Chapter Thirteen #3
The ladies have no idea what we’re talking about, but they’re all too happy to have Micah in their space. Serena pushes Nicky so that Micah can sit between them.
“Did you ask them about the doc?” he says to me.
A light bulb goes off in my head. “Oh my God, I didn’t even think about that.” I tell the ladies about the documentary we’re making for Tanya’s gala and ask if they wouldn’t mind sharing stories about her on video.
June urges me to go grab my camera while Cora runs back to her house to freshen up.
A few hours later, long after the party has died down and only Micah, Ella, Tony, Auntie Joyce, Cora, and I are left standing, Micah has me dancing in the middle of Auntie Joyce’s yard to a Mary J. Blige song.
“Did you have fun today?” he asks with his eyes seared into mine.
“You know what? I did.” There’s a lot of love here. I know that Tanya felt it even if she couldn’t bring herself to experience it in person. “Did you?”
“I did.” He starts to say something else but cuts himself off.
“What?”
“Nothing. I just know the documentary is gonna turn out amazing. You’re great behind the camera.”
“Just not in front of it, right?” I joke, mocking him by bringing up our earlier fight.
“When you’re ready to get in front of the camera, it’s gonna be incredible. The only person who doubts that is you.”
“Why do you always know what to say?”
“Based on your numerous threats to punch me in the titty, I don’t think that’s true.” His expression turns somber, laced with regret. “And if that were true, I would’ve known what to say when you asked me to go to London with you.”
I wince from the sudden plunge of a metaphorical knife in my chest. “The truth would’ve been a good start.”
“You’re right. I’ll always regret the way I handled that.”
“It is what it is.”
He holds my eyes and pulls me closer. “Why can’t it be what we make it?”
Because we always seem to make a mess.
What if we don’t this time?
Our conversation is cut short when Ella cozies up next to me, wrapping her arms around both of us. “This is so precious.”
“Oh brother,” I sneer.
“I’m serioussss. You look like this wedding photo I saw of Tanya and George.”
Micah and I looking like a married couple is a subject I don’t want to broach, but I would love to see that picture of Tanya and George.
“See, she’s not vibing with that, Ella. I did get three marriage proposals at Mackey’s earlier, maybe I should hit one of them up.”
I stick my tongue out at him, refusing to take his bait.
“Mackey’s would be the perfect place. It’s where they had their wedding reception.”
Micah’s hand falls from my waist as my jaw drops. “It is?”
“Yep. Aaron said his dad still talks about their wedding to this day.”
I can’t explain it, but something tells me Mackey’s is the key to our next clue. Ella and Tony are the only ones who take us up on our invitation to Mackey’s, so we all pile into Tony’s car and head that way.
“You’re back,” Aaron exclaims. “And you didn’t bring me a plate?” he asks Tony and Ella.
“You work at a bar with food.” Ella holds her hands up as if Aaron should be ashamed of himself.
“And you could’ve come to get your own plate. I know your ass hasn’t been here all day,” Tony teases.
I lean up on the bar to pretend to whisper. “I heard June saved you a whole half a pie.”
He beams at my remark. “Thank you, sweetie. And that’s why June’s my favorite. And why you two can go to hell.”
“A whole half a pie? She told me there wasn’t any pie left!” Ella bangs her fist on top of the bar.
“There wasn’t. For you,” Micah comments.
As Aaron steps aside to grab coasters for us, I notice a card pinned to the wall behind the bar. It blends in with a host of other cards and pictures pinned there, but this one looks familiar. It looks like the postcard that led us here.
“Aaron, could I see that, please?”
He raises his brow but pulls the card down and hands it to me.
I don’t recognize the building on the front. I can barely make out that it says “Legacies” above the door, but the bottom of the card says “Richmond, Virginia,” which is George’s hometown. Tanya’s handwriting on the back only further confirms we’re on the right track.
Micah looks at it over my shoulder. “I guess we’re going to Richmond.”
I don’t want to leave. I feel closer to Tanya now that I’ve met her family, and I want to bask in this glow for longer, but we have to keep going. She needs us to finish this.
“We should hit the road tomorrow morning.” We’ll have to say our goodbyes to everyone first thing because Virginia is not a short drive. I wonder if Serena would be able to squeeze me in for a nail appointment before we go.
“Sure. There’s just one thing we have to do first.”
The next morning, Micah honks the horn in front of Tanya’s old house. We’re leaving much later than intended, but Ella kept us out late and we wanted to make sure we were able to say goodbye to the family that welcomed us with open arms.
John’s family walks out of the house, John rubbing his eyes, Ava firmly seated on Dee’s hip, and the other two kids trailing closely behind.
The sight of Tanya’s Continental does the job of waking John all the way up. “Aww man, y’all are leaving already?”
“Yep. We got some things to take care of,” I say, leaning against the car.
The kids come running down the stairs to hug Micah and I goodbye while Dee gives us kisses on the cheek and Ava bites our noses.
“Don’t be strangers. We family now. And anytime you wanna bring this baby back to see us, I won’t be mad.” He rubs his hand on the driver’s side mirror.
“Actually. We were hoping you’d hold on to this car for us.” Micah holds out the keys.
Dee pushes John’s mouth shut when his jaw nearly falls off its hinges.
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah. No doubt in my mind Tanya would want you to have this.”
Tears spring to his eyes and the kids waste no time climbing into the back seat as Micah and I make our way to our new rental car.
It feels good to leave this piece of Tanya where it belongs.