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He’d never seen her dressed for comfort. The long caftan hid her shape, but the low neckline did more than hint at the fullness of her breasts, especially when she crossed her arms over her chest. Her feet were bare, except for a bracelet that jingled when she padded across the porch. The expression on her face was amicable enough though he expected more of a scowl. A week had passed since she said she’d think about dating him, and he’d sent her roses every day. Not once had she responded. It was time for the direct approach. He drove over and thought he’d just walk up to her house and knock on the door. He was going to lay it all on the line again. As he’d walked up from the driveway, she suddenly exited the house as if to greet him.
“If you came to fire us,” she blurted when he joined her on the porch. “Don’t waste your breath. We’ve already decided to decline the mayor’s offer.”
“Oh? Why would you do that?”
“The police don’t appreciate our interference, and I don’t really care for all the nervous tension.”
“But I thought you wanted to work on solving crimes among the supernatural. You need an in with the PD for that.”
“I’ve got you, don’t I? I mean, I’d love to help you, the way you helped me at Jerome’s mansion. We were great that night.”
“Yeah.” His breath caught in his chest at the memory of their first kiss. “Yeah, we were great that night. We can be great in other ways too. I didn’t come over to talk about work.”
She glided past him to the railing in front of the porch. She turned, regarding him with a smile. “I know that and I’m glad you came over.”
“You are?” Would wonders never cease? Hands in pockets, he sauntered up beside her, close enough to smell the vanilla and honey hairdressing in her freshly shampooed tresses. Barefoot she stood short enough to look up into his gaze. “Then you’ve been thinking it over?”
“I’m not sure if it’s right, Omar. But I have been thinking about it.”
“You don’t have to be sure, you just need to want to.”
“I do.”
“We’re talking real dates? Not that platonic jazz?”
“I mean real dates,” she said.
“You sure?” Because he wasn’t sure he could hold back that much and be alone with her.
“Would you like to take a walk with me? I’d like to get away from the house for a minute.”
“Sure.” She took his hand leading him down the porch steps. Sometime in that space of time, she changed her clothes into a pair of jeans with tank top and sandals. The night wasn’t particularly nice, but rather sultry. And there wasn’t a visible star in the sky. In silence, they walked down the sidewalk and down the block toward the park.
“Something on your mind?” She asked leading the way into the park pathway.
“There is something I want to ask you about.”
“Okay.”
“We met around ten years ago and I assumed we were around the same age. I was twenty-five. Well, me and everyone else aged ten years. You still look exactly the same. And I mean, exactly.”
“I was twenty-eight when I stopped aging. In a couple of years, I’ll be forty, the aging will start again but at a slower rate than for normals.” She stopped walking and stepped in front of him. “I figure by the time I’m sixty-five, I’ll look about forty.”
“Wow, about what I figured.”
“You aren’t going to get weirded out about it?”
“Naw, I’m more of a be glad for what I have today kind of guy. Right now, I am pretty glad.”
“For a walk to the park?”
“The walk was nice but this is the real moment.” There was no moonlight, not even a glow from a lamp post. Nor was there wind gently lifting back her hair. There was just her face turned up in his hands. Her eyes, her lips, and her smile. He kissed her, tasting butterscotch on her tongue. “Sweet.”
“Wow. You are still a great kisser.”
“So, you do remember we had a little bit of history.”
“A girl doesn’t forget the finer moments. Omar, I believe I owe you an apology. I’m sorry for ignoring your gestures and the flowers. They were lovely and I should have acknowledged them and you. I hoped you’d give up on me, but hurting you wasn’t my intention. You’ve been a good friend and-”
“We both know I want more than being a good friend. For a minute, I was convinced you wanted the same. I waited a decent amount of time after you split with Tanaka, didn’t I?”
“Troy wasn’t the only reason. I told you I care about messing up your life.”
“You think I’m not suited to be part of this supernatural world you live in, well, let me tell you something. This world is just the world. Everything has collided and we are a mixed up jumble now. I’m involved in this city as much as you are in my own way. And it’s not easy. The mayor is one bigot set in his ways.”
“And a crook,” she added. “Don’t forget to mention that.”
