As usual, Ty did not fuck around. It was the nicest most stylish stuff they had, by far. Statement furniture, classy, unusual that was beautiful to look at and comfortable.
I freaking loved it.
They did Sunday deliveries which I also freaking loved.
The next day, I commandeered Ty to lug pots around, fill them with soil and attach the window box. While he did this, I started planting and occupied his mind by asking him (frequently) what he thought of my gardening efforts (in other words, every time I got one of the pots planted). He approved and was very patient with me distracting him every twenty minutes to drag him wherever I was working so he could look at a planter filled with flowers, spiked and trailing greenery which I could tell he gave not one shit about. Still, it kept him home, occupied and off his phone.
Then the furniture arrived and we became occupied with setting it out and assembling what needed to be assembled. When we were done, we took a shower together and then I occupied him by guiding him out to the lounger on our deck and breaking it in. It was good tall pine trees hid us from view on either side and at the front there was nothing but hill and forest. But Ty pulled the canopy up just in case. It hid the wrong part of us but it was something.
The salon was closed Sunday and Monday and Ty’s days off were Sunday and Thursday so I could keep him occupied most of the time but with me at work on Thursday and him not, this presented a problem.
I solved it by calling Laurie and asking for Tate’s number then calling Tate and dragging him into Distract Ty Duties. He said he’d do what he could and I knew he did when I got home to no Ty. Ty arrived an hour and a half later and when he did he told me he was at Tate’s helping him “with shit”.
Success.
Yesterday evening, another Saturday, he was again at his phone and I’d run a new play, mildly bitching about not being in the mood to cook. I bitched for about two point five minutes before he told me to get my shoes on, we were going out. We went into town and had Italian. Then we went to Bubba’s and drank with Ty’s friends. We didn’t get home until late.
Another success.
And that day, Sunday, I had my play sorted out. I told him we needed to hit the home wares store and he’d instantly balked. Garden furniture, he could do. Home wares, his reaction to the concept stated clearly were not his thing. I’d had to get creative with incentive for him to go with me, I did, he liked it, I liked it and he went, liking my incentive so much, I talked him into taking the Charger.
And I talked him into the Charger because I’d put something in the trunk.
Then I directed him to make a pit stop at a place I’d previously scoped out in Chantelle on the way to the mall. He knew why the instant we parked on the street outside the shop. I saw his face change when he looked at the sign but I got out of the car before he could say anything. I was standing at the trunk by the time he folded out and his eyes came to me but he didn’t speak.
“Pop the trunk, honey, will you?”
He held my eyes but said not a word.
“Pop the trunk, Ty,” I semi-repeated.
He popped the trunk. I reached in and took out the long, hard-sided cardboard tube in the back that I’d found in a closet in one of the middle floor bedrooms. I slammed the trunk and headed to his side, taking his hand in mine and tugging him to the frame shop. It took a mighty tug but I got him to come unstuck, slam his door and follow me in.
He picked the frame for Tuku’s pen and ink, we left the tube and then we went out to the Charger. We didn’t go to the home wares store but then again, that was a ruse so we didn’t need to. We went straight home so Ty could express his gratitude by fucking me on the couch, fast, rough and brilliant.
I was on a roll and hoping I was succeeding, making Ty’s time with me as good as it could be, something I’d want to do anyway, but something I was determined to do so he’d want to be where I was instead of where he needed to be so vengeance would be his. Krystal advised me not to stick my neck out. I was doing everything in my power to stop Ty from sticking out his. I liked his neck and head where it was. And I was hoping, the more I played this game, the less important his grand plan o’ vengeance would be and Tate could do his work. Or, if Tate couldn’t, Ty would give up and just live his life and for him to do it, I had to demonstrate it was going to be a good one, worth giving up his grand plan o’ vengeance.
And so far so good. He texted but if he wasn’t at work, working out or running, which he did in the mornings of his days off, he was with me or Tate.
