Chapter Twenty-Three

Before the end of the week, Kira finally told Franklin about her dinner party as well as the people who were invited. He wasn’t obligated to come, but she didn’t want him to find out from someone else. At first, she wanted him there for moral support but then decided against it so her family could see that the message was coming from her. But she did invite a special guest. She didn’t know how well it would go over, but it was the only way she could see putting an end to the feud.

Kira meticulously thought out and planned her dinner. She realized that in the past she’d made impulsive decisions that didn’t get her desired result. She no longer wanted to come off as insensitive and unfeeling because she hadn’t thought things through or weighed the consequences of her actions. This time, she wanted to get rid of the “act first, think later” approach she’d taken before. Besides, her desire to fix things between the families was just as important as her future with Franklin.

She made sure Gail would be there by asking her to prepare the meal. Even though it was several days after her aunt Sophia’s birthday now, she wanted to not only celebrate it, but also put to rest any strife, gossip, slander, and backbiting concerning her.

Staring at her reflection in the mirror, Kira touched her cheeks, eyes, and lips, remembering the woman whose features resembled hers. Sophia Ann Davis was a beautiful woman, and Kira was thankful to at least continue her spirit. She hoped that after tonight her aunt would be proud of her efforts.

After she heard the doorbell, she whispered a little prayer and readjusted the jeweled brooch that she’d found in the bottom of the box. She walked out of the room, ready to put away old demons.

Gail had already answered, and her father walked into the room.

“Baby girl, you look so pretty. Just like my sister.”

“Thank you, Daddy,” Kira replied and kissed his cheek. “Come on in and have a seat.”

“It smells so good in here,” her father commented before sitting on the sofa.

“It was all Gail.”

“I’m so proud of both of you,” her father replied. “I haven’t been coming out to the inn because I didn’t want you girls to think that I was breathing down your necks. You deserve a fair chance.”

She hadn’t spoken to her father about the business because her aunt usually was the one who called the shots when it came to the inn. She was happy that he’d been paying attention, though.

Gail stood with her apron around her waist and over her blue dress. “Uncle, I’m so excited and can’t wait to show you all we’ve been working on.”

By that time, the doorbell rang again, and when Kira opened the door, her aunt, Gail’s father, Peter, and her other uncle were outside.

“Talk about timely,” Kira said when she opened the door to let them inside. “Hey, y’all,” she said, her heart suddenly filled with glee. She hoped it would stay that way. After her last guest arrived, she’d see.

“Come on around and have a seat,” she said, closing the door behind them.

Gail brought out a tray filled with drinks. “Would anyone like a tall glass of sweet tea?”

Each of them picked up the elegantly decorated glass with a lemon slice hanging from the rim. “Thank you,” Kira said when she took hers. “Join us, Gail,” she urged her cousin. She didn’t want her to feel like she was serving them. “This is for the family, so I want everyone to have a glass.”

Gail went into the kitchen and came back with an identical glass. She moved closer to her father.

Kira lifted hers high. “I’d like to propose a toast to family and Aunt Sophia.”

Everyone followed along and took a sip from their glasses. Kira put hers on top of a coaster from the cocktail table. “Now, I wanted to talk to you all about a few things outside of us celebrating Auntie’s birthday.”

“Go on, baby girl,” her father said, just as the doorbell rang.

Everyone looked at one another.

“Who else did you invite?” Mary Louise asked.

Kira rushed to the door, then opened it slowly because she knew that it couldn’t be anyone else except Charlie. She’d invited him and his wife to the meal.

“Mr. Bennett,” Kira greeted him, noticing he was alone. “I thought Mrs. Bennett would come with you.” She opened the door wider for him to enter.

“No, she thought I needed to handle this myself.”

Kira smiled. She could understand Shirley’s view. All of this happened before they knew each other. “I’m just happy you could join us.”

Watching her family react to seeing Charlie Bennett in the cottage was priceless, but Kira was going to quickly extinguish any nonsense before it started.

“Charlie Bennett,” her father exclaimed before shooting an angry look at Kira.

Kira knew that Charlie Bennett was like her father. He was a man’s man. He stood upright proudly in the middle of the floor.

“Good evening, everybody,” Charlie said plainly.

It wasn’t what Kira had imagined, because Charlie was a man of few words and she thought he would be angry. But he was just the opposite.

Mary Louise stood and pulled Kira to the side. “What are you doing?”

Kira gently slipped her arm out of her grasp. “Fixing something that has been broken for a long time.” She placed her hand in the small of her aunt’s back. “Now, let’s go have a seat and I’ll explain everything.”

Her aunt slowly moved back to her chair.

“Gail, can you give Mr. Bennett some iced tea?” Kira directed.

Gail didn’t move, so Kira walked over to her. “I need you to do this with me. You’ll understand everything in a minute.”

