by Rowena Dawn
Ellen stole looks at everyone. Besides Jay’s parents, Matt and Nora, and of course Jay’s grandma, there were two other young people in the group. She remembered that Jay had told her that he had a large family, and she surmised that the two must have been some of his cousins.
“I’m already tired,” Rebecca said with a scowl for Jay. “If I remember correctly, there’s a table with chairs on your patio, Bryan,” she pointed her chin toward the man’s house, which could be seen through the trees.
“We’re having a picnic here, grandma,” Jay pointed out dryly. “We don’t need a table.”
“I do. Let’s move there,” the old woman ordered.
“But I feel well here,” Jay retorted stubbornly, although he didn’t know why he insisted on being insolent with her. He didn’t do anything else but invite more trouble.
“You’ll feel good there too,” Rebecca huffed. “Let’s move,” she barked.
Jay wanted to open his mouth again, but Ellen squeezed his hand and shook her head. “Let’s go, Jay,” she whispered and stood up with fluid movements, tugging at the man’s hand.
Sulking, Jay followed Ellen’s example. Both of them helped Becka and Bryan gather the remnants of their picnic and the blankets.
The others started ahead, although Matt and Jonathan checked first if the four of them had everything in hand and didn’t need their help.
Ellen waited until the other people started up the gentle slope of the hill toward Bryan’s house, and then, she turned to Jay.
“That’s not indifference, Jay. You’re behaving like a brat,” she scolded him. “You don’t do anything else but show your grandma that you care about her opinion too much.”
“I don’t actually know what to do,” the man confessed. “I just know that she’ll say something to upset you, and you will leave,” he confessed his greatest fear.
“Don’t worry about that. I won’t leave,” Ellen reassured him.
“You want to leave whenever I say something,” Jay reminded her.
“That’s because it is you. I am not so sensitive with other people,” the woman said, and a blush covered her face.
“Good to know,” the man mumbled, and Bryan hid his smile.
He knew very well how it felt being in Jay’s shoes. The man had gone through a similar thing, and that less than two years ago.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Becka and Bryan laid the food and drinks on the table in a few minutes. Marjorie and Jonathan had brought some more food, and they helped the young couple to set everything out.
When everyone found a seat and had a plate before them, Marjorie turned to Ellen.
“I’m afraid you don’t know everybody, Ellen. This is Jay’s great-grandmother, Rebecca,” she pointed to the old woman, who still looked at Ellen with displeasure.
Ellen nodded and murmured a few polite words to Jay’s grandma, but the old woman didn’t bother to answer. She just kept glaring at the younger woman. The thunder in her pupils didn’t promise anything good.
‘Unpleasant woman,’ Ellen reflected. ‘She’s looking at me as if I were an interloper,’ she shook her head imperceptibly.
Jay squeezed her hand and then pulled it in his lap. Ellen noticed the smile that appeared on the lips of the young woman who sat between Matt and Rebecca.
“This is Lily,” Marjorie told Ellen, a smile on her lips. “She’s Jay’s cousin and Josh’s twin sister,” she showed toward the young man who was sitting on the other side of Nora.
“I’m delighted to meet you, Ellen,” Lily said with a warm smile. “It was high time Jay found someone to share his life,” she continued, turning her smile toward her cousin.
“Not so fast, young lady,” her grandma contradicted her. “We all know that Jay doesn’t have any interest in sharing his life with her. He merely wants my money,” the woman turned her hard eyes on him.
Jay threw the fork he held in his hand on the table with an angry gesture. He jumped off the chair and seemed ready to climb over the lawn table and strangle his great-grandmother.
Ellen tugged at his t-shirt. When he turned to her angrily, her eyebrows arched, and she showed him to sit back in his chair.
The woman felt that Jay shook with rage. She took hold of his hand and intertwined her fingers with his. Jay breathed deeply, and Ellen felt the tension seep out of his body. “You’re doing great, baby,” she whispered.
Jay turned his stunned eyes to her. Although he used endearments for Ellen all the time, she had never uttered anything similar to him until then. His eyes sparkled with intensity, sweeping hungrily over the woman face.
