The Truth by Erin McCauley

Author:Erin McCauley [McCauley, Erin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781440554193
Google: PrgOEn_9flQC
Amazon: B011JEHMAQ
Publisher: AmazonEncore
Published: 2012-12-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26

The group was in high spirits as they gathered around the table overlooking the water — except for Lexie. She always looked forward to a Sunday afternoon at her parents’ house, but today, she couldn’t get the picture of Darla Mae and Grayson out of her head, or keep the words from Maggie’s journal from replaying like an old scratched record. Worse, she couldn’t shake the sense of loss that overwhelmed her.

Lexie’s friends always had a seat at her parents table. The Waynes had a way of opening their arms that made it irresistible to stand outside their embrace. She gazed over at the chair Maggie had occupied on Sundays, and felt its emptiness stronger today. She couldn’t help but see the irony in the fact that the empty chair beside Maggie’s had been where Grayson sat only weeks ago. But today, he was absent from the Sunday gatherings, too. She watched her mother, her face aglow with happiness, as Ryan bounced with excitement on her lap. Her father reached over and tousled Ryan’s hair without taking his attention from the story Marissa was telling him.

Marissa had been a part of the Wayne family forever, it seemed to Lexie. With her husband gone for business more than he was home, she’d was almost always present on Sundays, holidays, or any occasion the Waynes invented to get their children over to the house.

Lexie watched her brother’s face as he listened to the conversation going on between Marissa and their father. Jordan had been in love with Marissa since high school. She’d been his first kiss and his first broken heart when she met Steve at college, and married him within six months. Sadly, Lexie knew that Marissa wasn’t happy in her marriage. Over the nine years they’d been married, Steve had changed his mind about starting a family, and spent most of his time in the city. Marissa had spent the last four Christmases and Thanksgivings with her, instead of with her husband, and the family she’d always yearned for.

“Marissa, when are you going to give me another grandbaby? If I have to wait on these two to get married before I get another one, I’ll be six feet under first.” Betty never missed an opportunity to steer the conversation back to the topics she felt most important.

Her family was honest, loving, and warm, but to Lexie’s dismay, they were also nosey, opinionated, and intrusive. Marissa may not have been born into the family, but she was a part of it, and that meant she was also subject to Betty’s scrutiny as well as her demand for more grandchildren.

Somewhere in span of time Lexie’s mind had wandered, the conversation had turned to Grayson, or his absence to be exact. She realized that everyone was staring at her, waiting for her to respond to a question she hadn’t heard.

Marissa slid in, trying to defuse the onslaught they all knew was coming. “I think they are just trying to get to know each other better before the sounds of wedding bells ring in their future.

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