“I know what he is, and I know such establishments are on the way out. So does he, which is why he’s releasing his stranglehold on the police force. I’m not the only cop out there bent on making a difference. It might be a slow process, but we’re going to get this city on the right path. Hopefully, other cities will follow suit.”
“My, you’ve come a long way in your personal thinking and attitude.”
“The real world hit me in the face. I took a minute and I got with it.”
“I’m proud of you. You’re doing what Milton and I tried ten years ago.”
“Did you miss being a cop?”
“I didn’t have time to miss anything. Back then, Milton and I were red hot, not stopping for anyone or anything.” She smiled as if thinking of the memories. “Things were different back then.”
“You were having fun,” Omar surmised. “These days aren’t much fun for you.”
“Not like back then. You know what was fun with you?”
“Tell me.”
“When we went to Jerome’s to rescue Samantha. You did good work and looked good doing it.”
“Yeah?” Now, she was flirting with him. Turning on her charm for him for a change. Her smiling face and arms around him felt good. “I’m sure at some point you’ll get to see me in action again. In the meantime, if you haven’t had supper yet. There’s a seafood place I’d love to take you to. They have light music and dancing. Tempted?”
“It sounds lovely.”
~*~
The restaurant was rather rustic.
“Disappointed?” He slid into the booth beside her. He was pleased that she didn’t slide all the way to the other side. She stopped halfway, allowing him to get close without having to chase her around the table. The restaurant was rather rustic.
“Not at all. As long as the food is good. Anyway, I’ve heard the food and service here is excellent.” A hostess came right up to greet them and take their orders and promised someone would return shortly with their drinks. “I’m glad the city finally went through with the plans to build the riverfront up again,” she continued once they were alone again.” Remember how nice it was when we were kids? Remember the Aqua Shop? I think I bought at least a dozen goldfish when I was a kid.”
“Yeah, I guess we all tried to keep goldfish. I used to love Madame Glover’s Curios. She scared my brother and me to death with that eye patch. Was it true she was a Morlock?”
“I doubt it.”
“Whatever happened to them anyway?”
“They couldn’t simulate into society. They warred with everyone.”
“That’s right. Your mother... oh, I’m sorry, Velvet. I wasn’t thinking.”
“It’s okay. It’s a fact Mama was killed by Morlocks. Not long after that they were annihilated by the local wolf pack at the time.”
“Wow. I still can’t believe stuff like that was going on all the time and most of us hadn’t a clue.”
“It was a different time.” She smiled at the waiter carrying a tray of wine and glasses to their table. He poured them each a big round glass of red wine. “Thank you,” she smiled at the waiter.
Omar raised his glass, touched hers. “To the start of something good,” he said. He gave her a peck on the lips then pulled back. “Funny how we both grew up here in Fairlight, but I can’t recall ever seeing you around.”
“Most witches attend the Academy until the age of twelve then we joined public school.”
“Which high school did you go to?”
“I didn’t. I earned my diploma at home.”
“You were homeschooled rather than continue at the Academy, and you didn’t attend public school at all. I think there must be a story.”
“My powers manifested early and my physical appearance was different. I stood out and I was embarrassed.”
“What do you mean by different?”
“I could fly at five when it is normal at the age of twelve. When I was twelve, I was five ten with muscles. My teachers speculated I wasn’t pureblooded because my magiks were good, better than theirs. And since my skin was much darker than my parents, the tainted blood in me had to be from a demon.”
“You were bullied?”
“I tried to do like Grandma told me. Forgive and forget, but I couldn’t if someone put her hands on me or tried to throw a spell at me.”
“Good for you for fighting back.”
“You’d think, but Grandma was mortified when I was kicked out right before the end of the term. When I told her I was done with school, she informed me I didn’t have to go to school but I would have to take correspondence courses and spend alternating summers and winters with my great grand. Turns out it was the best thing that ever happened in all my twelve years.”
“You did turn out great, pretty lady.” He topped off her glass then his own.
“Thanks. Now, let’s talk about you.”
“Well, you know all about me.”
“No, I don’t. I barely knew you when I was a cop and that was years ago. You got married in that time and divorced.”
“I’d rather not talk about that with you.”
“Oh, here comes dinner.” The waiter pushed a cart out to their table and served the meal. He left and Velvet cut into her steak. “Mmm... delicious!”
