The Sister-in-Law: An absolutely gripping summer thriller for 2021 Pamela Crane (good books to read for young adults txt) 📖

Jackson shook his head. ‘It tastes yucky.’

‘You haven’t even tried a bite. Here, I’ll help you.’ Candace leaned across the table, stabbing a piece of his chicken with her fork and raising it to his mouth. He grimaced and backed away from her hovering hand.

I slapped her fork down. ‘Do not force-feed my kids, Candace. If you want to do that to your own children, go for it. But you’re not their mother.’

Candace’s face contorted into blotchy pink shock as she rested the fork on her plate and dropped her arm stiffly to her side.

‘What’s this about your own kids, Candy? Are you two planning to start trying?’ Mom asked, rising from her seat.

‘It’s Candace, not Candy.’ This was only the fifth time Candace had corrected my mother about her name. Mom wasn’t that forgetful, but she could be that spiteful.

‘I apologize. I keep forgetting.’ As Mom collected her plate, I exhaled relief that dinner was done. ‘I’ll take the plates of those who are finished.’

Instantly Jackson and Elise shoved their plates across the table. ‘I’m done, Grandma!’ they chimed.

‘Actually, that’s why we’re hosting this dinner, Mom.’ It was the first time Lane had spoken since his impromptu toast. ‘Would you like to tell them, honey?’ Lane turned to Candace, who cupped his hand and rested their suctioned palms on the table. I wanted to scoff at the blunt show of affection.

Mom froze. Lane smiled. I rolled my eyes. The kids looked at me with a plea for permission to leave. I nodded in the direction of the stairs, and the stampede was off.

‘We’re expecting!’ Candace’s excited words were met with stunned silence.

It was too long before Mom replied.

‘You’re … pregnant already?’ Mom sounded as shocked as I had been.

‘Yes, and we’re thrilled that it happened quickly, since we’re eager to start a family. So you’ll be a grandmother!’

Mom dropped into her chair. ‘Well, I’m already a grandmother, dear.’ I recognized the stiff smile the moment it spread across her lips: disapproval. A firm dash with the slightest lift at the ends. ‘But that’s wonderful news. I’m just … a little surprised. You’ve barely known each other a month and a half … and now you’re already married and pregnant. It’s a lot going on pretty quickly. How do you feel, Lane?’

Lane kissed Candace’s palm and beamed. ‘I’m thrilled, Mom. Really. I’ve always wanted to be a father, and now it’s happening. Life doesn’t slow down, and now it’s my turn to jump on and ride it.’

He looked genuinely happy. In fact, he’d never looked this happy in his life. It was like he sunbathed in Candace’s pregnancy glow, and for a moment I wondered if maybe I was wrong about her. Maybe she was good for him after all.

‘Having children isn’t a rodeo, Lane. It’s hard work and sacrifice.’

‘I know, Mom. But I have a good job, a nice home … and now I’m ready to fill it with a family.’

Mom gestured to Candace. ‘What about your parents, Candy? I’m sure they’re excited by the news.’

Candace – not Candy – rolled her eyes at Lane, who begged her for silence with a shake of his head. I forced back a chuckle.

‘I don’t have any family.’ Candace replied so matter-of-factly that it bordered on cold.

‘Oh, honey, I’m sorry to hear that.’ Mom paused, waiting for an explanation or some kind of elaboration. Instead Candace looked down at her plate and scraped the last bite of chicken coated with instant potatoes into her mouth.

‘Did something happen to them?’ Mom pressed in her tactful yet dogged style.

Candace swallowed, then looked Mom square in the eyes. ‘I’d prefer not to talk about it.’

‘Do you have any other family back – where did you say you’re from, dear?’ Mom knew just how to pick at a scab to make it bleed. Those long, crooked fingers with knobby knuckles full of arthritis still knew how to poke. And right now they fiddled with my great-grandma’s emerald necklace, a nervous habit. So, Mom was nervous; how unlike her.

‘She’s from Ohio, Mom. Please stop interrogating my wife,’ Lane interjected with a stilted chuckle.

Mom’s mouth parted in offense. ‘I’m just trying to get to know my new daughter-in-law.’

Candace rested her hand on Lane’s arm. ‘It’s okay, honey. I don’t mind. That’s a lovely necklace, Monica.’

Mom glanced down at her chest, as if she didn’t know she was wearing the same necklace she always did.

‘Thank you, dear. The darn clasp is broken, so I’m always worried it’ll fall off. I’d hate to lose it; it’s an heirloom. My grandmother’s first husband bought it for her for their wedding anniversary. He was murdered shortly after. Strange how a curse like that can travel down the family line.’ She glanced at me, then Lane, as if he was next.

‘Wow, that’s quite a family history.’ Candace chuckled, but I heard the fear in her voice.

‘What brought you all the way from Ohio to North Carolina? That’s quite a climate adjustment, I’m sure.’

‘I guess you could say I needed a change. And that’s what I found.’ She gazed lovingly at Lane, a movie-star gaze you’d see in a 1950s flick. ‘We met at a karaoke bar where he wooed me with song. Two chocolate martinis later, I was hooked!’

‘Finding love at a bar, now that’s pretty unique.’ My mother, so tactfully insulting.

‘I can’t take all the credit,’ Lane said. ‘The Gin Blossoms did the work for me. All I had to do was sing “Til I Hear It from You” and that seemed to do the trick.’

‘It’ll be a delightful story to tell your child one day, how a song and alcohol were the recipe for your happily ever after.’ Mom always dared to say what no one else would.

‘Does anyone want dessert?’ The tension spurred Lane out of his seat. ‘Candace made cheesecake – your favorite, Mom.’ Lane busied his hands collecting the stack of plates.

Candace stood, hovering