**Mature Audiences**
When Lawrence Adams returns to Orchid Island, Florida for her mother's funeral, she expects a brief, somber visit before returning to her life in North Carolina. However, faced with the fractured relationships with her siblings...
اوووه! هذه الصورة لا تتبع إرشادات المحتوى الخاصة بنا. لمتابعة النشر، يرجى إزالتها أو تحميل صورة أخرى.
Wren
"Can I get a bourbon neat, please?" I ask the kind and thoroughly shocked gentleman behind the bar.
He blinks twice before turning his back toward me and pulling a bottle of Blanton's off the top shelf where the most expensive bottles usually reside. Curious, I cock a brow at him before I realize I'm still sporting a black Alexander Wang maxi dress and a pair of Jimmy Choos for a funeral I was five hours late to—dually noted by my younger sister in an attempt to embarrass me.
I would never get away with wearing this in North Carolina. I've put most of my expensive clothing funded by my mother into storage bins after gaining a few side-eyes from older ladies in the grocery store. It was my attempt at erasing my past as a newly independent eighteen-year-old who finally got out from her mother's fat thumb.
Only to have to force myself back into them so I don't get the same side-eyes from my own family. Though, I did a pretty good job at doing that by showing up five fucking hours late.
"Nice of you to show up, Wren," my sister Maebry scoffed at me. She wouldn't even look at me, but the weight of a thousand stares around the room was enough. She stood with her nose up high in the formal area, basking in the attention of others. "Mom's funeral was five hours ago, by the way."
Already annoyed from my flight being delayed twice due to storms up north and the growing ache in my left leg, I didn't feel up for my sister's passive aggressiveness. "Right, it's almost as if I have complete control over the weather patterns and the fact that I only just found out about my mother's death less than twenty-four hours ago. But that's my fault, Mae. I should've checked the teleportation device I had stashed in my closet instead."
"The nerve you have—"
I waved her off. The last thing I wanted to do was fight in a room full of strangers. There was only one reason why I came back here after ten years of self-exile. "Where's Dad?"
"He's upstairs, but you shouldn't bother—"
I didn't give her any more room to make me feel more bad about myself than I already did so I turned my back to her and weaved my way to the stairs. I even zipped past my other siblings, Julia and Maverick, who were huddled in the corner of the grand dining room, whispering quietly to each other. Though Maverick would've welcomed me with open arms, Julia and Maebry are a lot alike in their hatred of me.
"Rough night?" the bartender's voice provides a sense of stability as my mind continues to reel over the last couple of hours. He places the glass tumbler before me and I immediately take a swig, embracing the burn of the liquid as it makes its way down my throat, nearly making me gag.
"My mother died and I missed her funeral," I muttered.
"Shit," he murmurs under his breath. "I'm probably going to regret this, but drinks on the house, then."