“Try the shrimp,” Omar suggested. I occurred to him he’d never seen her eat meat before. She put one in her mouth and closed her eyes as she chewed. “Good?” he laughed.
“It’s divine.” She speared another bite of the juicy steak, put it in her mouth. “I don’t eat much meat. I don’t know why. But boy when I do, I can hardly get enough!”
“Would you like another one?” At the rate she was eating, the steak on her plate was going to be devoured in just a few more bites.
“No, this is fine.”
“Velvet, I can afford to buy you another steak dinner.” He motioned to the hostess who was passing by. “We’d like another steak with shrimp, and another bottle of this wine.”
“I didn’t mean to make a pig of myself.”
“You’re just hungry and the food is delicious.”
“It’s nice to sit down to a meal I didn’t prepare myself. Frankly, Omar, I was nervous about being alone in your company.”
“Nervous about what?”
“Not being interesting, unless I talked about work.”
“Nothing wrong with talking about work. It’s a big part of who we are. Actually, I’d love spending time with a woman that didn’t mind hearing about my day and understanding why I do it.”
“Your wife was afraid of your job?”
“Yeah.” There was no getting around it, Velvet was bound to keep asking and what woman wouldn’t want to know why the man she was dating was divorced. “I met her when I was undercover, had to wait two years to date her. We got married seven months into the relationship. She found out I’d been shot a couple of times and freaked. She acted like every time I walked out the door, I was going to be involved in a gunfight. I don’t know, all that being scared and nagging about coming home in one piece got old. And things went downhill from there. We put in five years. Maybe she was right. Seems like every time people go to shooting near me, I get shot.”
“You want to know how many times I’ve been stabbed, clawed and bitten, almost drowned in battle?”
“Not really, sweetheart.”
“You aren’t a magnet, Omar. You are a warrior. Great warriors have to get in there and get themselves out. You manage to get yourself out. May I ask you something?”
“Sure, I’m an open book.”
“You over her?”
Now, that was a question. He hated the marriage failed, but he was relieved when she walked out of the house. Even felt glad when the divorce was declared final.
“I loved her for a while, but she wasn’t the one.”
“You believe there’s a one? One somebody you’re supposed to have?”
“I don’t know. Is that what you think?”
“Once upon a time I trusted that. I felt it with Wilder. But after he-” She stuffed her mouth with a chunk of meat.
“He messed up,” Omar speculated. “Just like I did.”
“You didn’t do anything but be honest. What Wilder did borders on betrayal. I did feel betrayed.”
“What happened?” Omar set his wineglass on the table. “Anyone else knows?”
“Tyra- unless she told Rankin. Back then, those two were tight. It was down in a warehouse in the Grove. Jerome was storing silver bullets, I’m not sure if it was against the wolf pack or for taking out other vampires. Whatever he had planned was on a massive level. I changed every bullet to sand. He was pissed and came for me. Tyra took him though. She cut his heart out and handed it to me. I thought it was finally over. His heart was warm, almost hot, and he was on the floor bleeding out. Then there was a blur and the heart was snatched away, so was Jerome.”
“Wilder rescued him?”
“Omar, he swore to me years before that he’d kill Jerome if he came for me again. He said it to prove his devotion to me. I believed him.”
“And that was the end of you two as lovers.”
“I cleansed myself from his love bites, but he continued to drink wine blood I prepared for him. He made it last for years.”
“Your blood?”
“I think he’s run out of it finally.”
“I hope you aren’t planning to fix him some more. After what he did, you don’t owe him anything. Not your blood.”
“Maybe not.” She obviously wasn’t convinced. “I was the one that pursued a relationship with him. It took him years to come to me. I asked him to be with me knowing he had to give up everything, and he did. I also knew how close they were. Now, Jerome is missing. I know that is affecting him, but he won’t talk to me about it. Devon thinks he’s dead. I told him if he were dead Wilder would know, but Wilder is walking around calm and collected. But it doesn’t seem right. In the old days, he’d have confided in me and I hate the idea if he thinks he can’t.”
“Well, maybe Jerome just split the scene. Surely, Wilder will get over missing him or whatever is bothering him.”
“I’m not so sure about that. Omar, what if someone disposed of him in another way that might be worse than dead?”
