by Bree Cariad
“Wow,” DeLynn said. “Your dad’s so amazing.”
“Yep.”
Chrissa snorted. “For more than one reason.”
Confused, Deeka looked from Chrissa’s amused face to DeLynn’s grin. “What happened?”
At first DeLynn didn’t say anything, but after Chrissa dug her elbow into DeLynn’s side, she giggled and nodded. “Okay, so you probably didn’t hear about it yesterday what with being with Curtis and all, but Charity finally had her comeuppance.” She grinned, showing off her straight, white teeth.
Surprised, Deeka pulled herself up into a seated position against her headboard. “Spill.” DeLynn’s youngest sibling had major issues. Her father was killed in an accident at his work when she was barely a year old and as their mother believed in discipline but found it too hard to actually spank, Charity had become mouthier and mouthier, taken to being outright rude to her at times.
“Well, Chrissa and I joined Mom and the rest for dinner and Charity was incredibly silent. Remarkably mute.” DeLynn shook her head. “She didn’t make a peep. Even when Mom sent her upstairs at eight, she glared at the table, but went quietly enough. The girl didn’t even stomp her feet on the stairs.”
“What happened?” Deeka asked with interest. That didn’t sound like the little twerp she knew.
“Mom wouldn’t say, but Blaine told me. It seems while at the park yesterday, Charity was in rare form and was ripping Mom to pieces. Poor Mom was crying and Blaine said he wanted to spank her, but as it turned out, your dad walked by, heard what was going on, and came over. He gave Charity quite the lecture and she snapped at him, too, to Mom’s horror.” Her grin grew. “Did you know there’s a small discipline cabin in the park?”
“A what?”
Both Chrissa and DeLynn giggled. “The founders built this cabin that has since been soundproofed and it’s specifically for a family member to be disciplined if they get out of control at a public event. Supposedly in the early days it was used a lot. Anyway, your father asked Mom if she would like him to take care of Charity and she agreed. The two of them took my little sister to this cabin and when they came out again, Mom looked happier and Charity’s face was covered in tears and from what Blaine said, she walked with her hands covering her rear for a full hour.”
“Oh my god! Charity got her first spanking and at my dad’s hand? He’s got a hard hand,” Deeka said, her eyes wide.
Laughing, DeLynn nodded. “Charity came into my bedroom sometime this morning and crawled into bed. Her rear wasn’t hot at all, so I don’t think he gave her a very hard spanking, but as she’s never gotten one before, it was a bit of a shock for her. And it’s going to take her a few years, but she looks calmer.”
“Wow.”
Grinning, DeLynn nodded. “Yeah. And Mom looked less stressed this morning. Having to take care of the five of us without having Dad’s help has really taken a toll on her. Especially Charity who is so much younger than the rest of us and who has never had a strong father-figure.”
The three of them ate the dozen donuts and drank their coffees while they talked about the festivities and everything going on. As they finished the last of the food, Chrissa leapt to her feet. “So what are you wearing tonight?” she asked, going to Deeka’s closet.
“I hadn’t thought about it yet,” Deeka admitted. “Curtis and I stayed through the fireworks last night and after he drove me home, I kind of conked out.”
“How does he drive?” DeLynn asked with interest.
“He uses hand controls. They’re right next to the wheel.”
“We can talk about that later,” Chrissa insisted. “First, we need to pick Deeka a killer outfit.”
“But he’s seen me in shorts and camis all month,” Deeka said in confusion, getting off her bed and following Chrissa into her closet. “I just figured I’d wear the same tonight.”
“Nope. It’s your first official date. You need to look good,” Chrissa said, elongating the last word.
“How good?” DeLynn asked, crowding in next to them and looking through Deeka’s clothes.
The conversation ran between jeans and a blouse to a dress. “Where’s he taking you?” Chrissa asked when they had gone through her entire wardrobe.
“He mentioned an Italian restaurant.”
“Oh,” DeLynn sighed. “Italian? How romantic. Chrissa’s right. You need the perfect dress.”
