Curves in the Road (The Southern Devotion Series Book 2) (17 page)

Chapter Twenty Three

**Derrick**

It was Monday afternoon around three when I heard the door shut. "Derrick, we're here!" Gracie called out.
When they came into view I noticed Katelyn sulking on the couch. Before I could ask her what's wrong, Gracie pulled me aside. "She's been quiet on the way home. I'm not sure what's up, she wouldn’t tell me."

"Thanks, Gracie. I'll call you later when I find out the issue." I kissed her cheek then walked her out.

Katelyn was still on the couch when I came back in. Taking the seat next to her, I tried to start with our normal talk. "How was your day at school, kiddo?" She shrugged and stuck her bottom lip out. "Did something happen?"  She shook her head no. "Then why the sad face?"

She sighed and reached into her backpack pulling out a piece of paper. At the top was written 'Mother's Day Assignment'.  Behind the instructions was a slip of paper decorated with flower borders
that said 'All About My Mom' and had a list of questions to answer. "This is my homework for the week. I can't do it." She curled up into a ball on the couch with her face buried against the cushion.

This was the day I knew was coming eventually. Once she started school I knew it would be difficult to avoid Mother's day assignments that would raise questions and insecurities. "Sweetie, Mary Jane and I will be married soon. Why don’t you answer the questions about her?" I offered.

Frustrated she cried out, "Look at the questions!" I’d never seen Katelyn so upset before. When I glanced at the questions I understood further.

"'My mom and I have the same blank,' is that the question that bothers you?" I asked.

"I don’t know if I have my mom's eyes or her hair color. I know that I don’t match Mary Jane. No one will ever believe she is my mom."

I sighed, then set the paper down and lifted her up onto my hip. "It's time I show you some things."

Once upstairs, I pulled down the box of memories that I had kept of her mom. I handed her a picture of myself with her mom fully pregnant and smiling. "She looks like Mary Jane. Well, she has blonde hair I mean." Katelyn said, smiling at the picture.

"See. You look like me. Your black hair
and blue eyes came from me. Lots of kids look like one parent and not the other." I started to pull out more pictures and she put her hand over mine to stop me.

"It's ok, daddy. I don’t want to see anymore right now. Can you call Mary Jane over to help me with my assignment?"

Mary Jane came over in less than an hour so I left them to get to work. Before I forgot, I went upstairs to put away all the remnants of the memory box before Mary Jane
saw it again. If anyone had ever been Katelyn's mother, it’s MJ. She cared for her more than any other woman in my life ever had that wasn’t related. There was a knock on the door bringing me out of my thoughts. Mary Jane peered inside, "Hey, can you come downstairs. Katie wants to show you her project."

I smiled and took her hand in mine, "Thanks again for coming over to help her with
this; it means a lot to her and to me."

Katelyn was beaming up at me when we stepped into the kitchen. She eagerly handed her paper to me. "Read it out loud daddy."

"Ok.  My mother's favorite color is blue because it's the color of my eyes. My mother's favorite thing to do with me is have tea parties. I have my mother's eyes and hair color. My mother's name is Derrick but I call him Daddy."  I choked back tears on the last line as I read it out loud. I held it out to Katelyn, "You wrote about me?"

She shook her head, "You've been the best Mommy and Daddy that any girl could ever have. I asked Mary Jane if it would be alright to write about you as my mom and she thought it was a great idea. Do you think so too?"

I wrapped my arms around her waist, lifting her up into a bear hug. "I think it’s the best paper I've ever read. I'm honored that you wrote it about me."  When I set her down I said, "Now run upstairs and get ready. We're going to go shopping for a little while."

While Katelyn was upstairs, I reached for MJ and pulled her into a passionate embrace, melding our mouths together in one steamy hot kiss. She pulls away breathless and asks, "What was that for?"

"I need a reason to kiss my fiancé?" I asked before leaning in to plant kisses along the neckline of her shirt; tasting inch by inch of her exposed skin.

"No reason needed.
And I'm not complaining for sure."

"Thanks for what you did for Katelyn, talking her into doing that report about me."

"I didn’t talk her into anything. She said that she thought of it after you showed her pictures of her real mom and she realized that she looked exactly like you. She's a very smart girl, that daughter of yours."

Chapter Twenty-Four

**Mary Jane**

Angel and Tristan were in the living room when I c
ame downstairs from packing a bag to stay at Derrick’s for the next few days at least. They didn’t hear me round the corner and I stopped when I heard my name mentioned in the conversation. 

“So, did you ever tell Mary Jane how you feel?”

Tristan’s voice sounded confused when he answered Angel’s question, “How I feel about what?” 

Angel sighed, “How you feel about her of course. I’ve seen how you look at her Tristan. I also noticed your face when she announced the engagement.

“I’m happy that she and Derrick are together,” he said.

“I know you are. You’re a good guy and you’re in love with her and want her to be happy.”
 

My breath caught in my throat as Tristan said, “Do you think she’s noticed my feelings?”
 

Angel must have answered silently with a nod or a head shake but I didn’t know which. All I knew is that I hadn’t had a clue about Tristan’s feelings for me. He never hinted that he was attracted to me in that way.

