Erica Spindler Read Online Free Page B

kitchen. “Lilah,” he bellowed, “where did we go wrong with these kids?”
    Lilah poked her head out of the kitchen. “For heaven’s sake, Buddy, leave the children alone.” She turned her attention to her son. “Hello, Matt. Are those for the table?”
    â€œYes, ma’am.” He ambled across to her, kissed her cheek and handed her the flowers. “Something smells awfully good.”
    â€œCome, help me with the roast.” She turned to her daughter. “Cherry, could you put these in a vase for me?”
    Avery watched the exchange. She could have been a part of this family. Officially a part. Everyone had expected her and Matt to marry.
    Buddy interrupted her thoughts. “Have you considered staying?” he asked. “This is your home, Avery. You belong here.”
    She dragged her gaze back to his, uncertain how to answer. Yes, she had come home to take care of specific family business, but less specifically, she had come for answers. For peace of mind—not only about her father’s death, but about her own life.
    Truth was, she had been drifting for a while now, neither happy nor unhappy. Vaguely dissatisfied but uncertain why.
    â€œDo I, Buddy? Always felt like the one marching to a different drummer.”
    â€œYour daddy thought so.”
    Tears swamped her. “I miss him so much.”
    â€œI know, baby girl.” A momentary, awkward silence fell between them. Buddy broke it first. “He never got over your mother’s death. The way she died. He loved her completely.”
    She’d been behind the wheel when she suffered a stroke, on her way to meet her cousin who’d flown into New Orleans. For a week of girl time—shopping and dining and shows. She had careened across the highway, into a brick wall.
    A sound from the doorway drew her gaze. Lilah stood there, expression stricken. Matt and Cherry stood behind her. “It was so…awful. She called me the night before she left. She hadn’t been feeling well, she said. She had run her symptoms by Phillip, had wondered if she shouldn’t cancel her trip. He had urged her to go. Nothing was wrong with her that a week away wouldn’t cure. I don’t think he ever forgave himself for that.”
    â€œHe thought he should have known,” Buddy murmured. “Thought that if he hadn’t been paying closer attention to his patients’ health than to his own wife’s, he could have saved her.”
    Avery clasped her shaky hands together. “I didn’t know. I…he mentioned feeling responsible, but I—”
    She had chosen to pacify him. To assure him none of it was his fault .
    Then go on her merry way .
    Matt moved around his mother and came to stand behind her chair. He laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It’s not your fault, Avery,” he said softly. “It’s not.”
    She reached up and curled her fingers around his, grateful for the support. “Matt said Dad had been acting strangely. That he had withdrawn from everyone and everything. But still I…how could he have done what he did?”
    â€œWhen I heard how he did it,” Cherry said quietly, “I wasn’t surprised. I think you can love someone so much you do something…unbelievable because of it. Something tragic.”
    An uncomfortable silence settled over the group. Avery tried to speak but found she couldn’t for the knot of tears in her throat.
    Buddy, bless him, took over. He turned to Lilah. “Dinner ready, sugar-sweet?”
    â€œIt is.” Lilah all but jumped at the opportunity to turn their attention to the mundane. “And getting cold.”
    â€œLet’s get to it, then,” Buddy directed.
    They made their way to the dining room and sat. Buddy said the blessing, then the procession of bowls and platters began, passed as they always had been at the Stevenses’ supper table from right to