Believed (My Misery Muse) (22 page)

“That was amazing.”

“Glad I could please you.”

I rolled to floor on to my hands and knees. I sat
up on to my knees and took her hands in mine.  Her eyes went wide and her mouth
fell open.

“Sam,” she said in a warning tone.

“Juliet, I love you.  I want to spend my life with
you.” I ignored the pained look on her face.  “Will you do me the great honor
of being my girlfriend?”

She sat there and stared at me a moment before
falling off the bed into my lap. “You suck. Don’t scare me like that.”  She
kissed me lightly. “I would love to be your girlfriend.”

Epilogue

Jules

Today was Sam’s dad’s funeral. We had gone early
to his mother’s house for moral support, then drove together to the church for
the service.  Sam, Max, and his mother went in for a last chance to say their
goodbyes.  Sam was still angry with his father; I knew eventually he’d come to
terms with it.  For now, he was here to support his family.  I was just glad he
came to the funeral. I knew if he hadn’t he’d have one day regretted it.

LuElla came out with her head held high, arm in
arm with both of her sons.  Sam was lucky to have such an amazingly strong
mother in his corner.  People started arriving, murmuring their condolences,
then heading inside the chapel to find a place to sit.  I stood hand in hand
with Sam as he shook hands and kissed cheeks.  Once everyone was inside, we
walked down the aisle to the front pew and sat down.  Sam never let go of my
hand, his mother held his other hand.  She sat between her sons Emory on the
other side of Max.

The preacher stepped up to the pulpit and began
reading a passage from the bible. I took the chance to scan the area.  There
were men sitting tall, and ladies weeping into tissues.  I turned my head back
to the front and Sam squeezed my hand.  I smiled up at him and leaned against
his shoulder offering support.   When the preacher began speaking about Peter
Lawry the door to the chapel flew into the wall causing a sharp bang.  I jumped
in surprise and looked back to where the noise had come from.

There, in all her glory, stood Clare keening and
carrying on.  She sprinted up the aisle in five-inch stilettos. When she
reached the casket, she threw her body against it.  Her arms circled as much as
she could and she began wailing loudly.  The church was deathly quiet, all of
us watching the crazy woman sobbing and clutching a casket.

It was like a scene out of a movie, and if I
hadn’t been so shocked, I’d have been laughing my ass off.  We all sat there
and watched none of us knowing what to do.  Sam was trembling. I looked up and
his face was nearly purple.  Ah shit, he was pissed.

Finally, LuElla stood up and walked over to the
keening woman putting a hand on her shoulder. “I take it you’re Clare?” She
said quietly but we could hear her on the first row.

I felt Sam stiffen beside me and I wrapped both
hands around one of his hands.  I wasn’t going to let him get up from this pew,
blood would flow.

“Clare,” LuElla snapped, “get off the casket and
go sit down. You’re embarrassing yourself and your child.”

Clare sniffled and looked up at LuElla. LuElla
pointed towards the front pew. “Go sit,” she ordered.

Clare stood on wobbly legs and came to sit on the
pew a little ways from me.  Jordan walked up the aisle finally, shaking his
head, and sat down beside me.  I reached over and gripped Jordan’s hand.  I
noticed the whispering that was going on behind us.

LuElla stood in front of the casket with her head
held high. “If we could please get on with putting my husband to rest.”  Then
walked over and retook her seat between her sons.  The whispering died down
quickly and the pastor continued his eulogy.  Though I didn’t hear a word of
it.

After the church ceremony, we walked out behind
the pallbearers and watched as they walked him to the hearse.  Then we went to
the limo for the family.  No one said a word. We climbed in, Clare and Jordan
included.  Clare continued to cry, wiping her tears with a tissue, but poor
Jordan looked humiliated.

Once the doors were closed, Max looked over at
Clare, “Who are you?”

I sighed and thumped my head back against the
seat.  This was going to be a memorable limo ride.

“This is Clare,” LuElla said, “your father’s
mistress.  The boy beside her is your half-brother, Jordan.”

There was a look of shock on Max’s face, Sam was
just pissed, and LuElla sat there like none of it bothered her.  I was in awe
of this woman.

Sam

“You knew?” I asked my mother.

She nodded.

“And you didn’t say anything?”

“What would it have changed, Samuel?”

I didn’t know what to say. I just sat there
stunned.

“I found out about Clare when she was pregnant
with Jordan.  I could have said something, thrown a fit, divorced him.  Only
what would that have accomplished other than you boys growing up without a
father?  I wasn’t going to take Jordan’s father from him, and I wasn’t going to
let you boys grow up without a dad either.  I did what I had to.”