Worried now as Deeka had no idea it was this complicated, she pulled out every skirt and dress she had and put them on the bed. “Which should I wear?” They spent the next hour with her trying on every outfit and her friends systematically rejecting each one. By the time she was in her final dress, an off-the-shoulder, mid-thigh length, black silk dress, Deeka was getting frantic. What if nothing she had worked?
And then she saw her friends’ faces and relaxed. “This one?”
“Definitely,” Chrissa said, nodding.
“Oh, yes, Deeka. You look amazing,” DeLynn said, a slightly awed look on her face. “So grown up. I’ve never seen that one before.”
“I found it on sale a few months ago. Haven’t had the chance to wear it yet.”
“Now let’s figure out your hair.” Chrissa and DeLynn put all her dresses back while Deeka changed back out of the dress to keep it unwrinkled.
Deeka’s dad came to check on them once and finding them in the midst of a make-up conversation, quickly left. When they finally left just before noon, Deeka felt pretty good about the choices they made and was excited for tonight’s date.
“Have fun last night?” Barrett asked as she wandered into the kitchen looking for lunch.
“Yes, I did. You?” Deeka pulled some luncheon meat out of the fridge and grabbed a loaf of bread. “Want a sandwich?”
“That would be great. Yes, I had a good time last night. I’m assuming you and Curtis are going out tonight from the flurry of activity I just witnessed?” The amusement in his tone made her grin.
“Yep. He said he would pick me up at four-thirty. What are your plans for tonight?”
“I’m going to finish that book I’m pre-reading for him and then? I think I’ll grill myself a hotdog,” he said with relish.
“Not fair.”
“Of course it is,” he added with a grin. “You’re on a date with the man of your dreams, and I’m at home eating a hotdog.” Pausing, he shook his head. “Oh, that sounded better in my head.”
Giggling, she handed him his sandwich as she put the rest of the luncheon meat back into the fridge. “Dad?” she said hesitantly, after taking a bite of her lunch. “Have you ever considered dating again?”
He paused mid-bite and slowly chewed his food before answering. “Of course I have,” he admitted. “But you were a teenager and I didn’t want to do anything that would upset our life here.”
Nodding, she took another bite, following him out onto their back porch. “Well, if you decided to date again…” Her voice trailed off. “I just wanted you to know I’d be behind it.”
“Thanks, honey,” he said, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and hugging her. “With you officially being in a courting, I have to admit it’s been in my mind. This house is going to be very empty when you finally up and leave it.”
“Just make sure she likes me.”
“If she didn’t? I wouldn’t date her.” As they finished their sandwiches, he said, “Oh, and I’ve been thinking. We moved some things aside to make things easier for Curt when he comes over. What do you think about making more of a lasting change? Making everywhere permanently wheelchair accessible?”
Wrapping her arms around her dad’s chest, she hugged him tight. “Thanks, Dad.”
Deeka could hear the low rumble of her father’s voice along with Curtis’s softer one as she finished getting ready. She had been getting ready for the last two hours and as she looked at herself in the mirror, she couldn’t help but smile. While wearing the dress they had chosen and her hair in the simple up-do that Chrissa had been wild about, D
eeka had gone much softer on the make-up. Chrissa’s application had made her feel like a clown. Slipping her toes into the one pair of high heels she owned, she took one last glance at her reflection before leaving her bedroom.
Curtis was clearly visible from the hallway and she spotted him before he saw her as he was slightly turned away. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at him. Dressed in dress slacks and a crisp lavender dress shirt along with a gray pin-striped suit coat that matched his pants, she was pretty sure he was the best-looking man on the planet. Instead of his chair, he was using his crutches and standing tall, she figured he had to be at least six feet, if not over.
Hearing the clacks of her heels on the hardwood floor, Curtis turned his head and his soft green eyes darkened as his eyes slid down her body and back up. “Deeka,” he said, his voice huskier than she had ever heard. “You’re stunning.”
Preening at the compliment, she walked up to him, grinning as he leaned down, brushing his lips across hers. “Hi,” she breathed after he pulled back. “You’re pretty amazing as well.”
