35. For The Best

35

FOR THE BEST

" A ster, since you're here, I could use your help in the bathroom."

He looked at his father on Friday morning. Daphne was finishing the last of her packing and he was starting to load everything up. He'd rented the smallest U-Haul he could and didn't need that as it was.

His sister didn't have much furniture she was taking. Everything in her room was hers when she was a kid. It was more clothing, shoes, a TV, her mini fridge, and a dresser she'd bought since she'd run out of closet space.

She didn't even empty that but rather they loaded it up as is.

"Sure," he said.

"Dad," Daphne said. "We need to get on the road in less than two hours. Aster already booked a hotel for us to crash at tonight and it's like twelve hours away."

He'd told her that this morning when he got here. He showed up at seven and got right to work. In his mind, there was no reason to not get on the road by nine.

His parents were up and just sitting at the table drinking their coffee and not lending a hand.

The fact there wasn't much more left for him to load up and his father hit him with this now only pissed him off.

"You can check in at any point," his father said. "This won't take long."

It wouldn't take long because he was putting his foot down. They did this shit to him all the time. When he was home on leave it wasn't a big deal, as he had nothing else better to do.

But now it was just them being selfish.

"What do you need?" he asked when they got to the end of the hall at the bathroom.

"I want to replace this vanity. I need some help."

"Bringing it in?" he asked. "I can do that, but that is it. I can't spend all day here doing this. You should have said something last night and I could have helped after court."

His father frowned. "I thought you'd be busy."

"Busy sitting in my hotel room and watching TV?" he asked. Raine had even seemed surprised his parents didn't ask him to dinner. He wouldn't be an ass if they needed help, but he wasn't going to kill his timeline to leave because his father wasn't considerate enough to think this out better.

"Sorry," his father said. "I thought you might be connecting with old friends. We weren't home last night."

Because that was what his parents did. When their daughter was ready to move and son was home for a day or so, instead of making time to visit they went out to have a few beers with friends they saw all the time.

Now he understood why Daphne was more relieved than nervous about moving. Their parents were not around and weren't acting like they cared much either.

"Go shut the water off in here and we'll pull it out and then I'll carry the other one in for you and all you'll have to do is move it into place and figure out where to put this one."

"Never mind," his father said. "You have to get going. I can do it another day."

"Suit yourself."

He knew it was a one-man job that might take two hours. It'd take him less, but he had no clue what mess he'd run into once that leaky cabinet was removed. The floor could be stained and soaked. There was probably mold. The pipes could be rusted.

Any number of things his father would want him to fix since he was here and it was started.

Free labor for them.

Daphne had said his parents were cleaning things out and throwing stuff away, but he didn't notice much difference from a year ago.

When he got back to the living room, he heard his sister telling his mother not to even think about it.

"I just have a few more things," Daphne said. "I told Mom she could keep the stuff in the kitchen that I've purchased. I'll get new once I see what I might need. Poppy said I should be able to just move in once the place is ready."

"Must be nice to move into your own place like that. Especially on the water," her mother said, laughing. "I'd live in a camper for that location. And all you've got to do is babysit some kids. Two of them."

He turned and looked at his mother. "It's more than babysitting," he said.

His parents wouldn't understand that because that was all they saw of their obligation to their kids.

"I'll be doing activities with them and bringing them places," Daphne said. "I'll interact."

His mother waved her hand. "It's not much more than you're doing now but with fewer kids. Guess you landed in it on your visit to see Aster."

It was the petty tone of his mother's. She was still pissed off that Daphne went to see him and they didn't know. They hadn't found out until after his sister told them she'd gotten a new job and where.

"Is there a problem?" he asked. "You're moving. The house is going up for sale in a week or so, you said. I thought you would have put it up by now."

"We still have things to do," his father said. If his parents were so concerned about it all, they would have done it by now. Like prioritizing it for a few months rather than hanging out with their friends.

"Now you'll be able to do them," he said. "Daphne's room will be empty except for her bed and you can put that in a spare room if you have one."

"I might just throw it out," his father said. "It's almost as old as your sister. The mattress too."

He rolled his eyes. He knew that. His bed was the same.

"There you go," he said. "You'll need a dumpster here anyway by the looks of it."

His mother frowned. "Why is that?"

"You said you're downsizing," he said. No reason to say the place was full of shit that they never threw out. He was lucky he could even get to his bed in his old room last year when he was here, as they were using that as storage.

"True," his mother said. "We found a place and might not be able to get in there if we can't sell this. But they've got a few for sale in the area. If we had some money now we could put a down payment on it to secure it."

So that was what this was all about.

"Daphne has been paying half your mortgage for years. Maybe you should have put that aside for your down payment. You know you'll need closing costs too."

His parents looked at each other. "We thought maybe you could help us out?" his father asked.

"Sorry," he said. "I don't have much to offer."

"That's ridiculous," his father said. "I know Tucker had to have given you a million easily."