“When did the feelings change for you?” Angel asked him.

“During her pregnancy, weirdly enough. We went through it all together and at some point I started seeing her in a different way. I
came to the realization that I wanted to have a family with her.” 

Angel questioned, “Why didn’t you ever tell her?”

“She’s been in love with Derrick since we first met. I wanted to make sure there was no chance for them before I put the thought in her head to even think of looking at me differently. I want her to be happy and Derrick makes her happy. She never needs to know how I feel, Angel. Promise me you won’t tell her?” 

Angel replied sadly, “I promise. They’re good for each other, she’s happier than I’ve ever seen her.”
 

Tristan replied, “I know, that’s why I can let her go. She’s still my best friend, that’ll never change.”

When I peered around the corner, Angel had her arms around Tristan in a comforting hug. Boy did I read Tristan wrong. All this time I thought he had a thing for Angel when he was really crushing on me.

Tiptoeing to the stairs, I moved up a few before making louder steps down to alert them of my presence. “Well, I’m packed and ready to go. Will you two be okay without me?” I said, winking and trying to act normal.

Angel glanced at the clock on the wall, “Ooh, I have to run! I’m late for work.” She kissed Tristan’s cheek and then mine and said, “See you guys later.” 

When she was gone, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. “Can we talk?”

Tristan looked surprised but said, “Sure, what’s up sweetie?”

Taking his hand in mine I pulled him to the couch. I bit my lip, unsure of how to start this awkward conversation that
may change our relationship forever. “I heard you and Angel talking. I wasn’t going to say anything but when I looked in your eyes just now, well I can’t ignore this.”

Tristan’s eyes grew
wide; he knew instantly what I meant. Reaching out I pressed my palm to his face, he closed his eyes momentarily at the touch. “I didn’t know, Tristan. All this time and I had no clue.”

Tristan pulled my hand away from his face, “I didn’t want you to know MJ. I like Derrick, a lot. I’m truly happy you two worked it all out. I’d never try to come between that. I feel like Andrew Lincoln in Love Actually right now.”
 

I smiled at the movie reference and said, “I always felt so bad for Kiera Knightley having to hurt him that way. The way she coped with it was pretty mature though, I always thought I’d handle it the same way.”
  With that sentiment, I leaned forward, placed my palms on his cheeks and gave him the gentlest chaste kiss on the lips that I could muster.

When I pulled away he sighed and said, “It’s enough,” quoting the same line that Andrew Lincoln’s character had quoted in that scene.

“I do love you Tristan.” 

He interrupted me to say, “You’re just not in love with me. I understand.”

With a slow sad nod, I replied, “I hope that we can keep our relationship the same. You’ll find the right girl for you and she’ll be the luckiest girl in the world to have you.”

Tristan’s lips turned up in a smile filled with hope and sadness all in one. “Let’s not talk about this again, deal?”
 

Nodding, I changed the subject completely, “How’s school going for Macy?”

“Amazing. It’s like an entirely different world here. She’s been there only a few short months and already she’s made more friends than she did in Florida. The best part is, no one is bullying her.”  Tristan took my hand, “I owe you so much for convincing us to move here, it was the best thing for her.” 

“Sometimes a change of scenery makes all the difference. Plus, being at a school specifically for gifted children helps to fit in. When she has a day off school, I’d like to take her and Katelyn out to spend the day.”

Tristan grinned up at me, “She’d love that. She loves you, ya know.” 

Being silly I swished my hair back from my shoulder and said, “Who doesn’t?” It didn’t even occur to me how that sounded until I said it, then I turned red with embarrassment until Tristan laughed and hugged me.

###

When I shut the door behind me, Derrick called out, “I’m in the kitchen.”  He stood at the stove with his back turned to me. Wrapping my arms around him from behind I pushed up on my toes to kiss the back of his neck. “Hello gorgeous,” he said, patting my hands that rested against his chest.

“It smells delicious in here.”
 

Turning in my embrace, he faced me to lean down and capture my lips in a kiss that I felt in my toes. “
You
smell delicious,” he whispered against my ear.

His iPod was playing in the background, he leaned back to turn the music up. He led me away from the stove to pull me close again. We swayed to the music, his hands resting against the small of my back, mine around his neck with my head on his shoulder.

At the end of the song, he lifted my chin before scrunching his eyebrows and asking, “What’s bothering you?”

"
You can read me like a book.” With a pause, I moved away from him and sat at the kitchen table. “I need to tell you something.” 

His eyes grew wide with worry so I added, “It’s nothing bad for us, I
don't want to keep any secrets between us now that's all.”  

His first question upon hearing of Tristan’s feelings was, “How do you know?” I explained everything to him from overhearing Angel’s questions to speaking to Tristan myself and even the kiss. “You kissed him?” he asked, sounding hurt.

“It was a friendly kiss.” 

Derrick nodded and asked, “Can you show me?”

I shook my head, “No, I wouldn’t know how to kiss you in a friendly way.” 

