“I think everything is set. The only thing missing now is the celebrant,” Jade said with a satisfied smile as she looked around the patio, which had been decorated with colorful ribbons and birthday foil balloons that spelled out ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD’ in an arc at the entrance of the patio, such that it would be the first thing Desmond sees when he walks through the door.
On the table, different trays of hors d’oeuvres were arranged, consisting of canapes, toast points spread with foie gras, mini quiche, and jelly tarts. Various bottles of wines and wine glasses adorned the table, with a transparent flower jar at the center, which contained a mixture of white roses and tulips.
“Good. Excuse me then,” Benne said as he quickly walked away and returned to the house. Although he had been busy with the decorations, his mind had been in the bedroom upstairs all through, especially as it was over forty-five minutes already, and Celsie was yet to join them.
“Me too,” Bryan said as he followed Benne.
Jade sighed as she sat down. She knew that they were both worried about their girlfriends. She was too. She was at least glad that their parents had all gone out to have fun since somehow she had a feeling that the evening wouldn’t be as much fun as they would have all loved it to be for their father. Shit was about to get real for everyone.
“Hey!” Candace greeted cautiously from the doorway, and Jade turned to look at her.
“Hey, Candace!” She called with a friendly smile as she stood and went to embrace her. Although they weren’t exactly friends, Jade felt some sort of connection with her, maybe because of how much that case had meant to the both of them two years ago.
She had needed the case to distract herself just after learning about her late boyfriend’s infidelity, and she had also pursued it to secure the partnership that her firm had promised if she was able to close the case. She had desperately wanted to be the youngest senior partner in her firm at the time. Candace, on the other hand, had needed her to crack the case so that she, her sister, and her son would be free from Jero.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” Jade said as she broke the hug to look into Candace’s face. Although she had been busy with the decorations, she had been expecting Candace.
“I’m sorry I kept you waiting. I was busy doing some laundry, and it took them quite some time to locate me,” Candace said with an apologetic smile, “This looks perfect,” she said, looking around the patio.
“You are welcome to join us for dinner tonight. Please, have a seat,” Jade gestured to a chair as she sat down.
Candace took the seat beside Jade and folded both hands on her lap, bracing herself for the unpleasant subject Jade wanted to discuss with her.
“How have you been enjoying your stay here? I hear my parents have taken quite a liking to Jamal,” Jade said, wanting to start with an easy conversation to relax her before talking about Jero.
The way Candace’s guarded eyes suddenly lit up with an easy smile showed her love for her son, “Yeah. The feeling is mutual. Last night he asked if he could call Evelyn grandma and Janet grandmum,” Candace said, and Jade laughed.
“Really? Why grandma and grandmum?” Jade asked curiously.
Candace grinned, “Apparently, his seven-year-old brain thinks that Evelyn should be called grandma because she appears to be older than Janet. He has always whined about not having grandparents when most of the kids he knows have grandparents to dote on them,” Candace said with a wistful smile.
“I’m sure my mother would be more than delighted to hear him call her that,” Jade said as she placed a hand over Candace’s hand, which was now resting on the table.
“I’m very sorry about Andy,” Jade said, looking at Candace with earnest eyes.
“Don’t be. I thought about it. I’m sure there was nothing you could have done,” Candace said in a resigned tone.
“Still, I want you to know that I’m deeply sorry. If there were something I could have done to stop it without putting her at risk, I would have. But Cassidy was already a step ahead of me,” Jade said, feeling slightly embarrassed to admit that.
“As I said, it’s not your fault. I should have known better than to leave her behind, regardless of how stubborn she was. Besides, we both know that is not the worst thing that could have happened to her. I believe that she will be fine,” Candace said, and Jade nodded, wanting to believe so too.
“Do you think maybe your sister likes him too? I would hate to think I left her to an abuser,” Jade said, the one thing that had been troubling her.
“I’m not sure how Andy feels towards him… She never really liked to talk about that part of her life… I always thought it shamed her, and I felt guilty because she wouldn’t be living that way if I hadn’t gotten in a relationship with Jero,” Candace said, staring down at her hands guiltily, “I don’t know exactly what happened between them, but I know that Cassidy was fond of her. Did Andy protest? Did she sound scared?” Candace asked a question she realized she should have asked the moment Jade called that night.
Jade shook her head, “No.”
“Then it’s fine. She will be okay. Before you say anything else, I’ll like to say this. I don’t care about whatever deal you made with Jero. I’m not taking Jamal anywhere near him…” Candace said, and then she raised a finger to stop Jade from interrupting her.
“You might not exactly understand my decision because you are not a mother yet, but I expect you to accept it. I can’t take Jamal anywhere close to that monster. I don’t care if he has changed or not. Jamal has only just recently stopped asking for his father. I don’t want to go through that phase again,” Candace said, making it clear that her mind was made up.
Jade took a deep breath. She didn’t need to be a mother to understand Candace’s need to keep her son away from Jero, “What about you? Are you going to see him?”
“Let him know that I will see him, but Jamal won’t be coming with me. The best I can do for him is give him a photo of Jamal. If that isn’t good enough for him, then he can rot in hell for all I care.”
“I think I can work with that. I will arrange for us to travel tomorrow if you don’t mind.”
“Jamal can remain here, right? Just until Jero is locked up again, and you’ve taken care of the cartel,” Candace pleaded. Jamal seemed comfortable in the house with the staff and family, and the environment was safe.
“I will talk to Benne about it,” Jade promised.
Away from there, in Benne’s bedroom upstairs, Celsie clung to Sonia as she sobbed. She wept not for herself but for Lucas, who she knew was hurting even more than her at the moment. She wished there was something she could do to make him feel better.
“He will be so broken. All this will be too much for him to handle at once,” Celsie cried. Lucas had always been the most emotional one between them both, and she knew that he wasn’t going to handle this too well.
“He will be fine, Celsie. Both you and Lucas will be fine,” Sonia assured Celsie as she patted her hair softly.
Celsie and Lucas were the siblings she never had, and seeing them hurt, hurt her too. Even in his death, her half-brother, Jamie, was still making life difficult for those she cared about. Sonia quickly reminded herself that they all couldn’t be emotional at the same time. So instead of giving in to her tears and guilt, she raised her head and looked to the ceiling as she blinked back her tears and consoled Celsie.
“He ended things with Rachel. He gave up his job. And now this. He is alone over there with no one to comfort him,” Celsie said with a sniffle.
She wished she could go over to be with him, but she knew that wouldn’t be a good idea for either of them. Seeing her would only make him feel even more guilty, and then they would both pretend to be okay around the other and keep their emotions hidden.
Celsie raised her tear-stained face to the door when Benne pushed it open without knocking and walked into the bedroom, “I couldn’t…” her voice broke, and she shook her head miserably, “I just couldn’t say the words to him,” she cried, and Sonia stood up to give Benne room to comfort her.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.