A Beautiful Funeral (The Maddox Brothers #5) - Jamie McGuire Page 0,76
her feel awkward.”
“If you think for one second that Liis sees you as anything but Thomas’s sister-in-law, you’re wrong. I promise you there is nothing to feel awkward over.”
She couldn’t have said things more hurtful. I pressed my lips together and looked down, covering my nose with a tissue.
“Baby,” Travis said, cupping his wife’s shoulders. “Ease up.”
“Cami?” Trenton said, walking toward us.
“Oh, fuck,” Travis whispered.
He kneeled in front of me, waiting for me to speak. “You need a hug, baby doll?”
I wiped my nose and eyes and looked up with a small smile. “It’s just sad,” I said.
Trenton combed one side of my hair back with his fingers. “Yeah. C’mon. Dad’s asking for you.”
I stood, leaving Travis and Abby alone. She had never spoken to me that way before, and my mind was already racing for excuses. She’d just had a baby, her hormones were out of control, Carter was at the hospital alone while she was here to mourn Thomas and support Travis. Maybe she didn’t mean any of it. Maybe she was lashing out. But it wasn’t like Abby to lose her cool, especially without provocation.
Trenton guided me to the living room, and I looked over my shoulder at Abby. She already looked ashamed. Travis was comforting her, but their expressions were different from everyone else’s in the room. My eyes drifted to the urn on a shelf, the one we were told held Thomas’s ashes, hoping to God they were keeping something from me and that my instinct was right. As Jim came into view, I held my breath. He was hunched over, the bags under his eyes swollen and weighing down the rest of his face. Surely, if it were all a cover-up, they would tell him. They wouldn’t let him think his son was dead.
Jim’s ice water was nearly full, so I picked the tall glass off the side table next to his recliner and prompted him to take a drink. He took a sip and then handed it back. “Thanks, sis.”
I sat on the floor next to him, rubbing his knee. “Hungry?”
The casserole dishes that filled nearly every inch of the dining table had barely been touched. A week before, the Maddox boys would have torn through it all, but the only people eating were the kids. Everyone else lumbered around like the walking dead with a wine glass or tumbler in their hands.
Jim shook his head. “No, thanks. You doing okay? You need anything? I haven’t seen you in a while.”
I smiled, not feeling so much like the monster Abby had made me out to be just moments before. I took care of Dad, and I could see that he was comforted when I was around. He knew I would take care of him. Abby could say what she wanted, and maybe part of it was true, but I was a Maddox, and the only thing that mattered to me was the way Jim and Trenton saw me.
I nodded and stood, watching as extended family cleared an area of the couch closest to Jim. Liis sat in a folded chair on the other side, holding her sleeping newborn. Stella was beautiful—one-half Liis, with her almond-shaped eyes, dark, straight hair, and pouty lips, and one-half Thomas. Her eyes still had a sheen of blue, but beneath I could tell she would have hazel green eyes like her father.
Trenton squeezed my hand, noticing that I was staring at the baby. Part of me felt obligated to look away and spare his feelings, but another demanded that I experience my feelings honestly so I could grieve like anyone else.
“She’s beautiful,” I said to my husband.
“Yes, she is.”
“It was a beautiful service,” a cousin said to Liis. The elderly woman patted Stella’s back, her fingers lingering on the navy and gray dress. “She looks so pretty.”
“Thank you,” Liis said, holding Stella close to her chest. I’d never seen folded dress socks or Mary Janes so tiny, and her diaper was covered with frilled, navy blue bloomers.
Val approached Liis, leaning down to whisper in her ear. Liis’ eyes widened a bit, and then she relaxed, even managing a small smile. Val flashed her a quick glance of a text message, and then tears fell down Liis’s cheeks.
Travis and Abby came straight over, and they decided to take the conversation into the next room, helping Liis gather the baby’s things before scurrying off to talk.