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After a hearty breakfast holding the greasiest spoon that had ever sat beside a plate, Cabrina and Gabriel crossed the Georgia state line just past the hour of eleven and would arrive at Blairsville just before the lunch hour rush. It was Tuesday. Ethel at the diner was making her chicken and dumplings and apple pie. The apple pie was by far the best pie Gabriel had ever tasted in his life, seasoned to perfection and loaded with golden raisins and walnut pieces. He wanted a whole pie as well as a double order of the chicken and dumplings.
“Gabe, tell me about your relationship with your brothers,” Cabrina said when he slowed down, keeping an eye on the speed limit as they entered the mountain community.
“Not much to tell. Isiah and Zeke are doers, you know physical dudes that played sports and like to hunt and shoot. Me, I am the more cerebral one who hates hunting and goes fishing for the relaxation of it, but takes pride in an enjoyable book,” he said.
“I take it you got that from one of your parents.”
“Our mom is a retired English teacher,” he told her, smiling. “When we came here for a few summers, she’d come with us, making us read classical literature novels. I was the one who wanted to have long and lengthy discussions about the books. My brothers only wanted to read the ones loaded with action.”
“Your favorite?”
“I am partial to Pasternak, Tolstoy, and Dostoyevsky. I have read some others that I found to be a light reading, like Treasure Island,” he said. “That one is Zeke’s favorite.”
“I don’t mean to be nosy, it’s just that as an only child, outside of Tameka, I don’t really understand the complexities of sibling dynamics,” she told him. “She and I are total opposites and most times, I never really understood her. Is it hard to understand your brothers?”
“No need. We love each other and respect our differences. I stay out of their way and they leave me alone,” he said.
“As the middle child, I’m sure you found yourself to be the mediator in a substantial number of things,” she offered, thinking she had some insight.
“Nope,” he said flatly. “Our energy is not so complicated. Isiah likes to build things and is heavy into flipping old barns and farms he buys dirt cheap and sells for profit. Zeke likes to tinker and repair, hunt, fish, and live off the land. When he decided they would live in the cabin, it was no surprise to us.”
“They are going to stay here?” She said, sitting forward in the passenger seat.
“My parents gave him the deed to the land last week. They have plans to expand the current cabin, update it, and add a water closet and master suite. I will let them tell you about it,” he said, locating a parking space next to the Sheriff’s cruiser. “Follow my lead when we get inside.”
The Sheriff, a beer-bellied man who was a dirty as the panties Judy had stolen and chosen to soil, would more than likely be inside the diner. The streets were lined with vehicles sporting the State of Georgia symbol, which meant they were still working on the roads.
The jangling of the doorbell caused a few people to look up as Gabe and Cabrina walked into the diner, with Gabe leading the way to the counter. A stout woman, wearing a dingy white apron and a hair net sat on a stool behind the counter. Her ruddy cheeks reddened when she saw Gabriel’s face. Coming to her feet, she hobbled her way to the counter.
“Gabriel Neary as I live and breathe. Lordy boy, let me take a look at you,” Ethel told him.
The Sheriff took notice of him as well, almost sputtering out his coffee at the mention of Gabriel’s name. His eyes squinted as if it would enable him to better hear the exchange of words between Ethel and one more law enforcing Neary on his mountain.
“It’s Tuesday, Ms. Ethel. I would like to buy a whole apple pie and a full pan of your infamous chicken and dumplings for me and my family. This is my wife, Anne,” Gabriel said.
“I didn’t hear you’d gotten married. I knew it wouldn’t take long for some little hen to snag a cock of the walk like you,” Ethel said. She shouted over her shoulder, her thick neck barely rotating as she called out his order. “Gabe, you want a grape soda to go with that or has your palate gotten too refined?”
“A grape soda would be great,” he said with a smile. “Make it two and a strawberry one for Zeke.”
“I hear he’s a father now with a pretty little baby girl,” Ethel said, picking up the containers of food.
“Yes Ma’am, he is. A proud one at that. I came down to bring my niece a gift and hang out for a few days,” Gabriel said proudly.
This statement caught the Sheriff’s attention, and he stood up, waddling his girth over to the coffee pot to refill his cup, which was decorated with brown dribbles down the side. Cabrina kept her eyes focused on the man. His shifty stare made her uneasy, especially since he’d been gawking at her since she came through the door.
