Page 14 of Hale Yes
Nodding, I say, “Okay, Pop. Let me know if you change your mind.” I know he won’t. He’s too proud to accept any help.
As I depart, I’m overcome with the sudden urge to hug my father. But I don’t. I haven’t had an embrace from anyone in my family in over two decades, and to do so now would just feel… awkward.
The drive back to New York City takes over an hour, and I’m exhausted by the time I trudge into my brownstone in Brooklyn Heights. Because my aptitude for science extends to the computer sciences, I go straight to my laptop and hack into three of the companies I saw listed on some of Pop’s hardware invoices. Then I pay the bills in full for him.
Yes, I know I’m enabling him to enable my sister, but goddamn. She’s bleeding our parents dry, and I can afford to help. He’ll know it was me next time he tries to make a payment and finds out it’s already being taken care of. Neither of us will mention it, and we’ll carry on like it never happened. That’s just how it is in our family.
Then I open my email and find the one from Hale Cosmetics letting me know they’d like me to come for an interview. Clicking on it, I read the words for the hundredth time, and key phrases jump out at me.
…exactly what we’re looking for.
…at a time of your choosing.
…look forward to hearing from you.
After staring at it for a good ten minutes, I finally respond that I can come for an interview this Friday. As soon as I hit send, a warmth floods my body like a soothing bath of contentment. Speaking of baths…
Pushing from my chair, I cross the laminate tiled floor and go straight to my bathroom to fill the tub. While I’m waiting, I open the Amazon app on my phone and change my password. Angelica is thirty-five-fucking-years old, and she can open her own account.
She pays for virtually nothing on her own since she moved back home with Ma and Pop last year. And tonight I found out our father apparently paid to refurbish the small house next door to serve as her beauty salon.
As I sink into the warm water a few minutes later, I close my eyes and inhale the scent of lavender. Today is done and dusted, and I couldn’t be happier, even though dinner at the Bell household exhausts me.
Yeah, Monday can go fuck itself with a big, smelly, diseased elephant dick.
CHAPTER THREE
It’s doubtful she has a secret wild side
Helix
I swing open the door to my house and am struck in the knees by a ball of pure sunshine.
“Uncle Helix!” a sweet little voice squeals against my legs as I fight to maintain my balance.
“How’s my doodle bug?” I ask, picking up Reece beneath her arms and lifting her until she’s wrapped around my waist. I kiss her downy cheek and inhale the scent of bubble gum. My niece always smells like bubble gum.
She props her thin arms on my shoulders and grins. “I can wipe my own butt now.”
I can’t help but laugh. “That’s good, Reecie. I’m proud of you.” Stepping back, I allow Phoenix to stride in and close the door behind him. He sets Reece’s pink suitcase in the foyer. “What are your plans tonight?” I ask him, and he winks.
“Oh, you know, the usual.”
I’m assuming that means he has a date, or more likely, a hookup, though he never goes into specifics. I don’t know why he’s so vague about it. No one would judge him for needing a night off from dad duty, and we’re all more than happy to help out because Reece is the light of our lives.
Speaking of Reecie, she grabs my face and pulls it around so she has a hundred percent of my attention. “Uncle Helix, what are we doing tonight?”
“Oh, I dunno. I thought we could maybe do some… science stuff?”
She squeals and reaches for Phoenix, and her dad takes her in his arms. Reece pats his face and says gently, as if she might hurt his feelings, “I love you so much, Daddy, but you can go now. I’ll be fine doing science stuff with Uncle Helix.”
He rubs his nose against hers before peppering her face with kisses. “Love you too, baby girl. Don’t blow up the house or anything.”
The four-year-old rolls her eyes like a damn teenager. “We won’t, silly Daddy.” Then she squirms until he sets her down, and she’s off like a shot, running toward my kitchen.
“Thanks for keeping her,” my twin says. “I’ll take her bag up to her room while you go try to save your kitchen.”
I lightly slap his arm. “No problem. It’s the highlight of my week.”
