backup.
Thankfully, it didn’t take Danny long to respond.
Danny: Who is this?
I rolled my eyes and sent a har har.
Me: I mean it. I could use my brother.
Those words never felt truer as I sat in my bed like a little girl waiting for her parents to discover that she broke a dish. I hated feeling like this. I hated feeling out of control. I wanted to be seen as the responsible woman I’d become. Not the feeble woman I felt like I would always be to my parents.
Danny: Rolling in right now. I grabbed some pizza. Want me to bring you a slice?
My mouth watered at the thought of cheese, sauce, and warm bread. All of the ingredients that always managed to make my crappy days seem better.
Me: Yes please.
He responded with a thumbs-up. Hoping he would have a straight shot from the kitchen to my bedroom without any interruptions, I flopped back into my pillows and located my remote. After I found some sappy romantic movie, I settled back and let out my breath.
I could do this. I could. Reelection couldn’t be that hard. After all, I was a Magnolia resident through and through. Being mayor once had to count for something. Dad wasn’t giving me enough credit, and it was really starting to bug me.
Ten minutes ticked by and Danny still hadn’t appeared. I sighed as I flung off my comforter and dropped my feet to the ground. I padded over to my door and cracked it, leaning in to hear what was happening downstairs.
Dad was talking, and I waited for a break in what he was saying so I could assess if Danny was with them.
“Yep, I know,” Danny’s voice carried upstairs.
Great. They had cornered him.
Mom said something, but I couldn’t quite make it out. But I knew the tone in her voice. She was desperate and unhappy. No doubt she was all in a tizzy because of Danny’s life choices and the fact that he was still single.
I used to think my parents wanted us to get married because they wanted us to be happy and not lonely. But that was back when I thought my parents cared about our happiness. Now I was realizing that Mom and Dad wanted connections. They wanted us to marry who they wanted us to marry.
And they wanted us to marry people who would help elevate our family name. That was it.
A bad taste grew in my mouth, so I shut my door and hurried back over to my bed. If Danny was taking the heat, I would let him. I needed a break. After all, he’d been gone for so long that he’d had a reprieve from their constant nagging. It was my turn to take a breather before they started in on me again.
By the time Danny made it to my room, he looked frazzled. His hair was tousled, and he had a fiery look in his eye as he balanced the pizza box on his arm and used the hand that was holding a six-pack of beer to shut the door. Once he’d shut out the rest of the house, he let out a long groan.
“Thanks for that,” he said as he shot daggers in my direction.
I couldn’t help but laugh. Partly because it was funny that it wasn’t me. And partly because just hearing the stress in his voice amplified my own, and I needed a way to release that tension.
I knew the pain that was written across his face. It was as acute as the pain that resided inside of me—despite my efforts to pretend that I didn’t care.
“Come on over here,” I said as I patted the empty side of my bed. “We can commiserate together.”
Danny let out a huff as he paused and stared me down. “That was unfair,” he said as his shoulders slumped and he made his way over.
I pushed out my bottom lip and nodded. “I know.”
He set the pizza down on my legs and the beer down on the nightstand and then kicked off his shoes. “I hadn’t even gotten into the house before Mom started talking about how she has a friend who has a friend who has a daughter.” He paused as he pinched his lips and studied me. His eyes were wide as if that was all he needed to say for me to understand the gravity of what had happened to him.
Which was accurate. I understood his sentiments acutely.
“Ugh.” I opened the box of pizza