Chapter 19

Amber

The next few days pass in a blur of classes, studying, and work. By the time the weekend comes, I'm ready to crash. I allow myself a little time to sleep in. When I drag myself into the kitchen, my mom's sitting at the table reading. "Morning, Sweetheart."

I kiss her on the cheek. "Morning, Mom. Did you sleep well?"

"I did. Did you?" she asks.

I nod and start to make a cup of tea—my new drink of choice until I can drink coffee again. Of course at this point, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to drink it again. Just the thought of it makes me sick. While my tea is steeping, I take a seat. "I'm thinking about seeing if Bri is free today."

My mom's head pops up. "Really?"

I stir my tea. "Yeah." I sit there a moment thinking and then pull out my phone to text Bri.

Me- hey, i heard Aiden's gone for a little bit. want to come over and hang out with mom and me? or we could come to you?

It takes me a moment to work up the courage to send it. She responds almost immediately.

Bri- yes! i'll get ready and head over within the hour

Me- sounds good

I put my phone back down and take a sip of tea. "Bri's going to come over."

"Really?" A smile breaks out on my mom's face. "That's great."

After a few more sips of tea, I push back from the table. "I'm going to go get a shower before she gets here."

"Okay, Honey." I'm almost out of earshot when she calls out, "I'm proud of you, Amber."

I smile as I head to the shower. After showering, I feel better and feel ready to face my mom and sister. I slip on my comfiest sweatpants and oversized sweatshirt and throw my wet hair into a braid. I get about thirty minutes to work on my paper before I hear Bri's voice in the living room. I take a deep breath and then head out there.

I watch as Brielle gives my mom a hug and then pulls out a container of something. She's talking a mile a minute to my mom, and my mom just smiles, taking it all in. I make my feet move forward into the kitchen. "Hey Bri."

She spins around. "Hey, Amber." She stands there a moment, and I walk into the kitchen further, determined to make it a good day.

"So, Aiden's gone for a few days, right? Rico said they have a set of away games." I don't immediately notice the silence because I'm standing at the stove.

"You talk to Rico?" she asks.

I turn around with a mug of tea in hand. "Aiden didn't tell you about their little intervention at my work?"

Bri's eyes widen. "What? No, but we've been like ships passing in the night this week. We've barely had a chance to talk. What happened?"

"Was it that Cal guy?" my mom asks.

I sit at the table and tell them all about how the guys came to the library. Bri leans back in her chair. "I can't believe Aiden didn't tell me any of that. That Cal sounds like a real piece of work."

I nod. "He is. How are things going for you? Are you gearing up to open your shop soon?"

"Yes!" Brielle runs a gourmet hot chocolate shop in Christmas Village next to the outdoor skating rink in the center of town in Bluebell Valley, about thirty minutes from here.

"I can't believe Thanksgiving is only three weeks away."

I blink at my mom in surprise. "Is it really? That's crazy."

"Yeah, I open my shop in two weeks," Brielle says.

"If you need help, let me know," I say as I take another sip of tea.

"Really?"

I pause. "Uh, yeah." I glance between Bri and my mom. "What?"

"You've just never offered to help before," Bri says.

That's because the old me was busy hanging out with friends on the weekends. But I'm trying to do better, so out loud, I say, "I know. I'm sorry." I take a deep breath. "Okay, I need to clear the air. I'm sorry I've been such a jerk. I know I have been distant and difficult, and I'm sorry." I face Brielle. "And I'm sorry I didn't listen about Adam; you were right. You're always right," I add with a small smile.

"Oh, Amber. I didn't want to be right, not about this. I just knew you weren't happy with him. You were miserable, and you never smiled. I'm your big sister; I hate not seeing you happy."

I sigh. "Yeah. I just couldn't see it." I shake my head at my own stupidity.

"I love you, Amber," she says as she wraps her arms around me.

"I love you too, Bri."

We sit back and my mom and Bri wipe their eyes. "I need to apologize as well," Bri says, sitting back.

I smirk. "For what? Being perfect?"

She scowls at me. "Far from it. No, Mom told me how much you're paying for her medicine. I had no idea. You should have told me."

I look at my mom, who looks guilty. "Bri, it's fine."

"It's not fine. We have tons of money now. Well, I mean Aiden makes a ton of money, and I get to help him spend said money."

"We're not taking your money, Bri," I argue.

"Then let me take over mom's medical bills."

