For the Roses Read online

  She’d asked for space and time.

  Her ex had done as much of a number to her and her psyche as Keisha had done to him and his, and he wouldn’t resent it or hold it against Meri. Had she quietly agreed he could go without any arguing and let it fester, that would have been different.

  Actually, it would have been worse.

  Far worse.

  He would take loud acknowledgment and slamming doors, something that he could focus on and deal with, over his actions silently poisoning their dynamic without a chance to fix it before it was too far gone.

  It was nearly seven when he dragged himself out of bed. As he sat on the toilet he scrolled through his phone. No responses from Meri, of course.

  Damn, this hurt her.

  He had a text from Ron, though, sent at 5:37 a.m.

  She’s with me today. We’ll be out until late afternoon at least. Don’t be shocked if she stays silent. She’s struggling. I’ll work on her. Spare key in south side flowerbed inside Viking gnome’s ass. Alarm code is 2218. ;) Make some magic, buddy.

  A plan formed in his brain. Wasn’t sure how good of a plan it was, but he’d go with his gut.

  He responded.

  Thanks, man. Will do.

  That’s when he noticed in his Facebook alerts that she’d posted something.

  When he checked, not only had she posted a selfie of herself and Ron, but had changed her profile and header pictures to sword pictures, making him chuckle.

  She might be upset, but she’s still feisty.

  She was sending Keisha a message, of that he was dead certain. While he hadn’t blocked Keisha on Facebook, he wasn’t friends with her, either. Except his relationship status was public.

  If Keisha went spying on him, she’d find Meri’s profile. If Keisha went looking for it today, she’d find what Elvin knew was a less-than-veiled shot across Keisha’s bow, even though Keisha likely wouldn’t recognize that.

  He saved the picture of her and Ron that she’d posted. That’s my girl.

  Except her smile looked tight, unhappy.

  Forced.

  He clicked like on all three pictures and wondered if she was watching her feed to see if he’d react.

  Fuck that.

  He opened up the ongoing text thread with her. The last three had been sent last night from him to her with no responses.

  Please talk to me. I love you.

  At least please text me when you get home so I know you’re safe.

  Good night, baby girl. I love you.

  He could excuse her response—or lack thereof—because he understood how badly this unexpected intrusion had triggered her.

  Hell, it’d fucking triggered him, too.

  Even more, he hoped this didn’t drive a proactive wedge between Meri wanting to meet and get to know Momma. He knew if Meri and Ron met Momma, she, Albert, and Sondra would adopt them into the family, something he suspected both siblings needed, especially considering their lack of parental involvement and support.

  Again, something he totally understood from their point of view.

  Lived it, stuck a pin in it.

  He contemplated what to say and went for the simple and easy.

  Good morning, baby girl. I love you.

  He wouldn’t sit there and blow up her phone, either.

  He’d take some action.

  Make some magic.

  * * * *

  It was late in the afternoon when Ron and Meredith loaded into his car to return to Sarasota. She felt totally exhausted, was sweaty, dirty, would probably be sore in all sorts of ways she wasn’t normally sore after a weekend spent with Elvin…

  And she’d managed to pull her brain back into her skull.

  He’d sent her a good-morning text, and had marked that he liked the three pictures she’d posted earlier, but hadn’t jumped all over her. She knew, because she’d left her phone on to see if he would keep trying to get ahold of her.

  If he’d tried to smother her today it’d be a red flag, but he’d sent his own silent message through his economy of communication—I’m awake, I’m here, and I’m waiting.

  She wouldn’t make him wait forever, because she knew there would be a tipping point.

  Besides that, she owed it to him to open up and not keep him hanging.

  As Ron drove, she started uploading more pictures to Facebook, some she took and some Ron took for her when she was working with a shield, sword, and spear, learning some of their sparring routines with one of their lead guys.

  She wasn’t anywhere close to being dubbed a shield maiden, because she’d had to work slow and carefully, her sparring partners using LARP weapons that weren’t sharp because she didn’t have leather or chainmaille armor.

  But she’d had fun, and most of the dark and dangerous buzzings in her brain had finally faded into background noise.

  By now, Elvin would be heading over to Momma’s house for dinner. Once she and Ron returned home, she’d take a long, hot bath to soak and rinse the dirt off, pour herself a mug of mead, and then send Elvin a text to apologize and then wait for him to call her once he was free to talk.

  She’d acted crazy enough. She wouldn’t compound that by jealously calling or blowing up his phone and stressing him out when he was out somewhere.

  If he called her.

  That was a very real and distinct possibility, and she wouldn’t deny it.

  Hell, I wouldn’t want to call me after the way I’d acted.

  It’d serve her right if he was scared off by her behavior, by seeing her at her worst.

  No, not her worst, but right down there pretty damn close to it.

  Her worst had been keeping her cancer diagnosis and surgery from Ron.

  “Order us pizza, please,” Ron asked. “If you order it now for take-out, we should arrive there right about the time it’s ready.”

  “Sure.” She opened the chain’s app and placed the order, not needing to ask what he wanted for toppings.

  “What’d you think about today?” he asked when she finished.

  “It was great. I thought you said that you guys wouldn’t be starting up again now?”

