Forgiven (Book 3, The Watchers Trilogy; Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (17 page)

I tried very hard not to blush at Utha Mae’s insinuation.  Intellectually I knew she understood Brand and I were having sex now, but the little girl who Utha Mae raised didn’t want to admit it to her.

“You could never be in the way,” I told her, putting my arm around her waist.  “Come on.  I want to know what you think about what we cooked.”

As all nine of us sat down to eat, we joined hands and let Utha Mae make her annual prayer of thanks.

“Dear Lord above, we thank you for providing for us not only on this day but every day of our lives.  Please give us your blessing in the next year to come and watch over us to make sure we honor you in the things we do.  Thank you for bestowing your grace on my babies this year, especially Lilly. You have truly gifted her with a wonderful new family.  Thank you, Lord.  Amen.”

“Let’s eat!”
Tara
said, immediately helping herself to the beef tongue and caramelized onions Malik made especially for her.

Everyone laughed at her audacious behavior and quickly joined her.

As I looked around the table, I realized what Utha Mae said was true.  I did have a new family and couldn’t imagine my life without any of them in it.

“Where’s your mother Lilly?” Malcolm asked as he helped Brand and I clean the kitchen.

“She’s in
Las Vegas
,” I said.  “Lucas surprised her with a trip there for
T
hanksgiving.”

Malcolm lifted an eyebrow.  “Is that wise?”

“No,” I
admitted
, “but
there really wasn’t any way for me to stop her.
  I can’t exactly tell her the truth.  She’d think I’d lost my mind and try to have me committed
to Whitfield
. 
Lucas
pretty much has her wrapped around his little finger.”

“
Yes,” Malcolm a
greed
.  “He was a
lways very good at doing that
, especially
with
women.  Which reminds me, have you heard back from Samyaza yet?”

“No, not yet,” Brand said.  “I thought I would go see Isaiah tomorrow while the girls are out shopping to see if he’s heard anything
.  I also want to
ask
Isaiah if he
thinks Lilly
should ask for the gathering herself
.”

“Let me know what he says.  The sooner we do the gathering, the more time we will have to discover what the plan is.”

“Lilly, baby,” Utha Mae called to me over the Wal-mart sales paper in her hands.  “Could you bring me some of that chocolate bourbon pecan pie Brand made?”

“I’ll get it for you,” Brand told her, dazzling her with his smile.

“Thank you, hon. 
Just put a dollop of whip cream on it too. 
I’d sure appreciate it.”

Brand leaned into my ear and whispered, “Is it just me or does Utha Mae look tired to you?”

I chanced a glance at Utha Mae and did notice she didn’t seem to be diving into the sales papers with her usual gusto.

“I think the wedding just took things out of her,” I said, not willing to entertain an
y
other thought.  “She’ll be all right once she gets a little rest.”

Brand nodded but I could tell he wasn’t quite
convinced
of my assessment
of Utha Mae’s health
.

I spent the rest of the day
marveling at how large
my family
had become in such a short time
.  Will, Malcolm and Brand seemed to have finally worked things out and even enjoyed watching a college football game together on TV.  Tara, Utha Mae and I planned out our route for the next day and Malik took studious notes for us so we wouldn’t forget what it was we wanted to buy at each spot.  It was one of the best Thanksgivings I
could ever remember having.
  I made a fervent wish that it wouldn’t be the last.

Later that evening when it was just Utha Mae, me and Brand in the house, I
went
to her bedroom to check on her.  She was sitting in the chair by the window reading her Bible, a familiar sight ever since I was a child.

“We’re about to go to bed, Utha Mae.  Do you need anything?” I asked.

She put her bookmark in her Bible and looked up at me.  “If you could help me get out of this chair and into bed I’d appreciate it, baby.”

I went to her and held her arm as she slowly tried to stand up.  I hadn’t realized such a simple task had become something she needed help with.  I began to wonder if maybe it wasn’t time to hire Utha Mae a part-time nurse to help her out around her home.  I knew Brand wouldn’t mind paying for it if I asked.

I tucked Utha Mae in and kissed her on the cheek.

“Need anything else?” I asked.

“No, baby,” she said, letting out a large exhalation of breath before closing her eyes.  “I’ll see you bright and early in the morning.”

I turned off the light in the room and pulled the door
gently
closed.  When I went back into the bedroom Brand and I now called ours, I told him my concerns
for
Utha Mae.

“I
can
arrange for someone to help take care of her,” Brand said.  “But you should probably ask if that’s something she wants first.  Some people don’t like strangers in their ho
m
e.”

“I wish she lived closer.”

“We could always build her a house on the property.  That way you and Tara can take turns checking on her.”

“You would build her a house for me?”

