Page 11 of Fierce-Matt

“Mom is caring for him, but she needs a break too. She can’t do it all.”

“Your father and I have a rider on our health insurance. I’ll be able to get some help in here a few times a week when the time comes. For now, I’ve got it handled.”

“I’ll deal with the business, Mom,” Anya said.

“Like you know the first thing about a business,” EJ said. “You barely finished high school and wasted money on two years of college that you dropped out of.”

“Thanks for the reminder.” She stopped short of adding the word asshole to the end of it.

“EJ,” her mother said. “If you can’t be constructive positively, then we don’t need you to be involved in these family calls.”

“Fine,” EJ said. “You never cared what I thought anyway.”

“That’s not true,” her mother argued.

“Mom, let me talk to EJ.” Amber walked away to check on their father so Anya picked the phone up and took it off of speaker. “EJ, cut the crap. Things aren’t good and I need you to come home and help get everything organized better for Mom.”

Desperate times called for desperate measures.

“Not happening,” EJ said. “I’m too busy at work and there isn’t anything for me to do. I’m not getting anything out of it and it sounds like there will be nothing left when Mom’s gone.”

“EJ!” she shouted. This call was a mistake, but her mother wanted her brother in on it. “That’s a horrible thing to say.”

But not surprising either.

“Deal with it yourself, Anya. You were Dad’s favorite, so have fun.”

What a laughable statement. Her father didn’t have a favorite. EJ would have been treated the same if he hadn’t been such a douche.

“Don’t be a jerk, EJ. Do it for Mom.”

“Sorry. You’re on your own.”

EJ disconnected the call.

“He hung up on you, didn’t he?” her mother asked.

Anya turned to see her standing in the doorway. “Yeah. I bet he’s throwing things around his apartment there now.”

Her mother forced out a laugh. “It will be his landlord’s problem.”

She sent her a watery grin and moved to hug her another time. “I’m sorry you’re going through this.”

“We are going through it together. I’m thankful I’ve got you. I tried to bring EJ in, but he made it clear where he stands. I can wipe my hands of it now.”

“He’s going to make problems on a legal standpoint if you don’t update your wills. I hate to bring it up, but you should consider all the possibilities. I don’t want anything, but I don’t want him taking anything from you either.”

“We need to get an attorney anyway,” her mother said. “There are a lot of things to be updated from a medical and legal standpoint. I want to sue Shelly or at least threaten to. She owes us what she took. I know this sounds horrible, but if she has tosell her house to pay us back, then she should have to. I want to make life as comfortable as possible for your father.”

Which meant her mother would need the money that was stolen along with the sale of the business as soon as possible.

It’s not like Anya could help much. She was barely making ends meet on her own.

“Let’s take a few days to figure out the next course of action. Before we list the business, I know Dad had a lot of regular contractors. Maybe reach out to them and see if they are interested? If not in the business, just buying the supplies. Who cares if they are discounted? It’s about liquidating as fast as possible.”

Anya wasn’t as stupid as her brother accused her of being.

“I’ll look things over this weekend and get on that next week. I know you’ve got to go to work.”