He hoped like hell that hadn’t been her plan. He grabbed the shopping bag and the flowers in one hand, put the kitty condo under his other arm, and headed for the house.
He was braced to find a note. Instead he found Lauren curled up in the den with a box of tissues by her side.
Jason dropped his gifts onto the couch and sat down beside her. “What’s wrong?” he asked, wrapping an arm around her.
Her eyes were damp. “I thought I could do this and not look back, but I can’t.” She blew her nose and tossed the tissue into a wastebasket beside her.
A distinct sense of unease crawled up his spine. “You thought you could do what?”
She straightened her shoulders and stiffened her posture, definitely a bad sign. “I sold my car,” she said as she pulled out a fresh tissue. “I needed a minute but now I’m fine. Ready to get back to work.” She started to head past him.
As if he’d just let this go. “You sold your car,” he repeated, needing to say the words in order to make them real.
She raised her chin. “Yep.”
“The Porsche.”
She nodded.
“Your symbol of success.”
She drew a deep breath. “Exactly. It’s just a symbol. Success will still come. Or not. Either way, I’m okay. It was silly to cry over a car.” She walked back to the couch where he’d deposited his purchases. “What is all this?”
“Don’t change the subject.” He grasped her arm, turning her back around. “You aren’t crying over the car, you’re crying over resentment. Understandable resentment at your sister and your parents for putting you in this position to begin with.”
And if he could get any one of them in front of him for five minutes, he’d give them a good piece of his mind. None of them would ever forget what Lauren had done for them or how grateful they should be.
“You’re dead wrong. I was crying because I had some stupid sentimental moment. As for my family, I do not resent them! I’m doing what has to be done because that’s what family members do for each other!” she yelled at him, as if trying to convince herself more than him.
He knew better than to point that out. Instead he asked her a question. “Would any of them do the same for you?”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
WOULD ANY OF THEM do the same for you? It was a low blow but Jason had to ask.
Lauren sucked in a ragged breath, one he felt in his own gut.
“Are you kidding?” she asked him.
He shook his head, determined to see this through. “Your parents have already proved they wouldn’t,” he said gently.
She speared him with a deadly glare. “This isn’t about my parents.”
Okay, so she did truly accept that she wasn’t at the top of their priority list. “So it’s about your sister.”
Lauren folded her arms over her chest, already defensive. “Of course she’d do the same for me if I were sick. It just so happens, the situation has always been reversed.”
He wasn’t so sure her sister would look out for anyone except number one. But Lauren wasn’t going to see that particular truth. Jason’s point went beyond whether or not her sister would be there for her in her time of need. It went beyond the money she was spending on her sister’s appeal. And surprising even to him, it went beyond the fact that she’d sold her beloved convertible instead of taking his money.
His real concern was for Lauren’s state of denial when it came to her sister. “What if Beth isn’t sick?”
Lauren’s expression turned from outraged to incredulous. “What are you suggesting?”
That your sister is as crazy as your grandmother was, Jason thought, and immediately realized he’d boxed himself into a corner. At first he’d been upset she’d sold her car instead of taking his money. His initial reaction had been all male ego. He could admit that much.
But when he stepped back, he knew that there was more to it. He’d wanted Lauren to see the truth. That unlike the house, which would bring her a return, investing money in her crazy sister was the equivalent of throwing it away. But he couldn’t say that without hurting her and putting a wedge between them.
“Well? Are you going to explain?” She tapped her foot impatiently.
This was what he got for reacting to her news without thinking things through. Big mistake. Now he owed her an answer that wouldn’t set her off.
“I’m just saying that the doctors are treating Beth’s mental breakdown, but the fact remains that the things she did were…criminal. Just like your grandmother.” He tried not to wince at his own description, which was painfully accurate.
“And you don’t think I realize that?” Lauren’s voice cracked as she spoke. “But she’s my sister. My baby sister, and she’s not as strong as she looks. She was weak enough to be manipulated by my grandmother, and I’m responsible for that.”
He hadn’t seen that one coming. “How do you figure?” he asked, and braced himself for her reply.
She walked over to the mahogany bookshelves and picked up a small framed photograph he’d never noticed before. This was one room she hadn’t tackled yet because she liked spending time in here and he realized why. It was the most personal of all the rooms, with the fewest reminders of her grandmother’s position as mayor and her abuses of power.
Lauren handed him the photograph.
Two adorable young girls stared up at him. Lauren, the taller older sister, had her arm protectively around her younger sister’s shoulder.
“How old were you here?” Jason asked.
She glanced at the picture. “I was eleven and Beth was six. We were always close, until the summer I turned eighteen and took off. She never really forgave me for abandoning her, and when she came to live with my grandmother, she turned to her completely.” She drew in a ragged breath. “That’s why it’s my fault. Because I left her to be manipulated by my grandmother.”
He grasped her shoulders. “So you could live your life! You aren’t her mother, you’re her sister. You had every right to break away when you did!”
Lauren pulled out of his grasp. “I abandoned her to a crazy woman.” Her eyes filled with tears. “Which makes me equally responsible for the choices Beth made.”
Jason shook his head in frustration, disagreeing with her words. He desperately wanted to hold her, but her shoulders were so stiff he was afraid she’d break if he touched her again.
“I still say it wasn’t your responsibility. And even if you feel it was, how could you know what your grandmother was capable of?”
Her eyes were sad. “It doesn’t matter. She relied on me and I let her down. So whether or not she’s sick or as crazy as my grandmother, I need to be here for her now, in any way I can. If that means selling my car for cash to pay her lawyer, so be it.”
Jason realized there was no arguing with her. She was bound and determined to see this situation through distorted lenses. He was equally determined to get her to see she wasn’t responsible for her sister’s choices.
“You don’t understand, do you?” Lauren said “Well, I’ll show you in person. Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“You said you wanted to go with me to visit my sister. Now’s your chance. Oh. If it isn’t obvious, I need you to drive, so let’s move it.”
She started to walk out of the room, then paused and turned back. “Why aren’t you coming?”
He closed the distance between them. “You took me by surprise, that’s all. After our conversation, I didn’t expect you to suggest a visit.”
She shrugged. “You know what they say. Be careful what you wish for.”
As he followed her out of the room, a serious foreboding shook him. Hard.
THEY MADE the hour’s trip to the Bricksville Correctional Institution in near silence. By the time Jason found himself standing outside Beth’s door, he had a newfound understanding of what Lauren had to endure each time she visited. And a growing respect for her for doing it without complaint.