Page 16 of Love Set Me Free

“Is the food ready?” Paisley awkwardly asked as she stepped away from Kydrick, who let her create some space between them but grabbed her hand quickly, preventing her from taking too much space.

Linda bypassed her daughter, who still stood there with tears in her eyes and looked like she saw a ghost, and pulled Paisley into her embrace. Paisley had a hard time hugging the woman back because Kydrick refused to let go of her hand.

When Linda pulled away, she said, “Me and your mama been cooking all day. The food is all ready. Nelle helped too.”

Paisley did her best not to react to that last part, and Linda’s hopeful gaze melted into disappointment, causing Paisley to feel guilty once again. She knew Linda and Charles, along with her parents, all hoped that she and Janelle would rekindle their friendship, but they were wishing on a dried up wishing well because it could never happen.

“Then let’s eat. I never got the chance to cook dinner last night, so I’m sure Kyd is more than ready for a homecooked meal.”

“Hell yeah!” Kydrick exclaimed, causing everyone to laugh.

The room buzzed with pure happiness, and it was all because of Kydrick’s presence. Everyone moved toward the dining room, and Tiana found her way next to Kydrick, putting an arm around his waist and hugging him. He dropped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, causing Paisley to smile. This was exactly what he needed, a reminder that he still had family out in the world.

Tiana craned her neck around Kydrick, blatantly glancing down at his and Paisley’s locked hands. Paisley shook her head, already knowing her sister was about to be on some bullshit.

With a sly grin, Tiana looked up at Kydrick and asked, “Soooo, bro, how was your first night home?”

Her brows wiggled suggestively, causing Paisley to pinch on the arm that was wrapped around Kydrick’s waist.

“Ouch! What was that for?”

“For being nosy.” Nasir butted into the conversation, and that caused Paisley to roll her eyes toward the ceiling. There wasno doubt that the oldest and youngest Whitaker siblings would start their bickering for the night right at that moment.

Tiana smacked her lips. “I wasn’t being nosy. I was asking a simple question.”

They arrived in the dining room, where everyone else settled into their seats.

“It’s not about the question you asked. It’s about how you asked it,” Nasir pointed out as he sat next to their father.

“And how did I ask it since you know everything?” Tiana asked, sitting down next to their mother.

“You’re not dumb, Tiana. Most of the time anyway. Stay out of grown folks’ business,” Nasir responded.

Tiana’s face scrunched up. “I am grown, and I only asked a question everyone else wanted to know.”

“Would y’all cut it out?” their father snapped. “It seems like the only grown child I have at the moment is Paisley. Y’all bicker like you’re still in pre-school.”

“He started it, Daddy.” Tiana pouted as she slouched into her chair.

“What did you ask, Tiana?” Their mother’s voice sounded tired as she asked the question, but she also looked a bit amused by her grown ass children.

Tiana’s lip poked out. “I was only asking how Kydrick’s first night home was.”

“That ain’t how she said it,” Nasir argued.

“Okay, enough,” Linda butted in. She didn’t care that Tiana and Nasir weren’t her kids. In their group, it didn’t really matter who was the parent, because as long as they were the child, even at their grown ass ages, they could still get scolded. “We’re here to celebrate, not listen to you two bicker all night.”

At that point, Paisley had been so into the parents scolding her nosy ass siblings that she hadn’t realized she and Kydrick somehow got stuck sitting across from Janelle.

With a quick glance over at Kydrick, she could tell he had already noticed. Subtly, he scooted his chair closer to Paisley, still clinging to her hand. It occurred to Paisley that he was leaning on her for support, and her heart did a funny little dance. She was his comfort zone, but what he probably didn’t realize was that he was hers too. She needed his touch at that moment as much as he needed hers. Given the dynamic between the families, there was just as much tension as there was happiness stirring around in the air.

Leon, Paisley’s father, held his hand out to his wife and to his son before saying, “Let’s say grace so we can eat.”

Everyone bowed their heads, and Leon said a quick grace, true to his nature, before food was passed around.

Paisley got a kick out of watching Kydrick fill his plate high. Meanwhile, she barely put anything on hers. Her nerves were worse than she thought they would be in this situation. She had been so focused on making sure Kydrick was okay that, once again, she forgot about herself.

When everyone had their food and conversations flowed around the table, Janelle suddenly looked at Kydrick and blurted out, “How are you?”

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