Her hand was on my right leg, and her sigh brought me back to the conversation we were having. “I know things have been difficult for the last few years with your parents.”
“Difficult?” I asked, and she nodded. “That’s true, but it’s unfair to put any of the blame on them at this point.”
“I wouldn’t go that far, Amber. They want to pretend as if none of it happened, but it did, and you’re the one dealing with the consequences. They let you live at the house, but they’d rather you moved out. They mention it in one way or another practically every time we’re together.”
I shrugged my shoulder, still staring at my hands. “I’m looking for a place, but there are very few places to rent that have a basement, and the ones that do, I can’t afford. I will find one. Hopefully, by fall. I just might have to move to a different community and commute to work.”
She squeezed my hand tightly. “No, that’s not going to happen. Brady and I will help any way we can, okay?”
I smiled at the woman I loved more than my biological sisters. They were both so much older than I was, but Hay-Hay and I had been joined at the hip since we were four.
She was speaking again, and I forced myself to listen and not cry on her shoulder. “You were status quo and completely functional with the leg up until February, and now you’re not. You have to do something. What kind of brace do the docs want for it?”
“Something expensive,” I said immediately and then grimaced when she glanced up sharply. “I’m giving it time.”
“You’ve given it since February. This is June. Get the brace.”
“That’s easier said than done, Haylee. It’s a microprocessor brace and well over seventy thousand dollars. I don’t have that kind of money.”
Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head at my statement. “What on earth? They’re going from low tech straps and dials to microprocessors?”
“It’s the wave of the future,” I said on an eye roll. “I understand why they want me to wear it, but I have to figure out how to pay for it first.”
“We’ll figure it out,” she said immediately, hugging me tightly. “You shouldn’t be in pain all the time. I know our insurance isn’t good about paying for this stuff, so we’ll come up with another plan.”
I nodded over her shoulder and let out a sigh. I’d been so afraid to tell her the truth, and now that she knew, I was relieved. “They won’t cover any of it, I already checked. That’s why I’m giving it time. Anyway, thanks for picking up my slack lately. I know I haven’t been as helpful to you and Brady as I usually am. I should have told you sooner, but admitting what happened makes me look weak. You know how I hate that.”
She shook her head and held my shoulders lovingly. “An asshole who thinks he can take advantage of a woman, any woman, doesn’t make you look weak. I watch you walk around here on that leg and wonder how the hell you stay so damn strong all the time. You deserve better than you’ve gotten, and through all of it, you’re still here doing your job every day.”
“I’m always here, but I’m hardly out front at all now. I’ve had to delegate a lot of the customer service work to the other girls.”
She shrugged and motioned at her desk. “You have, but that has less to do with your leg and more to do with the fact that we’re nearly drowning in orders. I’m so busy baking that I can’t keep up with everything else. If Taylor weren’t doing the kitchen manager job, it would be even worse. You haven’t had a choice but to delegate the customer service work, or nothing would get done in the office.”
I nodded with my lips in a grim line. “You’re right, and I meant to talk to you about that. Do you want to make some brownies and have a meeting just you, me, and Brady?”
She shook her head and winked at me. “Not later today, no. You have a fence removal date with one hella sexy teacher. We’ll do it tomorrow afternoon.”
“It’s not a date!” I exclaimed, frustration with her matchmaking filling me to the max. Ever since she’d gotten together with Brady, she insisted I needed to find someone to do the same. I had already sworn off men! The last one didn’t work out so well, and I wasn’t in the mood for a repeat performance. “Bishop’s my neighbor, that’s all. He’s helping me out by getting rid of the fence. And actually, removing that eyesore benefits his property, too. That’s all it is.”
She nodded and tried to hide her grin by pursing her lips. “Okay, sure. Well, whatever it is, you’ve already committed to it. Let’s have the meeting tomorrow afternoon after the bakery closes. For now, go home. We’ve got this covered. Put that leg up with some ice on it for a few hours before you have to help Halla Hottie with the fence.”
“Halla Hottie?” I asked on a snort of laughter.
“Like what I did there?” she asked, grinning like a fool.
“Not even a little bit,” I said, standing up and hugging her again. “Thanks for understanding. You’ve always been my best sister.”
She chuckled and wrapped her arms around me. “You better not say that too loudly. One of your real sisters might hear you.”
I leaned back and patted her face, a smile on mine. “They already know, and they don’t
