Page 70 of Reckless Love

I could tell her what I know, but I’m not sure I trust her. The realization makes my blood run cold. “Why were you late getting home after the nurse cancelled?”

“Dad told you?”

“Mom was on the floor for an hour. In pain. Where were you?”

“Obviously I wouldn’t have done that on purpose.”

“Where were you, Vanessa?”

“I was at a job interview, okay? A shitty job interview for a position as an underground parking attendant in Rockdown.”

“A job interview at this time of night?”

“With their night-shift supervisor. But I couldn’t leave before I had my interview because we need the money. There. Are you satisfied? I didn’t try to murder anyone.”

I stare at her for a beat. She looks earnest, but I’m not sure I’m convinced. What Dad told me, what Datu told me. “I still have connections. I can get the cameras checked from Rockdown to our house. If you’re lying, I’ll know.”

“Check them,” she says. “Then you’ll know.”

I shake my head, torn. I want to believe her, which is a dangerous position to be in. It means my judgment is compromised. She’s my little sister. “If I find out you did have something to do with what happened tonight,” I say, “you will no longer be welcome in my house or my life. Maybe. Maybe I could understand Raul, but being so careless with Ava and Landon is unacceptable. Do you understand?”

Color leaves her face again, but she gives a sharp nod. “If you don’t believe me, check.”

“No, I’m not going to. I’m trusting you, Van. That’s what I’m saying. You break my trust right now, in this moment, there’s no going back.” I search her expression, but she’s rock solid.

“Are you done accusing me? Can we talk about what we’re going to do about Mom now?”

I let out a deep sigh, and I tell her about the conversation I had with our father earlier. “I don’t love it,” I admit, “but I can’t deny that he made some good points.”

“The doctor told me that as soon as they have a surgery spot open, they’ll take her in. It’ll be within the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours. But I mean, after the surgery, I’m just not sure.”

“Do you want to call around to the assisted-living places to get prices and availability? Otherwise, I can.”

“No, I’m not working. I can do it.”

“With Raul so badly injured, I’m not sure when your strike will be resolved.”

“His board of directors can negotiate with us if he’s not able,” she says, her tone breezy. “Raul Santos has been the one stonewalling us.”

Suspicion flutters, but I lock it down. I told her the consequences of lying, and so I can’t let distrust filter in through every crack when she hasn’t broken my trust.

“Ava and Landon are going to be okay?” she asks. “You were pretty close to them during your assignment with the family.”

Close is a gross understatement, but I don’t even know where to begin to explain all the intricacies of my feelings for both of them. “Ava was still in surgery, last I heard. Landon is badly injured but stable.”

“I guess you’ll be working tonight, with the accident.”

“I can stay with you and Mom for as long as you need.”

Her lips twist, and she gives her head a little shake. “We’ll be fine without you. We do that a lot.”

There’s a retort on my lips, but I hold it in. Her behavior tonight makes me realize that Dad is right. She is becoming different. Bitter. Unhappy. The opposite of who she was growing up, even when our parents had nothing but their good health. The stress of looking after our parents, worrying about me after my accident, trying to make ends meet, the conflicts with her employer—any one of those things would probably be enough to level many people. Somehow, she’s held it together, but she’s starting to fray at the edges. Maybe that’s what I’m seeing and sensing. Exhaustion, not duplicity.

Whether to stay with her and my mother or go to Landon and Ava tears me in two. I told Gage I’d be back. If Landon is my son, I should be at his bedside, even if no one knows I belong there. But if he’s not mine, then I’m leaving my family in a time of need for work.

“Just go,” my sister says. “I can tell you’re not really here with us.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know,” I hedge.