Page 86 of Leave It to Us
Yvonne’s chest felt heavy, as suddenly all the sorrow that her mother had held inside her while she’d continued to raise three daughters by the man who’d caused her the most horrific pain came crashing down over her. She touched a hand to Freda’s shoulder, and on the other side of the bed, Lana did the same.
“It’s okay, Mama,” Yvonne said. “We’re all going to be okay.”
And they were—Yvonne knew that without a doubt. Because now they had something that they’d each taken for granted before. They had each other.
“I still can’t believe you’re here.”
“Why? Because I didn’t listen to you?” Deacon asked as he took a seat next to her on the couch.
She’d arrived home to her mother’s house at just after nine that evening and had finished eating the chicken-salad lettuce wrap she’d grabbed from the deli after leaving the hospital. With a glass of water in hand, she was on her way upstairs to take a long hot bath and then settle in for the night. Lana was staying at the hospital with Mama tonight, so Yvonne had time to sit and think more about the decision she’d made. She’d planned to call Deacon and fill him in on the plan changes, but not until she had everything straight in her mind. Now he was here.
“I told you I’d text you,” she said, sitting next to him.
His brows went up. “And did you?”
She pursed her lips. “It’s been a very eventful day, and I’m just getting back from the hospital. I still had time to send the text.”
“But you weren’t going to, were you?” It was a question, but she suspected he thought he already knew the answer.
“In the morning,” she told him. “I still needed to wrap my mind around a few things, and then I was going to call you in the morning to let you know when we’d be coming back.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I figured you’d be busy today. That’s why I called Tami to check on you.”
“What? When?” Tami hadn’t said a word about speaking to Deacon today.
The three of them had stayed in Mama’s room until early afternoon, when Lana had told Tami to go home and get some rest. But Tami had left the room for a short while before then to make a Starbucks run to find them some good coffee. Mama had requested a matcha tea with lemon and one vanilla bean scone, which she’d eaten and drunk while Lana told them she’d scheduled a doctor’s appointment for the next day because Isaac had insisted she do so before returning to the island.
“A little before noon,” he said. “It was as long as I could wait to get an update. I’d already packed a bag and was just stepping off the ferry when she finally answered her phone.”
Settling back against the pillows on the couch now, Yvonne felt an unusual lightness. She’d never had a man in Mama’s house before. Had never liked one enough to bring him home to meet any of her family. It wasn’t like she’d invited Deacon here, either, but he looked right sitting there, dressed in gray sweatpants and a matching hoodie, crisp white tennis shoes on his feet. This was definitely a different look for the handsome construction man she’d grown used to seeing in worn jeans and fitted T-shirts, but she liked it. She liked it a lot.
“So you were just going to ignore my wishes and come up here to do what?” she asked just as a flutter moved through her stomach.
“To do this,” he replied, and leaned in close to touch his lips softly to hers.
This was the first time he’d kissed her somewhere other than her forehead, and she parted her lips to say something—what, she had no clue, but that was fine because he didn’t let her speak anyway. He kissed her again, another brush of his lips over hers. A soft, teasing brush that sent those flutters in her stomach into a full-on frenzy. The next touch of his lips had his tongue slipping along the crease of her mouth, and before she could think another incoherent thought, her arms went up to wrap around his neck, pulling him even closer as she tilted her head and met his tongue with a hungry stroke.
His moan came quick, and then his hands were on her, and the kiss went deeper, lasted longer, and pulled to the surface every enticing sensation her private toy stash had never even come close to appeasing.
Epilogue
TAMI
One year later
“Do you see that, Sariah Elizabeth?” Tami asked the chubby-cheeked little girl with honey-brown eyes and curly black hair. “That is your legacy,” she told her.
Extending an arm, she pointed at the little blue house. “That’s where your great-great-great-grandfather, Riley Butler, was born and raised.” Then she turned around, chuckling as the baby in her arms cooed. “Yessss, and this is the house your great-grandmother and namesake, Elizabeth Butler, built for us all to enjoy.”
Sariah grabbed a handful of the micro-braids Tami was now sporting, and giggled as if she’d found a pot of gold instead. “Oh, girl, now you know we’ve talked about this before. You cannot be grabbing Auntie Tam’s hair,” Tami said in a cutesy baby voice. “You know how much this hair cost me?”
“I don’t think she does,” Gabriel said as he stepped out onto the deck.
It was a humid July afternoon, a perfect day for a Southern Belle Tea Party, as Mama Jo had announced when she’d arrived at thesummerhouse earlier that morning. The woman had come in with cardboard boxes full of aluminum trays that she’d stored the food she’d cooked for the engagement party in. And now, as the festivities were in full swing, Tami had to agree with her.
White tents had been set up in the yard, with tables covered in pastel linen cloths. There were three tables of food—everything from Ms.Janie’s fried corn cakes and Gullah rice to the caramel- and pecan-covered Cinnabons Lana loved—and trays of fried fish, which Deacon had requested. As the other half of the guest of honor, Yvonne wasn’t to be forgotten, and since she’d declared today a “cheat day,” Mama Jo had made her a special pan of Tummy-Yum Bread Pudding.
“Well, that’s what aunties are for,” she continued. “To teach her all the things she needs to know about looking good.”
