CHAPTER SEVEN
Stella swung around to face Kathy. Her words were even more hurtful than Vaughn’s actions. Vaughn was behaving badly during a moment of drunken merriment. But Kathy was deliberately taunting her. What was with this family? They seemed toxic.
Then, from her other side, she heard Cecilia’s bell-like voice.
“Stella, you don’t yet know what a playful man our Vaughn is. Such a joker and prankster. He’s always been the same, and does it in a good spirit,” she soothed.
Stella didn’t buy that. But at that moment, to her relief, Vaughn let go of Mary-Ann and turned toward her, heading her way at a meandering walk.
As self-realization penetrated his drunken haze, she saw he looked ashamed.
“Sorry, babes,” he said, hiccupping slightly. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. We
