Chapter 7
SEVEN
“ V ictoria called today.”
Straightening up the living room after putting the girls to bed, Sage momentarily paused then tossed a green stuffed frog into their toybox.
“What did she want?” she asked, keeping her tone even despite her heart pounding in fear.
“She wants to take the girls out for the day,” Glory told her.
“What did you tell her?”
“I told her yes.” Her sad gaze dropped to her blanket-covered lap. “I’m hoping if I let the girls see her when she asks, she’ll stop asking for the girls to live with her.”
That was going to be a vain hope, but Sage remained silent as she went to the closet to take out the vacuum cleaner. When she was done, she returned the vacuum.
“Are you angry with me?” Glory asked tentatively.
Sending her sister a surprised look, she stopped on the way to the bedroom they shared and changed her direction to sit down at the table.
“I’m not angry,” she said, choosing her words carefully. “I don’t think Victoria is going to be appeased with anything other than having full guardianship over the girls.”
Glory twisted the fringes on her blanket. Her thin fingers were a stark reminder of how much weight she had lost. Her sister’s curvy figure, which had been the first reason she had caught the father of her children’s attention, now bore no resemblance to the vivacious woman she had once been.
“Denny never wanted his mother to be around the girls. He would be so angry at me for giving in to her pressure.” Tears filled Glory’s eyes.
Glory and Denny had started dating in college.
When Victoria Ashwood had found out, she made her displeasure known to her son.
Glory had been majoring in market management.
They met at a local nightclub near campus.
Denny started studying finance so he could take a few classes with Glory.
They would meet after their other classes when they couldn’t share the same ones and studied together.
By the end of her first semester, Glory decided to move into Denny’s apartment with him.
She could still remember Glory coming home for Thanksgiving break, describing how cute and smart Denny was.
Glory had been madly in love with him. Sage had never seen her so happy.
Worried about her sister falling in love so quickly, she had grown concerned when she was moving in with Denny during Christmas break.
Her concern had disappeared once she had met Denny when he arrived on Christmas Day.
He had been just as helplessly in love as Glory.
The only hiccup had been his parents. Wealthy, they had looked down their noses at Glory. They had even tried to bribe Denny with a luxury car and a new condo if he switched to a different university. Denny had refused and continued to see Glory.
When Denny had asked Glory to marry him a month after moving in with him, they threatened to stop paying for his college, car, and rent. To give Denny credit, their demands didn’t sway him. They moved out of his condo, got a job, and found a tiny apartment.
Sage was younger than Glory by a year and had welcomed Denny as the brother she never had. The day they had all gotten dressed up in their nicest clothes and went to the courthouse for them to get married was a precious memory she would never forget.
Colby was born ten months after that day. Tinsley followed eleven months later. The couple were blissfully happy. Denny was about to graduate and had managed to rake in enough cash to buy a small home.
Denny’s relationship with his parents had deteriorated to the point he had no longer been talking to his mother and only occasionally on the phone to his father.
To this day, Sage still thought the only reason Denny’s father had maintained any contact with his son was to keep tabs on him for Victoria.
Victoria, born into a wealthy family, had married Bradford Ashwood, who had earned a vast fortune in the fashion and entertainment industry.
Combining their wealth had not brought out the best in Denny’s mother.
She loved being in the spotlight, attending glamorous parties, and vacationing in exclusive locations.
Glory said having a daughter-in-law who didn’t meet Victoria’s standards was an embarrassment to her.
Personally, Sage thought it was because Victoria was furious she hadn’t been allowed to pick out who would be her daughter-in-law herself.
The girls’ births didn’t bring the reconciliation Glory had hoped for.
Instead, it had deepened the estrangement.
Mother and son had been at a standstill until fate had stepped in, destroying any chance of ever mending their relationship.
Two months after Tinsley’s birth, Glory had asked Sage to babysit the girls.
They wanted to paint the living room, a nearly impossible task while dealing with a newborn and a rambunctious Colby.
Sage had agreed to take the girls. That night, she was woken up by a phone call with the devasting news that Denny and Glory were in ambulances on the way to the ER.