  “This was just a fun day, not a serious day. You weren’t paying the slightest bit of attention to the card weavers or nålbinders, were you?”

  “Were they the ones with the yarn?”

  He snorted. “Yeah, Meri. They were the ones with the yarn. And there were some leather crafters, too. It was kind of a catch-all day. They have sewing days, too, but those they hold at someone’s house. Kind of hard to run a sewing machine out here, without electricity.”

  “They don’t hand-sew everything?” She smiled.

  “We’re not that fastidious. Hey, I made my own garb. A lot of the guys go and the women teach us how to sew. They tell us how much and what kind of fabric to buy, then help us with the patterns and measurements and cutting things out. It’s pretty cool.”

  It had been fun getting together with the whole group like that. Back in St. Louis, she had friends, but most of them were from work, or met while being regulars at bars with people from work.

  With everyone out of work, or finding new jobs and not having time to get together, they’d all kind of…faded away, mostly.

  A lot of her kinky friends had been Peter’s friends first, and she hadn’t wanted much to do with them even if most of them had been on her side of what happened.

  These people all felt like she could be friends with them. It was one of the reasons she loved the Wednesday get-togethers with Ron and his friends.

  “I owe Elvin an apology,” she quietly said.

  He snorted. “I’m assuming that was rhetorical and not asking my opinion?”

  “Smartass.”

  “Better than being a dumbass.” Even behind his sunglasses she could see the arched eyebrow.

  “I’m going to text him and wait for him to call me.”

  “Now?”

  “No. I want to be home first.”

  “S
uit yourself.”

  “I hope I haven’t totally fucked shit up between us.”

  “He knows you have issues. He has issues. Your issues merge and become subscriptions, but hey, who am I to judge? There’s a few stray chapters in my library, too.”

  She smacked his thigh, ignoring his snarky smile and giggle.

  Their order was ready when they arrived. She held the pizza boxes on her lap, along with the ones containing cheesy bread and brownies, and inhaled.

  “Go on in first,” he said. “I need to get my shit unloaded. I’ll be right there.”

  She dug her keys out and juggled the food boxes as she unlocked the door. After disabling the alarm, she turned and…

  What the hell?

  She stood there, staring, trying to figure this out.

  Ron shouldered in behind her with his arms full of his shield, bag, armor, and assorted weaponry. A laugh escaped him. “Loki’s bollocks, what have we here?”

  Chapter Twenty

  Elvin arrived at Albert and Sondra’s at four forty-five, and wasn’t the slightest bit shocked to not see Keisha’s car anywhere.

  She always ran late, thought it was “making an entrance.”

  He’d always hated it, too, fighting with her frequently about it when he’d tried to get her moving sooner so they could arrive on time somewhere.

  This was part of his plan, however, and it was good to see there were other ways in which his ex-wife was still predictable.

  He carried a vase of roses, and, in a gift bag purchased at the same drugstore where he’d bought Momma’s birthday card, he carried the book of poetry he’d bought for her from the bookstore in the mall.

  He’d been busy today.

  Very busy.

  And they weren’t his only stops today.

  He’d left his phone ringer on, the volume all the way up, and…waited.

  It was all he could do until Meri called him. He was hopeful enough to assume if Meri hadn’t texted or called him, it meant she and Ron weren’t home yet.

  Although if he was met by radio silence for too late in the evening, he’d be texting Ron for a status update.

  Hey, he wasn’t too proud to resort to using a spy, especially one firmly on his side and willing to help.

  Sondra answered the door and let him in after giving him a hug. “Hey, you. No Meri?”

  “You’ll hear the story in a minute.”

  Lines furrowed her brow. “You two have a fight?”

  “Oh, it wasn’t Meri’s fault. Keisha showed up unannounced at my house. I’d rather tell it all once.”

  “Ah. That’s too bad, we were looking forward to meeting her tonight.”

  Momma sat on the sofa in the living room and Albert emerged from the kitchen, where something smelled damned good.

  “There you are,” Momma said, smiling and reaching up for a hug. “And what are these?”

  “For you, Momma.”

  “I love roses.” She smiled as she sniffed them. “They’re beautiful, thank you.”

  He set the vase on the coffee table and sat next to her, handing her the bag. “And this is for you.”

  She read the card first, then looked at the book. “Oh, I love Walt Whitman! Thank you, sugar.” Another hug and kiss.

  Momma was also a retired English teacher, something else they’d had in common and bonded over, a shared love of books, writing, and poetry that Keisha didn’t share.

  “You’re welcome. That’s a reissue with new notations and commentary.”

  “Thank you so much!” She tipped her head to the side as she studied him. “Meri couldn’t come?”

  He wouldn’t lie to her or the others. They knew damn well what Keisha was like. He quickly told the story of last night’s confrontation, with the briefest of explanations as to why it triggered Meri so bad and so hard.

  Momma’s frown conjured thunder, with the lightning likely to soon follow. “That damn daughter of mine. I’m sorry, Elvin.” She was the only one besides Meri he didn’t mind calling him that, or feel like he was being scolded when she did.