And he seemed content, happy even, grinning more often, chuckling a few times and, twice, I’d made him burst out laughing. I was hoping these were indications that his nightmare was fading. I was hoping these were indications that he was healing. I was hoping I was helping him to get to the other side.
So now it was early evening and I was out on the front deck watering as Betty taught me to do. Sometimes, if the day was really hot, I had to water in the mornings and evenings after the heat went off the day. I was also feeding the plants on her schedule. They were looking good, filling out, blooming and I was a stickler for pinching off the deadheads so every bit was healthy.
And I was also studying the funny look on Ty’s face. We’d been together almost a month and some of that time he’d been closed off. I knew he still held his cards close to his chest. He didn’t let his thoughts or feelings show often but he did it and I was becoming attuned to his moods.
But that look was a new one I did not get.
Until I heard shrieked, “Alexa Anne Berry! Where you at, girl?”
My heart skittered to a halt, my mouth dropped open then I closed it only to open it again in order to whisper to Ty, “Holy fuck. That’s Ella.”
“Movin’ truck just pulled in the drive, mama,” he told me.
“Aaaaaahhhlehhhhhxsaaaaaah!”
That wasn’t Ella.
That was Bessie.
My heart started hammering, I smiled bright and dazzling at Ty, dropped the hose where I stood and raced by him, around the side of the house and down the walkway. I made it to the railing to see a short, white moving truck in the driveway, Ella, Bessie and Honey standing outside and to the side of it looking up at the deck off the kitchen.
“Ohmigod!” I screeched, “What are you doing here?”
Three heads swiveled to me and three faces split into huge smiles.
“Ahhhyeeeee!” Bessie squealed then disappeared under the deck and I knew she was going to the stairs.
“Girl! Look at you!” Honey shrieked then she disappeared.
“There’s my baby!” Ella cried then she disappeared.
I raced down the deck and hit Bessie on the fly as she got to the top of the stairs, arms tight, bodies swaying. Honey hit us and burrowed in so our arms moved to accommodate her. Ella came next and we affected a group hug, giggling and swaying.
Then we disengaged but Ella kept me close with an arm around me as I looked at her.
“What are you doing here?” I asked again.
“Well, you needed your stuff. So we rented a truck and brought your stuff,” she answered.
“Got us one of those GPS’s,” Bessie added, grinning at me. “Took us right to your door.”
“Ace crib, sistah,” Honey put in. “I am no mountain girl but this place is the shit.”
“This is true but I need a cocktail. You cannot imagine what bein’ in a big truck with these two for two full days does to a woman,” Ella told me. “They weren’t my flesh and blood, I’d be facin’ time.”
I grinned at her total lie. She’d spawned Bessie and Honey, she adored them and she put up with a lot from them and me and Ronnie. She did not do this without losing her ever-lovin’ mind on a relatively frequent occasion that often included threats of murder but she would no sooner carry them out, or lift a hand, than she’d voluntarily be boiled in acid.
Caught up in the moment, the surprise, I totally forgot where I was and why I was there until I heard Honey whispe
r a low, stunned, supremely appreciative, “Muthafuckah.”
Bessie, Ella and my eyes went to her then went to where her eyes were aimed to see Ty was standing, arms crossed on his massive chest, just outside the open kitchen door.
“Yo.” His deep voice rumbled and I sensed rather than felt the group quiver.
Everyone was silent and still for a moment, taking in all that was Ty. Since there was a lot of him and all of it was really good, this moment lasted awhile.
Ella broke it by saying, “I see in the mountains they make mountains of brother. I wish I’d known this forty years ago.”
Ty grinned. This caused another group quiver to glide through his female audience.
I experienced my quiver right along with my family then I realized what was happening and that it was brilliant, having them there but it could be explosive, depending on their reaction to the news of why I was there.
But this was family and always would be family and Ty was my husband.
So they had to know.
And they had to accept him.
Because he was family now too.