Reluctantly, Gail turned around and went back into the kitchen.

“Mr. Bennett, I’m so sorry. Please have a seat.”

Charlie went over to the armchair and sat down. Boy, the Bennetts really know how to silence a room. The place was so quiet that Kira heard her own heartbeat in her ears. It might have been her braveness with her aunt. She could feel her pulse racing, but she’d have to ignore it for now.

She sat in the matching chair next to Charlie. “Thank you all for coming here today.”

“What is this all about and why is he here?” her uncle Peter asked.

“I’m getting to it right now, Uncle.” She looked at them all, one by one, and it saddened her that they were angry.

She opened her mouth to speak—when the doorbell rang again.

“Who did you invite now, the devil?” her uncle Nathaniel said.

Kira knew it was a joke. Her uncle was one of those guys who told the same story, always added to it each time. She felt like the devil was already in the room, but she’d keep her mouth closed on that for right now. She was curious as to the other guest, but once she opened the door, she saw Franklin and Ben standing there.

Franklin stepped inside and kissed her on the lips. “Thought you could use some support,” he whispered in her ear when he hugged her.

His effort, coming there anyway, without her asking him, made her heart sing. He’d told her that he’d always be there for her, and that was evident in his actions.

“Ben, surprised to see you,” Kira said once he crossed the threshold. She knew that he’d come for Gail. She must have told him about the dinner for their aunt. Kira was happy that he was present, too. Maybe they’d find each other again, because Ben was a great guy and could handle her outspoken, spoiled cousin pretty well now.

“Looks like we’ve got a full house.”

“There’s plenty of food, Kira,” Gail said from the kitchen doorway.

Franklin stood close to her, and she felt good with him there.

“Everybody knows Franklin and Ben?”

Was she stalling? Yes. She needed to get her words together, so her desire for peace between the families didn’t backfire. She didn’t want it to be a full-on war in her little house. It would take some finessing, and maybe like Charlie Bennett, her relatives were tired and wanted to move forward.

“All of us loved Aunt Sophia. I don’t think she’d want you to treat the man that she loved the way you all have.”

“He deserved everything he got after what he’d done to my sister,” Nathaniel said.

Kira went over to him. “What did he really do, Uncle?”

“Baby girl, you’re going a little too far,” her father said.

“Daddy, please be open-minded about this.” Kira looked over at Charlie. “Wasn’t he your friend at one time?”

Her father was silent, but her uncle Peter stood. “You don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

Kira wanted to keep control of the room. She could feel Franklin inching closer to her, his hand in the small of her back. A reminder that he was there for her. “Yes, I do. Charlie came to talk to me.”

Mary Louise jumped up from her seat, her eyes like daggers on Charlie. “And told you what?”

Charlie stood as well. Kira admired his self-control. Unlike the way he’d acted when she first met him. “I told her the truth.”

He walked closer to them, and neither Kira nor Franklin stopped him. This confrontation needed to happen. “I explained to her how much I loved your sister. But you know that you couldn’t tell her anything. Sophia was bull-headed and determined to do what she wanted. She never let anything stop her.”

Peter stood and pointed at Charlie. “But you should have.”

“How? I had no idea that she was even in my car. I was in Waycross.” Charlie’s voice echoed through the room as he shouted.

Franklin rushed over to him, but Charlie pushed him away. “I’m only doing this for these kids.” He pointed to Kira and Franklin. “They love each other and want us to put the feud to rest.”

Mary Louise turned and walked away.

“It’s time to face it and deal with it, Auntie,” Kira said. “Villainizing Charlie didn’t bring Auntie back.” Gail came over to console their aunt.

“I do not believe that Auntie would ever want us to punish him for the unfortunate mistake that she made. We can’t heal. We can never heal by hurting him and his family,” Kira continued, staring at Franklin.

“I once loved this family because you gave me Sophia. When I lost her, it didn’t occur to me that you’d blame me. We were family,” Charlie said before walking back to his chair.

Kira could see Charlie’s words were affecting her father. His eyes were tearing up, and he kept shifting in his seat. He couldn’t want this to continue. “Daddy, don’t you miss your friend? This happened a lifetime ago. Can’t you forgive?”

“I’m not looking for pity or forgiveness,” Charlie said. “I didn’t do anything that warrants it.”

Kira stood in front of her family. “After reading Auntie’s letters and the stories that Aunt Mary Louise told me on her birthday, I think that we owe Charlie an apology.”

After she’d made the statement, it was like their movements went into slow motion.

“And why didn’t any of you tell the younger generation that Aunt Sophia had a heart condition?”

Gail gasped. “Is that true?” She looked to her father. “Daddy? Is she telling the truth?”

Kira didn’t answer. She waited to see if her father or any of the others would comment. Finally, their aunt nodded. “Yes, we found out a few months before her seventeenth birthday.”