  “It’s okay, Momma. I’ll get together with you this week and figure out a good time to bring her by to meet you all.”

  “If you want to leave, I understand. Lord knows my daughter is a bitch. It sounds like Meri had every right to be upset.”

  “Nah, it’s all right. I’m hoping I get a text or call here from Meri soon. I expect I probably will.”

  “Why?”

  He grinned. “You’re not the only one who got flowers today, Momma.”

  * * * *

  Keisha finally put in her appearance at five thirty. They’d already moved to the dinner table and had started eating, not bothering to wait for her.

  Family dinners had been starting on time in her absence. They weren’t about to start holding things for her now and eating cold or overcooked pot roast just because she was a bitch who thought the world should revolve around her.

  She didn’t bother knocking, either, as she rushed in, her hands full of Mylar balloons and several wrapped packages. She pulled up short when she realized her entrance had been spoiled.

  “Y’all didn’t even bother waitin’ for me?”

  Momma didn’t so much as glance her way. “Told you what time we were eating. Told you more than once not to be late. You’re lucky I didn’t uninvite you after your stunt yesterday.”

  Her posture stiffened. “What stunt?”

  “Don’t play that game with me. I wish I’d uninvited you and made sure Elvin could bring Meri.”

  Elvin glanced Keisha’s way and spotted the edge in her gaze, the way her eyes narrowed. “What, she afraid of getting together with black people? Or she think she too good for us?”

  “No,” Elvin said. “I wouldn’t let her come because she deserves respect and you have none for anyone else. Just because she’s smaller than you, don’t think she couldn’t take you apart at the seams. That woman has survived more than you could ever imagine, and you can’t even hold a candle to her shadow. The only reason I’m here tonight is because it’s for Momma.”

  Keisha set the boxes down in the living room, bringing the balloons into the dining room before letting them go so they didn’t get caught in the ceiling fan in the living room. She leaned in to kiss Momma’s cheek.

  “All I did was stop by Wynn’s to say hello. Not my fault the girl gone crazy jealous.”

  All four of them stared at Keisha as she slid into the empty place setting.

  “What?”

  “Don’t bullshit us,” Albert said. “You’re fucking pissed off that Wynn has a life and a woman in it.”

  Keisha’s eyebrows arched. A little snort escaped her as she reached for the plate of pot roast. “Whatever. I wouldn’t call that woman anythin’ special.”

  Elvin—and everyone else—jumped when Momma smacked the table. “You show her respect, or you get the hell outta here.”

  “Me? I’m part of this family! She’s just some woman he’s datin’. She damn sure ain’t nothin’ special.”

  “You are such a bitch,” Sondra said, shaking her head. “What happened to all that fuss about burying your husband not even two months ago, huh? You were standing over his coffin and sobbing like your life was over, and now you’re trying to get your hooks back into Wynn when he moved on a long time ago?”

  “He would’ve wanted me to move on and be happy.” She sniffed. “We had talked about that.”

  “How many times you cheat on him all those years you were married to him?” Momma asked. “And don’t insult my intelligence and deny it.”

  “Oooooo!” Elvin touched his fingertips to his lips. “Damn, Momma. You on fire!”

  “Momma! How could you ask me such a thing?”

  “Because you cheated on Wynn,” Albert drawled. “You found yourself a rich sugar daddy you were able to sucker and give a sob story to. You didn’t love that man, get real. You loved his bank account.”

  “We were married for over twenty
years! Don’t that count for somethin’?”

  Momma snorted. “Girl, that don’t mean a damn thing.” She waggled a finger at Keisha. “Don’t think you’re gonna be moving back down here and in with me, either. You got cut outta my will years ago. There’s no room at this inn, honey.”

  Keisha’s eyes widened as Elvin’s narrowed, suspicion setting in. “What?” she screeched. “You can’t do that! I’m your daughter!”

  The laughter bubbled up inside Elvin, from down deep, so rich and rolling he had to push back from the table and cover his mouth as he started coughing. He finally managed to choke down a few swallows of water before he could speak again.

  “The guy had adult kids he left everything or most everything to, didn’t he?”

  She didn’t even have to answer. Her expression gave it away, especially her additional anger when Albert joined Elvin in his renewed howling laughter.

  Momma smiled. “Oh, you somethin’ else, ain’t you, Keisha Laura Da’vreaux?” Elvin knew the haughty tone she’d used to say Keisha’s last name was more mocking, the way she’d told Elvin that Keisha always said it when introducing herself. Like it made her special or something. “Girl, you come back to Sarasota with your tail between your legs because you ain’t got a pot to piss in.”

  Keisha was…Keisha. She still tried to salvage this and sat up a little straighter. “I might not have read the prenup as carefully as I thought I had. I only received fifteen percent, cash value, of some of his holdings. Others are held by a trust for his adult children. I have to be out of the big house by the end of the year, but they have to pay me for my share of its current value. I get to keep the Atlanta condo, and my clothes, car, jewelry, and some other things.”

  Now all four of them howled with laughter.

  “It’s not funny!” she screamed.

  “Nah, sis, it’s hysterical!” Elvin wasn’t sure Albert might not roll out of his chair and hit the floor, he was laughing so hard.