Ellen merely smiled at him, and her fingers flexed over his. Jay sat down, raised their joined hands to his mouth and brushed his lips over the woman’s delicate knuckles, always gazing insistently at her.
“You can’t fool me with your theatrical show,” Rebecca scoffed.
“Grandma,” Marjorie warned her. “You should learn when you shouldn’t talk,” the woman said in a harsh tone of voice, and everyone looked at her with astonished eyes.
“You don’t get to talk to me like that, girl,” Rebecca snapped at Marjorie. “Do you think I’m stupid?” she turned toward Jay afterward. “I won’t hand you the money on a platter just because you put on a show before me,” she said sardonically.
“Grandma, you know where to shove your money,” Jay said in a dry tone of voice, and a few surprised exclamations filled the air.
Jonathan, gasped, slapped his knee and started laughing heartily, while Marjorie shook her head in disapproval.
Matt put his thumbs up to congratulate his brother, and Josh laughed like a hyena. Bryan merely shook his head, knowing that the worst would come.
The man wasn't wrong. Suddenly, black clouds gathered over their heads, and lightning slashed the sky.
"Don't you think that's an old trick?" Jay arched his eyebrows sardonically. But then, he grasped Ellen's hand and squeezed it, to let her know that he wouldn't allow anything bad to happen to her.
Rebecca's hard eyes pierced Jay with apparent censure. She intended to give a harsh reply to the young man, but she didn't have the time.
"Yes, grandma," Matt intervened in a flat tone of voice. "We've already seen it. You didn't scare us with that stupid trick in the past, and you won't scare us now," he stared her down with his dark blue eyes.
The old woman frowned at Matt and pressed her lips in a very thin line. She shifted her narrowed eyes toward Ellen and raised her hands with her fingers spread. An ugly malicious grin transformed Rebecca's features. The woman waved her fingers swiftly, and suddenly, Ellen's plate filled with a pile of grey mice, squirming one on top of the other. All around, mayhem ensued.
Ellen's eyes widened with horror. She paled and practically flew out of her chair, breathing hard and pressing a hand on her chest. She stifled a cry in her throat, pushing her fingers over her trembling lips.
Jay swore viciously and jumped up off his lawn chair as well with a sudden move. The chair fell to the ground with a loud bang. The man gathered the young woman to his chest, stroking her hair and back tenderly, in an attempt to soothe her.
Nora hurried away from the table, her rounded eyes always on the squirming mice. Matt tried to catch her hand, but she shook her head and waved at him to remain where he was so that he could take care of the problem. Matt disagreed with her, not very sure that he would succeed, but she insisted with a demanding gesture, and the man resigned to remaining at the table in the middle of the chaos.
Everyone had started shouting at Rebecca at the same time. Becka practically attacked Rebecca, her eyes blazing. She didn’t care about controlling her powers right then, and the wind swirled around them, blowing leaves into the air.
Becka's air flew in the wind, and Bryan had to restrain his wife although he couldn’t stop admiring her primal beauty. However, the man was afraid that Becka would unleash her full powers and provoke a severe storm. His yacht was anchored at the pontoon, and Bry
an would have loved to still have it in one piece once that fight ended. So, he soothed his wife as best as he could.
When the wind tired down and disappeared, Bryan raised his reproachful eyes to Rebecca, shaking his head in disbelief. He looked at the old woman as if he had seen her for the first time, and the woman merely scoffed at him.
Rebecca didn't look like she had cared about the scandal she had stirred. She discounted Bryan as not crucial for the moment and shifted her eyes from him to Ellen and Jay. The woman focused her narrowed eyes on the couple and didn’t pay any attention to anyone else.
However, while Becka got lost in her own tempest, Lily and Josh had lashed out with resentment toward the old lady. The twins were sick and tired of the old woman's schemes. They couldn't understand how their great-grandma's mind worked anymore. But then, their words fell in deaf ears.