That answered made him grin like the Cheshire cat. “Well, I can accept that then. Truthfully though, how could I blame him for loving you?
" He pondered something for a moment before asking, "Will it be awkward being his friend?” 

“Not for me, but will you be alright with it?”
 

“I won’t
lie; it’s going to be strange to be around him. I trust you, MJ. That won’t change unless you give me a reason to not trust you anymore. I’m glad you told me. I agree that we need to stop keeping secrets from each other."

“Fair enough,” I said with a smile. “That went better than I expected.”

Derrick let out a soft chuckle, “What were expecting? Did you think I’d puff my chest out, march over to him, and claim my woman by beating him up for looking at her?” 

Leaning closer, I nipped at his bottom lip, “The claiming part would be nice.”
 

He wrapped his arms tighter around me, pulling me in to kiss me. “You’re mine for as long as you want to be.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

**Derrick**

The doorbell rang so I excused myself to answer it while Mary Jane kept an eye on dinner. Tristan stood on the front stoop with his kid sister Macy next to him. “Hey, Tristan…Macy. Come in,” I waved them into the living room.

Mary Jane came out of the kitchen at that moment and exclaimed, “Macy!” She sprinted to MJ to hug her before they excused themselves upstairs.

“Mary Jane is helping Macy get ready for her first date. I can’t believe I’m saying that right now.” Tristan said, following me to the kitchen.
"She's only my little sister and I'm freaking out about her dating boys. I can't imagine how you're going to feel one day when Katelyn has her first date."

With the news of his feelings still fresh in my mind I was a bit nervous and unsure of what to say to him right now. Instead of words, I grunted and gave nods of my head until finally Tristan stopped talking.

When I turned to see why he stopped, his eyes were large with shock. “She told you,” he stated with dread filling his tone.

“Sit down,” I asked motioning to the table.

Tristan began to defend himself, “Look, Derrick you have nothing to worry about.”

I raised my hand to stop him. “I know. Tristan, when you two came to my dad’s funeral and Mary Ann was eight months pregnant, you went out of your way to convince me to give her a chance to explain. You asked me to give her a chance to tell me in her words what happened. You were already in love with her at that point, weren’t you?”

He bowed his head and mumbled, “Yeah, I was.”

“It took a lot of guts to push me towards her instead of leaving things be or trying to come between us. You’re an honorable guy, T. I can see that through the time we’ve known each other, and through the way you look at Mary Ann. I knew you cared about her, I didn’t know the full extent. Thank you for respecting what we have, it means a lot to me.
" In a show of sincerity, I extended my hand to him and he shook it without hesitation. "There's something else I wanted to talk to you about. Mary Jane said you were having trouble affording the rent where you and Angel are now that she's moving out."

"I'm looking for a better paying job. It's not a big
deal; we can make it work for a little bit." Tristan seemed embarrassed that I brought the matter up, it was easy to see it hurt his pride to not be able to take care of Macy the way he needed.

"That's where I'd like to help. I'd like to hire you as a bartender for my club. Between what we'll pay hourly and the tips you'll earn, you should find that it pays much better than your current job."

Tristan considered the offer for a moment before saying, "That sounds perfect. The only problem is that I don't know much about being a bartender. I know how to make a few drinks and how to pour beer without too much foam but that's the extent of my knowledge."

"There's a bartender school that we can send you to. The course takes about two weeks which is perfect because the club doesn't open for another two months. We'll cover the cost, all you have to do is agree to work with us for a year and it will be no cost to you. That's the offer we'd decided on for any bartender so this isn't special treatment because you're a friend. I would like you to be head bartender though. You'd be over the other two, possibly three, bartenders that we would hire. Mary Jane also told me that you've been a supervisor in the past. So, tell me what you think."

Tristan seems overwhelmed at the offer I've presented to him so I sit back and wait for his answer. After a few moments of silence, he replies, "I'll take it."

"Great! I'll get you set up for classes as soon as possible. And during the next couple of weeks, I'll want you to sit in on the hiring with Ashton and me, if that's alright with you."

"Sounds great. Look Derrick, I really appreciate this opportunity. It's going to mean a lot to Macy too."

Mary Jane poked her head into the kitchen and asked, "Tristan, Macy's ready. Can you guys come out here and see what you think?"

Tristan nervously walked into the living room and his mouth dropped open at seeing his little sister al
l dressed up. She's only fourteen and Mary Jane dressed her appropriately for her age in a lavender dress that fell just below her knees. She had curled her short hair and clipped a flower on the left side to pull it back. "You look beautiful, Macy," I said as Tristan stared speechless.

"Thanks, Derrick.  Tristan, do I look alright."

Tristan bent to hug her and said, "You look gorgeous, Macy. Thanks MJ. I'll call you later and let you know how her date goes." 

Tristan stepped forward and hugged Mary Jane. As I watched them hug I thought I would feel jealous and angry now that I know his feelings. Instead, nothing had changed. She hugged him the way she h
ugs Ashton or any other guy friend. It took a load off my chest that I didn’t see any feelings there. Mary Jane and I had fought our way back to each other after two years and I'm done with wondering where we stand. From now on I wanted our life to be as happy as possible with no more conflicts.