Sheriff Huckston cleared his throat, “Uhhm, did I hear you right, son? You one of Joe Neary’s boys? Which one are you?”
“I’m the one who does covert surveillance for the company,” he told the Sheriff. “I understand your last day as Sheriff is at the end of this month.”
“How do you know that?” The Sheriff asked as several people in the diner turned to look at the beer-bellied man.
“Your government always knows what you are up to, Sheriff,” Gabriel said with a coy smile, pushing the wide rimmed glasses up his nose. “Just because they don’t make a move, doesn’t mean they aren’t watching. Good for you and perfect timing.”
“Is that a threat boy?” The Sheriff asked.
“Sheriff, why would you consider that to be a threat unless you have a few things to hide?” Gabriel offered again with a smile.
“How long you staying, boy?”
“As long as I feel like it, Sheriff,” Gabriel said with a wider smile, daring the man to make a move. “I’m sure you don’t have a problem with that.”
Huckston’s eyes were now on Cabrina. He recognized the pretty lady but couldn’t put his finger on where he’d seen her. A picture. Aisha Miller’s friend. Cabby. Cabra. Close to it.
“I heard you tell Ethel that this is your wife. Does she talk or just likes to stand around adding her beautiful to a place,” he said with a snarl.
Cabrina took it as her cue, “You think I’m beautiful? That is so sweet of you. Gabe, you said everyone here was really friendly, I see why Tameka and Zeke wanted to make this home.”
“Young lady, I didn’t catch your name,” Sheriff Huckston said, moving his belly closer to her in an intimidating fashion. Gabriel moved to stop him. But Cabrina touched his arm to slow down the building testosterone standoff.
“I didn’t toss it your way, but it’s Anne. Anne Neary. A pleasure to meet you,” she said, stepping closer so her jacket buttons touched his belly.
“You look familiar,” Huckston said, squinting his eyes.
“Quite possible, especially if you know two women who can walk into a room and add beautiful to the place,” she said, giving him a smile and a wink. Quickly, she turned to her husband, snatching the Sheriff out of the intimate moment. “Gabe, we need to get moving.”
“Sure thing,” he said to Cabrina. To the Sheriff, he offered, “I know she is a babe, but I would appreciate if you stopped drooling over my wife.”
Cabrina paid for the meal in cash, holding tightly to the receipt as Gabriel said his goodbyes and led her out the door loading up the goodies. The aroma of food filled the car as the two fastened their seat belts, ready to head up the mountain.
“You shouldn’t have antagonized him,” she told her husband.
“Cabrina, if I had an extra pair of dirty drawers, I would have left them stuck in his coffee. Plus, you are one to talk, rubbing bellies with that buffoon,” he said.
“I didn’t rub bellies with him,” she said, folding her arms. Her heartbeat had increased tremendously at the thought of seeing her friend in a few minutes.
“Darn near...you know ‘two kinds of beautiful’...what was that about?”
“Why were you calling me by my middle name of Anne?” She countered defensively.
“Because he knows your face and the name Cabrina. He’s been expecting you to show up and validate that Tameka is, in fact, Aisha Miller, so he can make a plan, take her and my brother out because he has nothing else to do other than stir the pot or eat out of Ethel’s, and then retire,” he said.
“Oh,” she said, shrinking back in the seat.
“Every move with that man is a chess strategy. You have to be on your game, but I think you threw him off with your belly rubbing,” Gabriel said, enabling the turn signal in the vehicle to make the climb up the mountain.
“I wasn’t belly rubbing him!”
“Don’t matter. He has a dickey doo anyway,” Gabe said.
“A what?”
“A dickey doo. His belly sticks out further than his dicky do,” Gabe said, putting the car in a low gear as they made the ascent. The smell of Georgia pine trees filled the car, nearly overshadowing the scent of Ethel’s chicken and dumplings. They passed three driveways before coming to one with a Do Not Trespass sign. He knew that driveway belonged to Nathaniel Mann.
“Of all the things I have imagined about you, Mr. Neary, being the jealous type isn’t one of them,” she said.
“Neither did I,” he confessed to her. “I guess this whole love thing is new to me. I am trying to wrap my mind around all these new feelings. It’s making me all aggressive and protective of my woman.”
