SLAY PAIRS WITH ROSE (The Kelly's Deli Cozy Murder Mysteries Book 3) by Sophie Brent (phonics reading books .txt) 📕

“Did Emma forgive your parents?  For keeping her away from you?”

“Never,” Fiona shook her head, her shoulders slumped.  Erin could hear the pain in her voice as she squeezed her eyes tight shut.  “How could she? As far as she was concerned my dad had rejected her like some inconvenient past mistake. She never expected his love, but she did expect some recognition of what she had achieved in life by her brains and hard work. She never got it.”

Her eyes fluttered open.  “Emma came shopping with me a few weeks ago.  My mum wouldn’t even talk to her, and I’m sorry for that.  It wouldn’t have made any difference, of course, but it would have been generous. Emma wasn’t to blame for my father’s affair.”

Fiona sighed. “That afternoon at the hotel, when you saw us fighting? Emma had just found out that I had invited my mother to the girls’ dinner that evening. She was so furious, I thought she was going to walk out on us. I tried to explain to her that I wanted this to be a new start for both of us, but she wouldn’t listen. There was no getting away from the fact that both my parents were going to be there for my wedding, and she needed to get ready to face them. Especially my dad. Her dad. That’s why I had invited them there. To finally meet up and get over this ridiculous behaviour once and for all. I wasn’t ashamed of Emma and there was no reason that they should be.”

“Wait,” Erin frowned. “Emma must have known that your parents would be at your wedding when she agreed to be one of your bridesmaids. Was she okay with that?”

“You have to understand, my mother told me everything about my father’s relationship with Jenny Lucas, but she made me promise her that I wouldn’t tell any of my friends that Emma was my half-sister. The only person who knew was Ethan. We had just started dating so it was only natural that I told him about what Emma had claimed. I had no idea at the time that it was true.”

“You didn’t even tell Maya or Zoe?” Erin asked in disbelief.

“Not a word. My mother was quite insistent. Ethan agreed to go along with it, but I know that he wasn’t happy keeping up the pretence and he’s almost given the game away a few times over the years.”

“You wanted Emma to meet her father at your wedding?” Erin gasped. “Is why you invited her? So that they would be forced to communicate?

Fiona gave a quick nod and sniffed. “It seemed like a good idea at the time. But that was before I realized how much Emma had changed. The girl I met at university was intelligent and reasonable. But that was before she married our friend Harry.” Fiona stopped and waved her hands in the air. “How was I to know that she had become so bitter about her life and was determined to show us all how very superior and clever she was?”

“Zoe told me that she was quite cruel to Maya until Rebecca stepped in. That must have been so hard for you.”

“Hard?” Fiona cried out. “You have no idea. It was one of the most humiliating nights of my life. My mother had insisted on sitting at the end of the table as far away from Emma as possible, but then she had to listen to Emma going on and on about how successful her business was. And the more Emma had to drink the louder and more aggressive she became. Maya didn’t even try to fight back when Emma started to pick on her, calling her every kind of loser under the sun. I was almost grateful when my mother left with Zoe, claiming that she had a headache after drinking too much champagne.”

“An imaginary headache or a real one?”

“She has never had a hangover in her life.”

“Ouch. As bad as that.” Erin sucked in air through her teeth.

“Worse. Did Zoe tell you about Rebecca? I’ll take that nod as a yes. You can imagine what Emma felt like when Rebecca dropped the bombshell that she had been totally lying about her fantastic career. I didn’t know whether to feel sorry for Emma or challenge her for being a total liar. It was totally confusing.”

“I think Maya knows more about that than she is prepared to tell you,” Erin sighed.

“What you mean?” Fiona frowned.

“I saw Maya with Harry Wilson today at the Manor House. It’s obvious to me that they’re still very fond of one another. Maya thinks that Emma was deliberately taking a low-paying job to get a bigger divorce settlement. Do you think that’s even likely?”

Fiona closed your eyes and waited a few moments before giving a slow nod. “Actually yes, it’s very likely. I knew that Emma was going to divorce Harry when Ethan wanted to invite him to our wedding. Emma told me that if Harry was here, she wouldn’t come. So, she made me choose between them, I suppose. That’s the kind of person she was, Erin. The thing is, I knew her, and I accepted her as that person. Good and bad. That was the hardest thing. She couldn’t accept that anyone would love her and care for her as she was.”

Fiona turned back to face the open window and when she spoke her voice was trembling with emotion.  “Now no one will. That’s the tragedy, that’s what I can’t get over. Emma never had the chance to really join our family.”

“She knew that you had tried. Surely that was important to her,” Erin whispered.

Fiona gave a small nod. “I suppose that was something.”

“No.