Chapter 7

Rhett

The sound of Hansel's phone alarm pulled me from the dream of being in Jakob's arms. He was holding me tight, kissing me all over while telling me how sexy I was, how sweet I tasted, and how much he wanted me. I didn't want it to end.

In my half-awake state, I reached up to touch my lips, realizing it wasn't a dream. Those were memories.

"Rhett, I know you were out late, but you gotta get up." Hansel shook my foot.

Hansel had been asleep when I snuck back in, chancing the front door since it was after midnight and I didn't want to fall in the window and wake my brother. He hadn't stirred, but I spent a long while thinking about the kiss.

As far as first kisses went, I felt like I'd been lucky. Hansel had described his first kiss with a classmate at thirteen as awkward and needing practice. Kissing Jakob felt amazing.

Maybe him being a grown-ass man with experience helped. I certainly didn't bring any to the table.

Grumbling, I pulled myself up and stretched on a yawn. I needed to check on Father. Helga was usually out the door early, so she was no help. Not that she helped when she was home, either. She hadn't shared a bed with him in over a year, to my knowledge, since he sometimes wet the bed.

Hansel busied himself making toast, calling out that he would make some for me as well. I was grateful, since I made most meals at home. Helga waited on my father hand and foot when they were dating and first married, bringing him tea every night and coffee each morning. That time had long since passed.

My father's room had the two twin beds Rhett and I had slept in as children, with Father's being furthest from the door.

"Morning, Father," I greeted.

Pulling his bedpan from under the pine-wood frame he'd built, I wasn't surprised to see Helga had not helped him use it during the night. A bad smell stank up the room, and I knew I had my work cut out for me.

"Ready to try getting water in you today?"

Normally, he would make a sound at my arrival, or in reply when I greeted him and it woke him up, even though his hearing had started going. Today he didn't stir. Sometimes he struggled to sleep, not getting comfortable, and he would sleep more deeply, so I assumed that was what happened. Still, he was laying in his own waste, and I needed to clean it up as fast as possible.

"Father, time to wake up," I reached out to pull the blanket back, and he didn't stir. Putting my hand on his shoulder, I shook gently, and was met with cold. A chill ran through me and I tried shaking him again. "Father?"

He didn't move, didn't even budge. He was bony from weight loss, and had lost most of his hair, but he was stiffer than normal.

"Hansel," I called out in a broken voice, clearing my throat before yelling again, "Hansel?"

We didn't usually yell for each other at home, since it was so small, but I couldn't help myself when the reality of what was happening seeped in.

"What's up?" Carrying a plate with toast in one hand, and a half-eaten slice on the way to his mouth with the other, Hansel appeared in the doorway to investigate. "Need help lifting Father? Oh, what's that smell?"

Pulling the sheet further back, I saw there was a mess, confirming my suspicion and answering Hansel's question when I couldn't find the words.

"Got it. Alright, I've got a few minutes to help. You should eat, though." Hansel set the plate on the table in between the two beds.

"No," was all I could manage.

"Of course, you need to eat," Hansel insisted, reaching for the edge of the sheet in a practiced way. "Don't let Father waste it all in refusal. You have to eat to take care of him."

"No, Hansel. Father," I choked, the truth of the situation hitting me like a wall of bricks. "He's–"

My sob stopped Hansel, who finally looked at our father. He was paler than usual, his lips blue and mouth slack, and no sounds of snores came out.

"Father?" Hansel reached out to nudge him like I had, finding him immovable and unawakenable. Father would never wake up again.

Hansel finally stepped back and slipped his hand in mine. "Rhett, what is going on?"

"I think," I swallowed down the bile rising in my throat, "I think he's gone."

"No. No, no, no." Hansel fell to his knees and started sobbing, grasping at Father's cold, lifeless hand and begging him not to go.

It had to be me who acted.

Retrieving Hansel's phone from his back pocket where I saw it sticking out, I looked up the number for the coroner before calling our stepmother.

She was the only parent we had left.

Later that evening, after the coroner had come and taken our father away, Helga was pacing the floor, talking into her cell. She'd been home, but on the phone all day with insurance and making funeral arrangements. I saw no sign of sadness in her, but tried to remember she was doing important things and all people grieve differently.

Still, I couldn't help feeling like she had wanted Father to die.

"What are we going to do?" Hansel asked me.

He'd taken the day off school, and had no school the next two days. Still, I hoped he took at least a week off to grieve. We'd known Father's health was getting worse by the day, but knowing it was coming and actually processing wasn't the same thing.

Helga caught his question as she ended a phone call. "You are going to drop out of school and get a job."

A knock at the door interrupted my response, and I was gearing up to fight. Helga went to open it without a backward glance.

Jakob stood there, cap off as he wrung it between his hands. "I came to offer my condolences, and see if there was anything I could do to help?"

"Can you pay for a funeral?" Helga asked with a rude dismissiveness I found grating.

She'd been like that all day on the phone, and it was no wonder people weren't eager to help. But she seemed good at sensing when people were pushed too far and switching to grief-stricken widow.

"Ah, no?" Jakob answered with a lot less confidence than normal.

"Sorry, it's been a long day." Helga sighed heavily, stepping back for him to come in. She abandoned the door to let him close it as she threw herself onto the couch. "This is all so unexpected."

Was it? Hansel was the most in shock, since he'd avoided being around Father in his weakened state. He didn't like seeing our formerly strong father like that. Helga had been ignoring him for a year, letting me take all the responsibility.

"Yes, well… I'm sorry for your loss," Jakob went on awkwardly, looking at me instead of Helga. "If you need anything picked up or Rhett and Hansel need a ride somewhere, I could help with that."

"What I need is for these two freeloaders to bring in money to cover the costs of this funeral. And I shouldn't be a widow so young." Helga gave us pointed looks, as if it was our fault Father got sick and died after she married him.

Jakob's brows drew together. "Surely working can wait, they just lost their father."

"And Hansel has school," I reminded her.

Helga didn't like to be told what to do, or things she already knew. She got up and came around the couch to poke a finger in my chest. The pointed tip of her red claw hurt through the thin fabric of my pajamas I'd never changed out of.

"Then you better make up for him unless you want Hansel dropping out of school," she snarled, but I could sense some satisfaction in her eyes.

Helga wanted me to insist on working full time, and had counted on me standing up to her about Hansel's schooling. What she didn't anticipate was Jakob being there to witness her behavior.

"Take your hand off of Rhett," Jakob commanded, voice low and brooking no argument.

Still in the same clothes Jakob had run his hands over when he kissed me the night before, I shivered at his tone. It would have been scary if he'd directed it at me. Instead, it turned me on. The feeling was wildly inappropriate, but I couldn't stop the warmth spreading through me at having Jakob stand up for me.

Helga stepped back and looked like she was gearing up to tear into Jakob for interfering, but I didn't want that.

"I'll find work," I interjected, stepping between them. "Hansel doesn't need to do anything."

A funeral couldn't be that expensive, especially since Father would be cremated. And she'd been talking to the life insurance company, so there had to be money coming from them.

From nearby, a whimper interrupted our heated exchange. Hansel was curled in on himself and rocking his body. I couldn't deal with Helga or lust after Jakob, I needed to take care of my brother.