her brother sitting at the kitchen t

figure this out and it's frustrating me. My bra

What can I

?" he asked dryly

don't want my brain. It's too

ing his pencil to the table. "No wa

lf my hours

N

hould have more f

up your time so he could put his yellowed fingers

ld tell today when he stopped by to drop off the schedules he hadn't

the rotund man. "I think my brain is trul

and ruffle

u going to d

walking out. Jack didn't know how to take his payment and he

offee shop d

leave, he'd get me a job at the shop. He drove

o a car with

re than I will ever make in my entire life, I'm sure of it. I was so desperate to get away from

e scowled at her. "He could

b and if I pass probati

ook his head. "Yo

o I need the job. It wo

s pencil back up from t

im at the table. They worked through his math problems, an

ur mind," he said as he closed

gged. "The guy who got me the new job, reminded m

ho

ad a five-yea

and he gripped her hands on t

w she is loved and adored and given so much more than I ever could have given her. C

," he made wide eyes a

ng you both. I have no regrets. Occasionally though, I wonder about her and them and hope they

u would ever do

Hell no. Can you

rother. I'm going to community college in the fall, and I'll get my refrigeration tech certification. Maybe then it will be my turn to take ca

away from the table. "I would

alrea

dat

with the guy down in the 3B doesn

ays m

ou pu

She slap

ealm of possibility t

t it away. "I have a shift in the morning at six. I'll b

you, big sis. Don't ever change your heart. I'm grateful for the sacrifices you've made for me

ith coffee and C

es the name so

of times today so hard I could barely breathe. The new boss Keshaun is nice too. He

Cesar guy

e dashed

d the kind of coffee this place sells wi

don't date baristas. They date models. This couple came in today and I know he was a footbal

he judgemental lo

e isn't a man alive for whom I would consider dressing like she did and risking frost

said earning himself

occasionally, I see Dad in you. Not all of it is good.

g queen and asked them to come sit and explain their lifestyle to us?

ragged across a mall parking lot. Proba

brought them home

the funeral. D

of the funeral. I was

the funeral." She smiled at the memory. "Mom and Dad were go

ke

and the pun

y melanchol

s," she pushed him towards

to repeat it, but he'd worked hard. His grades were good, and he had a career plan. He had stopped by once when she had been working at the gas station and the man repairing a cool

in touch with the technician who said he'd allow Bram to do his apprenticeship w

t kids saw the thick one-inch scar circling his head and the way he had to concentrate and were intimi

ad of where her husband had sat. She had lost a baby, her sixth miscarriage and had been warned not to try again. IVF had failed too many times to count. The woman was

she had held her new friend while she cried. Then the hospital administrator had come to the table to tell her the check she'd wri

heir surrogate. All of Bram's medical bills were covered and she was provided the best in prenatal care. They stayed close

h mattered. She didn't bother to wipe the tears staining her pillow. She knew there would be more to come by dawn. These me