“Yes, they better,” Jade added. “The other day I’m with Kaeden in Bi-Lo and the cashier is having a whole silly conversation with him about nectars. She’s smiling hard enough to pop her teeth out her head and blinking lashes fast enough to swat flies. He’s right there truly talking nectars and clueless as hell that that wasn’t the juices she was offering.”
The women all shook their head.
Kaleb opened his mouth but no words came. There was no chance.
“Remember I had to save Kade from all the women setting thirst traps for him when I first starting working for him,” Garcelle reminded them. “Even now—after all these years—I catch plenty of women looking at him in church!”
Bianca clapped her hands. “Yes! Kahron told me about this housekeeper that stripped naked and waited in bed for him one time,” she added. “So now they’re married and all the woman just ignoring how fine the Strong men are? Please. Whatever.”
“Right,” Jade agreed. “It's just like Zaria always says...”
“Just fine for no reason,” the woman said in unison.
Bianca shook her head as if in wonder. “All of ‘em. Even the daddy. Sometimes it's annoying. You know?”
The women all agreed.
“It was the same way when we were growing up. Women get silly around my brothers—even my friends—and it used to work my nerves,” Kaitlyn added not helping things. “Lord knows my Mama had to get a few women together for shaking Daddy’s hand a little too long.”
Kaleb backed away as they continued to regale each other with stories of their husbands being overly appreciated by women.
Is Zaria jealous of Greyson? Is that part of our problem?
Fidelity was huge for his wife. He knew that.
He made his way across the yard, weaving through the crowd, and avoiding long conversations with those who tried to stop him as he jogged up the stairs of his parents’ front porch and into the house. Long strides carried him into the kitchen where he found Zaria was indeed busying herself in the kitchen.
She paused to glance over at him where she stood at the sink washing dishes as he came to a stop in the wide doorway. “The kids are out back enjoying the carnival,” she explained.
As if he didn’t care about seeing her.
Her eyes dropped to his cup.
“It’s tea,” he said.
She turned back to the sink. “I’d thought I’d come down off my high horse as the Queen of the World and make myself useful cleaning the kitchen,” she said.
A jab at his earlier words. He ignored it, trying to avoid an argument.
“There’s nothing between Greyson and me,” he said, leaning his strong frame back against the wall.
Zaria wrung the dishcloth into the sudsy water in the deep sink before she began to wipe down the counters. “Then why is she here?” she asked, not looking at him. “No, let me guess. The article. Right?”
And right then. He saw it. His wife was hurting. She had lost faith in him.
“Do you think I want her or she wants me? Do you think that?” he asked, pushing his strong frame off the wall and coming over to stand beside her.
When she continued to clean the counters and ignore him, he reached and covered her hand with his own. “Zaria,” he said.
She looked up at him for countless moments before she removed her hand and walked around the large center island to put it between them. “Truthfully?” she asked. “It doesn’t matter. Our issues started long before she popped up on the scene and if anything is going on between you two then it’s a symptom of a problem, not the problem.”
It doesn’t matter?
Kaleb felt numb. It set in that the fight in her was gone and he was smart enough to know that apathy was far worse.
It doesn’t matter?
His heart hammered.
“Your parents are keeping the kids all weekend and you’re having fun so I’m gonna head home and enjoy the quiet,” she said, moving to pick up her keys from where they sat on the counter.
Kaleb eyed her in disbelief. “Zaria, you’re leaving?” he asked.
“Just as soon as I make me a to-go plate and climb in my car. Yes, I am,” she said, pausing before she walked out of the kitchen to look back at him. “I’ll see you later. Okay?”
And she was gone.
He frowned. Deeply.
Turning, he crossed the kitchen to exit via the side door. Again, he moved through the crowd of people to reach the backyard where the excited yells of the children battled with the loud music of the band in the front yard. He didn’t spot Greyson anywhere.
He reached in the back pocket of his dark denims for his phone and found her number in his contacts.
It rang twice.
“Kaleb?” she said.
“Where are you?” he asked, standing still and pressing the phone close to his hear to hear her better.
“Getting another plate of food. Your family can cook,” she said, her voice lively.
He thought of his wife leaving him behind. A first. “I need to talk to you. Stay right there,” he said.
“Uh...okay,” she said.
He ended the call.
On the way to the front of the property, Kaleb spotted one of the bar set-ups. He walked over to it. “How can I help you, Mr. Strong?” the hired bartender asked.
Kaleb hated the desire he had for alcohol, but it did what it was meant to do.
Make him not care.
“Let me get a shot and two beers,” he said, giving in to the urge before leaning over to toss his cup of sweet tea into the garbage receptacle just a few feet away.
∞
Zaria awakened with a start, holding her head up from the pillows on the bed. The light she left on in the hall offered enough illumination to reveal Kaleb’s side of the bed was empty. Untouched.
She felt like vices gripped her chest and her heart, but she remained calm. Stoic, even.
She had to admit this was not what she envisioned for the night.
Not at all.
Rolling over, she flung the covers back and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Wow,” was all that she could express as she checked the time. It was well after one in the morning.
