Take the Chance (Top Shelf Romance #9) - Brittainy Cherry Page 0,4

the first time in a long time. “I’ve been trying to reach you all day.”

“Well, not everyone can be Mrs. Doubtfire and work part-time at a coffee shop, Lucy,” she said, her sarcasm loud and clear.

“I actually only nanny now. I quit the coffee shop.”

“Shocking,” she replied. “Listen, do you need something, or were you just bored and decided to call me repeatedly?”

Her tone was the same one I’d known for most of my life—complete disappointment in my entire existence. Lyric had a way of putting up with Mari’s quirks, especially since Mari had finally settled down with Parker. Lyric was, after all, the one who introduced the couple to one another. When it came to my relationship with my eldest sister, it was the complete opposite. I often thought she hated me because I reminded her too much of our mother.

As time went by, I realized she hated me because I was nothing more than myself.

“Yeah, no. It’s Mari.”

“Is she okay?” she asked, her voice drenched with fake concern. I could hear her still typing away on her computer, working late into the night. “She’s not…?”

“Dead?” I huffed. “No, she’s not, but Parker left today.”

“Left? What do you mean?”

“He just left. He packed his bags, said he couldn’t deal with watching her die, and drove away. He left her alone.”

“Oh my God. That’s insane.”

“Yeah, I agree.”

There was a long moment of silence and me listening to her type before she spoke again. “Well, did you piss him off or something?”

I stopped rocking in the chair. “What?”

“Come on, Lucy. Since you moved in to help, I’m sure you haven’t been the easiest person to live with. You’re a lot to handle.” She somehow managed to do what she always did when I was involved in any situation—she made me the villain. She put me at fault for a coward walking out on his wife.

I swallowed hard and ignored her comment. “I just wanted you to know, that’s all.”

“Is Parker okay?”

What? “I think what you meant to say was ‘Is Mari okay,’ and no, she’s not. She’s dealing with cancer, her husband just left her, and she hardly has a penny to her name, let alone the strength to keep going.”

“Ah, there it is,” Lyric murmured.

“There what is?”

“You’re calling me for money. How much do you need?”

My stomach knotted at her words and a taste of disgust spread on my tongue. She thought I’d called her because I wanted money? “I called you because your sister is hurting and feels alone, and I thought you might want to come see her and make sure she’s okay. I don’t want your money, Lyric. I want you to start acting like a freaking sister.”

Another moment of silence passed, along with more typing.

“Look, I’m swamped at work. I have these cases coming up for the firm, and I can’t be pulled away from them right now. There’s no way I’d be able to get by her place until maybe next week or the week after.”

Lyric lived downtown—a short twenty-minute drive away—but still, she was convinced it was too far away.

“Never mind, okay? Just pretend I never called.” My eyes watered over, shocked by the coldness of someone I’d once looked up to in my life. DNA told me she was my sister, but the words she spoke conveyed that she was nothing more than a stranger.

“Stop it, Lucy. Stop with the passive aggressive approach. I’ll drop a check in the mail tomorrow, all right?”

“Don’t, seriously. We don’t need your money, and we don’t need your support. I don’t even know why I called you. Just mark it down as a low point of mine. Goodbye, Lyric. Good luck with your cases.”

“Yeah, okay. And, Lucy?”

“Yeah?”

“You might want to get that coffee job back as soon as possible.”

After a while, I stood up from the rocking chair and walked to the guest room where I’d been staying. I shut the bedroom door, held my hand around my necklace, and shut my eyes. “Air above me, earth below me, fire within me, water surround me…” I took deep breaths and kept repeating the words Mama had taught me. Whenever she’d lose her balance in life and feel far from grounded, she’d repeat that chant, finding her inner strength.

Even though I repeated the words, I felt like a failure.

My shoulders drooped and my tears began to fall as I spoke to the only woman who had ever truly understood me. “Mama, I’m scared, and I hate it. I