Page 5 of My Silver Lining

“I know. And most of the time, I’m just trying to survive in this family. It’s not easy being the black sheep, you know?”

“You’re the only normal one in that family.”

“Amen to that, girl.”

“How was your mom? She brought Francois, right?”

Francois Tremblay was my mother’s psychic and spiritual advisor. She relied on him for everything, and he had a weird obsession with my aura. She brought him to any family function with my father’s side of the family because she said he helped keep her centered with the in-laws.

“She sure did. You best buckle up, Hen. This was the reading of all readings. My mother decided to have us all sit around the table, and he literally went from person to person, telling them who they were in their past life. And everyone got to hear what he said because it wasn’t a private reading. It was mortifying.”

“Ohhhh. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I always love hearing what Francois has to say.”

“That’s because it’s always been about the future. And apparently, my future is very bright. However, my past is shady as fuck, and he didn’t hold back.”

More laughter from my best friend as I sipped my tea.

“Tell me.”

“Well, let’s just say that Charlotte was some sort of healer back in the day. She cured some rare disease called Lakacocky, or something crazy like that.”

“I’ve never heard of it,” Henley said.

“Because she literally found the cure, and it’s the reason that we’re all alive today.” I blew out a frustrated breath because my cousin’s ego was already too big to fit through the doorway, and now she believed she was the reason we all existed. “And her jackass of a husband was some sort of general back in the day, and he conquered too many places to remember.”

“Oh, boy. What did he say to you?”

“Apparently, I was a very busy lady back in the day. He painted me out to be some sort of colonial whore who had the hots for Ben Franklin,” I hissed, trying hard not to laugh because I couldn’t make this shit up. “Francois said that Ben reciprocated the feelings, but he chose to marry for status, and me being a commoner made it impossible for him to commit to me.”

Henley had tears streaming down her face as she shook her head and tried to speak over her laughter. “He did not say that.”

“Oh, yes. And Charlotte could not have been more invested in my history, nor could her weird-ass husband, who kept staring at me while licking his lips.”

“Well, all the cousins couldn’t have been the reason we’re all still alive today. Someone else must have had a shady past?”

“Wishful thinking. Barron was a king, and he had seven wives, yet for whatever reason, I’m being shamed because I had the hots for one man. And it appears that Cousin Barron hasn’t changed at all. That dude has been engaged four timesand never married, yet everyone focuses on my one bad decision of dating the world’s biggest douchebag.” Barron, my eldest cousin, is Charlotte’s older brother, and the first grandson in the family to carry on the Sonnet name. The Sonnets were a well-known political family, as my great-grandfather had been the vice president of the United States back in the day. Two of my uncles were in politics, as well, and Hunter fit in perfectly as a congressman with aspirations of being president someday. Though I think he just liked saying it, and personally, I thought he’d probably hit the height of his career with this recent election.

But I just made jewelry for a living, so what did I know about political aspiration?

“Listen, you know that you’re Gramps’ favorite. And he’s the best, so that’s a win.”

My grandfather is one of my favorite people on the planet, and he’d always been the one who saw me and appreciated me exactly as I was. Everyone else liked to focus on what I’d done wrong.

“That is definitely a win.” I reached for my cup and took another sip. “And now I just have to figure out a believable reason as to why my very serious boyfriend isn’t coming with me to Gramps’ eightieth birthday. Charlotte was questioning me like she worked for the CIA.”

“So they all think you have a serious boyfriend in Rosewood River, right?” Henley asked.

“Yes. My dad was losing his mind over Beckett’s stunt. I already told them that I was seeing someone who was stable and reliable and respectable. I guess I got caught up in the whole thing, because he was ridiculously happy when I’d mention my mystery man. I was actually nervous that Francois would blow my cover.”

Henley shook her head as she took a moment to process my current situation. “Thank goodness Francois was focused on the past.”

“No. It gets even better. He actually helped me out. He told them all that they were going to love this guy, but then he shit on my parade by telling them that I’d be bringing my boyfriend to the big birthday celebration next week,” I groaned. “Trust me, if it were anyone else’s birthday, I would bail and make up an excuse about why I couldn’t make it. But I can’t miss Gramps’ eightieth birthday. So I just need an excuse for my amazing, responsible boyfriend’s absence, and Charlotte is going to be all over me like flies on shit.”

“You could say that he’s sick and you didn’t want to risk getting your grandparents sick.” Henley shrugged. “Did you give a name for this so-called dream boyfriend?”

“I had to think on my feet. I just called him Lover Boy, but of course, my mother, with her French accent, calls him,Love Her Boy.” Now it was my turn to laugh. My mother was fabulously French and creative and quirky. I loved her fiercely, but she was like an attention-challenged whimsical fairy, which made it difficult to have an actual conversation with her about anything serious. My father was a much tougher nut to crack, and as his only child, his expectations were high, as was my ability to let him down. But at the end of the day, I knew they loved me. Being a Sonnet came with a load of pressure, and it could be very exhausting sometimes.

“Okay, so you tell them that Love Her Boy has come down with a bad case of Lakacocky.”

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