Gail, who was on her knees next to her aunt’s chair, stood. “So, are you telling us that even if she hadn’t had the accident, there was a good chance she was going to die anyway?”

The horror on Gail’s face was genuine, and Kira believed that the only reason, like so many other families, that her cousin hated the Bennetts was because they were taught to dislike them.

When their uncle Peter dropped his head, Kira saw tears stream down Gail’s cheeks. “So we hated this man for nothing? I don’t understand.”

Kira’s father stood. “Charlie, I was so hurt when this happened. My sister hung on every word you’d said, so I thought you let her drive the car that day. I was so angry at you, I couldn’t see straight.”

Charlie moved a bit closer. “But, Sam, you never asked me.” He pointed at each of them. “None of you never asked me how I felt or how she got my keys.”

“Daddy, it was grief,” Kira interrupted. “Pure grief. Your sister was gone and you needed to find someone to blame.”

Her father and Charlie stared at each other for a long time. Kira opened her mouth to say something when Franklin touched her in the back. “Come on, baby, let’s give them a little space.”

Kira turned and hugged Franklin tight. “Thank you for coming.”

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but here with you,” Franklin replied, leading her out of the room. He gave Ben a nod, who grasped Gail’s hand and took her into the kitchen.

Out of earshot of the rest of her family, in her room with the door closed, she sat down on the bed. Franklin followed. “Why did you bring me in here?” she asked.

Franklin shrugged his shoulders. “There is forty years of pain in that other room. I think you’ve done your job by bringing them together. Unless we hear glass breaking, I say, let’s give them time.”

“Do you think it will work, or have I made a bad situation even worse?” Kira asked, leaning on Franklin.

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “I’m so proud of what you’ve done today. I had no idea when you said that you needed to talk to your family, you’d do something like this.”

She released him, then looked into his eyes filled with pride. “You said that you wanted to experience life with me. I didn’t want anything to stand in the way of it. And besides, I really believe that my aunt Sophia would have wanted it this way.”

Franklin kissed Kira. It was possessive and filled with passion that left her breathless. When she opened her eyes, she saw that his gaze was still on her. “I love you, Kira. Your strength, determination, and wit are alluring. I love your loyalty to your family, but also your willingness to see the truth in every situation.”

She’d never tire from hearing those words from him. “Yes, I love my family and would never betray them.” She hugged him to her. “I love you, Franklin Bennett, for helping me see what the hurt our families had endured affected everyone.” She held him close. “I didn’t want to lose the chance to explore passion and all that comes with it.”

“You won’t, because I’ll be right here with you.”

He kissed her again, but this time Kira took over with a demanding and hurried act. Franklin released himself. “We’d better quit while we’re ahead. We wouldn’t want anyone to walk in here on us.”

Just as soon as the words came out of his mouth, there was a knock on the door. Franklin went to open it.

It was Gail. “Hey,” she said. “They want us out there now.”

Kira squeezed Franklin’s hand and braced for the worst.

Walking into the living room, Kira didn’t know what to expect. She’d crossed her fingers that, since they hadn’t broken her furniture, it was okay. But then she had to remember that they weren’t teenagers anymore. They all had led full lives and were getting ready to retire if they hadn’t already.

Everyone was still in their respective places. They weren’t smiling, but they didn’t have those angry faces that she’d seen earlier.

Kira’s eyes went to her father. “Daddy?” She waited for him to acknowledge her. He stood.

“I know that one conversation isn’t going to erase our feelings, but I’m going to let this go.”

Peter stood. “Just like that?” He snapped his fingers.

“Yes. Come on, y’all, let this go. All the gossip, innuendo, blame. All of it.”

“I can’t believe you, Sam,” Nathaniel said.

It made sense to Kira that one conversation couldn’t wipe away all those years, but a change in their thinking was a perfect first step.

Her father went over to Nathaniel. “Brother, I get it, I really do. I blamed him. Damn right I did, but after a while I noticed that it didn’t take the pain away from losing Sophie.”

Her aunt sat with her legs crossed at the ankle, but she was clenching her handkerchief with her fist in her mouth.

Nathaniel stepped to Kira’s father. “So I see you’re going to be a traitor like your daughter.”

“Oh, so we’ve betrayed the family because we’ve acknowledged the truth.” Her father shook his head before reaching out to Kira. “Look, my daughter is in love and I didn’t know it. You know why? She was afraid to come to me because of the family he belongs to.”

He squeezed Kira’s hand, pulling her toward him. “I don’t ever want her to be scared to tell me anything.” She wrapped her arms around his waist. “I will stand by her.”

In a bold move, Mary Louise stood, and Kira watched her carefully as she walked over to where Charlie was sitting. He stood immediately, ready to listen.

