Symphony of Bones by L.T. Ryan (most romantic novels .TXT) 📗

the dining room. If she measured the distance between every plate and its accompanying fork, they’d be exactly the same. As a child, her father had taught her the proper way to set a table, and it was one of the few skills she hadn’t lost over the years. Her cooking might be average at best, but she could make a mean table setting.

Knives scraping against plates and compliments to the chef punctuated the first few minutes of dinner. Cassie had missed her father’s cooking, and everything tasted a hundred times better than she remembered.

The downside of getting some food in her belly was some evaporation of the wine’s effect.

Laura was the first to break the silence.

“You know what I keep wondering?”

“What’s that?” Judy asked.

“Which elephant in the room we’re going to talk about first.”

“I don’t think we need to talk about any of the elephants, actually.” Judy replied.

“See, that’s what got us into trouble in the first place.”

Cassie wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or the fact that she caught the mischief in her sister’s eye, but a giggle slipped out as she took another sip of wine. A droplet escaped her mouth and slid down her chin, doing nothing to stifle her laughter.

“Can’t we just enjoy one dinner together before it all goes to hell?” Judy asked.

An uncomfortable hush fell over the table before Laura broke the silence again. “We’re gonna have to talk about it eventually.”

“And who says everything will go to hell?” Cassie added. The wine had lit a fire in her belly. “I’m not here to ruin anything. I’m here to fix it.”

“I know that.” Judy’s tone had cooled, but she still wouldn’t make eye contact with anyone at the table. “Doesn’t mean it won’t.”

“What I think your mother means to say,” Walter added, looking directly at Cassie, “is that there’s a lot to talk about. And maybe it would be easier when we’ve had a little more time and a little less wine.”

He had a point, but Cassie didn’t want to admit that. “I’m not the only one who has something to apologize for.”

Judy’s head snapped up at that. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You didn’t tell us you were sick—”

“I’m not sick.”

“—Laura had to find out secondhand.” Cassie paused. “And I had to find out thirdhand.”

“There’s no such thing as thirdhand.” Judy punctuated her sentence with the stab of her fork. “You know Walter, I really wish you hadn’t told them.”

“They have a right to know.”

“No, they don’t.” Judy slammed her silverware back down on the table. The glasses shook. “You broke your promise to me, Walter. You betrayed my trust.”

“I know that, and I apologize. But, Judy—”

She held up her hand. “I’m still mad at you.”

“Don’t you think that’s kind of hypocritical?” The words left Cassie’s mouth before she could stop them. “You’re still mad at me for pushing you away after my attack, and here you are doing the same thing to us.”

“If I’m a hypocrite, then so are you.”

“How do you figure?”

Judy threw up her hands. “If you’re so offended by my behavior, maybe you should look at your own.”

Cassie washed down her anger with more wine, but all it did was make the fire burn brighter. “So, what? You’re punishing me because I almost died and didn’t want to talk about it?”

Judy looked like Cassie had slapped her across the face. “I’m not punishing you, Cassie. I didn’t want you to worry about me. Didn’t want anyone to worry about me. I wanted this surgery to be over with, and then we’d go on being normal.”

Laura snorted. “This family is far from normal.”

Cassie shot her a look before turning back to her mom. “And when were you going to tell us? After the surgery? What if something went wrong? What if we never got to say goodbye?”

“Nothing is going to go wrong. It’s going to be fine.”

“Then we should have no reason to worry.”

Walter lay a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Judy, she has a point.”

Judy’s laugh sounded unhinged. “I thought you said this wasn’t an intervention.”

“It’s not. But we all have a right to worry. Because we love you. I don’t want to be alone in this. Don’t you want our daughters to be here with us?”

Judy looked directly into Cassie’s eyes now. “I’ve wanted that for ten years.”

The guilt and shame Cassie had felt over the last decade turned the sweetness of the wine into ash. A lump rose in her throat, and she knew if she didn’t get a grip on her emotions, she’d have a panic attack while staring into her potatoes.

“We’re here now, Mom.” Laura’s voice was gentle. “Cassie’s here to apologize and explain why she pushed us away. And we’re here to ask you not to do the same thing. You saw what happened. Things didn’t work out the last time around. Let’s not make the same mistake twice.”

“Lucky for you, I don’t have a choice. My surgery is in a few days, so you win.”

Laura and Cassie sputtered in unison.

“What?”

“A few days?”

“Were you even going to tell us?”

“How were you planning on keeping that a secret?”

Judy stood up and threw her napkin down on the table. Walter’s hand dropped to his side. He looked hurt and worried and tired.

“Dinner was excellent, but I’m not feeling very well at the moment. I’ll clean up later.”

She left the room and stunned silence followed in her wake.

“Dad,” Laura started. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”

He started gathering plates. “It’s not your fault, honey.”

Cassie chuckled, but there was no humor in it. “It’s mine.”

Walter stopped to give her a pointed look. “It’s not yours either. It’s not anyone’s. Emotions are high right now. Your mother will be fine. She was cornered. We all should’ve handled this better.”

Cassie heard what he said but didn’t believe it.

Laura gathered a handful of dishes to bring to the sink. Cassie slipped away while their backs were turned. She wouldn’t have known where anything went, anyway. Besides, she wanted to commiserate by