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Ethel’s chicken and dumplings were the best Cabrina had ever eaten in her entire life. The food was so good that Cabrina ate seconds and went back for a small third helping, her appetite fueling her, leaving little room for the apple pie. She definitely was not planning to eat the blueberry one. I hate blueberries.
Zeke said very little to Cabrina as he watched the interaction between the two women. Mary, Tameka, and Cabrina sat on the couch sharing a quiet conversation as he, his father, and brother sat at the kitchen table. It took a moment, but with a bit of reluctance, Cabrina held Michelle, the questions that formed on her lips swallowed as the child touched her heart, opening a fresh wave of instant love. Zeke knew the feeling. Michelle seemed to have that effect on everyone who held her. His little angel was spreading her joy like an unwanted airborne virus. Cabrina too was infected with the outpouring of unfettered love.
By all accounts, so was his brother. In mid-sentence, Gabriel stopped talking. The man that always had something to say had been rendered speechless when his new wife took the baby in her arms. Cabrina bent her knees, resting her feet on the small tuffet Tameka had made, creating a mock bed for Michelle to rest in on her thighs. Unswaddling the blanket, Cabrina exposed Michelle’s pink polka dot pants to the air, holding her little feet in her hands. She removed Michelle’s baby booties to touch the tiny toes and place kisses on the bottom of her feet.
Cabrina’s heart was melting as she stared at the small child. Questions were in her mind about the baby, whether it was Tameka’s husband or the man who held her captive, but once the child smiled at her, Cabrina didn’t care. Michelle was here. She was loved by her grandparents, her parents, and most of all, her mother. The rest of it, she didn’t need to know because now, the little lady was loved by her, too. Before she realized it, she had begun to sing to the child. Her crystal-clear soprano, low, poignant, and aimed at the little ears caused Michelle to stop squirming, trying to focus her infant gaze on the blur making the melodic sound.
Gabriel too was focused on the woman with the angelic voice. His fork froze in mid-air, his mouth opened, and his vision distorted. The futuristic image of Cabrina holding their son, singing to him before she put the boy to her breast to feed, hit Gabriel in the chest like a boulder.
“Why don’t you just go over there and lick her, son,” Josiah said to his son.
“What?” Gabriel said, snapping out of the temporary trance. “Daddy, don’t be crude.”
“You’re the one sitting here about to slobber once she started singing,” Joe said. “I need you to focus, give me the latest Intel before your Mom and I head out.”
“Sorry, Daddy. The agents are getting briefings, and the satellite images show heat blooms of where the processing units are, but the Macklemores are armed to the teeth. The company is going slow to ensure that casualties are minimized before giving the order to move in,” Gabe told him. “Truthfully, I don’t know how I feel about them staying on this mountain, especially after everything we did to get them down it.”
“She loves this cabin,” Zeke said. “And stop talking about me like I’m not here.”
“Well, I ran into that Sheriff today at Ethel’s, and I don’t trust him. He may make a move before his last day in office,” Gabriel added.
“Let him come,” Zeke said. “I know Jimmy Don was on the property, but before I could go get him, someone beat me to it.”
“Mann?” Gabriel asked.
“I don’t think so,” Zeke said. “Harley was here with the Sheriff, and I tell you, I have never been prouder in my life of how Tameka handled the situation.”
“I want to know how she handled you naming her after your dead girlfriend,” Gabriel said.
“She was too busy being pissed off at me naming her SheNanay,” Zeke said, chuckling.
“How is everything working out for you two?” Gabriel asked.
“It’s early,” Zeke said, sipping the strawberry soda. “We have to take it one day at a time.”
Josiah was quiet as he noticed the slight tremble in his son’s hand when he picked up the drink. The shake wasn’t as pronounced as it had been after his surgery, but still evident. His movements were slow as well, which meant his reflexes too were hindered. It made sense for him to want to stay in Georgia.
Things were changing for his sons. The conversation earlier with Cabrina about burial plans had his old brain working overtime. Zeke would be the one who wanted his casket pulled by white horses to Arlington to be buried. Gabriel wouldn’t want to rock the boat enough to argue with his brother whereas Isiah was the wild card.
“Hey, have you guys heard from Bleu?” Zeke asked. “He went with you to Vegas, right Gabe?”
Josiah spoke softly, “I heard from him. He butt-dialed me in the middle of...hell, I don’t know what they were doing, but he was mewling like a stuck cat at whatever was happening with his pecker.”
“Daddy, what makes you think it was him mewling?” Gabriel asked.
“Remember when he broke his ankle? How he carried on every time I touched it? Yeah, it sounded pretty much like that only with drooling and throat noise,” Josiah said, shaking his head.
Gabriel put his hand over his mouth at the thought of the woman making his brother mewl like a horny alley cat. DeShondra Leman. He couldn’t imagine the two of them together. She was loud, brash, and outspoken whereas Bleu spoke six words at a time with three of the words destined to hurt your pride.
“He hooked up with the other friend,” Gabriel said. “By his description, Daddy, you may be getting more grandkids soon.”
