“I figured that eventually you’d get the message that you needed to lose weight.”
Veronica gave her a tight smile. “I got the message that I was never going to be good enough for you, or Mom for that matter.”
Addison glanced at the gathering in the living room to see if anyone was watching or listening. In a defensive tone, she said, “We only wanted what was best for you, Veronica.”
“No, I don’t believe that at all, Addison. You need to take a long hard look at the way you treated me, the way you still treat me, and be honest with yourself. Same thing with you two jerks,” Veronica whispered as she poked Jesse and Barry in their beefy chests.
“Jeez, sis, when did you get so formidable?” Cord asked as he and Jackson sidled up with Ari. His tone was playful but the look in his eyes was anything but.
“When I realized there was nothing wrong with me, but with the way I was raised,” Veronica said softly. Tears misted Jackson’s eyes. “Stop that or I’m going to cry, too.”
Ari sniffled and smiled at her and nodded in encouragement before she looked at Addison and curled her lip. “Addison, I listened to you talk about Veronica the whole way to Divine, and I gotta say, there must be something to what she’s saying.”
“What do you mean?” Addison asked in shock.
Ari wobbled her head from side to side mimicking Addison and then said, “Let’s just say maybe there’s a good reason you’re still single. And the two of you—” she said, looking at Jesse and Barry. “You Montana Benedicts are a
trip
. I don’t know where you got your information, but
Veronica
is the one who kicked that lazy freeloader to the curb for
cheating on
her
. Weren’t you friends with him?”
“Yeah,” Jesse said, a frown growing on his face. “He never said anything to us about that, did he?” he asked Barry.
Hank finally spoke up. As protective as they were, Veronica was surprised that he and Travis had kept quiet as long as they had. “You mean to tell me that your sister was in a breakup and you knew about it and you never once thought to check on her?”
Travis said, “You took the word of that miserable jackass over your sister?”
Barry looked at Jesse, and then at Hank and Travis and shrugged but the look on his face was a little sick. “I guess when you put it that way, that was a screwup on our part.”
Veronica’s heart pounded with sudden sorrow. “You
guess
? Is it any wonder that I don’t come home anymore, even though the apartment was less than an hour from the ranch?”
Addison looked at her shoes and didn’t say anything, and Ari went to Veronica’s side. “Girlfriend, if I’d known you, I would’ve come to see you and we could have drowned our sorrows together. But it all worked out, didn’t it?”
Veronica nodded, happiness resurfacing. “Yes.”
Ari grinned. “Love is like that, isn’t it?”
Veronica nodded and placed her hands over Hank’s and Travis’s on her shoulders, loving them even more for their warm assurance, and adoring her new sister-in-law so much it hurt.
Addison looked up and gasped, her eyes riveted to the diamond glinting in the soft lighting in the kitchen. The sound drew Veronica’s mother’s attention and she came to their group, her father following in her wake. The rest of the gathering kept up their discussions, enjoying Grace’s Christmas Eve party.
Grace winked at her from the living room where she stood with Jack talking to Rachel.
“What the hell is that?” Addison asked, pointing at the one-carat diamond clasped in sleek platinum on Veronica’s hand and the matching platinum band on Hank’s hand. “You got
married
?”
Her mother inhaled what remained of the oxygen in the room and leaned back against her husband. “You got
married
?”
Jesse and Barry gawked and spoke at the same time. “You got
married
?”
“They’re quick,” Cord murmured and Jackson chuckled and winked at her. Ari squeezed her and giggled.
Addison firmed her lips. “
I
was supposed to be your maid of honor. I’m your
sister
. Your family is supposed to be at your wedding. Why?”
“Because I’ve grown up without a family, at least until Cord and Jackson realized how badly they were hurting me and accepted me the way I am. And, not to put too fine a point on it, Addison, but my sisters
were
at my wedding. Did I want
you
there? Of course, but I knew if you were there, the first thing you’d do is question my lifestyle, insult my dress, or my legs.” She shared a long look with her mom.
Her mother didn’t deny it and a martyred look filled her eyes before she firmed her lips. “Pudge, you’ve hurt your parents and your family.”
“Don’t call me that anymore. Did I hurt you, Mom? I learned from the best. From
you
. I was never good enough for any of you. Every time you criticized me, I lost a piece of myself. I learned to take what you dished out, setting myself up for problems down the road. I knew I couldn’t please you so I stopped caring. After a while I stopped hearing your hurtful words. I thank God that Grandma Kate kept in touch with me. She was my rock when I was growing up, even though she didn’t know how bad you were to me. You never once defended me when Phil and Gordon bullied me, up until I finally moved away.”
“You were just silly, Pudge. Melodramatic. Overreactive,” her mother whispered, obviously concerned that the others would overhear.
Cord held up hand and cast a sharp look at his mother. “She asked you not to call her that. Did you know that Phil and Gordon would back her into a corner so she couldn’t get away from them when they teased her? That’s bullying. Did you know that they were the ones who started the rumor about Veronica being a lesbian at school, because Jesse”—he popped Jesse hard on the back of his head—“and Barry”—he popped him hard, too—“taught her how to lead instead of follow on purpose when
you
recommended they teach her how to dance.”
Veronica noticed her mother looked down and her cheeks were flushed, and Veronica asked the question she’d always wanted an answer to. “You
believed
that rumor, didn’t you, Mom?”
Her mother glanced up at her and looked pained. “I feared it might be true. You never dated—”
Veronica peered at the woman, wondering again if she’d been switched at birth. “Yeah, I never had any dates
because
of the rumor. How could you be so blind?”