“Seems like Wilder would know about that too, doesn’t it?” She didn’t have to answer, the tight expression on her face told him the idea had crossed her mind at least once. “Either way he’s out of your hair.”
“Um, I never told anybody this and maybe I shouldn’t tell you now.”
“Honey, you can tell me anything. You trust me, don’t you?”
“I trust you, but it’s not really that serious. I don’t know why I kept it to myself anyway.”
“Okay.” He knew she knew why. He was a cop and she had information about a missing person.
“The morning after he attacked Rankin and me, I went to the mansion right after sunrise.” She paused watching his face. “I knew he and Darnell were weak. I went to kill Jerome with my bare hands, and Darnell if he got in my way.”
“Velvet... you didn’t.”
“No, I didn’t. Neither one was on the premises. But on the front lawn were signs there had been a fire. And the faint smell of burnt flesh was in the air. And someone had been digging with claws. Inside the house, there was more fire that was put out with the curtains. I believe the fire started from outside.”
“Okay, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying before I got there, somebody had already dealt with Jerome. Had him powerless in the sun, let him catch fire. I think he was able to make it back to the house.”
“Then where is he?”
“I don’t know. But I don’t believe he left on his own. I think whoever let him catch fire took him.”
Damn. “Vee, I didn’t really want to get into this now.” Hell, he wanted to keep it to himself forever. That morning he wasn’t exactly at his best. For the last few months, he’d worried about being found out. He would definitely lose his badge this time. “You weren’t the only one at the mansion that morning. I was there before you arrived.”
“You?”
“He had you all in distress over Rankins’ head, and he tried to kill you.”
“How did you lure him out of the house so close to sunrise?”
“I knocked on the door and shot him several times in the face and heart then dragged him outside. He was in a lot better shape than I expected, so I doused him with holy water. I left him out of it by the gate. I didn’t even think about the sun until it began to rise, but at that point I wasn’t going back to shield him. Not after what he put you through that night.”
“You went to Jerome’s house to hurt him, for me?”
“I’d do it again, Vee. So don’t even think about chastising me.”
“I wasn’t going to chastise you. What you did take guts. Wounded or not, Jerome is no pushover.”
“I wish I had more guts that morning. I should’ve finished him.”
“No, baby. You don’t really wish that. Once you cross the line, it’s hard to redeem yourself. Cops can’t be murders. Somebody has to be righteous.”
“Me righteous?”
“Well, don’t look at me. I’m too far gone already.”
“Don’t say that, Vee.”
“I was joking, Omar.”
From across the room in a corner table, he spotted a man and woman gazing in their direction. The woman was turned in her seat frowning, sipping what looked like iced tea from a huge glass. “Vee, is that couple over there your driver and his wife?”
Velvet looked over and seemed to lose her good mood.
“Yeah, that’s them.” She put her attention back on her shrimp and steak.
“Something going on? She looks cross about something.”
“That’s Milly for you. I don’t see how Leroy puts up with her.”
“Dude keeps trying to turn his wife around. Uh oh!”
“What?”
“She just raised up, Vee! Oh my goodness, I think she’s fixing to come over here!”
“Omar,” she laughed into her napkin.
He took his napkin wiping his brow. “Whew, her man pulled her back down. That was close.”
“Omar!” She swallowed her food then went ahead and laughed out loud. “You are so silly!”
“If you’d seen the look on her face, Vee, is all I’m saying. Man!” She moved closer and took his arm. She moved even closer when he put his arm around her. He had her laughing, holding on to him for support. She was even prettier and sexier. “My heart is still pounding.”
“Stop it before I get the hiccups.”
~*~
“Come on in and meet Grandma.”
The lights came on as Velvet crossed the threshold. Omar entered taking her hand. Seemed like she was comfortable with him, he thought looking over at her leading him through the front room to the kitchen. An older lady sat at the table with what appeared to be a big crystal ball. Compared to Velvet she was quite small. She was also very pretty. On the table were cookies and lemonade. Fresh baked, Omar assumed from the smell of the house.
“Grandma, I want you to meet someone.” Velvet pulled him forward presenting him to her. “This is Omar. He’s a friend I met back when I was on the police force. Omar, this is my Grandma Hazel.”
“Nice to meet you, Miss Hazel.” He offered his hand. She stood up to take it.
