Laid Bare - Lauren Dane [56]
Now she had to meet Todd’s mother. Oy.
“Hello! Oh, you’re Erin, I’m so glad to finally meet you.”
No hand-holding this time. No, Lorie Keenan pulled her into a hug and kissed her cheek.
“I’m Lorie, Todd’s mom. Look at you! You’re every bit as pretty as Todd has told us. I saw you on a DVD, you know. Mercy, that’s our oldest granddaughter, she brought it over a few weeks ago when she got home from college for the summer. Just finished her first year down at Evergreen. She may come out today. Not, of course, to be with her grandma, oh no. But you’re something worth the visit apparently.”
“Mom, slow it down, you’re going to scare her to death.”
Erin looked to the woman standing beside Lorie.
“I’m Renee, DJ’s wife. The other Dean, that is. Junior.” She laughed. “Mercy’s my daughter and apparently you’re the coolest girl rocker ever.”
Erin laughed and shook Renee’s hand. “I do try. It’s very nice to meet you, Mrs. Keenan, Renee. Thank you for inviting me today.”
“And Liz is my sister,” Todd said.
“And she can say hello if you give the woman some space.” Liz, looking very much like her mother, grinned. “Hi, Erin. Welcome. I hope you took a Xanax this morning. The rest of the boys are out back.”
More noise as the house filled with people. Ben and Cope both gave her a hug and a kiss before DJ, Todd’s oldest brother, said hello, followed by Joe, the next youngest son.
“Mom and Dad are out at the marina already,” Ben said, explaining his parents’ absence.
There was a hell of a lot of testosterone in the living room and Renee laughed. “I know, it’s stunning, isn’t it? Lorie, Liz and I are grateful for you to hopefully even out the estrogen levels around here. Now that Mercy, our oldest daughter, is off at school and Marianne, our youngest, has declared hanging out with family to be the worst thing for her social life ever, we’re outnumbered big time.”
They were all so normal. So happy and robust and filled with that connection you have to people who’ve seen you at your worst and love you despite that. Erin envied them their whole family but realized how lucky she was to have it with Adrian and Brody, despite losing their parents.
She looked at the pictures on the walls as they all swirled around, chattering, loading things into cars. She stopped at a photograph of who she figured would be Mercy or Marianne and her stomach cramped. Probably all of a year old, toddling, fat little knees, one tooth in her smile, drool on her chin.
Erin was transported to Adele’s first steps. They’d been visiting Maryland, where Jeremy’s parents lived. She saw her granny and wanted to be there, so she’d just walked right over. Erin had clapped, laughing and crying, and Adele simply took the cheers and clapping as her due for existing.
“That’s Mercy. My goodness, to look at her now you’d barely see this little sprout.” Lorie stood next to Erin and her smile turned to concern as she caught sight of Erin’s face. “Are you all right?”
Erin shook her head, trying to shake the empty spot searing through her chest. “I’m sorry. Sometimes it’s hard to look at baby pictures. She was a beautiful baby and Todd says she’s an amazing young woman now. You should be very proud.”
Lorie nodded. “We are. We’re lucky in our children and grand-children.” She paused a moment. “I hope you don’t mind, but Todd told us a bit. That you’d lost your baby girl. I’m deeply sorry. I hope the pictures didn’t upset you.”
She turned to Lorie Keenan and smiled through tears. “Thank you, Mrs. Keenan. But no, it’s beautiful to see these pictures. For a long time I couldn’t have pictures of Adele—that was her name—up in the house. I’d sneak into the drawers where I kept the snapshots and stare at her like a guilty secret. In the end, I gave in and put them up. I miss her but I can look at that perfect thing I had in my life for just two short years and I can be grateful.”
She’d taken the pictures down for a while right when Todd had come back to town, but after she’d told him about losing Adele, they’d put