Free Power of Attorney: A Novel (A Greenburg Family Book 1) by Alice Lang

saw our dad again. Patrick took it harder than the rest of us. I don’t know why but since the day dad left, he just… shut down. I thought he was bitter about it, the divorce. It was a long time before I saw a change in him. Patrick was trying to keep what dad left behind together. He would be the one who walked me to school and picked me up. He became my homework tutor instead of dad. He started to work a part-time job when he could so that it would lessen the burden from Mom. He started scouting for universities that accepted scholarships. To top off that, he worked his ass off to get that scholarship. He talked to me less. He even talked to mom less.”
    Sarah was silent as she remembered the happy child in the picture and how he had morphed into the sullen man of today. She imagined little Patrick struggling as he transformed himself from the middle child of a happy family and slowly the father of the family.
    “Seeing him being like that kinda kicked me in the head. Patrick was just trying too hard, and there I was, thinking about nothing but myself. I started to think that I must do something for him, or he was going to exhaust himself to death. And from then, I became more self-conscious about what I did. I started to think about others just as I thought about Patrick. That was a huge change in my life.” Henry rubbed his head sheepishly. “I realized what a brat I was and then I started to think back what Patrick used to be. I followed his example and improved myself.”
    “That was… a very good choice.” Sarah couldn’t believe that Patrick’s struggle was the factor that changed Henry so much. She couldn’t believe Patrick had done so much for his brother either. He didn’t seem to be that close to Henry from Sarah’s perspective.
    “Thank you… though I wouldn’t say the same for Patrick. He changed so much. He never trusted anyone around him again, not even me. He wouldn’t let me do anything, not even the smallest task for him. He would keep everything to himself, do everything himself. The reason I even graduated was because he tutored me.” Sarah sucked her breath in when law school was mentioned. She could still remember all her bad days as if they had occurred yesterday. She studied on her own with some help from her friend. Henry was lucky to have someone as smart as Patrick as his tutor.
    “I totally know how you feel about law school,” she offered her sympathy with Henry about the horrible experience in Law School. She was once a bad student too. Thinking about it gave her goose bumps as she remembered the heavy textbooks she carried around daily.
    “Patrick did everything on his own though. He went to class alone, studied alone, and did everything alone. And came out on top. He finished his first case alone.” Henry finished his story. “Patrick won’t trust anyone. That’s why he’s alone. I think that’s the reason we both are very hesitant in finding someone. We don’t want to end up like our parents. We both know that love is fragile, that even our parents, people who loved each other for so long and had a family together, could fall out of it.”
    “And you think that I am the right choice?” The words slipped out so carelessly. It was the question that Sarah also asked herself too. Was Henry the right choice for her? Was she really ready to be in a relationship? She knew that Henry was a great friend. She knew that Henry was a nice person who would make a nice boyfriend. Somehow, those were probably the thought that Henry’s parents went through too. Perhaps that was how they got together at first, seeing each other as nice people who would enjoy their company. Just how long would that last?
    “That was what I’m trying to find out.” His thoughts were so simple. Henry was afraid of the unknown just as much as Patrick, but he still had the courage to face that fear.
    “Even if what lies in the end might not be what you expected? Even if you and I just… won’t