Read Online Again by Sharon Cullars - Free Book Online

the throng of bodies on the floor to the right of the dais. Her brother towered over their mother by two feet and moved to accommodate the difference. Her mother was beaming up at him, at one point putting a hand to his cheek. She was proud. Tyne could see that from where she stood. Tyrone had stepped into their father’s shoes today, walking April down the aisle, smiling proudly as though she were his daughter instead of his sister. Their father, Ernest Jensen, had died of a heart attack nearly eight years ago when April was still a teenager. Since then, Tyrone had assumed a protective role over their sister, which sometimes made her rebel. Today, though, April had welcomed her brother’s arm as he led her to Donell.
    Tyne looked around to try to spot Tanya, but she didn’t see her sister anywhere. Tyne, Tyrone, and Tanya, the three T’s, born in that order, all three names chosen by their father. April had been christened by their mother; she had insisted since she knew April would be their last. Her parents had done well by all their kids. Tyrone was holding his own as a freelance photographer, while Tanya was a metallurgical engineer at Wode Metallurgical Laboratories. All were successful in their own right, even though at times Tyne felt like the laggard in the sibling race. Sometimes she found herself simultaneously proud and envious, then had to remind herself that she’d made choices that put her where she was today.
    Maybe being laid off would be a blessing in disguise. She would be forced to take that dangerous step and move out on her own without a safety net. Freelancing like Tyrone, actually going out in the field and finding stories, submitting articles, and not just sitting at a desk all day checking numbers and facts. Lord knows, Stan wasn’t about to give her that chance. Not without some horizontal prompting on her part. Even if by some miracle he played fair and gave her a break, how many people would actually read her articles? Community newspapers were hardly stepping stones to Pulitzers.
    “OK, what’re you doing standing here all alone?” Tanya came up beside her. Tanya’s braids were intertwined with pearls and a rope of emerald-colored gems. The effect was regal. They were both wearing the green satin that April, to their dismay, had chosen, though Tyne’s shade was darker.
    “You wishing you were up there with somebody of your own?” Tanya said, leaning her head against Tyne’s cheek for a moment. She was holding a half-filled glass of champagne.
    “No more than you,” Tyne countered, reaching to grab her sister’s champagne glass, but Tanya deftly held it out of the way.
    “Get your own. Anyway, you’re the oldest. More pressure from the mama-that-be. I have a few good years before I take that step. If I take it at all. I’m comfortable with the way Jason and I are now.” Tanya sipped her drink. “Besides, you’re the one who wants the house and kids. It’s funny when you think about it. April was the one who wanted to be out clubbing and dipping and now look at her. An old married woman. Goddess, doesn’t she look beautiful, though?”
    “Yes, she does,” Tyne answered. Both sisters looked wistfully at their youngest sibling, who was gazing at her groom as though he were a jewel unexpectedly cast her way.
    “Thank the Lord that’s not Kendrick up there with her, otherwise I’d have had to say something in church.” A slight bitterness edged Tanya’s voice. Tyne understood. They had both received the late night calls after yet another beating, had gone to the emergency room with April to have the doctors fix blackened eyes, a busted lip, and once a broken arm.
    “I really didn’t think we would see this day,” Tyne said softly.
    “Neither did I,” Tanya matched her sister’s tone. “She came through some shit, but I guess she had to in order to know what a shit-free world smells like. Now, she can appreciate a man who doesn’t have to kick her ass to make