“It’s not your fault. You didn’t know this would happen. No one could have. I did insist on coming, remember? We know each other well. I’ve manipulated you a few times into doing what I wanted. We’ve never kept track before. Stop beating yourself up. Shit happens.”
“You made me go watch a few movies with you.” Bat teared up. “Big difference. I might have been bored but we were always safe.”
“The neighborhoods weren’t the greatest,” Dusti reminded her. “You were always pointing out that we could get mugged, carjacked, or murdered when I took you out. Flying is supposed to be safer than driving.”
Drantos cleared his throat. “You were on your way to visit your grandfather?”
Bat seemed to get her emotions under control. “Thanks, Dusti.” She turned her attention to Drantos. “Our grandfather is terminally ill and he wanted me to come say goodbye to him. He’s a mean old bastard but he’s the only family we have left. He and Dusti never got along, so he didn’t bother to invite her, but I told her I was going to see him. I’d hoped she could make her peace with him before he dies.”
“Why don’t they get along?” Drantos’s tone sounded casual but Dusti knew better.
“Oh, as I said, he’s a tough old bastard. Our mother ran away from home as a teenager and moved to California, where she met our father a few years later, and they had the two of us. When we were young…” Bat hesitated, thinking. “I must have been seven and Dusti about five when our grandfather showed up at our front door. He’d somehow found out where we lived. We moved after that, but we still saw him again when we were about ten and twelve. He invited me to visit him for the summer but he didn’t want my sister to go. I guess he just didn’t like the way Dusti refused to speak to him, or maybe he thought she’d be a pain in the ass.”
Bat chuckled, winking at Dusti. “You always were a brat. She pitched a fit to stop me from going with him, so I stayed home. I didn’t want to go by myself anyway. I didn’t know him that well.”
“He was cold and he never talked to me,” Dusti informed Drantos quietly. She focused on her sister. “He gave me the creeps. It wasn’t that I didn’t want you to go spend the summer in Alaska. It was that I didn’t want you to go with him. I still think something is wrong with that guy, like maybe he’s a pervert or something. Mom always refused to talk about why she ran away from home except to say he planned a life for her that she wanted nothing to do with. If you’ll remember, it was Mom who refused to let you go anywhere with her father. That should have spoken volumes that something is really off with him. She flat-out told us to have nothing to do with him and we moved both times after he showed up. It was obvious she hated him. Maybe he tried to molest her. He was too nice to you.”
“She would have just told us if that were true.”
“She always tried to protect us, Bat. I’m the quiet one, remember? I tend to watch people,” Dusti reminded her sister. “And Mom seemed almost afraid when he showed up. She wouldn’t even talk about the birds and the bees until we were teens and already knew everything. Do you really think she was going to explain perverted sickos to us when we were that young?”
Bat fingered her jacket hem. “It doesn’t matter anymore. He’s rich and dying. We’re his only family that I know of. I think it’s a good idea if we spend a little time with him.”
“What she means is,” Dusti looked back at Drantos, “she hopes he’ll leave us something in his will. I don’t want his money. I hope when he dies, they stuff it all up his ass and he takes every dime with him.”
“Damn it, Dusti.” Bat shot her a glare. “You live in a crappy-ass apartment, barely scraping by. I tried to talk you into going to college after I graduated but you wouldn’t go.” She switched her attention to Drantos. “She’s seriously pissed at our grandfather. Our parents died the year I turned eighteen and I tracked him down via phone. He refused to send us any money. We had to sell the house to survive. I had just started college full-time, with a heavy study load, and we had to use the money from the house to support us until Dusti graduated high school. We couldn’t afford college for both of us at the same time, so when I graduated, it was supposed to be Dusti’s turn. She worked to help me finish law school and I wanted to do the same for her, but she refused to go.”
Dusti turned her head to stare directly into Drantos’s dark gaze. “We haven’t seen that asshole since we were kids. We’re not close to him and he didn’t send us one cent in all those years we were struggling. He doesn’t care about either of us. I don’t think he would have even called Bat if it weren’t for the fact he’s dying and probably trying to be nice for once, thinking he’ll earn some brownie points to get him into heaven.” She shot a dirty look at her sister. “Not that it will work. That bastard is going straight to hell.”
“You’re right. He is an asshole but I’m still hoping he leaves us something in his will. Why should it go to total strangers?” Bat huffed. “You say I’m the negative, jaded one. You have more compassion for strangers than you do for your own family. He was our mother’s father.”
“He’s an asshole who had plenty of money but didn’t step in when we needed help. We had to sell the home we lived in with our parents, Bat! We survived on peanut butter sandwiches a lot of times and lived in hellholes just to have a roof over our heads. What kind of jerk lets that happen?”
“Blame me,” Bat whispered. “I probably made bad decisions. Maybe there was another way to get by that I couldn’t think of at the time.” Tears filled her eyes. “I should have sent you to college first at least. I would have made it easier on you if I had just let go of my dream.”
“You earned those scholarships, Bat. I wasn’t letting you waste the help they offered.” Dusti looked away, hating to hear Bat’s guilt one more time. There was no reason for it. “Just stop. We’ve had this argument a thousand times. I’m not mad at you. You’re an awesome attorney, even if I think you’re working on the wrong side of the law. You’re doing what you love. I’m just pissed that our grandfather could have sent money to help us out. He’s rich enough that it wouldn’t have been any skin off his nose. He didn’t.”
