Crystal could tell by the bright smiles in the crowd that most thought a pregnancy announcement was forthcoming. She wasn’t so sure, though. There was something about the way they looked at each other that spoke of pain—and a lot of it. Gray’s arm tightened around Suzy before adding, “But it’s been a difficult road for us. We’ve tried medical intervention, only to suffer numerous miscarriages. After our last loss, we decided that we couldn’t continue to put ourselves through that anymore.” The women in the room were all teary-eyed as he dropped a kiss on Suzy’s forehead before speaking again. “Then my amazing wife told me that she felt we were meant to go down a different road. I’ve long been in awe of the woman that I love, but her strength and conviction that day showed me that if I lived to be a thousand years old, I’d only have just enough time to scratch the surface of all that she is.”
Crystal jerked as Mark pressed a napkin in her hand. She hadn’t been aware that she was crying until that moment. She wiped her eyes and gave him a grateful smile when he put his arm around her for support. Regardless of what was going on between them, she snuggled into the strength he offered as Gray continued. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to move the ladies to tears,” he joked. “Declan, make sure you have the alcohol flowing as soon as I’m finished.” Crystal’s brother-in-law held his beer up in acknowledgment, causing Gray to chuckle. “Anyway, that’s the history part. Now on to what we wanted to tell you all tonight. Suzy and I decided to build our family through adoption. We both felt that we had so much love to offer a child and at every point of the process, it felt right. As if we were finally doing what we were meant to all along.”
Suzy suddenly stepped forward, wiping her eyes before throwing her hands in the air. “What Gray is trying to say is that it has happened for us! We’re meeting our son soon!”
The room exploded into pandemonium. Crystal found herself jumping up and down as if she’d just won the lottery. “Oh, my God, did you hear that?” she beamed at Mark. “I’m so happy for them.”
“It’s wonderful,” Mark agreed, looking just as thrilled as she felt. “I don’t know Suzy that well, but Gray is a good guy. I had no idea that they’d been going through so much, though.” Mark propelled them forward until they reached the other couple to offer their congratulations. He kept his hand on Crystal the entire time and she was beginning to think that whatever was wrong, it was going to be okay. Until she heard her sister’s voice above the noise in the living room and looked over to see their mother standing in the foyer with her hands on her hips.
“Oh no,” she breathed, hoping she was seeing things. But after blinking a few times to clear away the disastrous scene before her eyes, it didn’t change.
“What’s wrong?” Mark asked as she stopped abruptly as he was attempting to lead her away from the crowd.
“I—um, need to go help Ella for a moment,” she stuttered as she tried to pull her hand away.
Mark looked around, before zeroing in on her sister. “Who’s Ella arguing with?”
“It’s our mother,” she said with forced cheerfulness. “I just need a second to see . . .”
Crystal got no further. Mark was now in the lead and pulling her toward her now-gawking mother. “Mrs. Webber, I’ve heard a lot about you,” he said in a voice that was pure ice. The fact that he didn’t offer his hand also indicated his lack of friendliness toward the woman staring back.
“Who, pray tell, are you?” Dot Webber sniffed. “And why are you holding my daughter’s hand? That’s not appropriate at all, young man.”
“Mother,” Crystal said warningly.
Without missing a beat, Mark piped in, “My name is Mark DeSanto, and I’m involved with Crystal—which would be why I’m touching her.”
Her mother’s face bloomed red so suddenly that it was fascinating to watch—until she opened her mouth. “Well, doesn’t this just explain so much!” Turning to Crystal she said, “I swear, girl, you’ve been difficult since the day you were born. There’s a troublemaker in every family, and Lord knows you’re ours.”
“Mother,” Ella gasped, looking horrified. Crystal had heard some version of that same theme so many times; it had almost lost its power to hurt her anymore—but not quite.
“Ella, you always were a bleeding heart. Your sister’s a bad seed. I mean, just look at how she’s been leading poor Bill on by going to marriage counseling with him one day,” then, pointing at Mark, she added, “and fornicating with this guy the next. It’s not the behavior of a lady and certainly not a Webber.”
Crystal could feel the blood drain from her face as her eyes flew to Mark’s. Oh no . . . he looked beyond furious, but strangely enough, not surprised. How could that be? Maybe all of her mother’s malicious statement hadn’t registered with him yet. “That’s enough!” His hiss came out like a clap of thunder, causing the three of them to jerk. A vein throbbed visibly on his forehead as he asked, “What’s wrong with you? You come to your daughter’s house, uninvited I’m guessing, and then proceed to tear your other daughter to shreds in front of guests? And you’ve appointed yourself judge and jury of moral conduct. Clue the fuck in, lady. Before you pass judgment on someone, take a long look in the mirror.”
“What’s going on here?” Declan asked as he walked up.