“If that wasn’t so totally archaic, it would be endearing,” she said.
“I’m trying to confess my love for you, Mrs. Neary. I may be doing a lousy job of it since I’m new at this, but the idea of another man looking at you too long brings out the He-man in me,” he said.
“The He-man in you. What about the minister in you? Gabriel, the minister of God, what happened to that guy?” she wanted to know.
“He will be the one telling any man that comes near you, they should be prepared to have a closer walk with Jesus,” he said, looking at her and laughing.
“That’s not funny, Gabriel.”
“It’s funny to me,” he said, making a right down a red dirt road. The vehicle rumbled down the hard clay, and she made note of the old blue mailbox appearing as if it were destined to fall over if not for the bushes bracing the back of the metal. Her nerves were getting the better of her, causing her stomach to roil. She hadn’t been able to eat much since the start of the trip. The steak they shared on the first night in Vegas had been the best meal thus far.
Wafting scents of salty chicken and thick floury dumplings didn’t help her current state. Not only was she about to meet her in-laws, she would also have a long overdue conversation with her best friend of over twenty years. In her heart, she knew the person she was about to see was not the woman she knew. This lady was going to be a stranger to her. The love they once shared had been rolled with a masher, and she was afraid to see the new product it had produced. I am scared.
I’m scared to meet his parents.
I’m afraid to see the person she has become.
I’m scared of this marriage she’s agreed to and the relationship she has with that child. Is it his brother’s or does it belong to the man who held her hostage?
Her heart thumped in her chest in fear of the unknown. Fear of what she was walking into, and fear of three days on this mountain now that her husband had sparked the ire of that Sheriff. Relax Cabrina. Relax. Go with the flow. You are not in control here.
****
THE CAR CAME TO A STOP in a graveled driveway in front of a two-car garage that was closed while a black SUV was parked outside. Gabriel, happy to see the old place, anxiously jumped from the car, grabbed the food, and asked Cabrina to bring the pie and sodas. They rounded the side of the cabin, to come face to face with two people sitting on the front porch in old-fashioned rockers. The planters that once held flowers were bare sans damp dirt, and the people seemed happy to see them both.
Gabriel had his father’s looks, except for his mother’s brown eyes. Mary rose to her feet, brushing down the front of her cream-colored blouse accented with perfect pink roses that matched the sweater she wore over it held together at the neck with one single button. Large, black framed glasses sat on her nose. She closed the book she had been reading as her gaze went to Gabriel.
“Gabe, we were getting worried,” she said to her son.
“Had to stop in town, Ma. I brought a pan of Ms. Ethel’s chicken and dumplings and an apple pie,” he said, placing the tray on the table on the porch. Mary Neary’s focus rested on Cabrina.
“And what do you have there, young lady?” Mary wanted to know.
“I have grape sodas and the apple pie,” she said.
“Good. If I had to eat one more blueberry anything, I was going to start driving for Virginia. We’ve eaten so many blueberries, my shit is blue,” Josiah Neary said getting to his feet.
“Daddy, for Pete’s sake. We just got here, and you are talking about your bowels. I have no idea why you think we want to hear about that,” Gabe said.
“I don’t give a shit about Pete or anything else for his sake. I am telling you ahead of time because that woman Zeke married has either made a bargain with a blueberry pimp, or she is hoarding a blueberry bush in the back of the house. Besides, if you are staying here for three days, then you may as well get ready for blueberry pancakes and pies and cookies and shortbreads,” Josiah said. “I am going to eat this whole damned apple pie just to get the taste of blueberries off my tongue.”
“Oh, hush up, Joe,” Mary said. “Is this the surprise you said you were bringing?”
She was looking at Cabrina.
“No, the surprise is the dumplings and apple pie. This is Cabrina, Tameka’s best friend of twenty years. She is also my wife,” Gabriel said, moving to the front door, ready to dig into the goodies that he’d brought. He carried the pan of dumplings with him as he left her standing there, twisting in the wind with an apple pie in her hands and two grape sodas. He would probably come back for the sodas, but not her. The man’s mind was always on food. He’d left her alone on the porch with his parents. One sideways introduction and like that he was off to eat.
Josiah and Mary Neary were without words as Cabrina raised her soda bag holding hand, waving at her in-laws. “Hi,” she said, suddenly feeling the need to throw up.