“You made me go watch a few movies with you.” Bat teared up. “Big difference. I might have been bored but we were always safe.”
“The neighborhoods weren’t the greatest,” Dusti reminded her. “You were always pointing out that we could get mugged, carjacked, or murdered when I took you out. Flying is supposed to be safer than driving.”
Drantos cleared his throat. “You were on your way to visit your grandfather?”
Bat seemed to get her emotions under control. “Thanks, Dusti.” She turned her attention to Drantos. “Our grandfather is terminally ill and he wanted me to come say goodbye to him. He’s a mean old bastard but he’s the only family we have left. He and Dusti never got along, so he didn’t bother to invite her, but I told her I was going to see him. I’d hoped she could make her peace with him before he dies.”
“Why don’t they get along?” Drantos’s tone sounded casual but Dusti knew better.
“Oh, as I said, he’s a tough old bastard. Our mother ran away from home as a teenager and moved to California, where she met our father a few years later, and they had the two of us. When we were young…” Bat hesitated, thinking. “I must have been seven and Dusti about five when our grandfather showed up at our front door. He’d somehow found out where we lived. We moved after that, but we still saw him again when we were about ten and twelve. He invited me to visit him for the summer but he didn’t want my sister to go. I guess he just didn’t like the way Dusti refused to speak to him, or maybe he thought she’d be a pain in the ass.”
Bat chuckled, winking at Dusti. “You always were a brat. She pitched a fit to stop me from going with him, so I stayed home. I didn’t want to go by myself anyway. I didn’t know him that well.”
“He was cold and he never talked to me,” Dusti informed Drantos quietly. She focused on her sister. “He gave me the creeps. It wasn’t that I didn’t want you to go spend the summer in Alaska. It was that I didn’t want you to go with him. I still think something is wrong with that guy, like maybe he’s a pervert or something. Mom always refused to talk about why she ran away from home except to say he planned a life for her that she wanted nothing to do with. If you’ll remember, it was Mom who refused to let you go anywhere with her father. That should have spoken volumes that something is really off with him. She flat-out told us to have nothing to do with him and we moved both times after he showed up. It was obvious she hated him. Maybe he tried to molest her. He was too nice to you.”
“She would have just told us if that were true.”
“She always tried to protect us, Bat. I’m the quiet one, remember? I tend to watch people,” Dusti reminded her sister. “And Mom seemed almost afraid when he showed up. She wouldn’t even talk about the birds and the bees until we were teens and already knew everything. Do you really think she was going to explain perverted sickos to us when we were that young?”
Bat fingered her jacket hem. “It doesn’t matter anymore. He’s rich and dying. We’re his only family that I know of. I think it’s a good idea if we spend a little time with him.”
“What she means is,” Dusti looked back at Drantos, “she hopes he’ll leave us something in his will. I don’t want his money. I hope when he dies, they stuff it all up his ass and he takes every dime with him.”
“Damn it, Dusti.” Bat shot her a glare. “You live in a crappy-ass apartment, barely scraping by. I tried to talk you into going to college after I graduated but you wouldn’t go.” She switched her attention to Drantos. “She’s seriously pissed at our grandfather. Our parents died the year I turned eighteen and I tracked him down via phone. He refused to send us any money. We had to sell the house to survive. I had just started college full-time, with a heavy study load, and we had to use the money from the house to support us until Dusti graduated high school. We couldn’t afford college for both of us at the same time, so when I graduated, it was supposed to be Dusti’s turn. She worked to help me finish law school and I wanted to do the same for her, but she refused to go.”
Dusti turned her head to stare directly into Drantos’s dark gaze. “We haven’t seen that asshole since we were kids. We’re not close to him and he didn’t send us one cent in all those years we were struggling. He doesn’t care about either of us. I don’t think he would have even called Bat if it weren’t for the fact he’s dying and probably trying to be nice for once, thinking he’ll earn some brownie points to get him into heaven.” She shot a dirty look at her sister. “Not that it will work. That bastard is going straight to hell.”
“You’re right. He is an asshole but I’m still hoping he leaves us something in his will. Why should it go to total strangers?” Bat huffed. “You say I’m the negative, jaded one. You have more compassion for strangers than you do for your own family. He was our mother’s father.”
“He’s an asshole who had plenty of money but didn’t step in when we needed help. We had to sell the home we lived in with our parents, Bat! We survived on peanut butter sandwiches a lot of times and lived in hellholes just to have a roof over our heads. What kind of jerk lets that happen?”
“Blame me,” Bat whispered. “I probably made bad decisions. Maybe there was another way to get by that I couldn’t think of at the time.” Tears filled her eyes. “I should have sent you to college first at least. I would have made it easier on you if I had just let go of my dream.”
“You earned those scholarships, Bat. I wasn’t letting you waste the help they offered.” Dusti looked away, hating to hear Bat’s guilt one more time. There was no reason for it. “Just stop. We’ve had this argument a thousand times. I’m not mad at you. You’re an awesome attorney, even if I think you’re working on the wrong side of the law. You’re doing what you love. I’m just pissed that our grandfather could have sent money to help us out. He’s rich enough that it wouldn’t have been any skin off his nose. He didn’t.”
