A Beautiful Funeral (The Maddox Brothers #5) - Jamie McGuire Page 0,70

said, shoving Tyler off him. He was breathing hard, pacing back and forth a few feet and glaring at Travis like he was between rounds during an MMA match.

Taylor stood in front of Travis, gesturing for his wife to step back. Falyn obeyed, pushing away from the table and walking around to the other side to stand next to me. “What do we do?” she whispered.

“Stay put,” I said.

“All the damn lies,” Trenton said. He pointed at Travis. “And you shot their fucking boss, and then they murdered our brother!” He took a few steps, and Taylor braced himself. “And half a goddamn day goes by before you tell us what the hell is going on? What the fuck is wrong with you, dude?” He took another step, too far into Taylor’s space.

“Don’t make me knock you out,” Taylor said, his brow furrowed.

I closed my eyes. “Please stop,” I said, my voice too weak for anyone to hear except Tyler. He glanced at me just long enough to check that I was okay.

“No one is knocking anyone out,” Camille said, standing behind her husband. “Back off, Taylor.”

Falyn took a step forward. “Taylor? Tell your husband to calm down. This isn’t solving anything.”

Camille narrowed her eyes at her sister-in-law. “You know what didn’t solve anything? Putting us all in danger and lying about it. I think Trent has a right to be upset.”

“Really?” Falyn said, crossing her arms. “Really, Cami? You’re going to pretend you weren’t on Team Thomas twenty-four hours ago?”

“Oh, shut the fuck up, Falyn,” Camille said, disgusted.

“Hey!” Taylor boomed. “Don’t talk to her like that. Ever.”

“Then she needs to watch her tone,” Trenton said.

“She’s my wife!” Taylor said. “No one talks to her like that.”

“Weren’t you just yelling at Cami yesterday for the same thing?” Falyn asked. “That she was keeping secrets? Now, you’re blaming Liis when she’s sitting there trying to mourn her husband? Liis doesn’t owe you anything, Trent.”

“She owes me the truth!” he yelled.

Jim was still turning pages, trying to ignore that his family was falling apart a few feet away. It was too much for him, and too much for Liis, who couldn’t find words or the will to stop them.

“Are you finished?” Travis asked.

The front door opened, and Shepley’s boys barreled down the hall, barely waving to us just before they shot up the stairs. When Shepley and America came to the end of the hall to see almost everyone standing, and me backed against the wall, they froze.

“What’s going on?” Shepley asked, his eyes bouncing from one person to the next.

“Why don’t you ask Travis?” Trenton said, jerking his hand out and upward in Travis’s general direction.

Shepley looked to Travis, seeming uncomfortable. “What’s going on?”

Travis sighed, relaxing a bit. “Trenton’s having another one of his outbursts.”

Trenton shot Travis a dirty look.

Travis shrugged. “You told him to ask me.”

America walked up to the table and pulled up a chair, unfazed by the fact that a war was about to break out. “What now? Is he pissed about Cami again?”

Camille narrowed her eyes. “Really?”

“Really,” America said, picking at her thumbnail.

“I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone,” Camille seethed. “And if every single one of you judging me would have known from the beginning, it wouldn’t have changed anything. Not a damn thing. So put away your pitchforks. I was respecting Thomas’s wishes. That’s all.”

“America didn’t mean that, Cami,” Shepley said.

“Yes, I did,” America deadpanned.

“Mare,” Shepley chided.

America rolled her eyes and sat up. “Five people have been lying to us about a safety concern involving our entire family. Thomas, Liis, Travis, Abby, and Cami.” She looked at Camille. “So don’t try to snake out of the blame, Cami. Just because your husband is angry about the lies and you want to be on his side doesn’t excuse you from the truth.”

Camille’s cheeks flushed red, and her eyes glossed over. “I didn’t ask to be put in this position.”

“You still had a choice.”

Liis finally chimed in. “Abby only knew because I told her. And I asked her to be discreet about the information she had.”

Travis looked down at Liis, surprised. “You told her?”

Several seconds passed before Liis could look Travis in the eyes. “Years ago.”

His shoulders sagged. “So every time I left town and lied straight to her face about where I was going … the elaborations … she knew?”

“She was in a dark place,” Liis said. “She was sure you were having an affair. She knew you were lying, she just didn’t know about what. Telling