“Well, it is nice to meet a friend of Velvet’s. Omar, aren’t you the detective?”
“Yes ma’am, I am.” He glanced at Velvet as he shook hands with Hazel. She’d told her grandmother about him. Good sign.
“Now, look at you! Velvet didn’t mention how tall and handsome you are. I bet you are a top detective too.”
“Well...”
“Sit down and have a glass of lemonade and some cookies.” She actually pulled a chair out for him. “Sit down, sweetie. Or would you rather have some milk?”
“Lemonade is fine, ma’am.” She took the chair closest to him and sat down again. Velvet went to the fridge and came back with a big jug of milk. From the cupboard, she chose a teacup and saucer. Looked like antiques. Hazel poured him a tall lemonade. Ice appeared in the glass. He did a double take to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. Hazel watched him take a chug. It was real sweet and tart. “This is the best lemonade I’ve had since I was a kid.” He took another swallow and tasted more than lemons and sugar. “Why Miss Hazel... did you spike this?”
“What else is rum for?”
“Okay, you two alcoholics,” Velvet said dunking a sugar cookie into her cup. “Omar wanted to have dessert at the restaurant. Something told me you were going to start baking tonight.”
“Well, I’m glad y’all came back. Devon and Carmen ate up everything then blew on out of here.”
“You know they don’t care for sweets.”
“Carmen is just trying to be like Devon. She still eats her Cap’n Crunch and Froot Loops just fine though.”
“Who’s Carmen?” Omar asked. He thought he’d heard the name before but wasn’t sure who she was among all the players in Velvet’s life.
“Velvet’s and Devon’s baby. Spoiled little thing.”
A baby? Velvet’s and Devon’s? The brownie dropped from his fingers. Devon was just a kid! Dumbfounded, he looked from Hazel to Velvet. She placed her cookie on her saucer and stared back. Well say something, he wanted to shout! How the hell did you have a baby with Devon?
“Do you have any children of your own, Omar?”
“No, Miss Hazel. I don’t have any children.”
“I had one child and then I got Velvet. One day I hope she gives me a real great-grandchild. Not that Carmen isn’t a blessing.” Hazel pushed back out of her chair. “Don’t get up, sweetie. It was nice meeting you, Omar. Don’t be a stranger now.”
“Same here, and I mean to spend a lot of time with Velvet.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Well, then. You might as well know I give you two thumbs up.” Hazel made the gesture then left them alone in the kitchen.
“Your grandmother is precious,” he said turning his attention back to Velvet from the swinging door. “But you, young lady, is a rascal just sitting there letting me die like that.”
“Omar, I told you about Suzanne bringing Carmen to me. Devon fell in love with her overnight.”
“Right.”
“Didn’t I?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. So much was going on then.”
“Grandma never gave anyone the thumbs up before,” she shared with a smile.
“Doesn’t surprise me. Miss Hazel is obviously a fine woman of quality and superb taste. Real pretty too. But you two don’t favor much.”
“I look like my daddy. He was almost seven feet tall. Want to see his picture?”
On the mantle in the living room, she chose a portrait to show him. “Whoa,” he said. Velvet’s resemblance to her father was amazing. Tall, very muscular, and dark, he stood posed with his wife. His blown out hair was long, hanging loosely to his waist. Though he lovingly held his wife by his side, there was a strong intensity between them. They were together as if forged in steel. “Your mom looks very young.”
“She was eighteen when she married Daddy. I was born six years later. I guess, I don’t look much like her, do I?”
“Nope, you are definitely daddy’s little girl. Is it true that your father was an angel?”
“Yes, and he’s not dead. Angels are immortal unless killed by another higher being. In our realm, they begin to age and can eventually lose their light and gift of flight if they stay too long.”
“These two look like they were supposed to be together.”
“After she died, Daddy returned home.”
“Heaven?”
“No. To be with a human being he had to fall.”
“As in a fallen angel?”
“Not like Satan. There are lower regions above us.”
“What a minute. When your mom died, he left? Why?”
“It was too hard for him after Mama died.”
“He abandoned you? That’s why Miss Hazel had to raise you?”
“He really couldn’t stay. It was the right thing to do.”
