Page 154 of The Right Kind of Wrong

Racking sobs tore from her sister’s throat that Blake didn’t know what to do with. Her immediate reaction was to comfort Grace, but she had her own arms wrapped around her torso, and she was rocking in her chair, like she was trying to self-soothe.

“Grace?” Blake asked, taking a tentative step closer. “I’m sorry. I⁠— ”

“No. I’m sorry, Blake. I’ve been so damn jealous of you for so long.” Grace wiped her wet eyes, surprise rushing through Blake. “Pageant queen. Married into the richest family in town. So fucking nice to everyone. And perfect on top of it. Not saddled with too many kids to even think about leaving.” Grace held her hand up. “I know that leaving wasn’t your choice, but there is this despair that comes from feeling so stuck. In knowing that other people are depending on you.”

Blake absorbed what her sister was telling her. She hadn’t realized . . . “Do you want to leave Bill? You never told me that.”

Grace laughed joylessly and pushed a tendril of hair from her face. Blake took the few seconds to grab a box of tissues from the far side of her desk and hand them to her sister.

After Grace blew her nose, she wadded up the tissue in her hands and squeezed it, like she was fortifying herself to continue. “Things already weren’t great in our house, and they’ve only gotten worse since you and Noah divorced. We’ve been fighting a lot. Bill’s been drinking more. It’s like no matter what I say or how serious the situation gets, he refuses to get it together. And I know that’s not your fault,” she stressed, watery eyes imploring Blake to understand. “Bill was never what you’d call a star employee, but he was more protected before. Insulated because his sister-in-law was the wife of the owner. Now, there’s no buffer. I thought that inviting Noah to Amelia’s party would help smooth things over a little bit. Make Noah remember that, at one point, we were family.”

Grace let out a quiet sob. “And I know that was an awful, selfish thing to do, but if Bill loses this job, I don’t know what’s going to happen. Amelia’s going to need braces, and Chance is having behavioral issues, and Axel is already delayed for his age, so the doctor recommended private therapy to support him with getting up to speed. Every day, I feel like I’m drowning.”

The need to touch her sister was overwhelming, and Blake slid back into her chair and grabbed Grace’s hand. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”

Grace laughed sadly. “Well, before it was because I didn’t want to show you the reality when it looked like your life was so perfect. And after, I was resentful. Have been resentful.” Grace met her stare, her eyes filling with tears again. “I’m so sorry, Blake. And I’m so proud of everything that you’ve accomplished this year. I’m most sorry that the minute I got the text from Stephanie, my first thought was about how this was going to impact me. I know, if the roles were reversed, that’s something you would never do.”

Blake felt like there was a hole in her chest. An aching, gaping wound, like she’d been shot straight through with a cannonball.

How could she have never known any of this? About how Grace felt about her? About what Grace was going through?

Cypress Falls traded gossip so that the important things, the life-changing things, could slink into the background, never seeing the light of day.

Women were made to believe that anything wrong was their moral failing, and all that did was perpetuate a cycle like the ones Blake and Grace had both found themselves in.

But Blake wasn’t going to be a part of it any longer.

Blake squeezed her sister’s hand. “I am still hurt about how this year has gone for us, but I really appreciate you telling me what’s going on with you.” She sat up a little straighter but didn’t let go of Grace’s hand. “But you need to understand that Monroe is going to be in my life. So is her niece, Maisie. And if that isn’t something that you’re okay with, then we need to cut our losses here.”

She was never, ever going to push Monroe and Maisie away to appease anyone in this town, and the sooner they realized it, the easier it would be for Blake to know who her people were.

Grace nodded, sniffling. “I’m not a bigot. Maybe that would make me less popular at church, but it’s the truth. I’ve just been so lost without you, watching you build this whole new life while mine feels like it’s falling apart.” She sniffled again. “I’m happy for you, though. Obviously Mom and Dad are going to go apeshit, but when isn’t that the case?” she said, the smallest hint of a smile flashing across her face.

“Exactly. When aren’t they judgmental about something that we have going on in our lives?” Blake responded, feeling the tiniest bit lighter.

Things weren’t solved with her sister, not by a long shot, but for the first time in a long time, there was hope for them.

Hope that they could move forward and build a better relationship than the one they’d had before.

“Maybe, at some point in the future, I could meet Monroe and Maisie?” Grace’s voice was soft, uncharacteristically vulnerable. “Whenever you’re ready. A playdate with all the kids or something, if that makes it easier.”

Blake bit the inside of her cheek, realizing that she did, in fact, want that very much, at some point in the future. “Why don’t we work on us for a little while and then we can see how it goes?”

“Okay,” Grace agreed. “I’d like that.”

An hour after her sister had left, Denny reappeared in her doorway, hands tucked in the pockets of his jumpsuit, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet.

She’d asked Mary Ann to let him know to stop by when he had a chance. She would have told him herself, but she hadn’t wanted to disrupt whatever he’d been working on out in the shop.

“I’m sorry about earlier, Denny,” she told him, looking up from her computer. “I didn’t mean to bite your head off.”

Denny shrugged good-naturedly. “It’s okay. It seemed pretty tense in here. Not exactly the type of scene I’d have wanted to join while I waited for my tacos to heat up.”

“Still, I could have been nicer.” It’s something Blake had been thinking about a lot lately. Especially now that she and Monroe had officially started a relationship.

Denny had been nothing but kind to her, and she’d repaid that kindness with suspicion. For weeks, if not longer.

She felt like a real ass, even if he’d never made her feel poorly for it.