Maxie showed her the way out.The grip on her arm changed, and Roxie followed along as her sister cleared a path.The door.She hoped they were heading for the door.Or at least her office.Instead, Maxie directed them towards the booth in the very back corner.Somehow it had opened up.
It was something.
Roxie slid onto the bench but felt her knees give out when she was halfway down.She landed with a plop that stung, but she tried to cover it up.When she lifted her gaze, she found her sisters watching her like a bug under a microscope.They’d both taken seats across the table from her.Talk about teaming up against her.
“This isn’t going to be an inquisition,” she said, establishing the ground rules up front.
“We don’t want to pressure you,” Maxie said.
“But honestly, Rox,” Lexie said softly.“You look like you need to talk.”
Their big brown eyes were round and steady.There was no judgment, just curiosity.And caring.
It was the latter that made her throat choke up again.
She raked a hand through her hair.She couldn’t meet their eyes, but when she looked across the room, she found herself watching Billy as he shook Charlie’s hand.Skeeter gave him a beer and he tilted his head back to take a long drink.His throat worked as he downed half the bottle without taking a breath, but then he glanced her way.
And time stood still.
She broke the look first.Staring at the table, she ran her fingertips over its uneven surface until they bumped into the salt.Snatching up the little glass shaker, she drummed it rhythmically in time with the music.
Lexie glanced over her shoulder.“I don’t remember you saying anything abouthim.”
“We would’ve remembered something like that,” Maxie said with a nod.
Roxie rolled her shoulder.“I told you that a friend got me out of the foster care system.”
“That was Billy?”Maxie said, not understanding.“But how—”
“You married him to escape the system?”Lexie gasped.
“Oh my gosh, your name change from Jones to Cannon when you were sixteen.”Maxie’s eyes went wide.“I just thought you did that to make a clean break or something.”
“It was a bit more than that.”Catching herself, Roxie deliberately dropped the edge from her voice.“He was eighteen, and I was sixteen.When he aged out of the system, we got a judge’s order that allowed us to get married.”
“So, you worked the law to your favor,” Lexie said.
“I damn well did.”Because there was no way they were going to be torn apart.
Roxie raked her hand through her hair again, but then draped her arm over the back of the booth.The marriage hadn’t just been a way out.It had been a way in.She’d always been the one on the outside with her face pressed against the window.With Billy, she’d been welcomed inside.She’d been wanted and needed.
They’d had each other’s backs.They protected one another, trusted one another, and had loved each other.Life had dealt them both a pretty harsh set of cards, but together, they’d thought they’d found a royal flush.
“How long did it last?”Lexie asked.
“Two years.”
“Two years?”Reaching across the table, Maxie caught Roxie’s hand.When Roxie tried to pull away, she just gripped her tighter.“You two were really in love.”
Oh, yeah.They might have been young, but their feelings had been very grown up.
“Why did it end?”Lexie asked.
Twisting her wrist, Roxie pulled her arm away.Maxie’s hand fell limp on the table.Roxie sniffed and looked up at the ceiling fans.That old pain had scabbed over, but she didn’t like anyone picking at it.Not even her sister, whom she loved with all her heart.
She cocked her head.“We were too young, too stupid.”
Her throat felt like it had glass shards poking into it.“I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.”