“If you say so.” How was it okay to leave your child behind after she lost her mother? He placed the portrait back on the mantle. He wouldn’t press it anymore since she seemed to have made her peace with it all years ago.
“Want to watch some television? There’s a new western series called Once an Outlaw about this Negro settlement and these outlaws that follow this school teacher to town. I started it last week.”
“Sure.” He followed her to the sofa and the set came on before Velvet picked up the remote from the floor beside her foot. She placed it on the end table and sat back under his arm. The lights turned off. A tray of cookies and glasses of lemonade appeared on the table. “So, do I get to meet Carmen?” he asked.
“Yes, but don’t be disappointed if she doesn’t give you a thumbs up. She prefers her men with fangs.”
“She’s a werewolf?”
“No. We aren’t sure what she is. I’m leaning towards half demon.”
“You intend to raise her yourself?”
“I had hoped Leroy and Millie might take her, but that Milly is one ignorant and bigoted woman. I was right to refuse them.”
“Then they did offer to take her?”
“Yes, but I knew Carmen wasn’t a normal child when she didn’t appear to grow at first. Devon noticed she has exceptional hearing and sense of smell.”
“Maybe that’s all there is, Vee. Maybe Leroy and Milly can raise her.”
“So can I.”
“Are you sure you should?”
“I can’t think of one reason why I shouldn’t.” The lights came on and Velvet moved down to the arm of the sofa, disconnecting herself from him. “What are you trying to say?”
“I just asked a question. And I am an officer of the court. You have an undocumented child that should have been turned over to family services.”
“Right. What’s family services going to do with a demon child, but kill it? Don’t look at me like that. You know it’s true. If it’s discovered, she can’t stand the sun, they will set her in it until she dies. Or if she needs blood to live, they won’t give it to her.”
“You think that still happens?”
“Go look for yourself and see how many supernatural children’s deaths in facilities are ruled natural causes. And then compare the rates of deaths to normal children.” At his silence, she got to her feet to stand over him. “Are you an officer of the court, or are you my friend?”
Wow, she was really going there. What did she think he was going to do? Run down to the courts just to report her? “I’m both, Velvet. I’d be remiss in my duties as both if I didn’t attempt to make sure you are doing the best thing for that little girl.”
“You think I haven’t thought about all this before?”
“Fine, Velvet. Forget I said anything.” He got to his feet feeling deflated. He had to go and open his mouth and question her. He knew she hated that. “This is how it is? I can’t express my concerns to you without you thinking I’m trying to undermine you, or whatever you think I’m doing? Is this how you treat all your friends?”
“Do you treat all your friends like they are stupid, or not qualified to make a decision on their own?”
“I think you are taking this way too seriously. Why can’t you see where I’m really coming from? I love you.”
“Omar, I told you-”
“And I’m telling you, I love you. You know I do, so why you want to treat me like this?”
“Everything was great until you started acting all like you had the answer to a question I never asked you.”
“Just tell me you did everything you could to find her family.”
“That’s it, Omar.”
“That’s what, Velvet?”
“I knew it was a mistake to date a cop.”
“Oh, we’re back to that? Anything to keep from getting too close to me.”
“Can’t say I didn’t try.”
“Like hell.” He struggled to keep from flaring at her, standing there with her hands on her hips, glaring at him as if he were her enemy when she knew damn well he was in love with her. “You think I don’t know what you’re doing?”
“I didn’t ruin a lovely evening.”
“This evening isn’t ruined. It’s you trying to back up again. Tell me, why you choose to reject me when it’s more than obvious we click together? Yet, you take shit off werewolves and vampires every chance you get?”
“Maybe because they’d never imagine I’d kidnap a baby or not have enough sense how to raise her!”
“I never thought that.”
“Right.”
“I didn’t,” he stressed. “I just don’t want you to overlook anything and make a mistake. We’re talking about a child’s life. And yours.”
“Do me a favor and worry about your own life, we’re all doing fine here.”
“Okay. Okay, I’ll do just that.” Lord knew begging and being patient had gotten him nowhere. “I won’t bother you anymore. Won’t spend half my paycheck sending you flowers. If it’s still Tanaka you’re holding out for, I hope you get what you’re hoping for, Velvet.”
“Good night.”
“Good night.”
