Page 145 of Falling Overboard

“I have to wear this thing for like, six weeks, but I’m fine. Come sit down! How was your flight?”

“Good.” I sat down on the couch and asked what had happened with the accident and the twins fell all over themselves giving me the details. Someone had blown through a red light and hit Lily’s car.

I was so grateful that she had come out of it with only a broken foot. The twins didn’t really remember our dad, so I was sure the accident didn’t affect them the same way it did me.

“I’m really glad you’re doing okay,” I said, my eyes going blurry from the tears that wanted to fall.

“Oh, Lucky!” Lily said, pulling me in for a hug.

I let her hold me for a second and then sat back up, reaching for my purse. “How much?”

She blinked at me, confused. “What do you mean?”

“The hospital bill. How much do you need?”

Rose and Lily exchanged glances, and then Lily put her hand on top of mine. “Zero. We don’t need anything.”

Now I was the one confused.

“You were right,” Rose said. “We took advantage of you. So we’re not taking any more money from you. And we’re going to pay you back.”

“And we really mean it this time,” Lily added. “We shouldn’t have been so reliant on you. Or expected you to take care of us. We’re going to get one of the budget thingies and do that!”

Rose smiled. “We downloaded some financial apps for our phones and everything.”

Lily squeezed my hand. “I think having you there like that made it so we didn’t miss Mom so much. You’re not our mother, though. And it’s time we helped take care of you. We are the only family that we have left. So we’re going to give instead of always asking. Do you want to stay here with us?”

I had assumed I’d go to a hotel. That probably would’ve been more comfortable, but I couldn’t turn down my sisters’ kind offer. My throat burned with unshed tears at their words. I really had thought they wouldn’t want to talk to me after I told them I wouldn’t send them any more money.

“I’d love to stay with you,” I said, my voice tight. “I just hadn’t heard from you in so long that I thought—”

“You thought we were upset with you,” Rose finished for me. “We’re sorry we didn’t reach out to you sooner, but we wanted to get our situation straightened out first so that you would know we meant it. Actions instead of just words. Plus, we know how much you worry and wanted to show you that we were okay.”

“Car accident notwithstanding,” Lily added with a grin.

“Wow,” I said, knowing that if I tried to say more, I was going to cry.

“We’re growing up, right?” Rose preened, clearly proud of what they were doing.

“You are.” Yep, my voice was definitely wobbly.

Lily noticed. “What’s going on with you? And what happened with your job? And your boyfriend?”

And even though it felt too painful, the entire story came pouring out of me. Every single little detail.

I cried the entire time, sobbing and talking, snot dripping from my nose. Rose went and grabbed me a roll of toilet paper and handed it to me so that I could keep telling them everything. My throat ached, my eyes burned, but I kept going until I had shared it all.

Chauncy came over and rested his head in my lap. I allowed myself to finally break down, with my sisters there to hug and listen to me.

It made me feel not so alone.

And after I had told them the whole story, they were both quiet. I had expected them to offer me advice or tell me what they thought I should do. In the past they’d always had opinions about everything.

Instead Rose brought me a pillow, blanket, and sheets and helped me make up the couch so that I could sleep there. She showed me where the bathroom was and then helped Lily to bed.

They paused at the doorway. “We’ll talk more in the morning,” Rose said.

“We’re here for you,” Lily said with a smile.

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