“For starters, I’m seeing someone on a regular basis.”
“Here I was thinking maybe you would give me a chance,” Ivan said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
“Don’t start, Ivan,” Britney cautioned. “I’m not sure about his feelings for me. But I consider myself to be in a relationship with him. So I’m not free. Please keep that in mind. Also, the man I’m seeing can be a tad on the overprotective and overbearing side. He is not the one to… How can I say it? He, well, he…”
“Just say it, Britney. I’m sure it will not be anything I haven’t heard before,” Ivan said as he looked away.
“I’ll put it to you this way. If he would have caught us doing what Stanley did, I would be laying flowers on your grave. You wouldn’t have even had a chance to say I’m sorry. If he actually cares for me in that way, that is.”
“Comforting to know. Thanks for the warning,” he said in an almost disappointed tone.
Britney ignored his sarcastic remark and kept talking. “Gloria said she wasn’t going to compete, but she would coach us. We can’t get a better coach than her and you know that. Bobby is thinking of competing as well.”
“This curse is gone away?”
Britney sighed. “No, Ivan, that is another good reason to have Gloria as a coach.”
“I see. A dancing career is something I have always wanted. If you want to, then I am willing to give it a chance,” Ivan said casually. “I have a question, but I do not know how to ask it.”
“The best way is just spit it out.”
“If you say so, then I will spit it out. The last time we were dance partners, Bobby kept a watch on us like we were children. What will be the reason for them to watch us like we are infants needing a babysitter?”
Britney let out a sigh. “They won’t be watching us that close anymore, Ivan. They don’t have anyone to protect me for anymore.” Hearing the tone in her voice, Ivan didn’t say anything else.
The following week, Gruban and Natasha came in. Gruban was going to be the best man. Gloria had asked Daniel to give her away. Most of Bobby’s family and people that knew him were surprised that Daniel hadn’t touched a drop in several months. Bobby kept his distance and wouldn’t talk to him that much. He avoided him most of the time, but on occasion, he would make a point to see him. He didn’t tell anyone, but he was happy that his father was on the wagon and not drinking.
Gloria checked the house to make sure no one was there. She laid the babies down on the floor, walked out the back door, howled, and walked back inside, leaving the door open. She stood on the other side of the babies. It wasn’t long before a large black panther walked in behind a large gray wolf. The wolf looked at her. “Thank you for coming. Did you smell any strange magic?” The wolf shook its head side to side. “My babies. Take a good smell. Someday, they may need the pack.” The wolf walked over and sniffed both babies. Then it walked around them and over to Gloria. She gently stroked the fur on the wolf and watched the panther. “Something is wrong with me,” she said softly. “I can swear someone is using magic on me. I hear voices sometimes; my dreams feel so real. I’ve never experienced anything like this.” The panther trotted over to her and she rubbed its dark black coat with a hint of purple in it. “Thank you so much, Sabastian. Britney is out with Ivan and Jake. Bobby took Robert and Angelina over to his mother’s. Gruban and Natasha are in Memphis. I wasn’t sure when I would get this chance again. If the two of you are confident that nothing out of the ordinary is going on, you can return to Louisiana.” The panther was the first to walk out. Gloria picked up one baby and took him to the nursery and then went back and got the other. Her beautiful skin shined in the light as the woman walked into the room. “Gloria,” she said with a soft voice.
Gloria gave a gentle smile. “Yes, Sophie.”
The woman walked over to her. “You can come stay at the retreat, you and your family. Just because we didn’t smell anything doesn’t mean that you are not in danger. Your instincts have never led you astray in the past. You may have ignored them, but they weren’t wrong.”
“I don’t know what to believe. My life hasn’t been the same since Stanley died. I do my best to cover the pain and hide what is happening inside. Maybe I just need a little more time.”
Sophie hugged her. “I will make a formal request that Sabastian and Lenix stay here for a while. They are the best trackers in the pack. If they sense anything, they will let us know. If the threat is very bad, they will let you know as well. I wish I could make the wedding.”
