“That must have been very lonely for you.” Lucky reached out, taking her hand then pulling her closer to side, wrapping an arm around her waist. Willa leaned against him, placing her arm across his broad shoulders.
“Sometimes, but I would use the time to read my Bible or bake once I was old enough. I spent summers with my grandmother since she was a teacher and had summers off. She was the one who taught me to cook and bake.” Willa smiled, reminiscing.
“Your mother didn’t let you cook?” Winter asked sharply.
“Oh, no. My mother was the only one allowed to serve my father. She would feed me my food before he went to work and before he came home. Then she would wait at the door twenty minutes before he came home.”
“That must have been difficult for you,” Lily said.
“No, it was very structured. I would spend two hours with my father every evening doing my homework. My father was very intelligent.”
“Yes, he was.” Jewell’s sarcastic voice didn’t make it seem like a compliment, and Willa frowned.
“Don’t misunderstand. My father and mother were very much in love. They were enough for each other. I was the accident. I was the one in the way.”
“They actually told you this?” Lucky snarled, pulling her closer to him.
“My mother did when I misbehaved or didn’t do my Bible lessons.”
“Your Bible lessons?”
“Yes, every good, Christian girl should know her Bible. She used to say a quote, and I would tell her what scripture it was. Or she would reverse it and tell me the scripture, and I would tell her the quote. I would study my Bible every night after dinner while my mother and father watched television. She would sit on the floor and lay her head on his knee while he sat on the couch. It was beautiful watching them together.”
Willa’s attention was diverted when Winter made gagging noises, which she stopped when Viper sent her a stern look.#p#分页标题#e#
“My father would look at my mother like that all the time. I miss them when I think back on my childhood.” Willa glanced down at her watch. “Ready, Lily?”
“Yes.” Lily gave her husband a kiss before taking her son who had been sitting on Shade’s lap while Lily ate her breakfast.
“Have a good day, angel.”
Willa smiled, thinking her friend blushed as much as she did.
Willa started to leave, but Lucky kept her pinned to his side. “I don’t get a kiss?”
Willa bent, giving him his kiss.
“You going to be at the church all day?”
“Yes. I’m filling orders today, and Carl will be making the deliveries.”
“Call me when you’re on your way home.”
“All right,” Willa agreed, rushing after Lily out the backdoor.
Lily wouldn’t carry the baby down the front steps; she always used the side path to the parking lot.
Driving into work with Lily and John was one aspect of the club she was enjoying. Lily would let her pack the baby into the church store and hold him while she set up the register. She missed being around Lucky during the day and worried constantly about him being alone with the women members until Lily told her they worked in the factory until five. As a result, Willa always made sure she was home by four-thirty. She didn’t want anyone fulfilling any of her husband’s needs except her.
“That woman needs to grow a backbone,” Winter said, glaring accusingly at Lucky.
“I’ve told her not to wait on me. She’s getting better. When we first married, she wouldn’t let me get my own plate.” Whenever he had told her he could do something for himself, she would give him a wounded look that had him backing off. Therefore, Lucky had gone slowly, not wanting to hurt Willa’s feelings.
Shade stood, going to the kitchen counter to fix himself a plate of food. “Is it me or did her mom and dad’s relationship sound like a Dom/sub relationship?”
“It sounded fucked-up to me,” Jewel said, pushing her plate back angrily. “I wish that bitch was still alive so I could shove that book up her ass.”
“Me, too,” Lucky said. “Her father was wealthy as shit, but he only gave Willa’s mother a small allowance. Willa won’t buy dish soap unless it’s on sale. She works her ass off baking, gives most of it away, and still manages to live on the income she has left. Meanwhile, she has enough money that she wouldn’t have to work for six lifetimes. She’s already made her will, leaving almost everyone in town money, but she won’t buy herself a fucking pair of panties unless they’re on sale.”
Rider perked up. “She leave me anything?”