Leah rolled her eyes. “What the hell. Invite him too. I know firsthand what it means to be an empty nester. Once Caleb and Aron became teenagers and were old enough to drive, they were in and out of the house like folks going through a revolving door. That didn’t bother me because I knew they were always coming home. It wasn’t until they left to attend college that it really hit me that I was truly alone. I dreaded them coming home during semester breaks because I knew I would only have them for a little while. That’s when I’d go up to New York to visit whenever I could. It has taken me a long time, Cherie, to emotionally let my sons go so they can live their own lives. Now that Caleb is engaged, I’m ready to become a grandmother.”
“You have changed, Leah.”
“Why would you say that?” she asked Cherie.
“Because when we first met, you used to refer to your sons as ‘my boys,’ and I wanted to tell you that they weren’t boys but grown men.”
“You’re right. But then, I could’ve said my babies. Do you know how many women refer to their adult children as their babies?”
“Too many. That’s probably because they didn’t give them what they needed to grow into mature, independent adults.”
She didn’t want to tell Leah that many of the young men in her old neighborhood who had fathered children still lived with their mothers, grandmothers, or aunties. However, she had to give Edwina credit for threatening her sons about getting a girl pregnant when they were unable to take care of themselves.
Cherie closed the Audi’s trunk for Leah. “I’m going across the street to invite Bettina and Andrew Wilson to join us later.”
Leah smiled. “The more the merrier.”
* * *
Although she knew Bettina was a gossiper, Cherie felt sorry for the woman. It took less than three minutes for her and her husband to agree to come over later that afternoon for a Super Bowl party. She’d just returned to the house when her cell phone rang.
“Hey, you,” she whispered into the mouthpiece as a smile spread over her features.
“Hey, yourself,” Reese said in greeting. “I’m having a dilemma because my cousin was under the impression that he was coming to my place to watch the Super Bowl, and right now he’s cussin’ up a blue streak because—”
“Bring him with you,” Cherie said, cutting him off. “There’s plenty of food, so one more will just add to the merriment.”
“Are you sure he won’t be imposing?”
“Stop it, Reese. He’s your family, and that means my door is always open to him.”
“I’ll be certain to tell him that. We’ll see you later.”
She set the phone on a shelf under the breakfast bar and then met Kayana’s eyes. “I hope you don’t mind that I invited my neighbors from across the street and Reese’s cousin.”
Kayana rested a hand at her hip. “Do you really hear yourself, Cherie? You’re asking me if you can invite people into what is your home. You suggested hosting the Super Bowl party, and I volunteered to cook, so there should be no debate as to who you can or cannot invite.”
Cherie felt properly chastised. Kayana was right. It was her home, and who she would permit to enter was at her discretion. “I’m going to put out the plates and serving pieces, and then when you’re finished prepping, I’m going make some spinach-bacon, blue devils, and pimento-cheese deviled eggs. And I know you southerners love your pimento cheese.” She’d made three dozen hard-cooked eggs earlier that morning, and made up the fillings and stored them in different containers in the fridge before piping them into the egg halves.
“Well, aren’t we fancy?” Kayana crooned, smiling. “Lee and I aren’t the only southern girls. You show your country when you sayy’allinstead ofyou all.”
“I won’t deny that I have southern roots, but when I open my mouth, folks know right away that I’m not from down here.”
“Well, you’re here now. And to stay.”
“You’ve got that right,” she said confidently.
There had been a time when she’d felt like a nomad moving from place to place. First, it was to move into a dorm room at the prep school, followed by another dorm room at Yale. After graduating, it was to a small studio apartment, then a one-bedroom apartment, and then into the condo unit with two bedrooms. Now it was into a house along the shore on Coates Island, North Carolina. A house where she planned to spend the rest of her life.
It was as if she had to keep moving to find herself and her rightful place in the universe. And Kayana and Leah were right; she’d had to go through what she had with Weylin to appreciate the woman she’d become. Kayana had called her new and improved, and she was going to embrace that assessment of herself. She knew instinctually that, if she hadn’t improved, she could not have imagined having a positive relationship with Reese or any man.
Chapter 19
Reese parked his pickup on the street in front of Cherie’s house rather than in the driveway behind an Audi or Range Rover. He shut off the engine and got out at the same time Parker opened the passenger-side door.
“Nice place,” Parker drawled.
“That it is,” Reese confirmed, reaching into the back of the pickup to remove two crates, handing one to his cousin. “You need to get out of the station house more often.”
