Chapter 14
chapter fourteen
Brayden.
“You going to stay down here all day?” I didn’t bother looking up when I heard Nox’s voice. My back ached and my fingers were cramped from the repetitive motions of sanding the table I was working on but I refused to let up because at the very least it kept the torrid thoughts of my mind idle.
“Your girl is gone.” When he mentioned Caeli, I paused my motion and looked up, realizing he had navigated down the stairs and was sitting on the last one.
“I know. I heard when she left,” I muttered and went back to sanding.
“You didn’t speak to her?”
“No.”
“She’s worried about you.”
My eyes lifted quickly and I found him staring at me with a placid expression in place. I tossed the sandpaper on the table and straightened my hunched posture, rolling my neck from side to side in a failed attempt to relieve some of the pending tension. I needed a hot shower and to move around some to loosen my muscles.
“You saw her?”
“She came by before she left. I thought she was looking for Ami but she clarified that she was there about you.”
I frowned, heading toward him, locking my arms over my chest when I paused at the step he was occupying. “What about me?”
“She was worried. Said that you had a bad morning and probably needed to talk to someone. She didn’t feel like she was the someone at the moment and asked if I’d check on you. I thought y’all were arguing or something.”
“We’re not.”
“I know. She mentioned your mother was here and I understood the problem. So she met May?”
I grunted and pushed past Nox, heading up the steps. I heard him behind me so when I headed to the refrigerator to grab a beer, I got him one too which I handed over before navigating to the door that opened onto the deck.
I sat in one of the deck chairs and Nox filled the one next to me. “I assume she was in rare form?”
“May is May.”
“To us, yeah, but your girl being here had to complicate things.”
I used my hand and the arm of the deck chair to work the cap off my beer, turned it up, and exhaled my irritation. “She was drunk.”
“And Caeli met her like that?”
Nodding, I stated, “May went in like she normally did and at first I just let her get that shit off her chest. It’s easier, but this time, something in me just fucking snapped. I cursed her out, told her to get the hell out of my house and forget I existed. Seems like that’s the best fix for both of us. If she hates me so much, she might as well get rid of the problem. After I spoke my piece, I walked away.”
“You realize it’s perfectly acceptable for you to say whatever you want to your mother. She certainly has done that with you over the years. You’re always respectful and civil. I’m surprised you survived this long without cursing her out.”
I grunted my agreement.
“Aunt May didn’t leave?”
“No, but I didn’t realize it until hours later. I heard loud voices and came upstairs just in time to catch Caeli picking up where I left off.” I smirked, shaking my head at the memory of Caeli defending me to my mother.
She didn’t know much about our situation other than what little I shared but if I had to guess, my mother was very vocal about her truth. Her very biased and distorted version of how I ruined her life.
Caeli didn’t have to say anything, she could have just left but she apparently stayed long enough to make sure my mother sobered up before sending her out into the world. She cared at least enough to make sure my mother didn’t do anything reckless but not enough to keep her thoughts to herself about what a terrible parent she believed my mother to be. I laughed lightly, remembering her words. I hadn’t heard everything but I did catch when she told my mother she should be grateful that I turned out okay despite her.
“She stood up to May, while she was drunk?”
“Like a fucking champ.”
“Damn…” Nox smirked and removed the cap to his beer in the same manner I had just done, turning up the bottle before he added. “She’s a keeper.”
My mother was a nasty, mean drunk. She was known for saying the most hurtful and malicious things then sobering up to return to her normal poised self. I wasn’t sure if she remembered the rants, although I believed she did and simply pretended not to, but regardless, she could be a lot to take and Caeli stood up to her.
“You can’t keep someone who doesn’t want to be kept and after that little performance by May, I’m sure Caeli is second guessing everything about us.”
He glanced my way and shook his head. “Nah, she’s not. She cares, Bray, enough to make sure you were good.” My jaw clenched when I turned to him and he added, “She said she understood complicated families. She was giving you space. She’s not running, Bray. I respect her for not wanting to make things worse. She doesn’t fully understand things between you and May. Go talk to her.”
“I will.”
He lifted from his chair and brushed a hand over his head. “I’m about to get some sleep so I can see Ami later.”
“She just left and you’re seeing her later?” I arched a brow and he shrugged.
“If she didn’t have some shit to do, I would have convinced her to stay.”
“So y’all are good then?”
“Better than good.” Nox smiled in a way that had me laughing. He was really feeling Ami but I could understand because her sister had me in the same space.
“I guess the theory is true, when you’re not looking you find exactly what you want and need.”
“And I have no complaints about that.”
“Shit, neither do I.”
After Nox left, I sat on the deck for another hour then made my way back inside to shower and change. The minute I entered my room, I realized everything about my life was different now.
Her presence was so loud even in her absence. I was slightly disappointed that there were no physical reminders of Caeli other than the mangled sheets on my bed but the memories of us in them was enough to keep a smile on my face.
I wanted Caeli in my home and in my life. The problem was she may no longer be open to the idea. Being with me meant accepting that my mother would forever be a complication and not everyone was accepting of May. The past surely taught me that tough life lesson so I was hopeful but not convinced and only time would tell if Caeli would be different from the other women.
M y goal had been to head straight to Caeli but I took my bike instead of my car and ended up at Carter G. Woodson bridge instead only to be surprised that my spot was occupied. Had it been anyone else out here invading my space, I would have been annoyed but seeing Caeli sitting close to where we shared a picnic a few weeks prior, staring out over the river, had my chest tight. She was here, possibly because of me.
“I thought you had a thing about being exposed to rickety old bridges and raging waters.” She slowly turned in my direction with an easy smile in place. She was wearing a white linen sundress with a strapless spandex top that hugged her chest, exposing the warm brown skin of her arms and shoulders. Her hair was pulled back by a thick white headband, highlighting the oval shape of her face.