Suddenly her phone rang. It echoed like a shrill cry into the silence. She eyed it sitting face down on her uncluttered nightstand.
What if he’s hurt?
Fear of that being true pushed her to pick up the phone. Her heart pounded at the sight of her mother-in-law’s landline number.
Kaleb!
“Hello,” she said, frantic and afraid.
“Zaria. This is Lisha.”
“What’s wrong?” she squealed jumping to her feet. “What happened?”
“Wait. Wait. Wait. Calm down. Kaleb’s fine. Drunk as a skunk ...but alive and well.”
Waves of relief flooded her until she felt weak. She dropped back down onto the bed and covered her face with her hand.
Drunk?
“He sent that journalist home and been drinking ever since.”
Zaria gazed out the window feeling overwhelmed by it all. His drinking was out of hand. There was no denying that.
“Come and get him because we’re not letting him drive like this,” Lisha said.
She shook her head.
“Zaria? Did you hear me? Kaleb needs a ride home.”
“No, let him sleep it off,” she said in a monotone voice.
The line went quiet and Zaria chose not to fill it. She’d said all she had to say.
“I don’t know what’s going on with you two and I don’t want to know until you’re ready to tell me, but come and get your husband,” she said. “Do not sleep apart.”
“Well, Lisha, I thank you for that advice but ensuring we never sleep apart is something we both should honor and respect. So, getting drunk thirty minutes from home is not doing that,” she said.
“It’s a party and he had a little too much to drink. I’m sure he didn’t do it on purpose,” L
isha stressed.
Zaria had a sardonic chuckle. “You are? Because I’m not.”
Lisha fell silent.
Zaria gave her time to let that one statement and all that it implied settle in.
“So, there’s more to this than we know about?” her mother-in-law asked.
So much more.
Zaria closed her eyes, thankful that she was all cried out. “Yes, ma’am,” she admitted in a soft voice.
“Okay. Okay,” Lisha said, resigned. “I won’t push...but I’m here for you just as much as Kaleb. Don’t forget that.”
And that’s why Zaria loved her in-laws. They were fair and honest people. “Thank you, Lisha.”
Zaria ended the call.
There was no need to keep secrets and pretend anymore. The truth would come out sooner or later because, at that moment, Zaria knew that this final act of Kaleb’s was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
CHAPTER FOUR
Present day
It was chaos.
Zaria locked her knees to keep from turning and fleeing the scene. The questions were endless and all eyes were on them. She had to clench her hand into a fist to keep herself from reaching for Kaleb’s.
They shared a look.
“Okay. Hold on everybody,” he said, his voice deep and booming under the high ceilings of their home.
‘His home,’ she corrected.
Just that morning when he’d finally gotten home from his parents’ she had told Kaleb she was filing for divorce and begun to pack her and the kids’ clothes for the move back to her house in Summerville. Never had she imagined she would move back into the home she once shared with her first husband and the twins but it was her home. She finished paying for it alone and allowed the twins to live in it once she married Kaleb. With the twins’ married and in their own residences the two-story structure set empty, waiting to be her haven from yet another broken marriage.
“This is what’s best for us right now and perhaps this will make us better or it will make us realize that we weren’t meant to be together, but either way we need your support and understanding,” Kaleb said.
Zaria looked up at him. This was the talk she gave him that morning and now he was carrying some of the weight of their marriage ending even though it was she who was moving forward with the divorce. It seemed odd to be partners in a divorce when they failed at being partners in their marriage.
Kael rose from his seat. Lisha gently tugged his hand to pull his broad frame back onto his seat. He looked down at her with a stern eye and Lisha held up both her hands giving her husband free rein.
Everyone knew Kael was putty in his wife’s hands but there were times when he made a stand as a man who led his family and would not be deterred. He picked his moments.
This was one of them.
He faced Kaleb. “This is your house where you lead so out of respect for you, son, I ask that I be allowed to speak on this,” he said, leveling his eyes onto his son.
“Of course, Pop,” he said, waving his hand in an offer to take the floor.
“I’ll speak for myself,” Kael began. “I support your decision and respect it but I can’t pretend to understand. That’s just honest truth. This is a tough one for me. I love my family and, Zaria, you are that. No one’s perfect. That’s impossible. But in my opinion, I think you two are perfect for each other. My nickel.”
Zaria closed her eyes and hung her head as her eyes filled with tears at his heartfelt words. She truly loved the Strongs. They had been welcoming, kind, and generous to her and the twins.
“I don’t want to force two people who are not happy to be together but I do want to encourage two people to not take the easy route—”
“Pops—”
“No, let me finish,” Kael said coming around the sofa to stand before his son and his wife.
Zaria's heart ached because she knew this strong, wise, silver-haired man whose good looks had only deepened with time was who Kaleb would look like in the future and she wouldn’t be there to see it. Pain that seemed to run as deep as a century-old well settled in her soul and she fought like hell not to show it.
“Everyone celebrates couples with thirty and forty and fifty years together but no one reflects on the ups and downs it took to get there,” Kael said, his eyes shifting back and forth between them as he spoke. “There’s not too much a couple in love can’t come back from. I promise you that. Trust me.”
