by Sala, Sharon
She shrugged. “It was always easier to ignore it than deal with it.”
He frowned. “No more ignoring shit, Mama. Not ever again. I’m going to call the guys, then go home and check on Linny.”
“Godspeed,” Delle said.
“From your lips to God’s ears,” he said, kissed her good-bye and left the room to make the calls.
****
Brendan set up a mini-conference call so he wouldn’t have to tell the whole thing twice, then broke the news to his brothers about Anson’s death. The silence that came afterward was odd.
“So, either one of you have anything to say?” Brendan asked.
“Don’t expect me to say, I’m sorry,” Chance muttered.
“Me, either,” Sam added.
“There’s something else,” Brendan said and told them about Linny’s call. “She’s always saying stuff and we ignore it. I think it’s time we start paying attention. She told me after he burned Mama’s feet that something bad was going to happen to her. I attributed it to the shock of what happened to Mama and ignored it.”
“Yeah, and remember she told me to make that list of bad people Daddy knew, and all of the things that he’d done to destroy him,” Sam added. “It wound up being part of what rattled Riordan enough to bring her back.”
“And now knowing Daddy died before anyone told us,” Chance said. “We’re not only going to have to pay attention to what she says, but also what we say to her.”
“For sure. No more lies,” Brendan added.
“No more lies,” they echoed.
****
Grayson March was waiting in the parking lot of Brendan’s apartment when he saw him drive up. Grayson was prepared for rejection, although it was no more than he deserved, considering how many times he’d rejected Brendan.
Brendan saw him get out of his car and stopped.
Grayson kept walking. “Have you got a minute?” Grayson asked.
“Start talking,” Brendan said.
Grayson held out his hand.
Brendan hesitated so long Grayson thought he wasn’t going to shake it, and then he finally relented.
“I’m sorry,” Grayson said, “for everything I ever said or insinuated about you.”
Brendan waited without comment as Grayson continued.
“I got a call from the Parish sheriff that your father confessed and cleared the names of my employees who were blamed for Voltaire LeDeux’s murder. It will be a blessing for their families.”
“He’s dead, you know.”
Grayson’s mouth opened, but nothing came out.
“It’s a long story, but suffice it to say, he brought it on himself,” Brendan said. “My little sister is with Julie. They’re painting toenails. Want to come up?”
Grayson was surprised, but pleased by the invitation. “Yes. I would like that.”
“I’m going to marry your daughter,” Brendan said.
Grayson nodded. “I guessed as much.”
“I suppose you think I should have asked your permission,” Brendan said as they headed toward the building.
Grayson shrugged. “I think I lost any expectations of having that honor right after I accused you of being part of her kidnapping.”
“I’m glad we understand each other,” Brendan said.
Grayson laughed. “We might butt heads along the way, but I’d say we definitely understand each other.”
“I’ll make Juliette proud of me, and I’ll never let her down.”
Grayson sighed. “I know that, and I thank you.”
“I’m going to the police academy in the fall.”
“An honorable profession,” Grayson said.
“Not all of the time,” Brendan said, thinking of the men his father had paid to look the other way. “I plan to be one of the good guys.”
Grayson nodded. “I have no doubt.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence, and when Brendan knocked on Julie’s door, the look on her face when she opened it was priceless.
“Brendan! Daddy! Are you—?”
“We’re fine,” Brendan said. “Is Linny okay?”
She nodded. “It’s weird, but she actually seems relieved. Was it true?”
“Yeah. I’ll tell you later. Did you save us some lemonade?”
“We drank it. I have sweet tea.”
“Even better,” Grayson said.
Linny came bounding into the room with Tracker under her arm.
“Brendan! You’re back! Did you know Daddy was dead?”
He arched an eyebrow. “So I heard. Are you okay?”
She nodded. “The Evil Overlord has been defeated. All is well in my kingdom, thanks to my best and most faithful knight.”
Brendan laid his hand on her head as she leaned against him.
Grayson smiled at her. “Who’s the knight?”
“Why that would be me,” Brendan said. “I can’t believe you had to ask.”
“And when Sir Brendan and Juliette get married, she will be his Lady,” Linny added.
Brendan winked at Julie, then tugged on Linny’s hair. “Who said anything to you about us getting married?”
Linny shrugged. “I just know stuff.”
