“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.
“Mrs. Webber was just leaving,” Mark answered, giving Declan a hard look. It seemed that volumes were spoken between the two men as Declan’s lips thinned.
He turned to his wife, asking, “Are you okay, Ellie?”
Ella gave him a slight shake of her head before surprising them all by saying, “Yes, Mother is leaving. Could you walk her out, honey?”
Crystal stood frozen to her spot as a sputtering Dot Webber was escorted gently but firmly from the foyer and out the door. She looked over her shoulder to see everyone attempting to look like they weren’t riveted by what had just taken place. “I’m so sorry, Crys,” Ella whispered as she wiped a tear from her cheek. “I can’t even make excuses for her anymore because there are none.”
Declan walked back in, looking irritated. “I swear to God, that woman is fucking insane. What did she do this time?”
Crystal sent Ella a pleading look, not wanting to get into it again. The damage had already been done tonight, and she just wanted to go home and enjoy one hell of a pity party. Her sister turned to her husband and lightly patted his arm. “We’ll talk about it later, babe. Let’s go make sure everyone has enough to eat and drink.”
Declan gave Crystal a concerned look as if noticing her pallor. “You all right, sweetheart?” he asked before dropping a kiss on her cheek.
“Sure,” Crystal managed to get out past the lump in her throat. “It’s been a long day, though, so I’m going to head home now. Please give my congratulations to Suzy and Gray again.”
“Let me get my keys and I’ll take you,” Declan offered, already walking away to collect what he needed. Her brother-in-law was such an amazing man.
“I’ve got her, Dec,” Mark spoke up, still sounding tense from the earlier scene. This is probably the last thing he needed tonight, Crystal thought, after having to deal with his own parents just days earlier. “We’ll take her car. If you’ll just tell Denny to go on home when he’s ready . . .”
“Sure thing, man,” Declan agreed easily.
Ella gave her a hug, whispering in her ear, “Call me later. I love you.”
In another few moments, they were out the door and Mark was helping her into the passenger seat of her Volkswagen Beetle. Then he gave her what she was in desperate need of—laughter. Just watching him trying to fold his tall frame into her tiny car was hilarious. And when he finally managed to get in and close the door, his eyes fell on the built-in vase with the bright flowers inside of it and the look of astonishment he gave her was comical. When he reached out to touch it, she started giggling so hard she could barely remain upright. “Did you put that there?” he asked, studying the floral arrangement as if it were a science experiment.