Avery sighed, leaned her elbows on the table, chin on her hands. “They started in on that same-old, same-old story, blaming us for their career going down the tubes and saying we owed it to them.”
“They promised to pay it back,” Emma added, always trying to believe the best in everyone.
Izzy sank into the one empty chair, beating herself up for not taking the time to deposit the money into their bank account. Their last party-crashing client paid in cash, and she’d had Cooper’s thousand, too. Now she had none of it. Stupid move on her part, but she’d been hoarding it for tuition and been worried if she deposited it too soon, it’d be used to pay other bills.
Betheni smacked her sister on the arm. “They’ve never paid back a penny they’ve borrowed from us.”
“When they hit it big, they will,” Emma insisted.
“Oh, seriously. You can’t believe that bullshit.” Betheni rolled her eyes. “They will never hit it big again. They’re has-beens. The best they’ll ever do is get a gig at a local casino.”
“That money was to pay the twins’ tuition. It’s already past due.” Izzy rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on.
“Will they kick us out of class?” Emma worried, as she exchanged a secretive glace with her twin sister.
Avery sat up straight and looked Izzy directly in the eyes, then she dropped a bombshell. “I’m going to quit anyway. I just didn’t know how to tell you guys. This is the perfect time.”
“Quit? You’re not quitting. I’ve worked my ass off to keep you guys in school.” Izzy’s voice rose to a screech, but she couldn’t help it. She’d given up her own college education to work two jobs so her sisters would be able to get degrees.
“I’m going to train horses and give riding lessons. Sam needs an assistant, and she offered me the job. I start next Monday,” Avery declared looking every bit as stubborn as Izzy had ever seen her.
Betheni and Emma leaned back as if getting ready for an explosion.
“What? You are not quitting college to work with horses. What kind of a career is that?” Izzy was livid. She stood up and paced the room before she did bodily harm to her sister. No one spoke or even moved.
Avery cleared her throat. “I love horses. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. You’re the one who pushed me toward college. I don’t want to go, and you’re not forcing me anymore.” Avery looked around the table at her other sister. “None of you are.”
“What if you get hurt? Then what? How will you support yourself?” Izzy stopped a few feet from her sister’s chair, hands on her hips, her body vibrating with anger.
“I’ll be fine.”
“You won’t be fine. You’ll be a barn bum the rest of your life.” Izzy couldn’t stop the disgust from creeping into her voice.
Avery shot to her feet, fighting mad. “You’re just afraid that I’ll forever be a burden just like Rock and Fawn are. Well, guess what? As of right now, you no longer have to worry about me. I’m leaving.” She stormed to the hall coat tree and grabbed a jacket. Ignoring Izzy, she turned to her other sisters. “I’ll come back later for my stuff when the controlling she-bitch sister isn’t here.”
On that note, Avery stomped out the door. A second later Izzy heard her piece-of-crap truck, badly in need of a new muffler, roar out of the parking lot.
Her remaining two sisters quickly made themselves scarce, while Izzy sank down into the chair, feeling shell-shocked and confused. She’d dedicated her entire adult life and a good portion of her childhood to taking care of her sisters. She’d known the moment would come when they’d no longer need her like they once had, but she never thought it would erupt like it had tonight. Never once had it occurred to her that her sisters didn’t actually appreciate her meddling or her involvement in every facet of their lives, down to their career choices and their boyfriends.
Several minutes later, Izzy still sat there, staring at the wall.
“Hey,” Betheni said as she peered around the corner.
“Yeah?’ Izzy said quietly.
Encouraged by her calm response, Betheni slipped into the room and sat in a chair.
“I only want what’s best for you guys.”
“We know that.”
“A career with horses isn’t a career at all. I don’t want to see her make such a big mistake. She’ll be mucking stalls for the rest of her life.”
“Lots of people would say party crashing isn’t much of a career either,” Betheni pointed out in her usual blunt manner.
Betheni had a point, as much as Izzy hated to admit it. “It pays the bills,” she said defensively.
“Avery will get over it, Izz. She’s a big girl. She needs to make her own decisions and make her own mistakes. You have to stop running interference for us and start living your own life.”
“I’ve been the parent for so long, it’s not like I can turn it off.”
“You need to try. Why don’t you get horizontal with that sexy hockey star? Then you’ll quit obsessing about us and start obsessing about different ways to fuck him.” Betheni grinned; never one to hold back, she said what she thought and to hell with the consequences. Which explained why she went through men and jobs like a mother of quadruplets went through diapers.
“Really, Bets.” Izzy used a childhood nickname of Betheni’s. Not only was it a shortened version of her name but all bets were off when it came to Betheni’s potty mouth and outrageous behavior.
“Izzy, you know you wanna.”
“Maybe,” Izzy admitted, feeling her face heat up.
“When’s the last time you screwed a guy’s brains out or had one fuck you senseless?”
Izzy refused to answer that question because it was too much of a statement about her sorry life.
Betheni’s eyes grew wide as the truth dawned on her. “You’ve never slept with Cooper?”
Izzy shook her head. “Crazy, I know, especially considering how we started out hot for each other like rabbits. I guess I just wanted us to slow down and date first. I had a hard deadline of one month before I would jump in bed with him.”
“And you guys didn’t make it one month.”