Free 0425273059 by Miranda James Page A

for themselves while Benjy chose orange juice. They sat together at the far end of the dining table to keep the animals out of the way. Peanut whimpered acouple of times, but Benjy responded with firm no ’s. Endora curled up placidly in the seat of the chair next to Benjy.
    Before they had taken more than a few mouthfuls of their delicious breakfast food, Mireille returned with Jacqueline in tow.
    To An’gel’s practiced eye, it appeared that there was tension between mother and daughter. Mireille’s shoulders had a rigid set, and Jacqueline kept darting furious glances at her mother.
    Sondra had no doubt gone to her mother to complain about Mireille’s behavior toward her, and An’gel was sure Jacqueline was unhappy over the incident. She hoped they would restrain themselves during breakfast, because she didn’t want to sit through another meal fraught with emotion.
    That was not to be, she discovered quickly.
    “I can’t believe you are more loyal to Estelle than you are to your own granddaughter.” Jacqueline stood at her mother’s back with fists clenched while Mireille calmly filled her plate with food.
    “Frankly I don’t care what you believe.” Mireille used the tongs to pick up a couple of biscuits to add to her choices. She set the tongs down and turned to face her daughter directly. “Sondra will soon be married and out of this house, and I have to think about my needs for once. Sondra couldn’t care less about how any of this affects me, and I am tired of pretending that she cares about anything other than herself. She barely pays attention to her own child, Jacqueline, much less to anyone else.”
    The rest of them might as well be invisible, An’geldecided. Mireille behaved as if only she and her daughter were in the room. Jacqueline didn’t appear to care about having an audience either.
    “I know she’s selfish, Maman ,” Jacqueline said in a weary tone. “She’s been that way since she was a baby. But she does love you, in her own way. She loves me, too, and she adores Tippy.”
    “You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself,” Mireille said. “You needn’t waste any efforts on me, however. I’m too old at this point to care any longer, and I have finally decided I don’t give a damn about what Sondra thinks or wants.”
    “I suppose you’d like it if Horace and I moved out as well.” Jacqueline plopped down in a chair next to her mother’s seat at the head of the table. “I just don’t understand you. How could you suddenly be so cruel, so unfeeling?”
    An’gel watched the scene unfold in horrified fascination. She wondered whether she should interrupt but quickly decided she would do better to keep her mouth shut, at least for the moment. She checked and saw that Dickce and Benjy were staring at their plates and that Endora had climbed into Benjy’s lap. No doubt the cat was unsettled by the rampant tension in the room. She didn’t blame Endora for seeking comfort. She wouldn’t have minded some herself, because it pained her greatly to see her cousin’s family unraveling in so nasty a fashion.
    “There is no need for you and Horace to move out.” Mireille ate a bite of her eggs. “If you want to move out, however, I can’t stop you.”
    “ Maman , how can you be so hurtful?” Jacqueline burstinto tears. After a moment she jumped up from her chair and ran out of the room.
    Mireille put down her fork and sighed. “I’m sorry you all had to witness that.”
    Benjy pushed back his chair. “Mrs. Champlain, ladies, Peanut and Endora need to go outside, if y’all don’t mind. We’ll be back in a little while.”
    An’gel nodded, and Dickce said, “Of course.”
    Mireille nodded, and when Benjy and the animals were out of the room, she gazed at the sisters with a sad smile.
    “Do you think I’m being horrible and hurtful?”
    An’gel got up from her place and took the chair Jacqueline had vacated. Dickce moved to sit on the other side of their