Van rapped her knuckles twice on the door, but nobody answered. Without bothering a third time, Van knelt down on the dusty top step and reached into the planter whose contents were long dead. Crisp brown leaves covered the parched soil as she dug her hand around, a smile curling at her lips as her fingers found the key she was looking for. She slid it into the lock, and pushed the creaky door open.
“Mom?” she called out. “Are you home?” She caught her toe on a stack of mail. Leaning down to pick them up, she noticed how many of them were bills. Red ones. “Mom?” she called again, setting the envelopes on the hall table and walking toward the kitchen.
The counters were covered with dirty plates and wrappers. Half-drunk coffee cups had white and green mold floating in the dusty liquid. The room stank of stale food and alcohol, emanating from the empty liquor bottles flung in the sink.
She gagged at the aroma. Swallowing hard against the impending nausea, Van walked back into the hall. Gently, she rapped her knuckles on her mom’s bedroom door. “Are you in there?”
A groan echoed from inside and Van’s stomach curdled again. Maybe she was hungry. She’d driven straight here from Richmond, not bothering to stop to eat. Sighing, she pressed down the handle and opened the door, wincing at the mess of clothes covering the brown carpeting.
Her mom was curled up on the bed, her soft blonde hair stuck to her face. Her eyes were closed, her mouth gaping wide.
The closet doors were open. One side held her mom’s clothes, a clash of bright colors all pushed together. The other side was empty.
So Craig really had gone. Van looked around to see if he’d left anything behind. A razor, a tie, maybe a photograph or two. But there was nothing except the mess her mom had let build up. Typical Kim, she always did hate housework.
“Close the door,” Kim rasped, turning on her side and covering her eyes. “Don’t let the light in.”
Van pulled the door until it clicked shut behind her. Her mom groaned again as Van started to pick up the scattered clothes. “Where’s Zoe?” Van asked her.
“At school.”
“It’s six o’clock in the evening. School finished hours ago.”
Kim let out a sigh. “Then she’s probably with a friend. Or at the library. She goes there almost as much as you did.” Her mom reached out for the glass beside her bed, sighing when she saw it was empty. Finally, she opened her eyes and moved her gaze to Van. “What are you doing here?”
“Zoe told me you weren’t well.”
Kim rolled over and pressed her face into the pillow. “Did she tell you Craig’s gone?” she asked, her voice muffled.
“Yeah. I was sorry to hear it.” Van stuffed the final piece of clothing into the laundry basket. It was overflowing. She’d put a load of laundry in tonight, then another in the morning. If she was staying here, she’d have to tidy up.
She hated mess. Her pristine apartment in Richmond was testament to that.
“Everybody’s talking about it.” Kim sat up in the bed and attempted to smooth her hair down. “How he’s gone off with a girl half his age. I bet they’re all laughing at me.” Her face crumpled. “I hate him,” she hissed.
Van sighed and sat on the bed next to her mom. “No you don’t. You’re just sad.” Kim looked up at her, her eyes pleading as though Van was some kind of savior. “Why don’t you go take a shower?” Van suggested. “It might make you feel better.”
Her mom flopped back onto the bed. “I don’t want to get up. There’s no point anyway. I can’t go anywhere. Not when everybody is talking about me.”
The front door slammed. “I’m back!” Zoe called out, her voice echoing in the hallway. Van jumped up from the bed and flung her mom’s door open, grinning when she saw her sister. Zoe’s pink sparkly backpack completely dwarfed her ten-year-old frame.
Slowly, Zoe looked up, her mouth dropping when she saw Van standing in the hallway.
“You’re here!” she shouted, her lips erupting into a grin. “Oh god, you’re here.” She dropped her backpack and threw herself at Van, her arms wrapping around her sister’s waist. “I didn’t think you’d come.”
Van kissed the top of her sister’s head. “Of course I came. I told you I would.”
Zoe looked up, her face shining brightly. “How long can you stay? Has Mom seen you?” She hugged Van tighter, pressing her face against Van’s shoulder. “I’m so happy right now.”
It was impossible not to feel warmed by Zoe’s excited reception. “I’m here for as long as you need me,” she murmured into Zoe’s blonde hair.
“Really?” The expression of hope on Zoe’s face nearly killed her.
A loud sniff came from their mom’s bedroom. Van turned her head, to see Kim laying on her side, tears streaming down her face.
“Of course she’s staying,” their mom said, giving Van a watery smile. “She’s a good girl. She’ll take care of us, Zoe.”
Van took in a deep breath, and smoothed Zoe’s hair with the palm of her hand. She’d stay for as long as they needed her. Even if a part of her wanted to run as fast and as far as she could from here.
Her mom had always relied on the kindness of strangers and friends. But most of all she’d relied on Van. For a few years, Craig had taken on that role and Van had felt free. Enough to move away and begin a career of her own.
But now he was gone and the burden was hers to carry again.
Funny how it felt heavier than ever.
Chapter Two
“Another beer?” Tanner Hartson called out to his brothers, carrying four bottles of Sierra Nevada in his large hands as he made his way across his eldest brother’s backyard. Not that you could really call it a backyard. It was more of an estate. Gray’s sprawling mansion sat on twenty acres of land, along with a purpose-built recording studio, a mother-in-law apartment for Gray’s girlfriend’s mom, plus a swimming pool, hot tub, and pool house. It was like he’d picked up a little piece of L.A. and moved it to their sleepy home town of Hartson’s Creek.
Tanner passed the bottles to his brothers, then sat in the spare adirondack chair and lifted the beer to his mouth, closing his eyes for a second as he swallowed, the liquid cooling his belly. He leaned his head against the chair, and raked his fingers through his thick, dark hair. He sat low in the chair, his denim-clad legs stretched out, the fabric pulled tightly over his thigh muscles. His white shirt, unbuttoned at the neck showed a smattering of dark hair, was crumpled thanks to the afternoon heat. Like his brothers, he was tall, strong, and had a jaw most models would die for. As teenagers, the town had coined the term ‘Heartbreak Brothers’ to describe them. Something all four of them had come to loathe.
“I hear congratulations are in order,” Gray said, lifting his bottle to Tanner. “Logan told me you sold your business. Way to go, man.”
“Thanks.” Tanner clinked his bottle against Gray’s, then took another large mouthful. It had only been five days since he and his two co-owners had signed on the dotted line, selling their company for an unimaginable profit. He, Austin, and Jared had created their own software company from nothing when they’d graduated from Duke, the three of them working together on coding to improve the security of banking systems and apps throughout the USA.