Read Online In the Line of Fire by Jennifer LaBrecque - Free Book Online

wine to take the edge off.”
    The wine would either relax Daisy or put her to sleep, and either way it would be an improvement.
    â€œHow about a gin and tonic instead?”
    â€œThat would definitely take the edge off,” Martha Anne said as she rounded up the cheese and crackers. “But we’re going to stick with the wine.”
    â€œI’ve got a lot of edge that needs taking off.” Daisy stood and followed Martha Anne into the kitchen. “I called Rion in Afghanistan—”
    â€œGood grief, it would’ve been around midnight there.”
    â€œIt was. You know what he said? He said he was glad because Andi needed more of a man than Blanton and then he said he was glad Andi had finally grown a backbone. Can you believe it?” She put her face in her hands and shook her head. “Where did I go wrong? What’s happened to my children? I’ve always been a good mother.”
    They moved back into the den and Martha Anne placed the cheese and crackers on the coffee table. “Have some,” she instructed. “You need to eat,” she said as she returned to the kitchen for two glasses and a bottle of previously opened Chablis in the fridge.
    Daisy sank back into the chair she’d vacated earlier and munched on the snack. “These are good. What kind of cheese is it?”
    â€œHavarti with horseradish.”
    â€œIt’s got a little kick. I like it.” Daisy already sounded better, more normal. Food was the ultimate Southern panacea.
    â€œEat as much as you want. I have more.” She poured each of them a glass of wine and sat back down on the love seat.
    Daisy kicked off her pink satin pumps, which had been custom-dyed to match her mother-of-the-bride ensemble. “I swear, I’m just in shock. Shock, I tell you.”
    â€œDid you have any inkling this might happen?” Martha Anne sipped at the cool, pale wine.
    â€œNo. Andi did come to me with some prewedding jitters. She wasn’t sure how she felt about him. I told her it’d be fine. Every bride goes through that.” Daisy’s sip polished off half of her glass. “What’s not to love? He’s from a good family, he has a good job, a nice house and they’d have beautiful children together.” Daisy dropped her head to the back of the overstuffed armchair. “And now she’s totally ruined her prospects.”
    Martha Anne slipped off her own shoes and propped her stockinged feet on the coffee table.
    â€œDaisy, you know if Andi decides she doesn’t want to get married, it’s not the end of the world. It’s different now than when we were her age. No marriage is better than a bad marriage.” That’s why Mattie had moved back in. Her marriage and subsequent divorce had nearly bankrupted Martha Anne’s daughter.
    â€œBut Blanton—”
    Martha Anne had held her tongue far too long. It was time to speak her mind. “Is boring as dirt.”
    Daisy’s head whipped around. “What?”
    Martha Anne sipped her drink. “You heard me. He’s boring. Gerald was weird with all of his astronomy stuff.” Daisy wouldn’t be offended by that assessment of her deceased husband, even Gerald had known he was weird. “But he was never boring, for God’s sake. Allen was predictable.” Had her husband really been gone five years now? There wasn’t a day that she didn’t miss that man. “You could set your clock by him, but by George he was interesting. Spending time with Blanton is like watching paint dry.”
    She plopped her feet down and leaned forward to top off her glass and refill Daisy’s. “He probably thought I had early dementia last year at that Labor Day picnic because he nearly put me to sleep when I was talking to him.” And if a conversation with him was that boring she certainly didn’t want to think about what it must’ve been like between the