“I would be doing it for all of us.  Utha Mae’s become important to me too you know.  I care what happens to her and I would feel better if she were closer to us.  I’m just not sure how well we’ll be able to keep our secrets from her if she lives beside
s
us.  Her body may be old but she’s still sharp mentally.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we have to cross it,” I said, snuggling
closer
against his side as we lay together in bed.

I felt Brand’s hands start to venture into dangerous territory considering Utha Mae was in our house.

“What are you trying to do to me?” I moaned, unable to conjure up the will to ask him to stop.

“I thought it was quite obvious what I’m trying to do to you,” he murmured, bringing his lips to mine in a breath stealing kiss.

“We can’t do this,” I said, “not with Utha Mae in the house.”

“Hmm, then I guess we need to go somewhere else for a few minutes.”

Before I knew it we were in our bedroom in the
London
home.

“Is this better?” Brand asked, nibbling the side of my neck.

“Much,” I told him before rolling him over to have my way with him the rest of the night.

The next morning Utha Mae, Tara and I ventured
out
early
on
our annual
holiday shopping adventure, intent on d
oing all
of
our
Christmas
shopping in one day.  Malik let
Tara
borrow his SUV because I wanted to b
u
y a
new
Christmas tree and decorations for my home with Brand.  It would be our first Christmas together and I wanted everything to be perfect. 

To
p on
Tara
’s list of wants was the latest Nintendo gaming system.  It was
the only thing
Malik
wanted for Christmas so naturally
Tara
was
Hell
bent on getting it
for him
.  The only problem was that
our
Wal-mart only had ten of them in stock on Black Friday.  So
,
her chances of actually getting one were about a 100
to
1 considering the number of people waiting outside the store to rush in and start shopping. 

While we stood in line with the other holiday shoppers,
Tara
began
doing
squat
s
on the sidewalk
.

“What are you doing?” I asked her.

“Gettin’ ready,” she said,
standing to start
pu
mping her arms in the
air above her head with fisted hands.

“Getting ready for what?  World War III?”

“Don’t laugh at me Lilly Rayne,”
Tara
said in all seriousness
, twisting at the waist to loosen her muscles
.  “You know how some of these people are.  I’m not about to let anybody get between me and that new Nintendo
gamepad
.  Not when my man asked for in particular.”

“Your man?” Utha Mae
asked
, as if to question when Malik had officially become
Tara
’s
man.

“He’s mine, Grandma.  And I plan to keep him for a long time,”
Tara
said as she began to
whirl
her arms round and round like
p
ropellers
on an airplane
.  I noticed the people around us start to cautiously
inch away
.
  I felt sure they thought
Tara
had
completely
lost her
mind
and would be sure to keep their distance from her
once
inside the store.  And maybe that was
Tara
’s
strategy
all along
because wh
en the
front
doors
finally did
open,
everyone gave her a wide berth as she dashed into the store letting out a
mighty
war cry from the top of her lungs
like a banshee
escaping
out of
the gates of
Hell
itself
. 

Utha Mae and I st
oo
d stock still as those around us
cautiously
followed in behind
Tara
.

“Did my grandbaby just do what I think she did?” Utha Mae said to me discreetly out the side of her mouth, complete disbelief on her face.

“
Let’s never speak of this to anyone,
” I
said
, hoping to take what I had just witnessed to my grave
.  “
And let’s get our stuff and get out as quick as we can.  Maybe she won’t be able to find us
if we hurry
.”

But find us she did.

In the middle of the Christmas decoration isle,
Tara
held up her Nintendo box and did what I can only call her touchdown dance, similar to the one football players do in the end
zone when they’ve
scored for their team
.  Utha Mae and I just
stared at her silently as she gyrated
her hips and held up her prized possession all the while saying, “Who’s the best shopper in the world? Tara Jenkins
is
the best shopper in the world
that’s who!”

Utha Mae and I looked at one another and couldn’t prevent the laughter which followed.  This only seemed to embolden
Tara
as she began
to
jerk her body even faster.

By the end of the day, we had all gotten pretty much everything we set our sights on the day before. As we drove Utha Mae
back to
Dalton
, I asked her about moving to
Lakewood
to be closer to me and Tara.

“Brand wants to build me a house?” She questioned.  “I haven’t had a house since I was married to Harry.”

“Will you let us do this for you?” I asked her.  “We really want you to be closer to us.”

“Normally I wouldn’t accept such generosity,” she said.  “But I can’t say it wouldn’t be nice to not be a
whole
hour away from you girls.  Do you think I could help design it?”

I smiled.  “I know the perfect person to draw up the plans.  Malcolm is a fantastic architect.  I’m sure he
would love to
help you design your dream home.”

“All right then, baby.  I would be happy to accept your generous offer.  Who know
s
, maybe I can pay you back by babysitting
.
”