Vice(33)

"Dolly." I swallowed back a laugh at the shocked look on Abraham's face.  You would think after two days with her in Savannah he'd be a little  more used to the fact that she didn't have anything even close to a  filter. "A simple ‘hello' would have sufficed."

"Well, I did miss him and he should have come to see us." She sent me a  quick glare and pout before turning back to him, all smiles. "We have a  new house. I have my own room. And my own bathroom."

"That's pretty cool." He recovered quicker than I thought he would,  bending down and picking her up, settling her on his hip as if she  wasn't a solid sixty plus pounds of excited, wiggly kid. "So cool, in  fact, that I thought we needed to celebrate so I brought you pizza."

"Pizza!" Her shout was loud enough to have both me and Abraham jolting.  He lost his grip on her and she slid to the floor, which turned out to  be for the best since as soon as her feet touched the tile she was  running out of the room yelling that there was pizza for dinner. Abraham  and I stared at each for a moment before he said, "If you're looking  for some sort of school activity for her, I would recommend choir. Or  drama."

"She definitely wouldn't need a microphone." Crossing the room, I rose  up on my toes and took his lips in what was intended to be a short kiss.  Of course, the instant I was pressed against him, he wrapped one arm  around my waist, sinking his other hand in my hair and deepening the  kiss. I drew back enough to murmur, "The kids are going to be down here  any second."

"And?" He kissed the corner of my mouth, scratching my scalp lightly. "I  don't know how to break this to you but they should probably get used  to the sight of me kissing you because I plan to do it as often as  you'll let me."

"Still." My brain went fuzzy when he flicked his tongue over my earlobe  before giving the sensate skin a quick bite. "Uh, still. We should  probably not be so... obvious." I was pretty sure that was the word I  was looking for but I wasn't certain. I'd never met a man who could wipe  out all thought processes with so little effort. Actually, if I was  being honest, I'd never met any man who could turn my brain off the way  Abraham did. Pushing that thought aside, I whispered, "Why did you close  the bar?"

"Because I wanted to come see you-and the kids-and there was nobody to  run things while I was gone." He turned us until he was able to trap me  between his body and the counter, continuing to massage my scalp as he  moved on to kissing my neck. "It's okay. The bar can stand to be closed  for a night. I couldn't stand not seeing you for another day."         

     



 

"Abraham." Something skittered over my nerves and I started to pull  away, freezing when he tightened his grip. Meeting his gaze with mine, I  said, "I'm trying. But I need you stop pushing. I'm not too proud to  admit when you say things like that, some part of me starts to panic."

"You ever think maybe it would be good for you to panic? Let go of some  of that control you're so proud of?" He stroked his hand up and down my  back, scraping his thumbnail over the vertebrae with each pass. "I get  you've been on your own for a long time and maybe you don't think you  have anybody to lean on but you do. I'm right here."

Before I could ask him for how long, I heard the already too familiar  sound of footsteps clamoring down the stairs. This time when I tried to  pull away he let me and I gave my hair a quick finger comb before Dolly  and Conway ran in to the room, Tammy and Kitty following at a more  sedate pace. Forcing my lips up in a smile I hoped was more easy than  macabre, I said, "Look, our first guest. And he brought us food."

"Pizza." Tammy didn't sigh but her shoulders slumped and her face darkened. "I can't eat-."

"Hold on there, kid." Striding over to the island, Abraham pulled the  bottom box out of the stack, spinning it around opening the lid,  presenting it to Tammy. "Very, very light sauce and I had Sally cut back  on the spices." He held the box out to her, waiting patiently while she  stared at him as if he'd grown a second head. "Had to listen to her  complain about how I'm committing sacrilege and destroying the sanctity  of food but she did it."

"Thank you." She took the box, continuing to stare at him as if she was  actually noticing him for the first time. After a moment, she turned to  Kitty and said, "Do you want to share? You were saying earlier you had  some heartburn."

"Oh, that probably would be for the best." Kitty shot me an apologetic  look, as if she should be ashamed over a basic bodily function. I  noticed she did that quite often, something which only made me dislike  her parents all the more. "If I don't nip the heartburn in the bud, the  baby will spend all night kicking me and I won't get a wink of sleep."

"Conway wants cheese tonight." Dolly looked at him for confirmation,  waiting until he nodded before turning to me with her hands on her hips.  "Me, too. Please."

"At least you remembered to say ‘please'." I scrubbed my hands over my  face before turning a slow circle. "And now I have to remember where we  put the plates."

"One of those boxes doesn't actually have pizza." Abraham nudged me out  of the way, spreading the boxes over the counter and opening each one.  "I told Sally you probably weren't going to be in the mood for dishes so  she loaded you up with paper plates and napkins. And there are drinks  in the car but I didn't have enough hands."

"Oh." I tucked my tongue in my cheek to keep from asking him how much  everything had cost. Something told me it would start an argument I  didn't have the energy to see through to the bitter end. "Tammy, why  don't you and Kitty go get the drinks while we get everything sorted out  in here?"

"Sure." Shooting Abraham another suspicious look, she set her pizza box  on the dining table, hooking her arm through Kitty's and dragging her  toward the hall. I stared after her for a moment, wondering what the  hell was going on in her convoluted mind, before shaking my head and  turning to Dolly, still standing with her hands on her hips. "You said  cheese, right?"





THREE HOURS LATER, I collapsed on the sofa next to Abraham, leaning my  head back against the cushions with a groan. "I don't think I'm ever  going to move again. I don't remember it being this much of a headache  when I was younger."

"You probably had less stuff. And no kids." He reached down and grabbed  my ankles, lifting them and swinging me around until my back was against  the arm and my feet were in his lap. Running the heel of his hand over  one arch, he said, "But nobody died."

"That's what I keep telling myself." I bit the inside of my cheek to  keep from groaning again, this time in ecstasy, when he started  massaging the ball of my foot. "I'll give you a hundred or so years to  stop that and then I'm going to get mad."

"Funny girl." He smiled but it seemed to not quite meet his eyes but he  shifted his gaze to my feet too quickly for me to be sure. He was silent  for a few minutes, all his concentration on his work, before he cleared  his throat and said, "I know we're supposed to go eat lunch with my  parents tomorrow."         

     



 

"Don't worry, I managed to find a dress which was meet-the-parents  appropriate." And that I hadn't worn to a funeral. I might have spent  the majority of the time in Savannah shopping for the kids but I'd taken  the time to get a few things for myself. Cotton Creek wasn't the type  of place where you needed a new outfit every time you went to church or  to a school function but you needed to have some sort of variety in your  wardrobe and mine had been sadly lacking. "It even has a Peter Pan  collar, which apparently is a thing again."

"Honey, I don't have the slightest clue what you're talking about but  okay." He set my foot down and picked up the other, his touch hesitant,  as if I'd suddenly become fragile. "And while that's nice, you don't  have to go."

"Oh." I was pretty sure what I was feeling was puzzlement and not hurt.  After all, I hadn't wanted to go in the first place so why would I be  hurt that he was giving me an out? "Well. If you think that's for the  best."

"Jeannie." He stopped, taking a deep breath and holding it until my own  lungs started to ache in sympathy, exhaling slowly. "I know I pushed you  in to saying ‘yes' and I did it because where my parents are concerned  I'm a coward. I always have been."

"Don't say that." I straightened, leaning over and resting my hand on  his cheek. "You were a child. Every child wants to make their parents  happy, to make them proud."