was around for most of my life, and when he split I was so busy taking up the slack with Bella, Mother relied on me. She didn’t give me any shit. She never treated me like she did you… but Bella… she treats Bella badly.” His tone went dark when he said the words, and my heart ached more than I thought was possible.
“I should have taken her from there years ago, but I wasn’t financially ready. I am now. I know she’s dying, but she won’t change. She won’t stop spewing her venom. I can’t sacrifice Bella’s emotional well-being.”
“You’re doing the right thing,” I assured him. “And I want to help in any way I can. If you need me for anything call me. Please,” I begged him.
He nodded. “I will. She’s as taken with you as I knewshe would be. She needed a mother and didn’t get one. You got Nonna, and I wish she’d been given the same. Now that she’s met you, she’s going to want to see you more.”
I was going to make sure that happened. He was right, Nonna had been my mom. She’d been what healed me. I could be there for Bella. I would love her unconditionally. She was young and I had years, a lifetime to make up for missing out on so much. For not being the sister she needed. For the pain she’d been through because of our mother.
“Good. I want to see her. I regret so much,” I said, then sighed, looking back at him. “What happens with Mother, her house? Who is going to take her to the doctor?” I hated to ask this, but she was our mother, and she was dying. Even if she was evil, she wouldn’t be able to do this alone. I didn’t want to care but something deep inside did.
He shrugged. “I’m trying to figure that out. I have my hands full with work and being a parent to Bella. I thought maybe hospice would step in soon. Until then I can fit in time to stop by once a day.”
“I’ll hire a private nurse to stay with her,” Gunner said, walking back into the room.
Chance shook his head. “I can’t let you do that. This isn’t your problem.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. Something affects Willa and Ms. Ames, then it is my problem. They’re my family too.”
Chance looked at me, and I nodded my head at him to accept. My brother looked torn, but in the end he shrugged. “Okay,” he said, then stood up and held out his hand to Gunner. “Thank you.”
Gunner shook it. “Anything I can do to help make this better for the people Willa loves gives me purpose.”
Chance glanced at me and smirked. “You got a good one.”
“I know,” I replied. Gunner was one of the things I believed God had given me to make up for the mother I’d been born to. I wanted Chance to find the same thing in life.
CHAPTER SIX
WILLA
