She looked much thinner since the last time she’d seen her. Which was weird since the girl packed away food like a sumo wrestler. The smile that usually brightened her face was there, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“I finished work a little early. I called Mom and offered to pick you up. Maybe take you to dinner.”
“Dinner?” Sidney perked up. “Anywhere we want?”
With a nod, Sterling answered, “Anywhere you want.”
“I’m in.” Sidney raced around the front of the car. “Shotgun!”
Sterling laughed and turned toward Surrey. “You snooze, you lose.”
Surrey shrugged and reached for the back door. Although she was never one to smile from ear to ear without provocation, she looked especially down in the dumps.
Before she climbed into the car, Sterling noticed that her knapsack had been stapled to keep the strap from dangling. Damn teenagers. When they loved something, they never wanted to give it up.
Just like you feel about Jack.
Sterling shook off the thought. No Jack. Not this evening. Tonight was for her sisters.
Sidney had decided on their favorite restaurant, a hamburger joint famous for its chili cheese fries. They shouted their order over the noise of the crowd, all of their go-to items. It was enough food to feed a family of six, but Sterling wouldn’t deprive her sisters of anything.
They sidestepped through the mess of tables and when they sat down with their trays, Sidney attacked her burger like a vampire drinking from the vein for the first time. She was ravenous. Surrey was just as savage.
“Did you two forget to eat breakfast?”
“Not for a month,” Sidney mumbled around her mouthful of food.
Surrey elbowed Sidney, hard, in the rib cage and shot her an evil glare. Sidney glared back with equal disdain.
Her words may have been muffled with food, but Sterling understood.
She stabbed her fork into her pile of cheese fries and stared them down. “What is going on?”
They both stared blankly. Getting information out of these two was just as hard as getting it out of her parents.
“You haven’t eaten breakfast in a month?” Her eyes narrowed while she waited for an answer.
Sidney swallowed hard. She heard the gulp from across the table. “Sterling, we—”
“You promised,” Surrey cried out. The evil look meant for Sidney turned into sadness as she pleaded with her eyes.
“Promised what?” Sterling asked. “Tell me what’s going on.”
Sidney lowered her eyes to the table. “Mom and Dad are gambling.”
Shit! She tried so hard to shelter them from their addiction. She had been doing a great job until recently, but not living in the same household meant she didn’t know what was going on every minute of every day.
With a heavy sigh, Sterling said, “I know.”
“You knew,” Surrey wailed. “You knew and did nothing.”
Her stomach churned at the accusation.
“It’s not Sterling’s fault,” Sidney snapped at her twin.
She appreciated the solidarity, but she knew it wasn’t the truth. It was her fault. But what was she supposed to do? The situation was much more complicated than they knew.
“I can’t just snap my fingers and fix it. They have an addiction. They…they need to want to help themselves.”
“You said you would take care of us,” Surrey said, this time it was a yell.
Sterling slouched down in her chair. The other patrons had turned their heads at her sister’s shouting.
“Sidney’s had to go to Jennie’s house all week to use the Internet because mom canceled the service.” Tears threatened to fall from her watering eyes.
“Her parents were nice enough to feed me, too,” Sidney said.
Surrey fisted her hands on the table. “Dad barely even talks to us. We confronted Mom and she made us promise not to tell you.”
It killed her. The sight of her sisters so sad, so helpless, broke her heart.
She let this happen. She left these two bright, beautiful girls with selfish assholes who cared for no one but themselves. She had let them down. And worst of all, the situation had gotten even more out of control over the last few weeks while she was busy having sex. Too busy indulging in pleasure to realize her sisters needed her help.
Guilt nagged at her. She was the reason Sidney looked malnourished. The reason Surrey’s knapsack wasn’t replaced. While Sterling was looking out for herself, the situation had become so much more than just gambling and the threat of losing the house. It was about her sisters’ welfare and the fact that she had been too blinded by desire to notice the writing on the wall.
“I’m sorry.” Sterling leaned across the table and clutched her sisters’ hands.