Gloria nodded. “I know you will be there in spirit and that’s all that matters.” Sophie walked out.
Chapter 7
Visitation
On the 29th of December, Britney bought a plane ticket to California with a stop in Oklahoma on the return trip to leave Delana with her parents for New Year’s. She was going to stay with them for several days. Britney expected New Year’s Eve to be very hard. Before she found out about the wedding, she had planned on going to California and spending New Year’s Eve with Stanley on the night he was shot one year ago. But now she would be at a wedding. The plane landed. She got a rental car and went to the cemetery. She visited Antonio’s and Juanita’s graves. She placed flowers on them. Gloria had shown her where they were buried when they buried Stanley. She went to Stanley’s grave and placed flowers on his parents’ grave and his grave. She sat down.
She laid the baby down between her legs and her heart started pounding as she said, “This is our daughter. I named her Delana Gloria Thomas. After her godfather and godmother. She is a good baby. She hates to be dirty. Other than that, she is very quiet. Unless she is not feeling good. I had hoped she would look like her father. But she looks like me instead. Maybe she will have ways like her father. Her feet look like yours, though. A lot has happened the past year.
“I don’t know really where to start. I guess it is best to start at the beginning. Ivan and Nicole went back to France. They got scholarships. Bobby and I took online classes, no scholarship. Bobby and Gloria moved in with me. Gloria left me a large sum of money and the house on the property at the lake. Half of the stocks that you didn’t cash in. The rest was split up between Cody, Catrina, Rachel, and Delana. That is about all I could remember in the first few months.
“I was very sad and depressed. Yeah, I know I shouldn’t talk or think about things like that. There was an emptiness in my life I missed you. I still do have an empty spot. It is just not as big, and it don’t hurt as bad. Gloria helped me with that. I never knew how much I truly loved you. Why did you go, Stanley? I guess I will have to wait until I see you to get the answer.
“A few surprises happened this past year. I think the first one was there was no escaping the pain, loneliness, and emptiness. Gloria kissed me, and I kissed her back. She is good kisser. Not sure why I kissed her back. That night was a very shockingly good night. We both got a lot of things off our chests.
“The first night together was the strangest night of my life. The first time I had sex with someone, it was a woman, and we made love and talked the entire time. I can say that we helped each other that night. We both were able to say things we hadn’t been able to say. The next morning, I woke in her arms we both thought about what we done and the things we said.
“We both started making changes, for the better. A few weeks later, Bobby’s dad and uncle came to see us. I never told you about JD and Daniel. It surprised the hell out of us. Especially the way JD spoke. We were frightened at first, sure JD was going to kill us. But it turned out he was just there for his nephew and me. The night Delana was born was a strange experience. I got the crap knocked out of me twice, I think. She was born in the middle of a gunfight. JD hit me and cut her out. He told Bobby I don’t know why you don’t tap that shit while he sewed me up. Punched me again then went back to the gun fight. But it sounded like a war zone.”
She laughed
out loud and said, “By the way, we are dating now. Yeah, crazy. Bobby said strange, he beats you up, cuts you open, and a month later, asks you out. Now that is balls, let me tell ya. He likes joking about it. But he saved our daughter and likely me too. You would be happy at what he said that night. The last thing I remember clearly was JD saying, ‘Leave it to a woman to pick the worst time imaginable to do shit.’ But he came to us.”
She paused for a moment and said softly, “Thank god he did.” Slightly louder, she said, “None of us would have lived if it wasn’t for him and his friends. I used to be so afraid of him, Stanley. Now I look forward to seeing him. Delana loves him. She can be sound asleep the moment he touches her or holds her while she is asleep. She snores just a little. It is so cute.
“A sign of trust is what I was told about a baby snoring while someone holds them. That is the only time she snores, when he is touching her. It is strange; JD is one of the meanest and dangerous men I have ever known in my life. She got a thing for bad boys, I guess.”
