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“Thank you for putting this together.” Steven pulled his sister in for a hug. “You truly are the best sister ever.”
Lanie laughed, patting her brother’s back. “I expect my crown to have that engraved on it, but be sure to thank Trudy as well. She helped get the ball rolling.” Once Steven released her, she rushed over to Rose. “How are you doing? Has this helped take some of the stress off you?”
Rose nodded. “It has, and Steven’s right. We couldn’t have done this without you.”
“It was my pleasure.” After linking their arms, Lanie pulled Rose away and lowered her voice. “And between you and me, there was a special box set up for people who wanted to donate to help Steven’s law firm. It didn’t raise much, but it might help offset some of the lost income from June. He can protest as much as he wants, but he doesn’t realize how much people struggled to get legal advice before he set up shop.”
“I won’t tell him.”
“Good.” Lanie flashed a grin, but it fell as quickly as it had appeared. “Though I suppose I can’t keep it from him for long. While I’ve been helping with bookkeeping, he’ll eventually notice the extra funds.”
“And he’d probably have to account for it come tax season.”
Lanie pursed her lips. “True. I’ll figure out a way to tell him. Maybe Michael will help me.” She glanced over her shoulder and released Rose’s arm. “You’d better go. He looks like he could use a nap.”
Rose’s brow furrowed as she assessed him. While his father buckled him into the van, he rested his head against the back of the wheelchair. Dark circles framed his eyes, and his skin was paler than normal.
As Max stepped away to allow her to say goodbye, she hesitated at the door to the van. Maybe she should ask Max to take him to the hospital and get a quick checkup. Dr. Myers was working, and he likely wouldn’t mind.
Steven stirred and reached for her hand. “Will I see you at home?”
“You should get some sleep. You look exhausted.” When he opened his mouth as if to protest, she hurried on. “And honestly, I’m pretty beat myself. But I’ll stop by tomorrow after my shift is over.”
“That sounds good,” he replied with a sleepy smile.
Rose leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before heading to her car.
As she drove to her condo, she felt conflicted. On the one hand, the fundraiser had alleviated some of their financial concerns. But on the other, the exhaustion on Steven’s face haunted her. Despite his promises, it looked like he still wasn’t taking care of himself, and Rose was getting more than a little tired of sounding like a broken record when it came to his health. Her misgivings about the wedding had morphed into something more serious. She needed to talk to someone, to sort out her feelings, before it was too late.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Good game, man.”
“Thanks for letting me play!” Steven fist-bumped Eric, one of his new friends.
“Anytime.”
The rest of the guys left the court to hit the showers, but he stayed behind. He wanted to soak up as much of the moment as he could.
It had been a while since he’d had time to do anything remotely considered fun. Between work and the wedding, there weren’t enough hours in the day to finish everything he needed to and enjoy some of his favorite hobbies. For months, he’d promised himself that after he and Lanie finalized their mother’s estate, things would change. Then he’d pushed it until after the wedding. And even at that moment, he found himself thinking it would all come together once he’d gotten the law firm off the ground.
Maybe Rose was right. Maybe he was working himself into an early grave. But he didn’t know any other way to be. Most small businesses failed within their first year, and he had less than six months to prove that statistic wrong.
Something had to give, and if it wasn’t the firm or the wedding, what was it? What ball could he drop or hand off to someone else until he improved?
He didn’t have an answer. While Michael had been instrumental in bringing his law practice back from the brink, there was only so much the law clerk could do until he passed the bar. And Steven already felt bad enough about the wedding plans that he’d forced onto Rose’s shoulders. He was glad they’d raised enough money to alleviate the financial fears.
His earlier fears rekindled at the thought of Rose. If he lost momentum, if he couldn’t keep up with their plans, she might second-guess her decision to marry him. He didn’t want to lose her the way his dad had lost his mom.
Images of his parents’ fights flooded his brain, and he squeezed his eyes shut to block them out. But they persisted. His father never could live up to his mother’s expectations, and Steven’s worst fear was repeating that history. He’d tried his hardest to learn from their mistakes. And yet he feared he was headed for the same fate, assuming he and Rose ever made it down the aisle.
“Hey, hot shot, you plan on baking all afternoon?”
He turned to find Ronnie standing by the door, one hand on her hip, the other shielding her eyes from the sun. Only then did he realize how hot the day had gotten.
“Just enjoying the fresh air,” he lied as he came over. “I don’t get out much.”
Her eyebrow rose as she glanced at his ghost-pale legs and arms. “You don’t say? You’re practically translucent.”