Zaria released a shaky breath as a treacherous tear fell and raced down her cheek.
“Oh Zaria,” Kaleb moaned as if pained by it.
It was Kael who reached up with a weathered hand, still strong from tens of thousands of days of hard work, to brush the tear away as he smiled down at her. “This shit ain’t easy. Right, Lisha?” he asked, turning to extend his hand toward his wife.
She brushed away a tear of her own. “No, not at all but it's worth the good fight. That’s for sure,” she agreed, her voice shaky with her emotion. “I wouldn’t trade any of it. Not the blessings nor the lessons to be here.”
Kael turned back to them to place a hand on his son’s heart. He held up his other hand and waited for approval from Zaria to do the same, balling it into a fist to respect her body.
“Do you love my boy?” he whispered to her, his eyes soft and imploring.
“Pops, please,” she begged, shaking her head for him not to ask that of her.
“Momma, tell the truth,” one of the twins said.
She glanced at her daughters. Their eyes were wet as well. They already knew about the divorce but she could see from the torn looks on their faces that it was not their wish for it go forward.
She looked back to her father-in-law.
Kael waited. Insisted.
A glance at Kaleb showed his profile seemed to be carved in stone as he looked at some spot in the distance.
Love him. I adore him. Even now he takes my breath. I will love him always.
But she didn’t speak those words, protecting them and holding them close to her heart. Instead, she nodded.
Kael smiled and then turned to Kaleb. “Son?” he asked.
“I will always love her,” he admitted in an instant.
Kael gave him a wink and a pat of his hand against his chest. “As long as there is love there is hope,” he proclaimed before stepping back and clasping his hands together. “If you pee standing up join me on the porch. Now.”
And with that he turned and walked between them to open the front door and leave the house, leaving it open wide.
Without question or hesitation, each of the Strong men rose and filed out of the house. Kahron, Kade, Kaeden and finally Kaleb. He gave her a look before leaving and closing the door. Moments later it opened and Kael stuck his head in with a frown on his face. “Quint, Armstrong, and Dane. Y’all didn’t hear me or y’all don’t care?”
Armstrong sat up straight. “Oh, us too?” he asked.
The woman all hid smiles that hinted they knew this moment was coming.
“Y’all pee sitting down?” he asked, clearly judging them if they did.
Dane, Quint, and Armstrong all rose and made their way out of the house as well.
Zaria smiled, glad for the moment of levity. There was a lot she was feeling and the desire to sleep crept up on her again. She was no therapist or psychiatrist but she knew it wasn’t emotionally healthy. Like a depression.
“What’s the plan, Zaria?” Lisha asked.
“I’m moving back into my house in Summerville,” she replied. “Me and the kids.”
“Zaria, why didn’t you talk to us?” Bianca asked, sitting up on the edge of the sofa. “Even now you’re not saying much.”
“It's hard when everybody else in the family is so dang on happy,” she said, her voice rising in frustration.
Bianca made a face. “No. That’s ridiculous. Kahron and I have been together for thirteen years. And, honey, that ain’t all happy. What Pops said is true. There are a lot of pitfalls a
nd slips and misunderstandings and arguments and doubts and sleeping in separate beds and not speaking that happens on the way to that fiftieth wedding anniversary and beyond.”
“Separate beds?” Garcelle asked.
Bianca nodded. “Absolutely. Not often. Sometimes? Yes. Y’all are not going to make me ashamed because sometimes we’re just not in the mood for each other.”
“I’m not going to leave you out there alone. Kaeden and I have argued before and slept apart,” Jade offered, very nonchalant.
“Who knew?” Zaria asked.
“No one,” Bianca shot right back. “But I love him and I don’t want to share a week, and definitely not a lifetime, without him in my bed.”
“I know that’s right,” Jade added with a sassy snap of her fingers.
Lisha smiled at them before offering the same to Zaria. “Trouble don’t last always,” she assured her.
“Sometimes people just grow apart. That does happen,” Zaria said, looking to her twins and her nieces, Kadina and Lei, who were listening and inadvertently learning about the expectations in relationships. She wanted to ensure their goals in love were realistic. “And it’s okay to realize that and move on.”
“True,” Lisha agreed.
“I’m sorry Kaleb and I are going to be the first Strong family divorce and I hear everything you all are saying, but in the end, it’s about a mutual respect, desire, and love. And sometimes there is no coming back, or fixing it, or great makeup sex to heal it. That’s where we are.”
The women fell quiet with solemn looks on their faces.
“Zaria, I want this all to work out but if you and Kaleb are intent on separating then can I offer for the little ones to stay with us,” Lisha suggested. “It’s summer. You and Kaleb can implement their new normal without them in the midst of this. Seeing it. Feeling it. Being affected by it.”
“I agree, Momma,” Meena said, ever the teacher with an innate concern for the welfare of children before she became a mother herself. “Just in case y’all reconcile. And if you don’t then we all are just going to have to accept how it is going forward.”
Strong Loving Page 6