“You said that with a plurality,” Josiah said, his forehead crinkled.
“As I said, based on his description, it may be plural,” Gabriel said laughing.
“What about you two? The way she is holding that baby may have set her hormones to work,” Zeke said.
“No time soon for us,” he said. “We have a lot to learn about each other before we bring a child into this nasty world. I may want to be out of the company when we start a family. You know, a normal life.”
Josiah asked, “Thinking of taking on a church?”
“No,” Gabriel said. “My life is not meant for a pulpit. My ministry is different. I am working towards the greater good.”
“Speaking of that, I made a few calls as well,” Josiah said. “The untimely death of Jimmy Don puts a crimp in our plans. Based on what Tameka told me, he acted alone. No one else ever came to the shack where he kept her, only him.”
“Do you think the Sheriff was involved?” Gabriel asked.
“Based on what she’s said, regarding her kidnapping, no,” Josiah added. “Mann went up and had a look about the place where she’d run from and nothing was left but a floor and a pot-bellied stove. If we pressed it, we wouldn’t have a case. It would be her word against a dead man’s and there is no evidence.”
“Hello, my wife is holding the evidence,” Gabriel added.
“Stop right there,” Zeke said in a low voice. “She is holding my daughter. That is my child. I will not have Michelle growing up knowing she has any ties to those people.”
“Well, you best make sure she doesn’t date any of them if you plan to stay here. She will wind up dating her cousin or worse, one of Jimmy Don’s other kids,” Josiah told his son.
“Irrelevant,” Zeke said.
“What do you mean irrelevant?” Gabe asked.
“She is never dating,” Zeke said adamantly. “I will pick out her husband and on her wedding day she will get her first kiss.”
Josiah and Gabriel burst into laughter at the absurdity of his words. Zeke acted as if he didn’t know enough about women to realize how stupid he sounded. Josiah stood up slowly. It was time to leave his sons and their wives alone to bond and play with blueberries or whatever in the hell they had scheduled for the next three days. He planned to make a stop in Kentucky to visit his mewling son and then on to his own bed. Pulling his wife away from the child was going to be tough. She was holding the damned baby again, and planning a shopping trip.
“Mary, stop looking at that child cock-eyed, get your shit, and let’s roll. I want to stop at Bleu’s for the night, then in the morning we roll on into Virginia,” Josiah said.
“My shit is already in the car, Mr. Bossy FBI Man,” Mary spat back, kissing the top of Michelle’s head before handing her back to her mother.
“Tameka, get your ass over here and give this old man a hug,” he said, watching Tameka walk over to him. “Next time I come back, I will bring you a pink gun. Zeke can teach you how to shoot it.”
“Oh wow. Lucky me,” she said, hugging her father in law.
“Don’t be shy, Burial Lady, get your curly headed ass over here as well and give the old man a hug,” he said to Cabrina.
Rummaging through her purse, she grabbed her phone, tossing it to Gabriel for a picture. Several images were captured of Josiah with his daughters-in-law, Josiah with his sons, and Josiah and Mary with Michelle. Cabrina’s favorite of all the images, however, was of Josiah and Mary with Cabrina and Gabe. One was also taken of Cabrina, Gabe, Zeke, and Tameka.
Mary pulled her to the side, as the family came out onto the front porch. She wanted a private word with her new daughter in law.
“Cabrina, of all of my sons, Gabriel is the one I worry about the least, yet pray for the most. He didn’t choose his path, but it was chosen for him. He has struggled most of his life to find the balance between his heart and his head. Which one will you care for most?” Mary asked Cabrina.
“Neither,” Cabrina said flatly. “I am going to care for his soul.”
“Good enough,” Mary said. “Once you get settled, you can expect a visit from us. I grew up in that house and always wanted to redo it. I look forward to seeing how you make it your home.”
“I look forward to welcoming you through our doors,” Cabrina said, hugging her mother-in-law.
The four of them stood on the porch, waving farewell as Josiah gave two toots of the horn, backing up and starting his descent down the mountain. A great deal needed to be addressed, but right now, Gabriel Neary wanted to hang out with his big brother. He had yet to hold his niece, nor have a conversation with his sister-in-law. However, he had allocated himself and Cabrina three days for the stay.
He planned to spend the time wisely checking up on the latest four members of his congregation of second chances, Tameka and Michelle Neary as well as Sharon and Rocky Mann. Although he didn’t stand behind a pulpit, his church was far-reaching and deeper than any of his family knew. These were the four they knew about. In his church, his parishioners were hundreds strong. Not all ministries happened from a pulpit and not all who showed faith sat in a pew each Sunday.
Gabriel understood better than most that faith was often shown by standing up and lending a hand to others in their times of need. If each member of his congregation could continue to pay it forward as Sharon had with Tameka, then the works exhibited showed that faith was not dead but living and breathing in each person.
“Excuse me for a moment,” he told his family. He needed to get his journal to write down a note to himself. A reminder that moving forward was power.