“Yes, you do,” he said softly, then tugged her ponytail again. “Julie is going to talk to her daddy for a bit. I want to talk to you.”
“He burned up. I saw it, Bren. It’s okay. Bad people burn in hell.”
Brendan sighed. “Maybe we can skip that talk after all.”
“Don’t be upset. I just know stuff, Brendan. Remember?”
“Well hell,” Brendan said softly.
Grayson looked a little pale. Dead was one thing. Incinerated was another. “Juliette, do you happen to have anything stronger than sweet tea in this place?” he asked.
Julie pointed to the sofa. “You boys sit. We’ll do the honors, won’t we, sugar?”
Linny nodded. “Yes, I’m getting big enough to carry lots of stuff now, even the stuff that spills.”
“Definitely, big enough,” Brendan said, watching her walk away with her head up, her shoulders back, and keeping up with every step Julie made. Life had kicked his little sister in the teeth and caused her to grow up too fast for his liking, but it was what it was.
“Two damn fine women, if I say so myself,” Grayson said.
Brendan shoved his hands in his pockets so no one would know they were shaking, thinking to himself how quickly things began to right themselves once Anson Poe was no longer of this world.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Grayson went home shortly after his arrival, and Brendan and Linny were on their way out of Julie’s apartment as well.
Brendan handed his little sister the keys to his apartment, knowing she liked being the one to unlock the door and then watched her skipping as she headed down the hall with Tracker tucked under her arm. He stayed behind just long enough for one last hug from Juliette.
“We love. We’ll make love. Soon,” she whispered.
Brendan cupped her face in his hands, rubbing a thumb across her lower lip.
“I told your father I was going to marry you.”
Julie blinked.
He sighed. “I know. I should have probably asked you first.”
She grinned. “You think?”
“Forgive me?”
“Only if you promise to do it right next time.”
“Brendan! Are you coming?”
“Gotta go,” he said. “Remember, the answer should be yes.”
He hurried up the hall, leaving Julie smiling as she shut the door.
As soon as they were inside the apartment, Linny put Tracker down and then followed Brendan to his room.
“Can I call Mama?” Linny asked.
Brendan was relieved she was ready to talk to her. “Sure. I’ll get her on the phone, okay?”
She sat quietly, watching Brendan’s face as he made the call. He spoke briefly, then handed her the phone and went into the living room to g
ive her some space.
He turned on the television for something to do and was lost in thought and ignoring the show, when he felt two small hands slipping around his neck and then warm breath on his ear.
“Thank you, Bren.”
“You’re welcome, sugar. Is everything okay between you and Mama?”
“Yes.”
“Come, sit down, and talk to me,” he said.
“I can’t right now. Company’s coming.”
There was a knock at the door.
“It’s for me,” she said and ran to answer.
“Wait! What the hell, Linny? You know better than to do that? It’s not safe.”
“This time it is,” she said and opened the door.
“Auntie!” Linny said.
Claudette leaned down and gave her niece a kiss on the cheek. “I have someone who wants to talk to you.”
Brendan saw her and smiled. “Hey, Auntie, come in. I was-” He saw the tiny woman who stepped out from behind Claudette and his smile widened. “Mama Lou!”
“I would speak with your sister,” the old woman said and took Linny by the hand.
When Brendan started to follow, Claudette stopped him with a touch, then a look.
“It is time this happens,” Claudette said. “The trauma of what happened to Belinda has triggered what was already there in her. She needs to know how to control it.”
Brendan frowned. “Is this going to make her life more difficult?”
“Life is always difficult, Brendan. You of all people should already know that. This is who she is. Let it be.”
Long minutes passed, then turned into half an hour before they returned. It took Brendan a few moments to realize the panic was gone from Linny’s face. When they stopped at the sofa, Mama Lou put a hand on his shoulder.
“The liar is gone and so are the lies,” she said. “There are no lingering spirits at Wisteria Hill of which you should be concerned.” She laid a hand on Belinda’s head. “The Queen of the Bayou has abdicated the throne. There is no longer a need to live in a make-believe land. Soon you will change the armor of a knight for a uniform, a badge, and a gun.”
“And will I live happily ever after?” Brendan asked.
Mama Lou smiled. “If you so choose.”
Claudette stood. “Are you ready to leave now?”
