Crystals by Theresa L. Henry Page B

you
breakfast… well technically, I suppose its brunch–”
    “We?” Fern raised
an inquiring brow at her sister. “I don’t remember seeing you even crack an
egg, but you’re talking about, we .”
    “Whatever, you’re
the Earth Mother, so don’t start complaining when I let you be mother.” Dara
shot back.
    “I don’t want
breakfast or brunch. All I want is for you people to leave my house and to stop
coming in here whenever you want to. Having my keys are for emergency purposes
only.”
    Crystal missed the
look that passed between the sisters as she took a seat at the tiny breakfast
bar. With her head in her hands, she closed her eyes and willed her mind to go
blank. It didn’t work as thoughts of the fight between her mother and Shane
refused to leave her. A cup of steaming coffee appeared before her followed
closely by a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and baked beans.
    Pushing the food
aside, she reached for the coffee, took a sip and sniffed the air. “Is
something burning?”
    “Shit,” Fern
yelped, “my peas!”
    “Seriously, Fern,
you just get on my nerves. I mean, who the hell doesn’t use Kidney beans from a
tin to make rice and peas these days?” Dara demanded.
    Crystals caught
Dara gaze and they both exclaimed, “Fern!” at the same time and smirked.
    “Yeah, well the
peas are a lost cause now, so when you’re both eating pizza for your Sunday
dinner, I hope you still find my willingness to cook for your ungrateful
backsides funny.”
    Two more sips of
her coffee and Crystal began to feel slightly better. She knew there was no
point repeating that her cousins leave because they would just ignore her. So,
cup in hand, she went back to her bedroom in the hope they wouldn’t follow.
    By the time she
was back under the covers, Fern had already stretched out beside her and Dara
had taken up residence at the end of the bed.
    “What’s going on,
Crystal?” Fern asked.
    Crystal knew her
cousins and so she understood that there was no way they’d let up until she
told them everything. In all honesty, she was glad they were there. She needed
the company as she tried to work through how she was going to deal with her
feelings.
    She loved Shane
and that would probably never change. But she was hurt and more than a little
angry that he hadn’t believed in her enough to tell her about his family. By
keeping his background from her, she couldn’t help feeling that he’d judged her
and somehow found her wanting.
    When she was
finished telling her cousins everything about what Gwendolyn had revealed, a
stunned silence hung in the room.
    “Oh, my God!” Fern
exclaimed after a few seconds.
    “Gwendolyn needs
to mind her own frigging business.” Dara said. “That woman needs to realize you
weren’t made in her image.”
    “Yeah, Aunt Gwen
is a bit much sometimes,” Fern added.
    “Sometimes,” Dara
retorted, “try most of the time. Anyone would think she descended from royalty
or something!”
    “Please remember
it’s my mother you’re talking about, Dara!”
    “Oh, I remember. I
also remember your rubbish birthday parties where we had to drink tea in those
stupid dresses and ankle socks.”
    “Shut up, Dara.
You’re so bloody random. We’re not talking about tea parties. We’re discussing
the fact that our uptight cousin is probably going to lose the only man she’s
ever dated for more than six months.”
    “That’s not
technically true. There was Beau Geste of the firm
arse. You know,” Dara spoke behind her hand as though Crystal couldn’t hear
her, “the one who she finally gave it up to.”
    “That’s it, both
of you need to get out of my house—and his name was, Burgess!”
    Crystal gritted
her teeth as the sisters laughed and rolled their eyes at her. When they
finally quieted down and readjusted themselves on her bed, she knew she was in
trouble.
    “This is what you
need to do,” Dara said while pinning Crystal with an unwavering gaze. “Go over
there and give him