Her tone changed to one of seriousness. “Let’s hope she grows out of that.” Then it changed back to normal. “But always trusts JD. I almost wish I was in Gloria’s shoes. JD is acting unlike anything we have seen before. He is nice and quite charming when he wants to be. Some of the things he said are a bit bold. Sometimes it can be offensive. But he is trying. The way he did it, I was terrified to tell him no. Even if I wanted to tell him no. But I didn’t. The night was very surprising. It was a wonderful night. He carried out civil conversation. It even surprised him, he told me that. It was strange. I had hoped that he would ask me out again. So, at dinner, I told him about the curse and Ivan. I was surprised twice. First, he didn’t kill me. Cause to those that don’t know about it or believe it, it can sound crazy. JD’s philosophy is you kill someone crazy. You help someone crazy and make the world a better place at the same time. Two good reasons to kill.”
She shook her head. “No, I am not making that up. But he shocked me by saying if you don’t want to go out with me, just say you don’t want to go out. I told him the truth, that I wanted to compete. The other thing that surprised was that he didn’t offer to kill Ivan. Or actually just go do it. It started not that I wanted to spend time with a man. He has been putting in such effort, I was hoping I could help him adapt. If you knew him the way we do, you would understand.
“I wasn’t even interested in him. But now I find him amusing at times. Dancing and our baby are the only two things you gave me that I can actually hold on to and watch it grow. Since then, we have gone out several times. Each time is surprising, a good night. Gloria and I took him out dancing once to show him what ballroom dancing was like. He likes watching me dance better than dancing with me. I have a fan now. Gloria danced with him about three times before our first dance. I laughed slightly to myself because he looked nervous. But he did okay. We put on the dresses we bought in Hawaii. The way he looked at us, we knew there was no way he would say no. Mom and Dad call frequently. I think it still upsets them that I wasn’t in France. I told them we had sex just before the competition and that was how I got pregnant.
“They wanted me to go back to Oklahoma, but I refused to leave my home. One of the reasons I didn’t was because I couldn’t leave Gloria and Bobby. I think that also upset them a little. I think the hardest thing I have done is yet to come. Stand up and be cheerful the night you were shot. I understand why he chose that night. I honestly do. They know it hurts me. In more ways than one. We were to be married together. They say everything happens for a reason. But for the life of me, I cannot see a reason why this had to happen.
“Maybe I will know someday. I had planned on bringing our daughter to see you. I will every year around this time until I have the strength to bring her on the day you died. My next hard challenge to face is to start my career on the day you died. To me, Valentine’s Day is the worst day of the year. The day I lost my one true love. On a day that lovers are to celebrate.
“Ironic, isn’t it? I start something I love on the day I lost my love. I don’t know why it is so important that I start it that day, but it is. I remember you saying once that Ivan and I could be better than you and Gloria. I don’t ever see that happening. But I am going to give dancing a shot. I am not worried about getting close to Ivan. Because right now, I don’t think I can get close to anyone.
“If I could, it would be JD. I think all he wants to do is help me and don’t know how. I think he sees past my disguise and sees my pain and knows I am hurting. He is very talented at many things. Not all of them are bad. Reading people is one of them. Sometimes when I look at him, I think he knows what I am feeling and thinking. But he doesn’t say anything. Bobby is getting close to his uncle. He laughed and said who would have ever thought I would be dating his uncle. Then he said, ‘You have a thing for older men, don’t you?’ I thought about that and concluded he could be onto something. I didn’t ignore the question. I told him the way it was. I was trying to help him. I see a side JD I have never seen before. He is a decent man. Now he can walk through a crowd and people don’t avoid him like, oh my god, he is suicidal and is going to kill everyone around him.