Her mother drew herself up wrapping her martyr’s cloak a little tighter around her. In an imperious voice, she said, “I never claimed to be perfect. You were saying, Cord?” she asked, clearly changing the subject. Veronica let out a slow breath and shook her head. Hank’s hand on her shoulder squeezed gently, letting her know they were still there. She’d have to wait and see if there were ever any lasting changes where her mother was concerned. Such hurtfulness astounded her.
Cord grinned, happy to get back to the topic he was warming up to while Jesse and Barry knew the shit was hitting the fan for them. “Veronica told me later she was surprised and happy that Jesse and Barry were nice to her when they taught her to dance but I know they did it to be little”—he popped them both again hard for extra emphasis—“assholes because that’s what
you
raised them to be by not reining them in better, Mom. The next time I see Phil and Gordon I’m kicking the ever-living shit out of both of them.”
Hank interjected in a deep, steely tone, “Cord, your brother was telling a partial truth earlier when he said that Phil and Gordon would be dead if they’d showed up at this gathering. They’ve already been notified in no uncertain terms that if they ever set foot within sight of Veronica, they will face dire consequences.”
“Well,” her mother said in a huff, “I hardly think threats are necess—”
“Norah,” her father interrupted. “They were little dickheads. Let’s call a spade a spade. Families make mistakes and it looks like we’ve made our fair share of doozies. Is there anything we can do to make this better, Veronica? I know I don’t want to miss my youngest daughter at Thanksgiving and Christmas anymore.”
Veronica took a deep breath. “You could join us tonight for the ceremony that binds Hank and Travis to me.”
“The what?” her mother asked, blinking, looking at the three of them before dawning hit. She slid a glance to Cord, Jackson, and Ari and then back at Veronica. “You, too?”
Veronica nodded. “Me, too.” She reached back to touch both Hank and Travis and introduced them to her family.
“Well, that explains why they seemed so protective of you,” her father said as he cautiously opened his arms to Veronica. “May I?”
Veronica nodded and went into his arms. He was trying, in his own way. “Of course.”
“I love you, baby. Please forgive me.”
Veronica looked up at him. “You know it’s not a switch I can flip, right?”
George Benedict lowered his eyes and nodded. “I know. But it’s a start.”
Her father greeted Hank and Travis while her mother hugged her and they shared a few words. Her mother made an effort to be kinder, complimenting her ring. Veronica wouldn’t call it cathartic by any means but it was a start.
Addison kept her arms crossed over her chest and waited while the others hugged and filtered out of the room until it was just Addison, Jesse, and Barry, with Hank and Travis still standing like adoring, overprotective pit bulls behind her.
Addison lowered her hands and fiddled with the skirt over her narrow hips and said, “I think part of me was always jealous that you inherited Grandma’s figure. You got boobs when you were like ten and mine…” Addison smiled weakly. “Mine still haven’t come in.” She glanced at Hank and Travis and smiled. “Sorry. TMI. Can we start over?”
“We could try,” Veronica said, not offering absolution until she saw sincerity in action.
“And we can stay for the binding…thing?”
“Of course.”
Jesse and Barry looked at her, and at Hank and Travis, seeming like they really wanted to speak openly but couldn’t.
She looked back at her men and whispered, “I think it would be okay if you would wait over there, by the back door. You can still see them, and I’ll wave if they turn into assholes again.” They both grinned and kissed her, sending glittering looks of menace at Jesse and Barry before moving off about ten feet to give them a modicum of privacy.
Veronica raised her eyebrows as she crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for them to say what they wanted to say.
Of all the family, these two were the hardest to reconcile with, not because they were the meanest but because they could have had a relationship like she had with Cord and Jackson. The disparity was painful.
Jesse finally spoke up after glancing back at Hank and Travis, swallowing with a little difficulty as if the words he need to say stuck in his craw.
Good. It shouldn’t be easy for them.
“Ron–Veronica, we’re sorry. We were little shits to you. There was just something about you that was so…innocent and soft, and…shit…and that part of you was like a red cape my inner bully couldn’t resist. I don’t know if it was because I knew I lacked that quality in myself, or if it was because I wanted to attack your innocence and weakness but I couldn’t resist bullying you, like blood in the water to a shark. And you took it, and took it, and I think that made me…”
He looked down and his face went beet red. “The way you took it without fighting back made me hate you a little. And Phil and Gordon were no different. We should’ve kicked their asses for starting that rumor instead of laughing with them about it. We knew you weren’t a lesbian. And we remember that one guy, Travis.” He gestured with a thumb over his shoulder at Travis. “He was that game warden, wasn’t he? We saw how much you liked him and we couldn’t stand it. Man, we’re fucked up.” Jesse growled to his brother. “Say something, dickhead, this isn’t only on me.”
Veronica looked over at Barry and was a little surprised to find he was teary-eyed and red-faced, too. She beckoned them forward so no one could see them from the living room and slid the box of tissues across the kitchen island where they could reach it if they wanted them.
Barry said, “When you flipped out on Phil and Gordon, that day when that guy came over, they made it sound like you went nuts on them. But I knew them well enough that I should’ve known better. I guess I was just like what Jesse described. Hating you a little because you took what we dished out and never said anything. And then when you finally blew your top we treated you even worse. I’m gonna kick both of their asses for teasing you or every laying a hand on you. Did they ever—?”
Veronica looked him and Jesse in the eyes so he would know that she didn’t doubt the words she had to say. “No, thank God. Because I don’t think anyone would’ve believed me if they had.”
Barry’s eyes went wide, but as the truth sank in, he bit back a sob and his face crumpled. He didn’t even seem to worry if anyone knew about it. “I’m sorry, Veronica. So sorry.”