“Charlie, my sister loved you. It was the last thing she told me at the hospital. She also told me to give back the string of pearls that you’d given her so that you’d have something to remember her by.”

“Is that why you wouldn’t allow me to see her when I came to the hospital?” Charlie asked.

Nathaniel stepped in front of his sister. “Nope, that was me. I told them they shouldn’t let you back there. Plus, she was gone by then. Nothing left to say.”

Mary Louise turned to him. “You were wrong, brother. We all were wrong.”

Kira couldn’t help but let the tears fall, because she knew from reading her aunt Sophia’s letters how important those pearls were to her. She also recognized her aunt Mary Louise’s courage to finally repeat her sister’s words to the man she loved.

Her aunt’s words didn’t seem to affect Charlie. He was receptive and listened carefully.

“Thank you for sharing, Mary Louise, and I’m not surprised. We loved each other.”

“I understand that now. I think, over the years, my blame turned into guilt. Me feeling guilty for accusing you when you had nothing to do with it.”

Samuel extended his hand to Charlie. “I apologize for all of it. Mistreating you, ignoring you…banning you from the funeral I regret most, because we can’t do that one over.”

Kira grabbed Franklin’s hand as she watched their fathers come to an understanding. She leaned into him, and he kissed her forehead. Then her aunt Mary Louise came right behind them and did the same.

“I can never undo what I’ve done emotionally to you, Charlie, but I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”

Charlie held his hands up. “Look, I don’t need an apology. I just want us to support Franklin and Kira. They shouldn’t continue to pay for things we can’t let go of.” He turned to Franklin. “That includes me not wanting to discuss it. I loved Sophia Davis, and I’m not ashamed of it.”

“I think it’s time for us to have a seat and share a meal,” Gail said.

Kira swatted at her playfully. “You just want them to taste that lobster mac ’n’ cheese you made this morning.”

Charlie came over to her and extended his arms. She walked into them and they embraced each other. “Thank you so much for this breakthrough. I wouldn’t have ever heard Sophia’s last words to me.”

“You’re so welcome, Mr. Bennett. I’m so glad you came.”

Kira stepped back. “Aren’t you going to stay for dinner?”

Sorrowfully, he shook his head. “No, I think we’ve been through too much. Have a nice dinner with your family.”

Her father approached them while they were in the conversation. “Charlie, it was good to see you.”

Mr. Bennett moved his head. “We’ll have to make a date to go fishing, Sam.”

“Yes, I’d love that, and then you can tell me all about your family.”

Kira was satisfied as she watched her father and his old friend interact. Even though there was still a bit of a strain there, at least the two men had taken the first step.

“Sweetie, I’m going home, too,” her father said. “I need to sit with my thoughts.” He gave Franklin his attention. “You and Kira come by the house tomorrow so that I can get to know you a little better.”

“We sure will, Mr. Davis.”

Charlie and Kira’s father went out the door together, leaving her two uncles and her aunt. Peter walked toward her.

“I think we’re all going to get out of the way. Let you kids enjoy your dinner.”

“We were supposed to be celebrating Aunt Sophia’s birthday,” Kira replied, wondering what they were going to do with all the food Gail prepared.

“I think tonight, we gave her the best present ever. I’m satisfied with it.” He hugged her before beckoning for his brother to follow him.

As her uncle Nathaniel walked past her without a word, Kira didn’t fret. Everybody processed things differently, and it might take some a bit longer to let the situation go. She knew in her heart that what she’d done tonight was the right thing.

“Auntie,” Kira called as Mary Louise picked up her handbag, heading for the door.

Mary Louise kissed Kira on the forehead. “I’m tired, baby. I’m going to rest.”

“Gail can make you a plate,” she replied, then whispered. “If she doesn’t get you to taste her lobster mac, she is going to have a fit.”

Before she could even tell Gail, she came out of the kitchen with a container filled with goodies from the dinner they’d planned.

“This is so sweet, baby. Now, when my brothers find out, they are going to say that you girls are playing favorites.”

Both Kira and Gail leaned in. “We are.” All three of the women chuckled.

Kira watched her aunt leave, and once the door closed, she dropped her body down on the couch. “Oh my God, I feel like I’ve just fought a war.”

Gail started tapping her foot loudly on the wood floor.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve got tons of questions, but I don’t want my food to get cold again. I’ve warmed it up several times.”

Franklin got up and gave Kira a hand. “Girl, that lobster mac is going to be like rubber.”

“You’ve got jokes, cousin. Just come in here so we can eat. I guess we can act like it’s a double date.”

Mentally she was tired, but resolving the longest feud in the history of Clover Creek gave her renewed energy. And Franklin and Kira were finally free to love each other.

They all sat down at the beautifully set table. Kira and Franklin shared a kiss before she raised her glass. “Let’s toast to Aunt Sophia. May she now rest in peace.”