Page 31 of Best Kept Vows

I couldn’t believe she was being allowed to drink since she’d just gotten out of court-mandated rehab not too long ago. This girl was a mess, and she thoughtshecould point fingers atLia.

Well, hell!

“She graduated with an MBA at the top of her class.”

Fuck me! I should’ve gone to her graduation ceremony. She hadtopped her class. Lia had worked so damn hard, and I’d just….

“At Savannah State University?” Mama arched an eyebrow. “Everyone knows that’s a third-rate business degree.”

“And how would you know, Mama?” I snapped. “She has a master’s degree. More than anyone else at this table has besidesme.”

“Degrees are nothing without experience.” This came from Bryce, who had gotten into business school but had not been able to graduate.

“And experience is nothing without competence.” I was on a roll because I was working to piss off everyone at this table.

What the hell was going on with me? It was like Lia’s rebellion had inspired me to not take shit from my family.

“None of this tells me why she’s not at this dinner table,” Mama demanded. “Ada has managed to slink away because she’s at Emory. And Tristan, well, he’s at NYU. But Lia?—”

“Had a prior engagement,” I interrupted heragain,and that didn’t go unnoticed by my mother as her eyes went wide.

“She doesn’t have to be here every Sunday. In fact, neither do I.” I got up. We’d just had the soup course, and I’d already had it up tohere.

My patience was running thin. I was losing my wife and the family business, and my mother and sister were still running around behaving like they were somehow better than Lia.

Before I could say goodnight, Hendrix also got up. “I’m sorry, but Abraham isn’t feeling well. He’ll finish his meal in his suite.”

He didn’t sound apologetic at all.

“I’m also not staying,” I announced.

“But we haven’t had the main course,” Mama objected.

“I’m pretty full. And I’m damned tired.” My meaning was unmistakable.

“Sebastian, you have to talk to your wife. It’s embarrassing that a Boone woman has a job. That’s not how we do things in this family.” Mama loved to have the last word, and since she couldn’t browbeat me into staying, she was doing the next best thing, flinging shit at my wife.

“Ada is going to work,” I pointed out.

“Ada will get married and won’t be a Boone,” Coco pointed out. “Just like Birdie.”

Craig, Birdie’s fiancé, hadn’t said a word, but that was because he was on his God knows which glass of whiskey. His eyes were red, and he was drunk or sedated; I wasn’t sure which.

“And Lia is a Boone, which means that she needs to behave like one,” Mama interjected.

Anger surged inside me, a bitter taste filling my mouth. “Lia wants to do something more meaningful with her life than sit around planning parties.”

“Meaningful?” Coco let out a cold, brittle laugh. “You mean like divorcing your husband and playing career woman all over Savannah? Nina Davenport is hardly the role model your wife should be chasing.”

Guilt twisted sharply in my gut since I’d said pretty much the same thing to Lia.

Christ!

I was coming face-to-face with all my mistakes, and my anger toward Lia was slowly crumbling and shifting to anger at myself.

“You know I’m working all the time to save the company?—”

“You’re not doing that alone,” Coco attacked. “Bryce?—”