Page 115 of The Sweetest Devotion

“Do you like grits?” I couldn’t keep the smile off my face as I asked my mother the silly question. “I had some recently, and I love them.”

Keith had us make the pan of grits plain so that I could choose my own recipe for how I liked them. In the end, like a little kid following their older sibling, I copied how he made his bowl and decided that was how I liked mine as well. Salt and pepper, a dash of sugar, butter, and shredded cheddar cheese. Between the grits and his introduction to apple butter, I had true incentive to make breakfast at home now that I could cooksomething.

My mother peered down at her menu and shook her head. “Don’t think I’ve ever had grits before.” She glanced back at me. “Don’t eat too much. Your father and I scheduled a cake tasting for later. We can go after we leave here. We just want to get everything squared away.”

Just like that, my mood dropped.

I set my menu aside and focused back on the salad, barely tasting it now.

“He misses you,” my mother said gently. “He really does, Kenn. This whole thing has been hard on all of us, and I won’t lie, I was mad at first about this marriage, too. You’re our only child, and we shouldn’t putthison you.”

“So don’t,” I spoke up.

We both knew there was no pulling the plug, even at this early stage in my journey down the aisle.

“I wish it could be that simple. I really do,” my mother said. She sat back, defeated in her own way. “Don’t get me started on Cain. When Damon first brought this up, I thought he’d lost his mind. That he was really trying to marry you off to some…creep. But then, as I come around Cain…I kinda feel sorry for him. His father—James was an awful, awful man.”

That I couldn’t deny, even if I didn’t care for Cain himself. Hearing how he’d abused Cain’s mother in front of him when he was a little boy was heartbreaking. Being raised in secret had to have been painful enough on its own.

My mother came back to the table and forked her salad. “I think he just wants a family. And I can’t blame him. He has no mother or father.”

“Why don’t you and Daddy adopt him? I’d rather have a brother than a husband.” I asked with a fake sincere smile on my face.

To that my mother managed to snort as she ate more of her salad. But then she was serious as she regarded me thoughtfully. “You’re seeing someone else.”

Four simple words sent my throat closing up on me. “E-Excuse me?”

My mother observed me thoroughly. “You were glowing. You looked beautiful—youarebeautiful. The first thing I noticed when you got into the car was how radiant you looked. I thought you and Cain finally figured each other out, but just now when I mentioned the wedding your mood dropped.”

I scoffed. “I can’t be ‘glowing’ because I’m happy?”

My mother smirked, calling me out. She went back to her mimosa. “I won’t say anything.”

Her discretion caused me to lower my guard. “No?”

She shook her head, a sad smile on her face. “Make sure you end it before you get married.”

Stiffly, I nodded, already having accepted my fate with Keith. “I know.”

Her hand covered mine and squeezed. “I don’t want this for you. I keep hoping Damon will come to his senses. You deserve to be happy and make your own choices with your love life. Whether we like Cain or not.”

They liked Cain. He’d finagled his way into my parents’ graces, despite our sham engagement.

I looked around the vicinity. We were seated on the outdoor veranda. A few older couples were nearby, as well as a lone businesswoman reading the newspaper, and a man tapping away on a MacBook. The world around us was going on and I had to get a move on to flow with it.

“Maybe…I’ll learn to like Cain.” I wouldn’t. I wasn’t a romantic. Never stressed having the proverbial “fairy tale,” but I would never get over the way Cain came into my life. We would never be a love story. Heacquiredme. There was no prettying that up.

“Maybe we should get together with the girls and reach out to LeChé. She’s impossible to get a hold of in the winter, so it’s best to book her now in advance,” my mother brought up next.

LeChé Harris was a renown wedding dress designer. She had a shop in Hampton Hills, though she herself was often away on call. Only the best worked at LeChé’s boutique, but if you wanted the signature LeChé wedding gown, you went to her directly.

Hampton Hills was full of places to shop, exclusive dining, esteemed businesses, and beyond all that capitalism could ever dream of, there were the pristine homes. It was a city that rarely slept. As everyone was constantly on the clock to keep up with their lifestyles. It wasn’t a surprise LeChé was booked so far out. If I wanted to get my hands on the best dress for my wedding, I needed to get ahold of hernow.

I’d always had a dream wedding dress in mind for the day I walked down the aisle. Something classic and royal. Off-the-shoulder with an extravagant cathedral train. Maybe off-white, or nude, instead of the traditional white.

It had been a dream of mine ever since I was a little girl and had the biggest collection of Black Barbie dolls.

Cain was the furthest thing I’d ever pictured for my groom.

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