By then, Jonathan had joined the fray as well. Rebecca treated him with the same indifference she would have shown to an annoying fly. She only fluttered her hand to the man to make him shut up. The woman knew that Jonathan didn’t represent a valuable contender in that discussion because he didn’t have any powers to fight against her.
Only Marjorie hadn't joined the scandal. She had shaken her head with sadness watching the fracas for a few minutes, and then, she rushed to Ellen's side, intending to check on her.
Jay immediately turned to his mother furiously and shouted at her. “You had to bring her here. When the hell will you learn? She's a spiteful dried-up woman, and she can't live if she doesn't spread her unhappiness around," the man ground his teeth.
Marjorie attempted to reply something, but Jay didn’t give her a chance. He stretched his arm and stopped her from getting closer to Ellen. Then, his eyes speared his mother with a stony gaze, and he added in a quiet but resolute tone of voice, "You've done enough for now. I'll take Elle and move out of the province to get rid of the lot of you."
Ellen gasped in shock. The young woman had just recovered from her fright and caught Jay's last words. She tugged at his shirt and whispered, "No, Jay, you won't."
Jay quieted her, stroking her face. "I said that no one would get to touch you, Elle. That was a promise, which I didn't keep, baby. But I will keep it from now on. If we have to leave this city, we'll do it."
"No one touched me, Jay," she shook her head, gazing insistently into the man's eyes. "You kept your promise."
Jay engulfed Ellen in his arms and buried his face into her hair, grateful for her understanding.
Marjorie watched them with sadness. Jay's words had brought tears in her eyes, and now, they ran freely on her face.
Jay’s words reached Jonathan’s ears, and the man strode in a hurry to his wife at once. The man slid his arm around her quivering shoulders and brought her to his chest.
"Don't worry, Jay won't leave," he told his wife in an undertone, wiping her tears off with his thumb.
Matt had narrowed his eyes to slits and observed everything. Rebecca’s actions had enraged him already, but when his mother began crying, his rage reached the boiling point. He threw his hands in the air and shouted, “Hey, all of you. Shut up, that’s enough.”
His harsh tone of voice put an end to the uproar. Matt’s outbursts were so rare that people listened when he roared.
Everyone turned to Matt, watching him inquiringly. Matt took a deep breath, and then said, “That’s what we’re going to do.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“You, all, get back to your chairs and stop quarreling,” Matt said, and his tone of voice didn’t invite to replies.
Jay opened his mouth to retort, and Matt shook his head with determination.
“That’s valid for you too, Jay. Take Ellen and get a seat far from that plate with... You know what I mean,” the man showed Jay to move their chairs to the other end of the table. “Lily, take care of those mice. You’re the best at those stupid spells. I’m sick of watching them,” he grimaced, waving his fingers toward Ellen’s plate. “Make the plate disappear too. I don’t think that Bryan would want it anymore,” he said, glancing inquiringly at Bryan.
The man nodded with conviction in complete agreement with Matt. Only the thought of using that plate in the future made him feel sick at the stomach.
Matt pressed his lips, watching around with searching eyes. Then, he turned to his wife. “Nora, will you bring other plates for Ellen and Jay? I’d ask Becka, but she’s still vibrating with anger, and I’m afraid that she’d break the damn things.”
“Of course, Matt,” his wife smiled at him. She passed by him on her way into Bryan’s house, and whispered, “I knew you could bring order to chaos, love.”
The woman reached up and touched her mouth to Matt’s briefly. Afterward, she went to the house to bring the dishes.
Matt looked after his wife until she entered the house. Then, he breathed deeply once more and turned to Rebecca, who was watching everything with a frown.
“I’m calling a water taxi for you,” he said to his great-grandmother in a hard tone of voice. “It’s time that you went home,” Matt glared at the old woman. “From now on, try not to come to any outings if you hear that I’m present,” the man warned her. “And stay away from my family and especially from my brother.”
“You won’t call me any taxi,” Rebecca speared him with thunder in her eyes. “I’m not ready to leave.”