“JD has some friends that hang around a lot. One of them is Ashley. I think she is fond of Bobby. Gloria thinks the same thing. That makes her a bit nervous. Ashley is not a bad-looking woman. Well, she isn’t if you can get past the ‘I am going to blow your head off if you say hi to me’ look. But she looks at Bobby different than she looks at the rest. She looks at him like ‘oh yeah I am your bitch; fuck me, daddy.’ She loves the babies. Two other friends of JD’s, Crown and Dumas, Gloria likes flirting with them. They look at her like Ashley looks at Bobby. Don’t tell Bobby, but I think she is going to have sex with one if not both of them. JD looks at them like, if you touch her, I am going to blow your head off. Then their looks seem to go away. Gloria looks at him as if to say why you got to ruin all the fun? Bobby sits back and laughs at it. It is amusing the things that can be said by not saying anything at all.
“Daniel loves his grandbabies. He comes by twice, sometimes three times a week to see them. I am stronger now and it is time for me to move on. I haven’t told Bobby or Gloria. But I have hired a construction crew to start repairing the yard, the boathouse, and beach. I have bought a trailer identical to the one that you had. The old trailer was shot to hell and back. I am surprised that we all lived. Everything should be done by spring. I am going to move back over there. Bobby loves living on his family’s place. That place has been in their family for a long time, since before the Civil War. It isn’t all that far away from our place. Ten miles, maybe. I am sure the beach will be used a lot this summer. I am about out of things to say. I miss you and I love you. I might have said that already. JD found the people that attacked us. He said he took care of the problem. I didn’t ask no questions. But I know he didn’t leave anyone alive. A few days after he said he took care of the problem, the people that William hired to watch after us, the ones that lived that night of the attack, left. I was glad to see them go. I guess JD did do what he said.
“I try not to think about that. I only brought it up to make one-sided conversation. I do not want to leave. Stanley, I want to thank you for loving me. I want to thank you for all the things you gave me. I wish there were words to say just what you meant to me. Because love don’t even seem like it does justice to my feelings. I wondered why she wanted to bury you so far away. But now I see why. Two reasons. One, your family and many friends that are here. The other, so I couldn’t come every day. Maybe next year, I will have a few more happier things to say. Less drama and action. I plan to bring her every year to see her father. Maybe one day she will carry a conversation on with you. I hope so. I am going to make sure she knows her father. I hate to tell her a lie, but I am going to tell her just what I told Mom and Dad. Well, I have done run out of things to say.”
She picked the baby up and stood looking at his tombstone and said,
“We’d love you see you next year, baby.” She started walking and stopped. She turned back and said, “Stanley, I haven’t been completely honest about something. JD was my very first big crush. I don’t really want to talk about that. But what I do want to talk about is my feelings inside. I hope you can understand what I am about to say. Because I can’t. I loved you, I honestly did and still do. I want to let go, Stanley, I truly do. I want to love JD. To be honest, before I met you, I was waiting for him. That is something I never told anyone. This is going to sound crazy, even I think that. It is like I am holding on to you for someone else. To let go would betray someone very close to me. Even closer than Bobby. Since you died, I haven’t been the same. The only time I feel safe is when I am lying in Bobby’s arms. The only time I feel loved is when I am with Gloria. You know I love them. But, Stanley, I don’t know if I can do it. We were supposed to get married together. If you are looking down, if you can hear me, please help me shake these feelings inside so I can do what you would want me to. That is, continue living my life with our child and find happiness.”
She walked to the car, put the baby in the car seat, and took a moment to clear her eyes and mind. She got in the car, drove to the car rental place, turned in the car, took the shuttle back to the airport, and caught her flight back to Oklahoma City. She rented a car and took the baby to her parents’ camper, then dropped the baby off and drove back to Memphis. She wanted to clear her head and think about a few things. She stopped at a motel that night and got up early and finished the trip. She returned the car and drove her car home. She and Gloria went to Nashville, the place they were getting married. That evening, they did the wedding rehearsal.
Gloria walked into the hotel room. Britney was behind her. “I wonder what kind of party Jake and Daniel are going to throw Bobby tonight,” Britney said with a curious voice.
Gloria shrugged. “You know them better than me. Most pre-marital parties include strippers and drinking.”
Love and Beyond Part 3 Page 11