Broken Read Online Free

"That's when she let me know it was Raif and I had best back off. She was so full of passion on multiple levels."
    "Yes," added Sheena Johnson Reynolds, joining the group. "Aunt Chris was quite passionate. She once told me that the first time she and Uncle Raif made love, they forewent dinner."
    The group laughed out loud.
    No one noticed Trista look their way with her jaw tightly clenched.
    "What?" asked Sheena, turning her blonde curly-top head from side to side and stretching her green eyes wide. "What did I say that's so funny?"
    "We already talked about the fact that she and Raif had the tendency to skip dinner and make love," answered Audrey.
    "Oh." The younger woman wagged her head and laughed lightly. She took a moment to watch the man who had lost the love of his life.
    Though he played a gracious host, Sheena could tell he was broken. Watching Raif with his son briefly, she saw the anguish on both their faces. Patrick hugged his father and disappeared into the kitchen.
    Sheena sighed. "I'll never forget what she did at my lingerie shower. One of my friends gave me this sexy little nighty-and-panty set in peach. When I got to Aunt Chris's gift, the outfit was just like my friend's except in black. I kept looking through the tissue for the panties. Finally, I asked, 'Aunt Chris, where are the panties?' She winked and said, 'Honey, you won't need them.' I know I turned ten shades of red."
    "But she was right, wasn't she, dear?" teased Dorothy Reynolds. Sheena blushed crimson, and Dorothy cackled. "Now, that's thirteen shades of red!"
    "What are you doing to my wife?" asked Parker Reynolds.
    "We were discussing Aunt Chris's passion," answered Sheena.
    "She was passionate," agreed Parker, "but she was also compassionate as well. When I was in the hospital after my mother shot me and I lost my kidney, she came and sat with me. Even though I couldn't respond to her, I knew she was there. After Mom went to the asylum, Aunt Chris talked to me a lot. She said it was just like losing her mom, and she knew how I felt. We talked about my feelings of abandonment. When I was angry, she let me throw a temper tantrum. When I needed to cry, she just put her arms around me and let me cry. Sometimes she would cry with me. She helped me understand that my feelings were normal."
    He took a deep steadying breath. He was on the verge of tears. "I can't believe I've been to two funerals in less than two weeks. Of course, only this family, Mom's family, and the prison guard who always escorted her to my functions were present at Mom's. He cried harder than anyone else and confessed that he had real feelings for my mother." He swallowed hard. "On the other hand, Aunt Chris's service was packed. God! I miss her."
    "Parker, no tears," reminded Lindsay Parks, putting her arm around Parker's waist.
    "Tomorrow we'll cry. Tomorrow we'll be angry. Tonight we celebrate a life well-lived."
    She looked across the room at her stepfather. To anyone who loved him, it was apparent that the man was about to break down. She let go of her cousin standing beside her and walked to the man who had accepted her and loved her as his own child. She put her arm around his waist. He
    hugged her back.
    Lindsay smiled sadly and said to the crowd that had come together near the connecting entrances of the dining room, family room, and sunroom, "The first time I talked to my mother, she was sitting in the New Orleans airport about to fly back to D.C. I helped her sort out her priorities." She smirked as was her custom and mischievous personality. "She came back and married this wonderful man. After that, there was never any doubt that her family was her number one priority. She loved us so much. Even in California, if I had called and said, 'Mom, I need you,' she would've been on the next flight. From the moment I met her, I never doubted her love. It was her whole reason for giving me up for adoption."
    "She was my best friend," said Larkin Sloan Reynolds. "She never