Three
Amy slammed her front door shut and leaned against it. Her heart was hammering. Not from the exertion of running a dozen steps to her front door, but from spending time with Jared. Her super hot, kind of scary, next-door neighbour.
She sighed and closed her eyes as she pictured him, the way he was standing looking down at her from his much greater height. His piercing dark eyes as they looked right through her. His overly long messy curly hair. His scruffy beard.
She’d had a crush on him basically from the day he moved in next door nine years ago. She'd been a budding adolescent girl, crushing on her first older man. She'd fallen hard for the biker, but he never gave her a second glance. Over the years, her crush had fallen away, and she'd engaged in normal teenage activities. Dating guys her own age, hanging out with friends and raising her family.
Okay, so that last one wasn't exactly normal, but it had become her version of normal.
Amy wasn't sure what drove her next door for sugar. She legitimately did need sugar for her recipe but could have easily gone down to the convenience store or hit up her other neighbour, a kind older woman who would definitely have had sugar available.
When she’d seen Jared in his driveway working on his big beast of a bike, something had driven her toward him. He’d been crouched, wearing dark jeans with holes in the knees, a sleeveless shirt, biker boots and a leather vest. Colourful tattoos covered one of his arms, his hand and his neck. Her heart and her libido had started revving at the sight of him and her feet carried her toward him almost without her consent.
"What’re you doing, Amy?"
Sarah's voice cut through the fog of her daydream and Amy opened her eyes. Her gaze landed on her ten-year-old sister who was kneeling on the floor in front of the TV, a sketch pad and pencil crayons spread out in front of her.
"Taking some pie next-door," Amy said lightly, dropping onto the couch next to her other sister, Millie.
"You shouldn't give our pie away," eight-year-old Millie said seriously. "You worked hard on that and we need all the food we can get."
Amy frowned. "What do you mean, we need all the food we can get? There's no shortage of food around here. You two are always eating."
Millie, a hand talker, shrugged and swung her arm as she spoke, nearly hitting Amy in the head with her Barbie. "Teagan said we’re probably gonna run out of food. He said you don't have a very good job and that you don't make enough money."
Amy closed her eyes and took a deep breath in through her nose. She let it out slowly through her mouth. Becoming a parent at the age of eighteen hadn't been easy, but Millie and Sarah were amazing kids. They helped her every day. They almost never argued with each other, they listened to their older sister and they were doing well in school.
Teagan, on the other hand, was a whole other story. At seventeen, he was rebellious and resentful. He didn't want to be told what to do, especially by an older sister. Amy tried her best to include him in all family decisions, treating him like an adult, but their relationship had been deteriorating as the months went by.
Amy reached out and plucked the Barbie doll from Millie's hand, then tugged her little sister against her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She ruffled Millie's hair. "Yes, I have a sort of crappy job, and it doesn't pay well. But I promise you, sweetie, we will never run out of food."
Amy hoped she was saying the right things to her sisters. Sarah was now twisted around and looking at her with curiosity. Amy tried to always tell them the truth, even if the truth was difficult. She just wished Teagan was a bit more careful when talking to his younger sisters.
"How do you know we won't run out of food if you don't make very much money?" Sarah asked, laying a yellow pencil crayon next to her drawing.
"Because I'm smart and I know how to shop intelligently. I also know how to cook and how to make food stretch. These things help us save money every month. And if it got really dire, we would go to the food bank, or borrow money from the government. There are always options."
Amy waited in tense silence as the girls processed what she'd said. Finally, Millie shrugged, snatched her Barbie back from Amy and said, "I knew Teagan was wrong. He's always wrong. He's a boy."
Amy smothered a laugh. "Yes, he is a boy, but that doesn't make him wrong all the time. Teagan has his own opinions, which is perfectly fine. But if he says something that worries you, then come to me and we'll talk about it."
Sarah chimed in from the floor, "Teagan said you’d leave us as soon as a man comes along that you want to marry."
Amy's mouth fell open as anger rushed through her. She could understand that Teagan might be concerned about their future, but she couldn't allow him to say just anything to Millie and Sarah, scaring them with his own concerns.
"First of all, I'm not looking for a man to be in my life right now. I have my hands full with the three of you," Amy smiled to take the sting from her words. "But if I do happen to meet a man, I would never leave you. I would choose someone who loves you just as much as I do."
Millie wrinkled her nose. "No offence, but your taste in boys is terrible. I don't think we need any more boys around here. Teagan is enough."
Amy silently agreed. Teagan was enough. Speaking of Teagan, Amy glanced at the clock, realizing she had no idea where he was. She tried texting him but gave up hoping for a response after fifteen minutes passed.
"Time to get ready for bed." She sent the girls off to their bedrooms to put their pajamas on and brush their teeth. Amy would go upstairs in a few minutes and kiss them goodnight. A ritual she started the night her mother was killed, and one she would continue until each of her siblings moved out.
After she tucked the girls into bed, Amy busied herself straightening up the house. She was elbow deep in a sink filled with dishes when the front door slammed shut. She jumped, then realized it must be her brother.
"Teagan?" she called.
A few seconds later he strolled into the kitchen, a familiar scowl on his face, his dark hair artfully spiked. "What?"
"How was your night?" Amy asked casually.
She glanced sideways at the time on the oven, noting it was after ten o’clock. He was coming in later and later each night.
"Don't you mean, where was I?" he asked sarcastically.
Teagan was spoiling for a fight. Amy wasn't in the mood, but she couldn't allow him to speak to her disrespectfully. He was setting a bad example for his younger siblings.
Amy wiped her hands on a dishtowel and turned to look at her brother. "Fine, where were you?"
"None of your business." He turned to leave the kitchen.
"Teagan, I think we need to talk." It was the last thing Amy wanted to do. She wanted to finish the dishes, take a bath and go to bed. She had to start work at 5:00 am and at the rate she was going, she was only going to get a few hours of sleep before she had to get up and catch the bus to the factory.
Teagan rounded on her, glaring as he threw himself into a chair. "Fine, say what you want to say. You're going to anyway."
"What does that mean?" Amy demanded.
"It means, you act like some kind of dictator around here. Telling us what to do, where to go, how to behave. I'm sick of it."