“Dad had a mistress?” Max asked looking stunned.
“And you knew?” He asked looking at me.

“I found out at Christmas.”

Mom sighed. “He shouldn’t have done that.”

Clare continued to sniffle and sob. I wanted to
tell her to shut the fuck up.  Except I knew that would only get me hit by
Mom.  Instead, I gritted my teeth and prayed we would get to the cemetery
quickly.

My mom looked over at Jordan and smiled. “Hello
Jordan, I’m LuElla.”

“Hello ma’am,” he said quietly.

I actually felt bad for the kid, he looked almost
as shell shocked as Max.

Mom looked between Jordan and me. “The resemblance
is uncanny,” she said to herself.

Max looked over at Jules who was sitting beside me
quietly banging her head against the back of the seat.  I wrapped an arm around
her shoulders to stop her from injuring herself.

“You knew?” Max said pointing at Jules.

She nodded her head.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He yelled.

“Wasn’t my secret to tell,” she responded with her
eyes closed.

“I’m your best friend,” he said sounding hurt.

“You are,” she cracked an eye and looked at him.
“Still wasn’t my secret to tell.”

Jules rolled her head and looked at Jordan.
“Jordan, this is your brother, Max. Max, this is your brother, Jordan, play
nice.”

I buried my face in her neck and laughed. This day
had been so fucked up.

“Mom!” Jordan shouted. “Cut that shit out.”

Jules giggled when my mom reached over and slapped
Jordan on the back of his head. “Watch your mouth and respect your elders.”

“Sorry ma’am.”

Mom nodded then looked over at Jules and I. “Guess
you’re not dumb after all.”

“Mom, have you been drinking?” Max asked.

Jules buried her face in my shirt and laughed.

“Maybe,” my mom said looking out the window.

“Are you sure you want to be part of this family?”
I whispered in Jules’ ear.

She sat up and wiped her eyes. “Sam, I love your
family.”

I kissed her gently. “They’re insane.”

“Exactly.”

I didn’t understand this girl sometimes.  I kissed
her once again when the car stopped and the door opened.  I helped my mother,
then Jules out of the car.  We walked hand in hand with my dysfunctional family
to bury my father.

Acknowledgments

My beta readers as always were amazing and
helpful, Wendy Rex, Ashley McNiel, Sarah Larson.  Thank you for all the help
you gave me along the way.  You ladies amaze me each time and I wouldn’t be
able to do this without your constant support.

Holly Malgieri, I cannot not say thank you enough
for all you do for me.  You help keep me grounded, listen to me bitch, and tell
me everything will be okay when I’m ready to quit.  You’re my fairy godmother
and I would be lost without you.

I need to once again thank my editor, Tanya
Keetch, The Word Maid, for all the hard work she puts in to polishing,
correcting, and recorrecting.

I want to thank my awesome cover designer, Sarah
Hansen, Okay Creations, she did an absolute amazing job with the cover.

L. Diane Wolfe, Spunk on a Stick, thank you for
once again formatting for me. I always love working with you.

There are a lot of blogs I need to thank for all
the support, pimping, and continued support, if I forget someone I am sorry it
wasn’t on purpose. Iloveindiebooks, So Many Books So Little Time, Flirty and
Dirty, Book Avenue, Stick Girl Book Reviews, Book Junkies Anonymous, Romantic
Reading Escapes, The SUBCLUB, 2 Girls Book Blog: An Asian & White Chick
Walk Into a Book Blog, Wolfel’s World of Books, Under the Covers Book Blog,
The Book Whore-der's Delights
, Shh Mom’s
Reading.

My husband and son, thank you for supporting and
encouraging me to pursue my dream of publishing.  I love you both so much.

So many authors to thank that I
do not want to chance forgetting anyone, so thank you to each and every author
who has helped me along the way.  I love that we support one another in our
small community, and hope to be able to pass along all that’s been done for me.

About Author

Brei Betzold is a stay at home mom to one very
interesting little boy.  She started reading and writing at a young age, and
has always dreamed of pursuing it as a career.  She can be found most often
working on her latest ideas.  In her free time she enjoys spending time with
her son and husband playing rockband, cooking, or curled up on the couch
watching a movie.

You can contact Brei Betzold at:

[email protected]

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brei-Betzold/124156631073209

http://mymiserymuse.blogspot.com/

twitter: @breibetzold