“Will you at least give me a chance to explain, Lux,” Sam asked.
Taken aback by the raw emotion of his request, she hesitated but only for a moment. Too used to her feelings towards her brother, she pushed away the small part of her that wanted to listen to what he had to say. Turning her back on his request should be answer enough.
“For God’s sake, Lux, the least you can do is listen!” Josh snapped.
Not liking the way he spoke to her, she spun around to respond. Expecting looks of accusation at her stubbornness, she saw instead expressions of understanding. Momentarily thrown, her thoughts warred as to her best course of action. In the end, she decided to allow Sam his say.
Refusing to move any further into the room, Lux placed her back against the door and regarded her brother. “I’m listening.”
“When my...” Sam looked at his sister before continuing; coming closer to her, he said, “When our father died, I suppose I went even further off track. I knew what I was doing, but somehow I couldn’t seem to break away.”
“For starters, that’s a lie,” Lux broke in. “You didn’t want to leave that lifestyle. If you wanted to, you would have when your mother begged you to!”
“It’s not that simple, Lux,” Sam attempted to defend himself.
“For me, it’s that simple. You broke our mother’s heart. She always told me the way you lived would kill you, but she was wrong, it killed her!”
“For God’s sake, Lux, will you stop saying that!”
“Why should I, it’s the truth. Does hearing the truth hurt, Sam?”
“Yes, it hurts,” Sam shot back. “Are you satisfied now? I admit it; I broke my mother’s heart. Does it make you happy to hear me say it out loud?”
“Nothing about this situation makes me happy. If fact, being around you and your disgusting lifestyle makes me extremely unhappy and killing our mother makes me hate you!” She all but screamed at him.
“That’s enough, Lux,” Josh intervened.
“No, it’s not,” Lux shouted, transferring her anger to him. “I told you I didn’t want anything to do with him, but you wouldn’t listen. The only reason I’m back here is because of him and the decisions he’s made. And you’re no better; your association with him condones his behavior and that make you–”
“That is enough, Lux!”
The crack of the older man’s voice was so sudden; her mouth remained open even as her diatribe abruptly ended.
“Young lady,” Jackson began speaking once he had her full attention. “I cannot vouch for your brother, but my son is not the man you purport him to be. My son is an honorable man and you will remember that. I realize you’re upset, but I ask that you try to calm down. From my knowledge of you, therein lies your worse fault.”
Lux gave him a dubious look but remained quiet. God knows her faults were many; so there was no way she was going to commit herself to one he wasn’t talking about.
“By that I mean your self-righteousness. It seems to me, this tendency of yours arises whenever you don’t want to hear something that may differ from your belief. Why don’t you try listening before you dispense judgment!”
“I–”
“Do not think of arguing with me, Luxandria!”
Looking around the room, Lux wondered if they all felt the same way about her. From their expressions they probably did; and she wondered when she had turned into such a stubborn, unmovable woman.
“Josh...” breaking off, she didn’t know how to complete the sentence and looked down at the floor in embarrassment.
“It’s okay, Luxie,” Josh said from by her side. How he had moved so quickly and silently, she didn’t know. “He doesn’t often bark but when he does it’s for a reason. He’s right though; it’s time for you to listen. You may just find that what Sam has to say is what you’ve been waiting to hear.”
Bending, he gave her a quick kiss before taking her hand to lead her to a seat. When she glanced around, she was surprised to see looks of encouragement from the women; she even received a wink from Jason.
“Okay, I’m listening,” Lux said after drawing in a deep breath.
“When our father died a lot of things came to light,” Sam paused and looked over at Lux as though waiting for her to interrupt. When she remained quiet, he continued. “He was a good man Lux, but he wasn’t a brilliant provider.”
Everything within her screamed that she counter his statement. Both she and her mother had wanted for nothing, so she didn’t know where his story was going.