Phoenix Burning(60)

Chris’s face was tight. “Did he never take her to the doctor?”

“Your daddy was never one for medicine, Christopher. You know that.”

Emory methodically stirred her tea. “He always said that God would heal, or not, and if the person died, it was because they harbored sin.”

“Don’t you try and take this on yourself, Emmy Lou.” Her aunt wagged a finger in her face.

Alex hid a smile. He could easily picture his little pixie as an Emmy Lou with scraped knees and a gap-toothed smile, but the name hardly covered the sex goddess who shared his bed. As if guessing the direction of his thoughts, she glanced at him sideways from beneath her lowered lashes. Despite the situation, his cock stirred at the provocative look.

Chris sighed heavily, and Fox reached over to rub his shoulder. “So where is the ceremony?”

Maude seemed utterly unaffected by the obvious affection between her nephew and Fox. “He’s holding the funeral service at that demon church of his, but they’ll do the burying at the public cemetery in Aubrey Hollow.”

“I think I’m going to skip the service.” Chris glanced at Emory. “What about you, baby sister?”

“I don’t mind going to the cemetery but it’ll be a cold day in hell before I set foot inside that church building again. Unless I’ve got a torch handy, of course.” Emory’s mouth was set in a grim line.

“Your daddy didn’t think you’d come.” Maude looked delighted that they’d proved him wrong.

Emory wrinkled her nose. “When did you last talk to him?”

The older woman sipped her tea. “I saw him at the hospital. Your mama called me from her room, and I drove up to stay with her until she passed. He refused to go to the hospital with her, even at the end. He spent his days doing God’s work. Said God would heal her if he wanted, and let her die if she deserved it.”

“I’m glad you were with her, that she wasn’t alone.” Chris’s voice broke over the words.

Fox scooted his chair closer and wrapped his arms around Emory’s twin. The obvious love between the two reinforced everything Alex felt about Emory. He’d been so uncomfortable with Connor and Jessa’s tangible connection. It had made him feel inadequate. Now that he’d discovered something so precious of his own, a tangible expression of love was only a reaffirmation that he was the luckiest man alive.

Emory’s hand found its way into Alex’s, and he gave her a squeeze to let her know he was there. A moment later she left her chair to sit in his lap. Wide-eyed, she watched her twin try to bring himself back under control. Alex cuddled her tiny form close and inhaled deeply of her light floral fragrance. The familiarity was a balm to them both.

“It blesses me to see the both of you have found mates,” Maude said. “With all of the hurt you experienced when you were young, I often wondered.”

Chris seemed to find a shred of his composure. “It never bothered you that I was gay. Why?”

“Your mama once told me that God made you like he intended. We both knew you had to live your life as you were made to do.”





Emory knew the precise moment her aunt’s words sank deep into her twin’s psyche. Chris visibly relaxed in Fox’s embrace. That final piece, the knowledge that his mother had accepted his life choices, meant everything to her brother. Her heart sang with the knowledge that they’d both beaten back the past.

Warm and vital, Alex held her as if he never wanted to let go. Emory rubbed her cheek lightly against his T-shirt, idly wishing she could take it off and feel him beside her skin to skin.

“Your mama told your daddy how she felt about that too, Chris. Turned that evil bastard’s piety right back around and tossed it neatly in his face. My Liza could always turn a phrase.” Maude’s dark eyes were sad. “She never meant for you two to suffer like you did. She just didn’t want to raise you to be monsters.”

Emory had never fully appreciated her mother’s balancing act until that moment. The woman had stood like a shield between her children and their father. She had tread a line so thin she was constantly trying to readjust. She’d taught them what they needed to survive, without allowing them to be sucked into a creed that would have left them no better than a man who preached hatred from the pulpit twice on Sunday and once on Wednesday.

“I suspect the lot of you are all worn out.” Maude stood and stretched. “Now, I have some rules here in my house about young lovers.”

Emory exchanged a look of surprise with her twin. Where was this going?

“I don’t hold with courting couples spending the night together without some kind of promise between them. It just makes things too complicated by half. Don’t you think?”