"First off," he said, "what he gave me is none of your business and it's not like I wanted it. Second of all, anything I got I had to pay taxes on. A shit ton of taxes."

"That would still leave you a lot," his mother said. "And it's not like you own a house. You pay rent. I'm sure Zane isn't charging much. And you've got money from the Army you never spent."

Daphne stepped in, saying, "I told you guys to stop. Leave Aster alone. Maybe he hopes to use that money for a home and family of his own. Whatever he has is his and no one should be asking for anything."

"I don't understand why he can't help his parents out," his mother said. "It's not like we didn't support you both for years."

He saw Daphne's jaw clench. "That is what parents do. And on top of that, you cut us both off at eighteen. You never offered to help us go to college. Aster was in the service and I got a job the minute I graduated. You said I had to pay rent just to stay in the house where I grew up. I had to get two jobs to do that."

He hadn't known that. Not exactly. It just upped his anger even more and he had to get the hell out of here.

"Do you have everything loaded, Daphne?"

"Two more boxes."

"Then let's get them now," he said.

He had to move before he said anything else that he'd regret.

Once the boxes were in the truck, they went back in the house and Daphne gave their father a hug and then their mother. "I'm sorry you're not happy I'm leaving, but I think it's for the best. You'll figure things out just like I had to do. Like I've been doing for years. I'm a phone call away."

His parents weren't upset. They were ticked. He hugged them both and said pretty much the same thing and then they jumped in the truck once Daphne was positive she had everything.

If she forgot something, he didn't think it was worth going back in the house for it anyway.

"That went about how I expected," he said when they were driving down the street of his childhood home.

"I expected it. I told them no a few times, not to ask. They are always trying to find out how much you got."

"It's not their business. But a lot indeed went to taxes. Like forty percent," he said.

"Ouch," she said.

"Tucker wanted to make sure I had enough after taxes to start my life over. If that meant college, then I could live comfortably while I did it. It was more about that than anything else."

"I wouldn't have wanted you to go through what you did to get that money," Daphne said. "It's not worth it, but Mom and Dad don't see those things. They still think you're lucky. I tell them all the time you are lucky to be alive."

"I am," he said. "The money is meaningless to me, but most of it is invested at this point. Could I touch it? Sure. Do I want to? Not really."

"Good for you."

He still had a nice chunk in savings he could touch. A few hundred thousand, but he was thinking he might look for a house soon and he'd need that for a down payment and closing costs too.

Things he was planning for that his parents never did. And most of that money was from his years of not spending much in the service more than anything.

"Are you okay?" he asked after twenty minutes of silence in the car. It was just after eight in the morning. Thanks to his parents pissing Daphne off, they got out of there faster than he'd thought but later than he would have planned if it was up to him. He wanted to be on the road at the crack of dawn.

"Yes," she said. "I can't believe I'm leaving. I've thought of this day for years, and as scared and nervous as I am, I'm glad you're close by. It's going to be hard not knowing anyone, but I'll have you and Raine."

"You'll have more than just me and Raine," he said. "Poppy is a social butterfly. You'll be meeting all sorts of people and making friends easily. It's going to be a better life. A good one. You deserve it."

His sister turned and she looked ready to cry. "Thanks. Why are Mom and Dad like that? Why couldn't they say they were going to miss me? Or wish me luck? I'm sure if I didn't hug them first they wouldn't have done it."

"You can't force someone to be who they aren't. I'm glad you called them out about supporting us. Give me a break. They gave us the basics of what we needed and I know it's more than some other people get. Don't get me wrong. But I wish I'd known that you started to pay rent when you graduated. Why didn't you say anything? Did you want to go to college?"

He wondered now if that was why she didn't go. That she couldn't afford to not only pay for college but then somehow she'd have to pay for a room in their house. Not that his parents made him pay for his one room, but he'd left for the Army and they all but stuffed it full of shit.

He'd offered to stay in a hotel when he was on leave, but he knew that would have looked bad. And his parents wouldn't have gotten him to clean and do stuff in the house either. He supposed, in their minds, that was their way of him paying.

"I don't know," Daphne said. "I never thought much of it. I could have only gone to community college, but I'm not even positive for what. I don't see myself being the type to work in an office. And I never cared for school much either."

"I understand," he said. "But do you think you want to go now?"

"I can't," Daphne said. "I've got a job."

"First off, no one says you have to stay at this job. If it doesn't work out, then it doesn't. Just like we said Mom and Dad could figure it out, you still can."

"I don't think I want to," Daphne said. "I like being with kids. A job based on a two-year degree in early childhood is going to pay less than I'll make as a nanny. I know that. That piece of paper means nothing."

"That's right," he said. "Remember that."

She pulled her phone out. "Can we just listen to some music?"

"Sure," he said. He wasn't one to talk anyway and it'd be good to focus on the road. They had a long drive and he couldn't wait to get home.

To Raine.