When she arrived at the hospital, she found out there had been a fire, and both of them were fighting for their lives. Denny had been badly burned getting Glory out of their home. Glory had been placed in a hyperArc chamber while the ER staff desperately tried to save Denny’s life.
Sage was the one who had been with Denny when he died. His parents were out of the country. When they arrived, she left Glory’s side to speak with them. Victoria Ashwood hadn’t shed a tear at the news of her son’s death, and Bradford had left the room, leaving her alone with Victoria.
If she were smart, she would have left with Bradford.
She didn’t. She was a na?ve fool. When Victoria offered to care for the girls while she stayed at the hospital with Glory, she reluctantly agreed.
A school friend who lived in an apartment next to hers had offered to take the girls when she ran next door after the police called for her to come to the hospital.
The girls stayed with Victoria and Bradford for two months while Glory recovered. Their elation of Glory returning home turned into another nightmare. Victoria refused to give the girls back, forcing Glory to hire a lawyer.
Using the money from Denny’s life and fire insurance, Glory managed to regain custody of her children. Since then, Victoria had become a thorn in Glory’s side, determined to get custody of the girls regardless of the mental toll it took on Glory.
“Denny could never be angry with you,” she soothed her sister. “We don’t have enough money to go through another legal battle with the Ashwoods, so you’re only doing what you have to do to keep Victoria happy.”
She didn’t think it would work. The only thing that was going to appease Victoria was to win total control over her grandchildren. She wanted to destroy Glory, and if her sister lost the girls, she would succeed.
Exhaustion was etched on Glory’s face as she raised a hand to her forehead.
Worried, she got up to go to her sister. She kneeled down by her side and unlocked a box on the side table, taking out a bottle of medicine. She gave it to her sister, who wouldn’t take the medication until the girls were asleep.
Fear filled her at the way Glory was breathing.
“Are you okay?”
Her sister gave her a weary smile. “I’m just tired. If not for leaving you with the mess I’ve made out of my life, I would turn that oxygen tank off.”
“Don’t say that.” Stricken, Sage sank all the way to the floor to lay her head on Glory’s lap. “None of this is your fault.”
“Isn’t it?” A bitter laugh escaped from her gasping lips.
“Stop it, Glory. You’re making your breathing worse by becoming upset.”
She plucked some tissues from a box and gently patted away the tears coursing down Glory’s cheeks.
“All I wanted was a romantic dinner with Denny. I should have remembered the candles.” She sobbed. “I thought I had put them out.”
“Shh …” Sage got up off the floor to hug her sister, rocking her as she cried. “It was an accident. Don’t blame yourself,” she begged, not for the first time.
“Don’t fall in love, Sage. Don’t ever fall in love with someone. Life isn’t worth living without them,” Glory sobbed.
“I won’t,” she promised.
Glory’s anguished moan was like a knife to her heart. She had tried so many times to console her sister, yet there was no alleviating the heartache Glory lived with every day.
Sage rocked her until she stopped crying and was no longer gasping for breath, then eased her from the couch to help her to the bedroom.
After making sure Glory’s oxygen level was in the nineties and she was settled comfortably in bed, she went to take a shower.
Her sister managed to put on a brave face during the day when the girls were awake. It was nighttime when she no longer had to hide the grief and guilt of losing Denny.
Watching Glory wither away day by day was taking an emotional toll on her. Despite how many times she told her that the fire wasn’t her fault, she still blamed herself. It didn’t help with Victoria throwing out the accusation each time she wanted to guilt Glory into seeing the girls.
Dry-eyed, she toweled herself off. She had to remain strong for the girls and Glory. She never allowed herself to cry. Not when they turned Denny’s machines off, not when she had finally been able to see her sister, and not even when she had to tell the girls their daddy wouldn’t be coming home.
She slid a nightgown on and quietly entered the bedroom to slide into bed next to Glory.
Reassured by her even breathing and the low hum of the oxygen machine, she closed her eyes.
She would drop the girls off to Victoria before going to her second job.
At least her hateful comments couldn’t hurt her as they would Glory.