Therefore, I decided against stealth tactics and instead to launch an all of it out there in the open offensive and take my chances.
So I disengaged from Ella, moved to Ty and reengaged with him, sliding my arms around his middle, he reciprocated by sliding his arm around my shoulders.
My family watched silent and every last one of them had their mouth open, Honey, wide open, Bessie, partially open, Ella, lips parted.
Then I said, “Ella, Bessie, Honey, this is my husband, Ty Walker. Ty,” I tipped my head back to catch his eyes, “I’ve told you about my family.”
My gaze went back to the girls as the reactions started.
“The fuck you say.” That was Bessie.
“Uh… say what?” That was Honey.
Ella didn’t say anything but her eyes had narrowed.
My body tensed. When it did, Ty gave me a squeeze.
Then he spoke and I looked back up to him. “Get these sisters inside. Give them a drink. And give them an explanation. I’ll call the boys and get them over to help unload the truck.” I stared at him and didn’t move so he gave me another squeeze and murmured, “Now, Lex.”
I nodded.
He looked to the women on his deck. “Who’s got the keys?”
Bessie lifted a hand with the keys dangling from it. Ty let me go, walked to her, grabbed them with a muttered, “Thanks,” and walked around them to and down the stairs, pulling his phone out of his back pocket.
My eyes went from where he disappeared to my girls to see they were all looking at me. This boded bad things. Not many women on this earth would miss watching Ty move, even if it was just to walk down some stairs.
“Um…” I mumbled.
“Get that white booty o’ yours in the house,” Ella snapped, “now.”
I knew her tone. I was in trouble.
Therefore, I didn’t hesitate because I’d learned it was better when you were in trouble with Ella to face it fast, get it over with, accept your penance and move on. I walked into the open door and they followed.
Then I headed to the fridge while declaring with more hope than certainty I’d get away with the stall, “We’ll start with drinks.”
“We… will… not,” Ella countered and I turned around to see them all in, the door closed and they were huddled at the island opposite me. Honey had her hands on it. Bessie had her hands on her hips. Ella had her arms crossed on her ample bosom. All their eyes were on me.
“Explain,” Ella ordered.
“It’s cocktail hour and you guys just got –” I began but stopped when Ella’s arm snaked out and she slapped the counter of the island with her open hand.
“Explain!” she shouted.
“Ella,” I whispered but said no more, words clogging in my throat as they always did when she got that kind of pissed at me, be I thirteen or thirty-four.
“How on sweet God’s earth are you married to a brother I’ve never met?” she asked.
“It’s a long story,” I told her.
“Well, lucky you, your three girls got the next two weeks off so you got plenty of time,” Ella shot back but my heart skipped happily.
“You guys are here for two weeks?” I asked.
“Alexa Anne,” Ella said warning low.
I sucked in breath and took in their angry eyes. Well, Honey looked curious, not angry but Bessie and Ella were ticked. And this was because they knew why I might keep a secret from Honey but I had no good reason to keep a secret from them. Or lie to them. And doing either would draw the wrath of hellfire down on me. We were tight, Ella the only mother I knew, Bessie closer than a sister. They had my back and I had their love and I returned both.
So I had a lot of explaining to do and the only hope I had of doing it without hurting feelings was giving it to them straight.
I walked to the island and put my hands on it.
Then I said, “About two days after I left, I picked up Ty from a correctional facility in southern California. He’d just got done doing a nickel for manslaughter.”
Bessie closed her eyes and looked away. Honey’s eyes got huge. Ella’s head dropped to look at her hand on the island.
I kept talking.
“It was an errand for Shift.” Bessie and Ella’s eyes snapped back to me. “He wasn’t forthcoming about this errand. I thought he wanted me to pick up Ty and take him somewhere but he didn’t. He was presenting me to Ty as payback he owed. Ty needed a wife and that was me.”
“Girl,” Ella said low.
“No, listen to me,” I whispered. “He didn’t do it.”