“All right, kids,” Barrett said, his firm voice belied by his beaming expression, “I want her home by eleven.”
“Yes, Mr. Williams,” Curtis said in a false, cracking voice, as if he was a teenager. After some teasing between the two men, the two of them walked out to his car and he escorted her to the passenger side, even though opening the door wasn’t something he could do easily. Pecking him on the lips, she opened the door and slid inside.
The trip to the restaurant took an hour, but Deeka barely noticed. They talked and she learned more about his early years.
“Oh, I was a rapscallion,” he admitted with a grin. “My parents were sure I would never become the proper son they raised. And they were right,” he added with a chuckle. “I love my life and can’t imagine the one they planned for me.”
“What did they want?”
“For me to go to the correct boarding school, then onto Oxford as that was where they both went. My dad hoped I would follow his footsteps into law.” Shaking his head, he grinned wryly. “I would have hated being an attorney. Of course, since I never actually finished high school, that killed the rest of their dreams.”
“You didn’t finish high school? Really?” she asked in surprise. He was so intelligent and so driven, that was a bit of a surprise.
“Nope. I left home at sixteen, right after getting the news about my legs. It seemed to me at the time that if I only had a few years of what I considered at the time good living, that I was going to take the opportunity to do so. I spent my time on the beaches of California for several years, surfing and being a bum quite literally, until my leg spasms became too much of a liability. When I was twenty, I came across a man who set my head straight. Lionel Morrhow.” His voice became softer, more reverent. “He taught me there was no shame in what was happening with my body, that what went on in the mind was what separated a man from a mouse. Lion was a quadriplegic who didn’t believe in the word can’t. Through him I began to look at living in a different light. Went home to apologize to my parents. Got my GED, and lucked into my first book deal.”
“Seriously?” He’d lived such an amazing life. Deeka hoped she had such amazing stories to tell in ten to fifteen years.
“Yep,” he said, with a smile on his face. “Right place at the right time. I’d created a novel using a character based on Lion, actually. About my time in figuring things out.”
“I’d like to read it.”
“It’s out of print, but I’ll get you a copy. It’s my only novel that didn’t sell well, but it did open the doors for me to a great agent and an even better publishing house.” Turning on the blinker, Curtis pulled off the highway and Deeka sat up as she spotted several restaurants pop up in amongst the trees. “The first time I came here was seven years ago. I was doing some research for one of my books and stopped in for a quick bite. Which turned into three hours of talking with Stephan, the owner, as he came from Sicily which I was particularly interested in as my book at the time had to do with the Italian Mafioso. Their food is absolutely wonderful.”
Compared to the large, full-scale restaurants that surrounded it, Stephan’s was small, with only a maximum occupancy of twenty-five. As there was no line at the door, Deeka was somewhat skeptical about the food until Curtis explained. “They only take reservations now. If you don’t have a reservation, you don’t get in. And if you ever skip a reservation, good luck at getting another one. I’ve never seen them not full.” He was right. The low rumble of voices drew her attention as they walked in the door. While in front of them was the hostess desk, behind it was a small grouping of tables with no overhead lighting but each table had a flickering candle in the middle.
“Curtis!” a deep woman’s voice exclaimed and in the next moment a tall, well-endowed woman strode up, grasping him by his face and kissing each cheek. “We have not seen you in forever. I saw the name on the guest list tonight and almost did not believe it until I saw you walk in. And who is this pretty young lady?” she asked, looking over at Deeka with sharp brown eyes.
“Cora, this is Deeka Williams, my girl.”
Deeka beamed at the way he introduced her and then almost fell off her heels when the woman squealed and grasped her by the head, kissing her on each cheek. When she pulled back, Cora was beaming. “Oh, welcome. Welcome. Come! I have a special table set for you.” She headed through the throng of tables and Curtis nodded his head to follow her. Deeka quickly went in her wake, ending up at a small table for two with only one chair. Without blinking, their hostess grabbed another chair and pushed it over. “We were not sure if you would have your chair or no,” she explained, her Italian accent thickening. “Oh, Stephan will be so happy to see you. Sit, sit.”
