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He laughed. “How can I forget that?” he said. His mood instantly lightened.
“We’d all been at the hospital for a week straight. Rafe and Ari hadn’t been together too long at that point, but of course Nana Bee absolutely loved Ari,” Lia continued, looking at Bass and Ella since they were probably the only ones at the table who didn’t know the story.
“Ari had to work that day so she wasn’t there and they’d just finished a treatment on Nana Bee. She was all loopy when she woke up and saw Rachel, Rafe, and me standing at her bedside. Mom and Dad were sitting back, letting us take our turn at the bed.”
“Nana Bee looked around the room and then zeroed in on Rafe with a scowl,” Rachel said. They all started laughing.
“Rafe bent down with concern as he gripped Nana Bee’s hand and asked her what was wrong.”
The whole table was busting up now, making Bass and Ella smile even though they didn’t know the story. Even though they didn’t know this particular story, there were many other stories they each could share as well.
“Nana Bee asked Rafe if he’d broken up with Ari,” Rachel said.
“He vehemently shook his head and told her no, she had been with them at the hospital all week, but she’d had to work that day,” Lia said.
“Nana Bee continued to glare at Rafe and then asked him if he was hanging around with those hussies again. Rafe’s face turned a hundred shades of red at the words. We all know Rafe had a reputation for unsavory women, but we hadn’t known Nana Bee had been wise to him.”
“I promised her I was still with Ari, would be with Ari forever, and wouldn’t ever be such a fool again,” Rafe said with a chuckle that shocked Bass. He hadn’t ever seen his former best friend so lighthearted. The man had grown cold over the years. He missed this easy laughter.
“Nana Bee loved to call everyone out on their BS when they were slinging it,” Lia said. “She kept all of us in line. I think she still is. I miss her so much.”
That made smiles fade as everyone got a little choked up. Lia turned and gazed at Ella.
“She loved you so much, Ella.” She then turned to Bass. “And you were another grandson to her. We’ve all had a lot of problems through the years, but whatever they were needs to be fixed. That hurts Nana Bee and I can’t stand the thought of her being restless in the afterlife. I want her at peace and enjoying her time with Papa. She deserves that after all she’s done for so many of us and so many others.”
Utter silence met these words. No one could argue with Lia, but Bass had no idea how to fix the unfixable. Rafe didn’t trust him anymore. Rafe didn’t trust Ella either, thinking she was like her father. Words were never enough to fix the situation. What else could he do?
“I’d die for Nana Bee,” Bass finally said.
Rafe turned and glared at him. “Are you sure, Bass? I mean, you swear loyalty to someone and then you turn around and screw them. Oh, wait, you screw someone else beside them that you shouldn’t be screwing.”
His words were spoken with such coldness a chill ran through Bass’s body. He’d had enough, enough of the accusations. Enough was enough.
Bass quickly stood to his feet. “You know what, Rafe, I’ve had enough of this crap. If you want to duke it out, let’s get this on.”
Part of him wanted Rafe to accept the challenge and a part of him wanted Rafe to walk away. They were on Nana Bee’s property after all, and he was throwing down the gauntlet and requesting a duel.
“This is stupid,” Rachel said as she stood to try to stop what was inevitable, but it was already too late.
Rafe was on his feet in seconds, shooting daggers at Bass. “To the front yard now.” His words were spoken with quiet fury, and he didn’t wait to see if Bass would follow him. He simply walked off the deck and made his way to the front of the house. Bass took a step to follow when Ella grabbed his arm.
“Don’t do this, Bass,” she begged.
“I can’t back down,” he said. He pulled away and walked to the front yard. He heard Lia’s words to Ella before he drowned out the rest of the family.
“This has to happen for them to rise up again,” Lia said.
Screw that nonsense. This wasn’t about healing. This was finally about duking it out. It was long past due. He was going to tell his side of the story whether his former best friend wanted to hear it or not. He was sick and tired of being considered the enemy. Screw Rafe and his stubbornness. Bass was a better man than his former bestie gave him credit for. He’d had enough. Rafe should trust him, and maybe he’d have no choice after he beat the crap out of him.
Bass and Rafe circled each other as the rest of the family, minus the two who stayed back with the kids, surrounded them.
“You idiots arenotgoing to fight,” Rachel called out.
“Stay out of this, Rachel. This is between Bass and me,” Rafe snarled.
“You’re acting like complete fools. Nana Bee wouldn’t have wanted this,” Lia snapped.
“Nana Bee knew this had to happen,” Rafe corrected her.