“Yes, you are,” Matt countered in a tone that didn’t invite to any more discussions, and then took his cell phone out of his pocket and called the owner of a water taxi service, who was one of his clients.
“Hey, man,” Matt said when his call was answered.
His cold eyes never left Rebecca’s face. The woman was watching him stunned. She couldn’t believe that he was going through with his threat.
“Matthew Winston here. I need a water taxi to my cousin’s island to pick up my grandma,” he continued and then gave the coordinates to the man. “I’ll pay for both ways, no worries,” Matt assured him. “Thanks.”
He disconnected the call and said to no one in particular, “That’s settled.”
“You don’t get to order me around,” his grandma huffed.
“You’ll leave. As soon the taxi gets here,” Matt replied with quiet intensity. “Even if I have to hogtie you, you will leave.”
“Marjorie,” Rebecca turned to her granddaughter. “Talk to him,” she ordered with a bark.
However, Marjorie shook her head at the woman’s request. “No, I won’t. You’ve done enough bad things today,” she said, and Jonathan supported her decision.
Marjorie’s reply shocked the old woman. She hadn’t expected that answer from her granddaughter.
“Marjorie,” she said in a warning tone of voice. “Your father will hear about your impudence.”
“I’m sure grandpa will get over it,” Jay intervened harshly, fed up with his great-grandma’s presence. “Sweetie, let’s walk on the shore that way,” he pointed to a trail leading away from the pontoon. “We’ll return once the witch left,” he whispered to Ellen, and she shook her head with a smile. “Don’t you want to go away from here for a few minutes?” Jay asked her with astonishment.
“I don’t want Rebecca to think that she has any power over you,” Ellen whispered back to him. “We’ll remain here to see her leaving,” she decided.
Jay merely shrugged and slid his arm around her shoulders. He admired the woman. She had a strong backbone.
“It still remains that issue with the money,” Rebecca intervened in a dry tone of voice, and everyone groaned.
“As I’ve already said,” Jay retorted staring the old woman down, “I make my own money. On Monday morning, talk to your lawyers to take my name out of your trust. And you can erase me from your memory as well,” the man added in a hard tone of voice. “I’ve had enough of you. I won’t be present in the same room with you from now on. I don’t want to ever lay my eyes on you. Is it clear?”
“You say so now,” Rebecca scoffed waving
her hand. “But I know better. You won’t give up your part of the trust. I know what you’re capable of doing to get your greedy hands on my money. I haven’t forgotten Camilla,” she replied triumphantly, watching Ellen with mean eyes.
“Camilla?” Ellen whispered to Jay. “I think I want to hear about that.”
“Not a problem, young lady,” Rebecca intervened, proving that her hearing was as strong as ever. “I can tell you about.”
“No, thanks,” Ellen replied in a quiet tone of voice. “Jay will do just fine and not now.”
Rebecca narrowed her eyes, and Matt barked, “Take a seat, grandma, until the taxi’s here. Stop badgering Ellen.”
“I don’t speak to you anymore,” the old woman turned to him furiously.
“But you won’t speak to me either,” Jay didn’t forget to mention.
“I have no intention to talk to you,” the woman replied. "I’ll tell Ellen about Camilla instead,” she continued in a determined tone of voice.
“I don’t think so,” Ellen shook her head. “If Jay has anything to tell me about that subject, he’ll do it. Besides, after the mice thing, I don’t feel like talking to you either,” the young woman pointed out in a hard of voice.
“Good for you,” Bryan approved of her decision.
“So you rallied against me as well,” Rebecca turned to him with narrowed eyes.
“This time, you’ve done it,” Bryan replied quietly.
“And you’re escalating,” Lily pointed out. “I quite expect that you’d turn the man I date in a frog if you get a whiff of that.”
“You know that I want the best for you,” Rebecca replied.
“The problem is that you don’t know what the best is,” Jonathan intervened swiftly. “You think you do, I’ll give you that, but you’re wrong every single time. You were wrong about Amelie and me. You were also wrong about Bryan and Nora,” he pointed out. “You admit that you were wrong only when it is too late,” he shook his head with regret.
