Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 112287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 561(@200wpm)___ 449(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 561(@200wpm)___ 449(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
If Elena was close with Eve, she felt a dancer with two left feet when it came to Amy. “I’m sorry if I overstepped.”
“No, I didn’t mean that.” Amy’s smile faded. “I guess I was just hit by the realization that I could’ve had a big sister all this time if I hadn’t pushed you away.”
Elena shook her head. “You were caught up in the emotional undertow of things that happened long before you were born. I always understood why you did what you did. You had to support your mother.”
Expression shifting in a subtle but profound way, Amy glanced over to make sure Beth and Eve were still involved in their own discussion before saying, “I’ve never spoken about this to Eve. I feel like I have to protect her, you know?” A stiff smile. “All my life, I’ve known that my mother loves my father more than he loves her. So I thought he must love his first children more than us, too.”
Elena didn’t know what to say to the first part of that—because it was true. Jeffrey had loved Marguerite—in a way he’d only been capable of loving one woman. Part of him had died with Marguerite, obliterated beyond any hope of recovery.
But she could respond to the second part of Amy’s statement. “He’s so proud of you, Amy. He’s been telling me what a good mom you are to your kids, and how you’ve chosen to volunteer with an organization that helps victims of childhood trauma. I can feel the love and pride pumping off him.”
Elena nodded in Eve’s direction. “It might’ve taken him a while to get his head screwed on straight when it comes to Eve being a hunter, but part of his reaction at the start was due to fear.”
It had taken Elena time to give her father grace for his wounds, but she saw them now. “He lost two daughters to a psychotic vampire. He was petrified of losing a third. My father’s problem has never been about loving his children.”
Amy’s eyes shone wet. Blinking, she looked away for a moment, but nodded. “Yes.” A waterlogged sound. “I did eventually figure that out.” She took one deep breath, two. “As I figured out that it was my mom’s choice to stay with him even knowing that she could never live up to Marguerite.
“Over the years, I was so angry with Mom, too. How, I thought, could she just accept being second best?” She twisted her lips. “Then I fell in love and understood that sometimes, it isn’t a choice. Sometimes you love so much that you’d accept crumbs from your love’s table.”
This wasn’t a conversation Elena had ever thought she’d have with Amy. But oddly enough, it was easier than it would’ve been with Beth. Because while Beth was older, she had always been Elena’s little sister.
Amy, meanwhile . . . she felt more like another elder sister.
“We have a complicated family.”
“I think that’s the most diplomatic way to put it.” Amy’s smile was wry.
“Hey!” Eve threw up her hands, her ponytail swinging. “Are you two going to keep lollygagging or are we eating cake?”
“Where did you hear that word?” Amy laughed, the sound reminiscent of Gwendolyn’s gentle joy. “It feels like something a grandma would say.”
“Or a three-hundred-year-old vampire.” Eyes dancing with glee, Eve accepted the huge slice of cake Beth put on a plate for her. “Was behind her in a queue at the grocery store and she was muttering about how the cashier was lollygagging with all the customers and holding up people who had things to do.”
Eve made a wicked face. “I was tempted to point out that it was hardly as if she was growing gray hairs standing there, but I behaved myself. Though I did roll my eyes behind her back when I saw the bottled blood she was holding—cheap watered-down crap. She’d get more nutrition in a single glass at one of your cafés, Ellie.”
“Hey, don’t knock the cheap stuff.” Beth served up three more slices. “My favorite ‘champagne’ is a pink one that costs eight dollars a bottle.”
“The horror!” Amy cried, clutching at her heart. “Were you even a young woman in Gwendolyn Deveraux’s house? Does she have any idea of your taste in fizzy pink water?”
“We have a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy.” Beth winked and passed her a slice of cake. “Strangely enough, though, Mama-Gwen has stopped gifting me five-hundred-dollar bottles on major occasions.”
As everyone cracked up and Beth passed Elena a slice of cake, Elena realized that this was the first time in her life that she was surrounded by all of her living sisters in a setting joyous and warm.
But somehow, she didn’t feel like a traitor to Belle and Ari.
In fact, after she took her seat on the cushioned wicker chair that Beth had had modified to accommodate her wings, with Beth on one side, Eve on the other, and Amy across from her, she could almost feel Belle leaning over her shoulder, while Ari stood on the other side of the table, one hand on the back of Amy’s chair.