In a Moon Smile by Sherri Coner Page B

squeeze brought tears to Chesney’s eyes. She didn’t want her dad to let go.
    “We’ve missed you around here, Chez,” he said. “How’s the book coming along?”
    “Fine,” Chesney nodded dumbly, realizing that lots of lies either erupted from her lips or lined up in her throat to be told at a later time.
    “You look great,” Dad patted her face and Chesney noticed the deep wrinkles around his eyes. He was so much more tangible than her mother, so much more readable. He was the teddy bear here, between the two Barbies and the Ken doll. “Glad you could be here,” he said sweetly. Then he stepped over to the counter, poured some iced tea into a tall glass and said it. “Hey by the way, where’s Jack?”
    “He couldn’t be here, Dad,” Charlotte shot their father much of the same message she relayed a few moments earlier to Cooper.
    “That’s a shame,” Dad said meekly.
    Immediately, a panicky game of eye ball was played. Was the wedding called off? Had Chesney done it again? What about the guest list? And those giant ice sculptures?
    Tension started to build. Chesney’s stomach knotted. She envisioned her mom, slowly coiling into a snake, ready for the big bite...just as soon as Chesney worked up the nerve to break the news. Madelyn has a sharp tongue which cut to the core. She could say and do incredibly mean things. Chesney didn’t end up with the self-esteem of a dish rag with absolutely no help from home, you know.
    Cooper appeared again. “Stinky baby,” he said. Charlotte disappeared up the stairs with Piper for a diaper change in the princess pink bedroom. Madelyn charged off to the dining room to set the table. And Chesney sat alone in the kitchen. Feeling disconnected from her family, she stared at the baby paraphernalia cluttering the table and counter tops. Piper had everyone’s unspoken permission to toss her favorite baby doll, a couple of bottles and one of her shoes, wherever she damn well pleased. It was amazing to Chesney that Madelyn as a grandmother allowed such disarray. Becoming a grandmother must have somehow sedated that perfectionist side. Chesney wondered why she bothered to show up at all for a Blake family function.
    Once again, she was the downtrodden daughter, the one who didn’t quite make it into the traditional role their parents expected and secretly hoped for. She certainly hadn’t planned it this way. But the truth was that, compared to her sister, Chesney was the lost sheep. She was humiliated beyond words. She hated how loudly she failed to fit into her parents’ expectations. She hated knowing that she was again stirring disaster. Chesney doubted they would ever believe her, but she truly never intended to do the wrong thing. Or did she? Was she subconsciously getting kicked in the face by Life just to spite her tight ass mother? Hmm.
    By the time the family gathered around the dining room table, Chesney’s anxiety level was sky high. Cooper and Charlotte looked adoringly at each other and then at their baby daughter. As Madelyn walked around the table, she tenderly kissed the top of Lyle’s head.
    They all have a place here, a person they belong with and a defined role, even at the dinner table. As usual, I am the odd woman out, the woman without an island, the salt without the pepper… the constant mismatch. I can’t wait any longer. I need to purge the pain. Slather the wholesome moment with my troubles. Rid myself of the charade.
    “Jack and I broke up,” Chesney said quickly and too loudly, immediately after Madelyn plunked Piper into the high chair and passed the corn to Cooper.
    “Really?” Madelyn took the lead. She set the tone for everyone to stare and pretend they were surprised that Chesney no longer had a relationship, a fiancé or a wedding plan.
    “I returned the ring,” Chesney said.
    “That was stupid,” Charlotte grunted under her breath as she plopped mashed potatoes on her plate.
    “So close to the wedding date?” Lyle asked,