Sister Belles (Belles Will Be Belles, Book 1) by Annie Jones

Author:Annie Jones [Jones, Annie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Women's Fiction/Romance
Publisher: PoutyGirl Productions
Published: 2012-11-25T05:00:00+00:00

Lucy

"How'd your meeting go?"

Lucy let her purse slide from her shoulder to the ground. The weighty thunk of the fabric bag sounded just like she felt, heavy, abandoned, collapsed. The evening's events had emotionally drained her, and she simply did not have the resources to put on an act for Ray's sake. She sighed and said nothing.

"Luce?" The TV went mute. "What is it, hon? Is something wrong?"

Everything was wrong, but Lucy couldn't tackle everything right now. Overwhelmed, she had not even noticed when she drove away from Rose's house whether Nikki's car still sat in Ray's drive. She had chosen not to notice, she reminded herself, unwilling to succumb so easily to denial. She was still in control of her decisions, and this one she had made out of self- preservation. She could not have handled one more negative thought tonight.

"Mary Lucille?" The recliner clattered into its upright position. Ray pushed himself to his feet, the remote still in his hand. "What's the matter, girl? Is this...is this about us?"

She shook her head.

He tossed the remote into the seat and moved toward her, his big feet making a peculiar shuffling thunder over her old house's wooden floorboards. When he got to her, he laced his arms just above that comfy roll of a tummy of his and asked, "Then what is it?"

"Naomi's Mama had a real bad stroke," she answered. Then she told him the story of the cake fight and the phone call and the waiting and praying and waiting some more to hear how things were.

"So now let me get this straight in my mind, Lucy The stroke did not kill Naomi's mama?"

"No, that is, not tonight. But the doctors say it's only a matter of time. Since the family has requested no heroic measures be taken, the doctor said he thinks she may linger on for two, three days at the most."

"I see." He scuffed at the floor with the toe of his shoe. "That's a shame, Luce. A real shame."

The faint odors of dinner hinted at a normalcy in her every day that she no longer fully recognized. Snarls of emotion entwined themselves throughout her being, choking her as she tried to speak, making her eyes burn and her lips numb.

"It's just that everything was fine. We were all laughing and Naomi was cutting up, acting all smart and sassy. Then the phone rang." Lucy looked up without seeing anything in particular. "And everything changed all at once."

"That's the way it happens, Lucy."

"Well, I don't like it. I don't." The tears came, their cool dampness almost soothing as they trickled down her hot cheeks. "Why do things have to change like that, Ray? Why can't things just stay the way they are—or at least change for the better?"

A flash of pain darted through his eyes. It was not grief for Naomi's mother but the naked acknowledgment that her question addressed something else entirely. He curled his lips against his teeth and his hands went into fists beneath his crossed arms.

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