“And I thought you told me I was safe out here.”
I approached and filled the spot next to her, so our thighs and shoulders were touching. I needed the connection in the best and worst way. “You are.”
“Good because I kinda like it out here.”
“Is that your way of telling me that my spot is now our spot.”
“If you don’t mind sharing.”
I’ll share anything you want.
“You can come out here anytime, Caeli, I don’t mind.”
“Good to know.” She stared at me while I stared at the river and eventually I had her voice again. “I texted and called.”
“Earlier?” I frowned, not remembering any missed messages.
“A little while ago. I didn’t want to bother you.”
“I’ve been on my bike for the past couple hours, sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.”
“I need to and not just for the missed calls and texts, my mother is…”
“Not your responsibility to apologize for.”
The hard expression that shifted onto her face had me smiling. Caeli wasn’t a fan of my mother and for good reason.
“No, she’s not but I still don’t like how she talked to you, so for that, I apologize.”
Caeli’s eyes expanded in surprise. “You heard us?”
“Some of it, not the entire conversation.”
“Oh, I shouldn’t have…it wasn’t my place, she was just…”
“Being the woman I’ve always known her to be. It’s cool, Caeli, you have the right to say whatever you want to her.”
“She’s your mother…”
“Doesn’t matter. She was still being disrespectful and I apologize for that. I’d say it won’t happen again but if you’re in my life, then that means May will be in yours.”
“If…” She frowned. “Did I miss something? What happened to this being a permanent thing?”
“You sure you still want permanent, with all things considered? She said some pretty terrible things and not just to me.”
My eyes locked with hers while May’s words replayed in my head.
“You don’t know shit in regards to my life and if you don’t want to personally experience hard lessons on what made me such a terrible person, then I suggest you be very careful about opening your legs for my son…It would be a pity if he ended up just like his father and you like me.”
What woman in her right mind wanted to expose herself to the mother-in-law from hell. Mother-in-law? We’re barely dating, why was I fast forwarding to marriage?
She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “I’m a big girl, Bray. I can handle your mother. Let’s not forget I have one who’s occasionally just as mean spirited and she can’t use alcohol as an excuse for her behavior.”
“You damn sure proved you can handle my mother but I have to admit most women can’t. Being with me means accepting the complication of my attachments. Most say they can but the drunk calls and random visits like this morning can be a bit much.”
Something flashed in her eyes. “That night at Greetings and Salutations when I asked who May was you said she was your past. I thought it was an ex.”
“I wish. Dealing with an ex would be much easier than dealing with my mother and I called her my past because that’s what she is. We don’t have much of a relationship now but I can’t avoid her like I want to. There’s only so much I can ignore her before everything implodes. In the past, those explosions have happened at the worst of times and honestly I can’t blame people for not wanting to deal with me because of her .”
“I’m not most people. How can anyone vow to care about a person and not be willing to accept every aspect of their lives? The good and the bad?” She smiled arrogantly. “That just means your choice in women hasn’t been the best if they bail because of your attachments.”
I grinned, leaning in to steal a kiss. One I thought would be quick but she caught my hand after I placed it on her cheek, holding it in place to prolong our connection.
“There is no if with us, Brayden. At least not for me. I know things with us are very new and we hardly know each other…”
I shook my head to shut down whatever doubts she might have about how things were happening with us. “I know enough.”
“So do I and your mother doesn’t scare me. If anything she needs to be the one fearful.” I smirked at her confidence. “But the point is, I want you and this. We’ll figure it out and besides, you might be the one running when you meet my parents.”
“I doubt they’re that bad?”
The look she delivered had me thinking otherwise, but then she turned toward the river and exhaled a sigh. After a long moment of silence she shared her thoughts. “Remember how I said Sweet Reasons was featured in Taste Divine.”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
She remained silent and kept her eyes cast out over the river. Taste Divine was one of the most sought after print and online national publications that highlighted gems in small towns. Currently, her mood didn’t match the expectation for such an honor. Hell, Nox and I hadn’t even made it on their radar. She should have been happy.
Unless .
“Was the article bad?”
“No, they loved everything about us. They even mentioned that they hoped expansion was in our immediate future because Sweet Reasons cupcakes were some of the best they’d ever experienced.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I sent the article to my mom and you know what her response was?” She turned to me and rolled her eyes. “Send me the update after you open a few more locations and build a successful franchise. Then I might have something worth discussing with my friends about the two of you to combat the disappointments that you are now.”
“She really sent that response to you?”
Caeli nodded then laughed abruptly. “When I first read what she texted back I wanted to cry, but then I laughed about it because who does that to their child?”
“Looks like we have a lot more in common than we think.”
“Apparently,” she huffed. “But I don’t care anymore. I love my parents but I don’t have to be affected by their ignorance or their disappointment. I’m a great person…”
I hooked her chin and stole another kiss. “You’re an amazing person.”
“Hell yeah I am.” She smiled smugly. “And if my parents can’t appreciate what an amazing person I am, I can still love them, just from a distance.”
“That’s not going to be the case with my mother though.”
She shrugged. “Maybe not but I can sober her up, curse her out, and send her on her way.”
I chuckled and kissed Caeli again. “That easy, huh?”
She snorted a laugh. “No, your mother will be anything but easy but that doesn’t mean this thing between us can’t be.”
“I agree.”
“Good, because you didn’t have a choice.”
“You sure about that?”
“Very. You can’t go tossing words like permanent around and then renege.”
Caeli didn’t have to worry about me reneging on a damn thing. I was in this for as long as she would allow.