Page 83 of Changing Lanes

I glance up to Marc with a furrowed brow. He just shrugs a shoulder, looking around the table as I follow suit.

“You’d know if you bothered showing up,” Paige says before meeting her brother’s stare dead-on, all the good feelings from a moment ago now gone. “If you checked in on her, on me, you’d know, wouldn’t you?”

Her eyes meet mine briefly before shifting to Tysen.

“And what the hell is your excuse? You were the one that visited her the most out of all of us, and now? Nothing?”

Dude looks ashamed but just shakes his head in silence.

“Caleb,” she starts, then pauses, sighing, “you’re too easy. You know exactly what choice you’re making and you’re going to regret it when she finally leaves us.”

When he doesn’t respond, she turns her attention to the oldest brother seated at the head of the table but he won’t even meet her eyes, choosing to keep his head angled toward his plate instead. “She needs you, you know that? I need you.” Paige’s voice cracks at the end, making every bone in my body ache.

The plastic chair I’m sitting on creaks from the pressure of my hands tightening on the legs. My body is draped across the seat taking in the scene as if I’m an oblivious bystander but this shit’s eating me up. The girl is breaking right here in front of all of us and there’s nothing I can do about it. I have half a mind to shield her with everything I got but Jesse, her oldest brother, finally speaks up, startling the table.

“She doesn’t even know me anymore.” Face still aimed at his untouched food, his voice comes out as a pained murmur but with both families in utter silence we all hear him loud and clear. Jesse lifts his head, finding his sister’s glare aimed directly at him—no holds barred whatsoever. “She doesn’t know any of us and she never fucking will again. How we choose to deal with that is our business. We can’t all walk around pretending to be a sympathetic nurse in our mother’s life, now can we?”

My eyebrows shoot to my flat bill. One: I don’t appreciate dude’s scathing tone nor does Paige judging by her narrowed-to-slits eyes. Two: what, and I cannot stress this enough, the fuck?

Risking a quick glance around the table, I see a mix of reactions. Jesse is staring daggers back at Paige, which upon further consideration I might have to talk to him about because that shit just won’t fly with me. Worker bee Caleb has a perma-scowl that I’m guessing is directed more at himself than anyone. Nick still looks like a little shit with a mug that I wouldn’t mind slapping a time or two, while Tysen actually looks like he might be physically ill from the family conflict. He’s got guilt for days and it’s obvious he’s not handling it well. None of them are, including Paige who stands so suddenly her drink goes flying across the table and into Angela’s lap.

Without so much as flinching, Angie rights it in the next instant like it never even happened. It’ll take a lot more than water to rattle her, girl works with it for a living after all, and I know this scene is nothing new to her either. Family drama runs deep with that one. She still looks a half second away from slapping a few faces herself though. Angela’s all about women empowerment and anyone talking harshly to a female in her presence will face quite the wrath. I’ve been on the receiving end more than once and it sucks. Big time.

“Fuck you, Jesse. I did what I had to. I did what nobody else sitting here would even think of. I worked, no fuck that, I work my ass off to pay for all of Mom’s bills. I gave up my own apartment that I loved more than you could ever know to live with two complete strangers which, if I’m being honest, is only a step above living with you domineering assholes.”

Marc’s scowl across the table meets mine as we listen on, both of us biting our tongues. What did I do?

“All so I could save more money to afford a better facility for Mom. I bought a piece of shit, as you called it,” she sneers at Jesse, “used bike instead of a new one like I’d been saving for. I don’t even buy new clothes because every dollar I spend on myself is a dollar that could make Mom’s life a little bit more comfortable in her new warped reality.”

She takes a deep breath like this next part might hurt.

“I eat fucking salads now. Since when have I ever liked going without meat? Huh? Since it was too fucking expensive, that’s when.”

The youngest brother, Nick, pushes to his feet and points across the table at her, shouting, “I knew it!” His gaze falls on their leader. “I told you something was wrong when she tried to feed you that salad. If there’s one thing the Christensens don’t do, it’s eat that disgusting shit.” Dude even shakes like a shiver is eating his spine one vertebrae at a time.

Look, I get it, going meatless is beyond comprehension, but read the fucking room. It’s obvious Paige is unhappy about the sacrifice.

“Shut up, Nicky,” she sighs like she’s exhausted.

“You decide, on your own, to move Mom out of a place that we chose and then you want to complain to us about it? Because you can’t afford the occasional steak anymore? Really? The way I hear it, you’ve been drinking plenty of calories to get you by.” All eyes bounce between him and Paige like we’re at a tennis match. “Yeah, Dixon called to let me know about everything you’ve been up to at Xen’s.”

Xen’s is that bar I dropped her off at. With that fuckface that she hugged like a lifeline. With the way I’d treated her plus all of this family drama, maybe in that moment he was. Shit.

“Funny how you’ll answer his calls but not your own sister’s.”

You can tell that betrayal cuts deeper than Jesse’s accusation. Which, what exactly is he accusing? That she spends too much on alcohol or that she’s plain drinking too much? I don’t think any of that is really his business, especially if he’s not actively involved in her life, but I haven’t noticed an issue on either front. The girl strolled home drunk a few times, yeah, but I was there to make sure she didn’t do anything stupid and I’m the best voice of reason there is. I can vouch for what not to do like a champ.

“If you were truly worried, where have you been? You’ve seen where I live. You have my number. What’s stopping you from doing anything about it? You want me to know you’re pissed? You want to show me you’re disappointed? Message received. I got it. Okay?”

Her near hysterical voice has other partygoers tuning into the show and I stand to reach for her elbow in what…I’m not sure. Support? Strength? Hell, I’ll give her anything to help her in this moment.

The second my skin touches hers though all four of her brothers rise in unison, followed by both of mine immediately after. They drill glares into the side of my face as Marc and Coty stiffen, waiting for someone, anyone, to jump.

Before that can happen, Paige rips her arm from my grasp to continue. “The least, and I mean the least you could do is show up to see the woman that raised you. It’s true, Mom can’t remember you, but I sure the fuck do, and I’ll never forget the way you abandoned your family when things went to shit.”

She’s straight seething as she meets each of her brother’s conflicted gazes then says, “When she dies, you’re better off digging two fucking holes because I’m halfway there already myself.”

Shaking, she turns to leave while I stand here with my mouth hanging open.