Page 67 of An Adventure For Aster

“Hey, Daphne, what is going on?”

“Can you talk?” his sister asked. “I’m not interrupting you?”

He heard the catch in her voice. “Of course.” He shut his door and went to sit down at his desk. “Everyone okay? Anyone hurt?”

“No, no. It’s not that. It’s Mom and Dad. I just got home from work and Mom was here and told me something. And I’m panicking and not sure why.”

“And you needed to talk to me,” he said. “What’s going on?”

“They are moving.”

“Moving?” he asked. “Where? They aren’t ready to retire or leave their jobs.”

“No,” Daphne said. “They want to sell the house. Dad said it’s too much upkeep and that they just want something smaller. Something where they don’t have to do any work. They are looking at one or two bedroom townhouses.”

“And they expect you to move out?” he asked. Shit. Now he understood.

His sister couldn’t afford to live on her own. She could probably get roommates, but she wasn’t close to people in terms of finding someone she could trust.

“Yes. Once the house is sold I’ll have to leave. I mean I should. I’m such a failure. I’m twenty-eight years old and still live at home. I’ve got no education past high school and barely make minimum wage wiping noses and changing diapers if I’m not chasing toddlers around with paint all over their fingers. Then I go and bust my ass waiting and serving people four nights a week to pay the bills I’ve got and build my savings.”

He knew his sister had some savings. But she paid rent where she was. She paid for most of the food in the house too. His parents expected that.

It’s not that Daphne didn’t have money in the bank, it’s just that once she moved out, she literally would be spending everything she made to live and wouldn’t be able to put more away. Chipping into what she had would stress her and he understood that.

“Move here,” he said.

“No,” Daphne said. “I didn’t call for that. I just need someone to vent to. I can figure it out. I’ll just get a roommate or something.”

“I’m serious,” he said. “I’ve got a spare room at my place. You can find a job here. If I have to get you a job at the plant, I can. You’re a hard worker. It might not be what you want, but it will get you started.”

His sister was sniffling on the other line. “I can’t ask you to do that. It could be months before they sell the house anyway. They can’t buy a townhouse until they do. Mom and Dad have no savings. You know that. But she always said without me paying half the mortgage, they’d have to buy something cheaper.”

“You’re paying half their mortgage for one fucking bedroom?”

“It’s still cheaper than rent now. Do you know how much it costs to rent an apartment around here? And there aren’t that many options either. The housing market sucks.”

He took a deep breath. “It does. I got lucky that Zane had this cottage available for me. I don’t want you to panic. There is no reason for it. I’ve got money, we know that.”

“I don’t want you to support me,” his sister said.

“You’re not asking that. I can get you set up somewhere so that you’re in a good spot. I can do that there or here. Maybe I’d like to be closer to you.”

Daphne stopped sniffling some. “I’d like that too. I miss you so much. I thought you’d stay, and then when you left, it just hurt like when you left for the service. And I shouldn’t have said that and don’t want you to feel guilty. I’m emotional right now.”

He didn’t think about that and should have. But he was being selfish and trying to get away from his parents and their constant comments on his money took away his sister’s support system again.

“Then come here,” he said. “We’ll figure it out. It’s no hardship.”

“You’re dating Raine. What if you two want to live together?”

“That’s a bit far off,” he said. “She likes her independence. We aren’t together every night and when we are we can stay at her place. Don’t put roadblocks up that are easily maneuvered around. I mean it. With the shape of Mom and Dad’s house, it could be a long time before it sells. I’m sure they want more than it’s worth. They are greedy that way.”

“They actually started to clean. That is what made me ask what was going on. Mom took the day off today and was cleaning her room.”

He laughed. “Might be the first I’ve known them to clean their bedroom. There could be twenty years of things in there, not to mention dust.”

Daphne laughed. “Good point. Also...”

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