~*~
After he had backed his car out from her driveway, she closed the door and walked up the stairs heading for her bedroom and met Hazel in the hallway. She was dressed for bed and probably about to check on Carmen before retiring herself.
“Your company is gone so soon?” Hazel followed her into her bedroom. “It’s still kind of early.”
“Yeah. He, um, has an early call tomorrow. Going out of town.”
“He seems like a really nice young man, Vee. Good vibrations I got from him.”
“Grandma, did you ever resent Daddy after he left me with you to raise?”
“Girl, where that question come from?”
“Omar. He doesn’t understand how a father would leave a young child after her mother died.”
“Velvet, Daniel couldn’t stay. And no, I never resented him leaving because taking care of you and raising you was my joy.” Hazel pursed her lips then joined Velvet, taking a seat on her bedside facing her. “When you were in the lower heavens, did you get to talk to him?”
“I’m not sure. It all seems like a dream. Since then I’ve been hoping he’d come home. I guess, this earth isn’t his home.”
“Not without your mama. Without Joy, he couldn’t live here.”
“I guess, like Omar, I don’t understand why I wasn’t reason enough for him to stay.”
“Oh, Velvet. Your daddy adored you.”
“I think he only loved Mama. If I were important to him, he would have taken me with him or stayed here.”
“Honey, he was a higher being. I don’t understand everything, I just accepted it.”
“Because he was an angel?”
“Well, I guess so. Velvet, why are you talking like this? You always cherished your father’s memory.”
“Why did he take a wife and have a child when he knew he didn’t belong here and couldn’t stay? Why get involved with a mortal human?”
“He saw my daughter and loved her and that was that, Velvet. The first time I saw him, it scared me to death. A beautiful man, so tall and dark. And his aura was pure gold. Not yellow, but gold. Your mother wasn’t afraid of him though.”
“She wasn’t afraid to love an angel?”
“No more than you were afraid to love Wilder. I don’t know which scared me the most. Wilder or Daniel. Seems they both disappointed you,” Hazel said with a rue smile.
Her grandmother didn’t need to be scared again so she kept the fact that she was in love with a man with two wolf spirits to herself. Another man that claimed he loved her but chose to leave her for something else.
“Grandma, after Granddaddy died, did you ever love anyone else?”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. Omar, thinks you are one heck of a woman. Real pretty, et cetera et cetera.”
“Well, truthfully there was a moment. I thought I had found someone else.”
“What happened?”
“A lot of things. In the end, it was rough.”
“Do you miss him?”
“Yeah,” she said rather wistfully and then a tear fell from her eye. “Oh me,” she sniffed. “It kind of hits me hard sometimes. I had such high hopes of sharing my life with a man again.”
“Did you love him more than Granddaddy?”
“What?”
“I never saw you cry over talking about Granddaddy.”
“Oh, Velvet. I loved your Granddaddy very much,” she declared tearfully then collected herself. “But when Thorne was suddenly before me, I felt like I’d never known love before. That should have been a sign right there that it would end badly.”
“Thorne?” Velvet tried to place the name with a face. There weren’t that many men Hazel allowed around the house. Could it be the affair was recent? Did she meet him in Europe? “I don’t think I know anyone named Thorne.”
“Velvet, I don’t want to talk about him now.”
“Grandma... is he dead?”
“I believe so.”
“Oh, Grandma! I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you ever tell me about him?”
“I couldn’t... I still can’t.” Stiffly, she pushed off the mattress then walked to the door. “Velvet, your young man seems to be a catch, and I think he loves you. In fact, I know he does. It shows in his aura. But you aren’t in love with him. Is that why you picked a fight with him?”
“Tonight reminded me why I walked away the first time. All he’s going to get is hurt messing around with me.”
“Maybe he’s prepared for that event, Velvet. All love affairs don’t last and aren’t meant to last. Hence the term affair.”
“What are you saying?”
“Don’t be premature in writing him off for someone you can’t count on.”
“Why does everybody assume I can’t count on Troy?”
“Oh, Velvet. I know you know why,” Hazel answered and walked out of the bedroom.
“No, I don’t. And neither does anyone else,” she retorted to herself. “Not until I see him again anyway.” And when was that going to be? How long was she supposed to wait for him to find his way back? Four months was already too long.