Yelling a few things in Italian, she walked through a set of swinging doors and as Deeka took her chair, Curtis sat down in his, removing his crutches. Looking up, he grinned. “That’s Stephan’s wife Cora. I would have introduced you to her as well, but once she gets excited, it’s best to just let her go.”
Giggling, she nodded as a short man with black hair that was going gray at the roots walked out of the door Cora had just gone through. “Curtis!” he exclaimed, clasping his hands together in delight as he walked over to their table.
The first thirty minutes they were there, Deeka ended up meeting the entire family. Stephan, Cora, Phillip, and Nos. All four were thrilled to meet her and by the time they left them to eat, she was shocked to find their table filled with food. “What did we order?” she asked, trying to remember if they had ordered at all
“Technically we didn’t,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes that even the darkness of the room couldn’t hide. “But they have brought us four wonderful dishes. Let’s see how much we can eat. What we can’t, we can take home to Barrett.”
“That’ll be better than hotdogs, even if they are his barbequed ones,” she agreed, making him laugh.
The food was wonderful as was the conversation. She kept plying him with questions and when their dinner was complete and dessert appeared in front of her, she wasn’t sure if she could eat another bite. Until she tasted it. “Oh wow. What is this?” she asked, taking another bite and letting it melt in her mouth.
“Cannoli,” Curtis hummed in enjoyment. “And you’ve been asking me questions all night. I think it’s time I turned the tables on you.”
“What do you want to know? There isn’t much to tell.” She was a girl from a small town. Deeka hadn’t done anything exciting. Yet.
“I disagree. I find you endlessly fascinating. For instance, what is your favorite thing to do?”
Frowning, she had to think about it. “Read.”
“And next?”
“Um…I like to hang out with Chrissa and DeLynn.”
“And next?” he said, his tone indicating he was teasing.
“I love to bake,” she admitted after savoring her last taste of cannoli. “I would love to learn how to
make these.”
“Maybe I’ll take you to Italy some time and you can take a class.”
Thrilled at the thought, Deeka nodded as Cora brought forth a huge to-go container, told Curtis he had better be back soon and in a gentler tone told Deeka to bring him as often as she could. By the time they left, Deeka looked forward to coming back.
“Have I told you how amazing you look tonight?” Curtis asked as he slid into the driver’s seat and put his crutches at his side.
“A few times, but don’t stop,” she said, feeling as though this date could not have gone better. Turning slightly so that she faced him, she gazed at his profile. It was difficult to see in the dark, but she could still make him out. “Did I tell you Dad’s thinking about making some changes to the house?”
“Like what?” he asked, taking a few moments to buckle his seatbelt and adjust his mirrors.
“Making it completely wheelchair accessible.”
There was a pause before he responded. “I can really help you do the dishes then.”
Laughing softly, she leaned over and put her head on his shoulder, sighing in contentment as he backed out the car and headed home.
Chapter 7
The first eight weeks of their courting sped by. Deeka was so happy, she barely noticed. There didn’t seem like much difference between the two stages as from the very beginning, Curtis had asked her to do simple things for him. Her worst issue seemed to stem from the fact she hated it when people would make snide comments about him. It hurt at a gut level and she couldn’t seem to help striking out vocally.
Every time, he would talk to her about it and then either set her lines or to stand in a corner. And then afterward, he would have her do something to make up for her impetuous behavior. In many ways it was like having to help Jerod clean up his yard when she went on his land. Deeka realized Curtis and her father were similar in a lot of ways.
“So, Curt coming back today?” her father asked in mid-September. Curtis had been away for five days on a small book tour and she had missed him. Thankfully they talked on the phone each night. And it was probably a good thing he was gone. Currently, if they couldn’t barbeque their food, they had to buy out as the entire kitchen was in disarray. All of the cabinets and counter tops were gone in preparation for the new kitchen that was supposed to go in next week. Their fridge was in the garage as was their old stove.