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She turned and saw Spencer watching them. He stood and gently took the plates from her hands. “Go see him.”
Her bottom lip quivered, but just looking into his eyes gave her strength. She nodded and moved toward her parents’ bedroom. Her mom said behind her, “Spencer honey, I’m sorry. Please help yourself.”
Dread filled her belly as she neared the door to her parents’ bedroom. Twisting the knob, she slowly opened the door and saw her father reading something in bed. At first glance, he looked fine. But, as she neared, and he didn’t even notice her presence, her shoulders tensed and her stomach flipped.
“Daddy,” she whispered.
He didn’t seem to hear her. She moved closer to him and laid her hand on his shoulder. He startled, his eyes wide when he saw her. “Kenna, honey. Nice to see you. Why didn’t you say something when you came into the room?”
“I’m sorry, Daddy.”
She pulled the chair in the corner closer to the bed and sat facing him as her mom sat on the edge of the bed.
“Are you hungry, Daddy?”
“Your mama fed me a bit ago.”
“Okay. How are you feeling?”
His lips quivered, and she saw the expressions fly across his face. In the end, he pretended everything was fine. “I’m doing so much better.”
It made her sad. So sad that at the end he was going to pretend it wasn’t.
His shaky hand reached out for hers and she held his as she watched his eyes dim. “How’s business Kenna? Everything alright?”
“It is. I’m taking good care of it for you to come back. You don’t have to worry about a thing.”
He smiled, his eyes seemed unable to focus. “I knew you would take the best care of it for me. You always did.”
He squeezed her hand, then rested his head back against the headboard. “I’m tired, honey.”
“Okay.” She stood and kissed his forehead. Pushing the chair back to its corner, she listened as her mom settled her dad, moving the magazine he pretended to read just moments before.
Solemnly she ambled to the front of the house, where Spencer sat in a side chair, watching out the window, looking as sexy as he ever had. His long legs, bent at the knee, expressed just how tall he was. She stifled a sigh as she observed his broad chest filling the chair as it had never been filled. She wanted to climb into his lap and let him hold her for hours.
His eyes met hers as she entered the room and he held his hand out to her as if he had read her mind. She stepped into his space, and he gently pulled her down onto his lap and wrapped her in his arms. She rested her head on his strong, massive shoulder and inhaled his aftershave. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
She felt his voice rumble through his chest and took comfort in it. His arms held her tight, his body protected her from the world, his presence filled her with hope and light and love.
Her mom entered the room and sighed. “That looks very nice.”
Kenna sat up, her cheeks flushed, but her mom dismissed her movement with a wave and sat on the sofa across the room. “I fell in love with your father the moment I met him. Our eyes landed on each other across the room. We were at a church social and the boys were on one side of the room and the girls on the other. Only the brave boys would make the walk across the floor to ask a girl to dance, so we usually watched each other from afar. He was brave. He never looked away from me as he stepped across the room. He bent at the waist, and when he stood up, he asked, ‘Would you care to dance with me?’ For a few moments, I couldn’t say anything. This brave boy who I’d been watching from afar asked me to dance. I wasn’t the prettiest girl in the room, that went to Janice Furlong. But he asked me. When I finally found my voice, and said, “Yes, please.” He held his arm out for me to place my hand in the crook of his arm and led me to the middle of the dance floor. We danced the rest of the night. Every song.” Her voice trailed off and Kenna brushed tears from her eyes.
“That’s a great story, Niya. I’ll bet you’re wrong, though. I’ll bet you were the prettiest girl in the room that night.” Spencer softly replied.
Her eyes landed on Spencer, and she watched her mom’s cheeks tint pink. A lone tear fell from her mom’s eye and left a trail of wet down her cheek until it fell on her blouse. She softly repeated, “We danced every dance.” She swiped at her cheek, then sniffed. “We married three months later. We’ve been married for close to forty years. I’ve never kissed another boy. It’s only been him.” Her mom looked into her eyes for a long time. “I’m going to miss him so much. Don’t waste your time, Kenna. Grab every minute you can and hold on to it until it squeals.”
31
The entire drive home, he held her hand. They’d eaten dinner with her mom. Cleaned up the kitchen and Kenna stepped into her father’s room to say good night.
She inhaled deeply. “How did your parents meet?”
He chuckled. “Much differently than yours. My mom was good friends with Jax Sager, Maya and Myles’s mom. Mom had a boyfriend who she’d found out was deep into trafficking. He’d roped her into helping him and when he found out she’d dug into his business, he threatened to kill her. She called Jax, because Maya is just like her mom. Strong, fearless, take charge, the real deal. Jax told her to get to Indiana. She was on assignment, but Jax called my dad, who owed her a favor, and asked him to pick up my mom from the airport. When he got to the airport, this poor, beaten, bedraggled woman got off the plane and his protective instincts reared up. He got her back to the compound and into the medical treatment room and began cleaning up her wounds. Apparently, one of her boyfriend’s goons had gotten to her before she could get away. But, luckily, she got into her car and got to the airport. Mom asked Dad to teach her how to protect herself, so she never felt vulnerable again. He did. During that time, they fell in love.”
“It almost sounds like us.” He glanced at her, then pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers.
