Page 45 of Freeing Lark

“Wren?” Her sister looked up. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

The same answer. The same flat tone. Lark frowned. Before she could say anything else, footsteps sounded in the hallway. Her brother appeared in the doorway. “Morning.”

Lark’s stomach tightened. Wonderful. Exactly what this breakfast needed. Alexander Meadows was twenty-two and attending Georgetown University.

He was a nationally ranked lacrosse player, one of the team’s best midfielders, and had apparently inherited every trait their parents valued. Athletic, ambitious, and disciplined. He was the socially accepted darling of the family. And, unlike Lark, perfectly willing to play the game.

He dropped into a chair. “Sorry I’m late.”

“You’re not late,” Hildi said. “We haven’t finished.” Lark fought the need to scoff at her mother’s clemency when it came to Alex’s tardiness. Had it been her, the verbal lashing would have been so severe, it would have felt like her eardrums were being assaulted.

Alex glanced at Lark. “Talking about her?”

“Apparently I’m today’s topic.”

He smirked. “Again? What did you do this time?”

Lark’s eyes narrowed. “Good to see you, too, Alex.”

He reached for a pastry. “How was the gala?”

“Wonderful,” Lark answered dryly.

Hildi snorted. “Hardly.”

Alex looked between them. “What’d she get up to?”

“Nothing,” Lark said.

“Everything,” Hildi corrected.

Alex grinned. “Sounds about right.”

Lark stared at him. “You know, I was beginning to think I’d missed you.”

“Of course you did. I’m very loveable.”

“You’re something, all right,” she mocked.

“Children,” Hildi snapped.

They both went silent for approximately three seconds. Then Alex said, “Dad told me you embarrassed Mom.” Alex was the only one if the family that got away with calling their parents “mom and dad” to their faces, and not the more formal “mother and father.” The hypocrisy in the family never ceased to amaze her.

“I didn’t embarrass anyone.”

“You refused to entertain Grant.”

Lark rolled her eyes. “Not a whore, mother,” she shot back.

Disgust contorted Hildi’s features, narrowing her eyes. “Why must you use such vulgar language. You know what I meant.”

“Fine. What I meant to say is that I refused to be entertained by Grant.”

“Why must you always be so difficult?”

“She excels at it,” Alex sneered.