Jane woke up to her phone going off. She nearly fell out of bed in an attempt to grab it, thinking maybe, just maybe it was Brock.
Instead it was a text from Essence, saying that she and Esmerelda had stayed the night at a friend’s house and not to worry.
The thing about it, though? She wasn’t worried. Not at all. She’d stopped worrying the minute her sisters had proved they cared about themselves more than her, since she was left, as usual, to pick up the pieces. The press hadn’t left her house since news had broken that she was back home, which just so happened to be a few hours after Brock’s grandfather left.
Newspapers and TV shows wanted to interview her.
She could understand her sisters wanting to dodge the press, but honestly, leaving had just given them an excuse to do just what they’d normally do.
They’d left a mess in the house.
They’d had no regard for her feelings.
They’d manipulated.
And if she needed more proof of how little concern they actually felt for her, she had all of the text conversations from when she was at the ranch.
Her heart slammed against her chest.
The ranch.
Brock.
She still hadn’t heard from him, but at the same time she refused to believe things were over.
Sighing, she was just ready to put her phone back down when it rang.
Fumbling with the device, she pressed answer and had it to her ear. “Jane? Jane, is that you?”
Esmeralda’s voice may as well be nails on a chalk board. “Hey,” Jane answered.
“I’m still pissed at you.” Esmeralda sighed. “But, whatever. I just wanted to let you know that we forgive you.”
“Forgive me?” Jane rolled her eyes. Was her sister serious? “For what?”
“Leaving us.”
“I left to take a job!” Jane slammed her hand against her forehead. “Because that’s how I make money!” Were they really that dense?
“Right, but you didn’t answer your phone, left the laundry, didn’t even think to grocery shop. You know I hate going to crowded superstores like Walmart! I had a traumatic experience there! You know that!”
Jane bit her tongue. It was more that Esmerelda just hated doing anything that she thought was beneath her—grocery shopping fit that bill.
“Anyway, we forgive you and we actually wanted to do you a favor. We thought it would be fun to get ready for the ball tonight.”
“Did you say ball?”
“Yeah, why?”
“The ball that costs ten thousand dollars a plate? That ball?” Jane had a familiar sick punch to the gut. They didn’t have the money for it—not at all.
“Are there any other balls where rich men are getting auctioned off?” Esmeralda laughed. “Of course that ball.”
“But you don’t have that kind of money!”
Esmeralda was silent and then sighed. “Look, I took out a new credit card. God knows you won’t be able to marry the guy after you publicly shamed yourself like a whore. Besides, we need money!”
“Esmeralda!” She fought to keep the tears in. “How could you do that? Why? It’s just a party! We don’t have the money!”
“But you made money at the big job you were just on, right?” Esmeralda laughed. “We’ll pay for the rest on the credit card. All we really need is your portion.”
“My…portion,” Jane said, fuming. “I don’t owe you guys anything.”
“You took the job to support the family, right?” Esmeralda said plainly. “So support the family. Plus, think of the networking Essence and I could do at a place like that! We could get so many clients, meet so many people. Really, you would be doing it for us. For all of us. After all, didn’t Daddy want us to work together as a team?”
“About that.” Jane glanced around her room—at the memories that filled it, the walls with posters of bands and singers, the stickers that still littered her ceiling. “I think I’d rather fly solo.”
Esmeralda was silent, then said, “But we love you.”
“No.” Jane closed her eyes as tears burned. “You love you.”
“Jane!” Esmeralda shouted. “Don’t do this to us!”
“I’m sorry. I just…I can’t. I can’t support you spending money, my hard-earned money, on something frivolous. From here on out you’re on your own.”
“You’re a selfish bitch!” Esmeralda yelled. “No wonder he’s still going through with the auction. Who would want a frigid virgin for—”
Jane hung up the phone before she said something she could never take back.
Her childhood room suddenly felt too small, choking the life out of her. A memory surfaced of her father.
“Knock, knock.” Daddy walked in with an apron over his work clothes. He held a tray in his hand, and a rose was laid across the plate of eggs and French toast. A giant cup of coffee sat on the far right side. “I figured you’d need this.”
She didn’t trust herself to speak, so she nodded her head and looked away.
“They don’t deserve you, sweetheart,” he whispered once he set the tray on the bed and tilted her chin toward him. “Girls are fickle creatures. I love all three of you, but sometimes, we say things that are hurtful. Things we don’t mean. Promise that you’ll see through that and try to keep the family together.” He coughed; the tray trembled in his hands as he sat on her bed. “Just promise to try. Family is all we have.”
“I promised to keep everyone together,” Jane whispered aloud as the memory faded.
But was that what her dad had meant? To be a maid to her own family? No. And she’d already made her decision to stand her ground. So, with shaking hands, she grabbed a suitcase and started packing.