“That’s what they all say,” Bessie hissed and my back shot straight.
“Well he didn’t,” I fired back and she blinked at my fierce tone. “You’re here two weeks, you’ll see. He’ll show you and his friends will show you. He got framed. I’ll explain that to you when we have cocktails but right now, that’s a part you need to know. By the time you leave to go home, you’ll feel it tearing at your heart like I do, that he got targeted because he’s got color and got in the sights of a dirty cop to go down for a crime he didn’t commit. But you’ll also leave knowing he’s a good man and I’m in good hands.”
“You met him a month ago,” Ella reminded me and my eyes slid to hers.
Then I replied gently and cautiously, “Spent a lot of time with bad, Ella, I know the feel of good.”
I watched her clench her teeth. It wasn’t a low blow, it was the truth and sometimes the truth hurt.
I pulled in another breath. “It started fake, a deal, me being his wife and he was going to get me free from Shift. Something happened and now it is far from fake. Now, we’re starting a life. It’s good. I’m happy. I have a job and he has a boatload of friends who care a lot about him and brought me into the fold the second I stepped foot in that door.” I swung an arm out to the door behind them. “No joke, the second we walked in they gave him a welcome home bash and mingled it with a wedding party. They didn’t know we were fake and by then, it had only been a few days, but we weren’t anymore. They don’t know what you know and I’d appreciate you didn’t tell them when you meet them. But what you need to know is I care about him, a lot. I’m trying to help him adjust to being out which isn’t easy most especially because of why he was in. And we’re starting something, something good, something I never expected I’d have and I’m going to do everything in my power to keep it and keep it good. Everything in my power.” I pulled in yet another breath, slid my eyes through a trio of women I loved and finished softly but with emphasis, “Everything.”
They looked at me and I let them.
Then Ella asked, “He got targeted because of his color?”
“He’s half-black and the local Police Chief is not a big fan of color and when he needed a fall guy and he lost big to Ty in poker, he chose him to take the fall,” I answered.
“Local? I thought he did time in Cal
ifornia?” Bessie asked.
“It’s a long story that requires alcohol but the cop business is a family business and he’s got a cokehead brother in California who needed a problem solved. Against his will, Ty solved it and he lost five years of his life doing it,” I replied.
“That’s just terrible,” Honey whispered.
“Yeah, it is,” I stated firmly. “Unimaginably terrible. Crushingly terrible.”
“You’re in love with him,” Ella said quietly and I looked to her then I held her eyes.
Then I whispered, “Yes. Falling in love, yes, I am, Ella. Fast. He bought me diamonds. He bought me a wedding bouquet. He bought me a Treasure Island snow globe.” I pointed to the sill, her eyes followed my finger then I dropped my hand and her eyes came back. “He took me to Moab. He brought me to this house. He gave me his friends. He gave me his protection, dragging me out from under Shift. He gave me freedom from that. The air I breathe now is clean. Fresh and clean. And its air I share with Ty. He gave me all that and it took over a week for me to make him laugh.” I leaned forward, “Over a week.”
Ella closed her eyes slowly and opened them. She knew what this meant. I was funny and I was funny because she taught me how to be. The Rodriguez family might never have had much but they always had a lot of laughter.
I kept going. “I’ve been with him nearly a month and he’s laughed full out three times. Only three. He gave me all that and I’ve managed to make him laugh three times. This is what I’m dealing with. He’s generous, he’s gentle, when he talks to me soft it’s like a gift, when he calls me ‘baby’ or ‘mama’, I feel it in my heart, my belly. So yes, I’m falling in love with him. And you give him a shot, you will too.”
“I’ll give him a shot,” Honey said instantly, because that was Honey. She wasn’t bright but she was loving, she was open and she’d give anyone a shot, sometimes when they didn’t deserve it.
But Ty did so I looked to her and smiled a grateful smile.
Then my smile wobbled when I looked at Bessie. “Bess?”