I open my mouth to argue with her, but my mom stops me. "Amber. I saw the bill the other day." My heart sinks; I've been so careful to keep them hidden. "Why didn't you tell me we were so behind?"

Guilt about swallows me whole. "I just got behind. Between my school bills, one of your medicines increasing in price, and just everything...I just got behind."

"Wait," Bri says frowning. "I thought I was paying towards your school bills."

I frown. "What are you talking about?"

"I've sent money every month since you started school, money I made from teaching to help with your schooling."

I stare at her. "Is that why you're always asking me about my classes and grades and stuff?"

"Well, kind of," she admits.

We both turn and look at my mom. "Mom?" I ask.

Guilt crosses her face, and my heart drops. "I'm sorry, Girls." She takes a breath. "I had to remortgage the house before Bri went to college. I got behind, and things just kind of got out of control."

I stare at her as my stomach starts to cramp. Bri turns to me. "So you never got any of my money to help with your college bills?" I shake my head. "How have you been making it?"

I snort. "Same as you. Through grit and determination and not eating." She doesn't laugh at my joke.

"Amber, you should have told me! I'm so sorry."

I frown. "It's fine, Bri. It's not like you had help either."

"Yeah, but I sort of resented you for it," she admits sheepishly.

"Oh goody," I say dryly.

"Man, I can't believe you weren't getting any of the money I sent." She turns to our mom.

"I'm sorry; I should have told you," she says quietly.

Whatever Bri was going to say dissipates at the look on our mom's face. "It's fine, Mom," Bri says, taking her hand. "You did what you had to and what you thought was best. We can't fault you for that."

"Listen, you both are going to let Aiden and I help you. No arguments," Bri says, crossing her arms. "I had no idea how bad things were; I'm sorry."

My pride flares. "It's not your responsibility."

"I'll talk to Aiden and see what he says, and we'll go from there." I can tell by the set of her shoulders that she's not going to budge on this. And with my mom sitting right there, I can't really talk a lot more about it. "All right. That was enough depressing talk for today. Amber," she says turning to me. "When do you find out if you're having a boy or a girl?"

"I actually have an ultrasound scheduled for next Thursday before my shift at the library." I look between the two of them. "Did, uh, either of you want to come?"

"Yes," they both say before I even get the words out of my mouth.

"All righty then. I'll text you both the details."

Bri turns to me, excitement flashing in her eyes. Wariness coats my voice. "What?"

"Can we have a gender reveal at my house? Please? Just you, me and Aiden, Mom, Stephanie and Sebastian, and Rico. And maybe Gunner." Knowing I need to let her do this, I shrug. Her eyes widen in surprise. "Really? This is going to be so fun! I'll rope Stephanie into helping me. Oooh, we should do a game night after the reveal."

"I'm not so sure," I begin.

"I am," she says interrupting me. "It will be a great night; you'll see. Okay, now lean in."

"Why?"

"So I can take a picture of us. Come on." I lean towards her and she takes our picture. She puts her phone down a few moments later. "I'm really glad things are back to okay between us."

My heart tugs. "Me too. I'm really sorry—"

"Nope," my mom says, cutting me off. "You already apologized. It's forgiven and forgotten."

"Well, maybe not forgotten," Bri says, drawing out the word. I pinch her, and she squeals. "Okay, it's forgotten. Totally forgotten."

Shaking my head, I stand up and stretch. "I'm starving. I'm going to see what we have to eat."

"I made some soup; I thought that might sound good to you. I know you haven't been able to eat a lot," Bri says.

My heart squeezes. "Thanks, Bri. Soup sounds really good."

I'm grabbing some crackers when my phone dings.

Rico- you look good

" Did you send that pic to Rico?" I ask, looking up.

Bri shakes her head. "No. I sent it to Aiden."

"They're worse than girls," I mutter. I look back down at my phone.

Me- yeah, i look like every guy's dream (heavy sarcasm implied)

He texts me back almost immediately

Rico- hmmm

I stare at my phone, unsure what he means by that.

Me- aren't you supposed to be getting ready for a game or something?

Rico- yeah something like that

He sends a winking emoji.

Bri stays for several hours, and it's really good to spend quality time with her and my mom. Eventually, I get back to studying. That night, I find myself googling how to watch the hockey game. I've never really been into it before. Tonight, my eyes stray to the goalie more times than I can count. I find myself noticing just how physical his position is, and I sort of regret the comments I made about him not having to work out that much. I might have been a little wrong about that.