In a Moon Smile by Sherri Coner Page A

not married. And she wasn’t a mother. She definitely understood those unspoken messages and expectations. Well after today, she might not have a family at all. Then she wouldn’t worry anymore about all the ways she never measured up.
    I have failed the family. Once again, it was Charlotte who saved the day. Charlotte who inherited our mother’s tall, willowy presence and straight, blonde hair. Charlotte, first with a storybook wedding, and now, the first once again, to use her perfect eggs to produce not just a grandchild, but an incredibly lovely one.
    Standing in the midst of the two beauty queens, Chesney tried not to obsess about her petite frame, her flat chest and her unruly auburn curls. She had suffered through these self-esteem attacks since she was six years old, wearing her younger sister’s hand-me-downs, which always required hemming. She walked over to the counter and faked a great deal of nonchalance as she grabbed a carrot stick from the relish tray.
    At that moment, Charlotte’s better half, Cooper, the man with the personality of cardboard, walked into the kitchen. He towered over the Blake women, barely clearing the kitchen light. Cooper was wearing a perfectly starched white shirt with the cuffs rolled up to expose an expensive watch. His slacks were perfectly creased. Every hair on his sandy brown head was perfectly groomed. He definitely belonged with Charlotte. And with Madelyn, too. They were all models.
    Chesney fought the urge to accidentally on purpose dribble some veggie dip on Cooper’s perfection. That would really rock his world. He would leave immediately, hyperventilating about the trauma of a stained, monogrammed button-down.
    “Dinner smells wonderful, Maddie,” Cooper said to his doting mother-in-law.
    Then he offered a half grin in Chesney’s direction and shot a zing while her guard was down and her mouth was full of carrot stick with ranch dip.
    “How are you, Chez?” Cooper asked, then added, “Hey, where’s Jack?”
    “He couldn’t be here,” Charlotte said quickly before Chesney mustered a fake response.
    But Chesney definitely saw the glint in her brat sister’s eyes as the message telepathically traveled across the polished kitchen table and the shiny white tile. Her eyes telepathically said to Cooper that once again, Chesney had screwed up the family. But don’t say another word about it. Charlotte’s eyes sent that clear message: “Cooper, don’t say anything else about Jack. I’m fairly certain that Chesney has either been dumped or been the dumper once again.”
    Watching the words silently make their way from Charlotte’s eyes to Cooper’s made Chesney’s face burn with humiliation. She wanted to grab Charlotte in a head lock and bang her face against the stairwell, something she had done twice in their childhood when Charlotte made fun of Chesney’s ugly hair. Chesney pretended not to see the telepathic communication or the wave of pity crossing Cooper’s face as he glanced in her direction.
    “I’ll get the dinner plates,” Cooper awkwardly turned his attention away from her, his forlorn sister-in-law who brings drama along to every single family expectation.
    “Chesney can set the table, dear,” Madelyn said quickly.
    So Cooper scooped his daughter from the high chair and disappeared into the safety of the family room. He probably shielded the baby’s eyes from her aunt, hoping Chesney’s wayward ways would not somehow rub off on Piper’s perfect beginning.
    “Well, tell me what’s new,” Charlotte said. “I haven’t seen you since Piper got her first tooth. How is your work?”
    Chesney munched on a celery stick, preparing to tell yet another lie. Thankfully, her dishonesty was interrupted by the sudden presence of their father, Lyle Joseph Blake, who had the auburn hair Chesney inherited. He stepped into the kitchen like a fresh, brisk breeze and rushed over to envelope his oldest offspring with one of his famous bear hugs. His