Page 66 of Unspoken Hearts
The corner of my mouth ticks sideways. “I know, but I can find something on my own.”
Laynie rolls her eyes, sinking back into her chair and folding her arms across her chest. “You are so stubborn.”
“I am not.” But she gives me awanna-betkind of look, and I snort softly. “All right, maybe a little, but you know why I’m like this.”
“Yes, I know, but you can also ask people for help sometimes. It won’t kill you.”
“You know why I can’t,” my voice spills out as a whisper.
I hate that I’m in this situation, but I don’t like asking for any sort of help. I’m not going to start now. Call me stubborn, but I like figuring everything out on my own.
Laynie pouts gently before pulling away. “So, what will you do then?”
Sighing, I shrug. “I don’t know yet, but I have to call Axel. He said he wanted to know about the situation when I found out.”
“All right,” she murmurs, but doesn’t move. Laynie stares at me, sympathetically, and I don’t like it.
“It’ll be fine, L. I will figure this out,” I remind her gently.
With that she stands, briefly placing her hand on my shoulder and muttering, “I know, because you always do, Macie,” before wandering back behind the coffee machine.
I stare at her from my small table, hearing the disappointment in her tone and the heaviness of her words. It’s always been like this, her wanting to help me, but I have never accepted it. I wish I wasn’t born with my parent’s stubbornness…
Sniffing away the twisting inside my gut, I take my phone and call Axel, who picks up quickly. “Macie, what’s going on?”
Sighing, I dive right into the conversation with Sandra, and the lease ending with no chance of our house being repaired.
“Of course he’d ruin everything,” my brother snaps. I sink back against my seat. “That’s our house.”
I groan, “He owns the place, Axel. It’s his decision.”
My brother is silent for a moment as I feel my heated blood pulsating through my veins. “So, are you going to live with the Lawson’s then?”
My jaw clamps together and I shake my head. “I don’t know how long they’ll want me there.”
“Macie, you need a place to stay, and they won’t kick you out. Just let them help you.”
My eyes press shut as I breathe out heavily, holding back the fumes that are beginning to burn through me. “I don’t want to be likethem.”
I hear him gulp. “I know, but this is serious. I need to know that you’re safe over there. And if Lucy comes back, then she’ll have to deal withthe fact that her house is gone. She’ll have to step up for once and be an adult.”
“Aunt Lucy,” I correct him absentmindedly.
My brother scoffs bitterly. “Maybe to you, but she hasn’t been my aunt in years, Mace.”
My head falls into my hand. “I know, and I’m sorry—”
“None of this was your fault. If anything, you kept us from being split up in foster care system. If you hadn't held down the house as well as you did, who knows what would’ve happened. God knows that Lucy was hardly around.”
My heart warms at that, but it only lasts a few beats before I remember the pressing issue at hand. “I’ll figure this out, Axe. Something will come up soon enough.” My voice sounded as flat as a pancake.
His next question stumps me.
“What if I come back to Ashwood? We can find a place together, and I can get a job in town to help out.”
My mouth dries as I shake my head hastily. Axel only just moved to Sydney, I can’t ask him to come back already to help me out. He has to make something out of this opportunity, and I won’t let him walk away from his dream.
“No, you need to stay there.”