“Yes. I have done all that was needed for now. She knows I will be there for her in the future as well.”
They were gone as abruptly as they’d come, leaving Brendan a little uneasy. He didn’t know what to do or say to Linny now.
“Is there anything you want to tell me?”
She frowned. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. All this talk about being someone different made me wonder, that’s all.”
“I’m not different, Brendan. I just quit pretending to be something I’m not. When Mama goes home, it’ll be okay this time. Sam loves Wisteria Hill so much. He’ll make it a good place again. You’ll see.”
“You are one brave girl,” Brendan said.
Linny crawled over the back of the sofa and onto the cushion beside him, then glanced up, her eyes narrowing as she studied his face.
“People can look alike without being alike,” she said softly.
“You are right about that,” he said.
He knew how much he looked like Anson, and what it must cost her to have feared one, loved the other, and had the strength of heart to know the difference.
“You know what, Bren? One lie is as bad as a thousand lies, but I think the lies in our family died with Daddy. I promise to never tell a lie as long as I live.”
Brendan swallowed past the lump in his throat as he put his arm around her. She’d come so close to being lost to them forever, and he couldn’t forget it.
“Do you know what a touchstone is?” he asked.
“No.”
“It’s the way someone might measure what is best in life, like the thing that keeps them focused and on the right path.”
“Oh.”
He pulled her closer. “So you, Belinda Poe, are my touchstone. You are the best of the Poes who have ever lived. You are everything God meant you to be, and will be. I am proud to share your name.”
She leaned against him. “One day when you and Julie are married and have babies, I’ll be the best auntie ever to them.”
He laughed from the joy of knowing there was actually a “one day” on the horizon.
“From your lips to God’s ears,” he said.
Her brow furrowed. “No, Bren. We should always say ‘from our lips to God’s heart,’ because that’s where the love comes… from His heart.”
Epilogue
Months later—Christmas Eve
Juliette Poe was pregnant and, according to the doctor, about five weeks along. She came home from the appointment, went straight to the bedroom and stripped, and was now standing in front of her full-length mirror, turning first one way and then the other, eyeing her naked self.
Unless you knew where to look, the lash marks from her abduction were barely visible, all except for one on her upper thigh that left a long, thin scar. She didn’t mind that scar so much anymore, mostly because Brendan called it her badge of honor and because he often traced the length of it with his fingertip as they made love.
It was because of all that love-making that she was in this condition, and she was not only elated by the timing, but talk about the perfect Christmas gift for hubby, way better than a tool set from Sears.
But it wasn’t just the joy of becoming parents that was so important. It was also because of what it was going to mean to them, personally. This child was going to be the final piece needed to end the lingering cold war between her mother and the Poes.
Julie’s mother was polite to Brendan’s family, but she wasn’t friendly. She almost hated her mother for that faux pas, but she was trying to follow Brendan’s path and take the high road in all of it. He’d reminded her only yesterday when he kissed her good-bye before going to work.
“They’re our families, but they’re not us. Whatever hitches they carry in their steps does not cripple you or me.”
She’d put her hand on his chest so she could feel his heartbeat. “You’re right, as always. Be safe, be smart, and come home to me.”
It was something she’d said his first day on the job as a cop at the New Orleans P.D, and she’d said it every day since as her own kind of talisman.
She moved back a step from the mirror and turned to the right to check her belly. It was still flat, although not for long. But it wasn’t just about the changes to her body that mattered. It was the changes within the families.
Out of all that had happened, LaDelle Poe had probably changed the most, not only outwardly, but from within. She’d gone home from the hospital with a shaven head, and when the hair began to grow back, it came in snow white. Trauma-based stress everyone said. But her daughter said different. She said it was because her mama was an angel on earth, and that God had changed her hair so that everyone could know.
No charges were ever filed against Delle or her sons. Wesley Riordan was in a federal prison and would most likely die there. Delle’s relief that they’d escaped prison was boundless, and her joy in family continued to grow.
As Linny predicted, Sam moved home to take care of the family and the family business of bamboo. Under his care, both were thriving.
Chance joined the Louisiana National Guard. He still had something more he needed to prove to himself, and when he came home, got his job back at the auto supply. He was a regular guy through the weekdays, but two weekends a month, he turned into a warrior, confident he was finally doing something right with his life.
Once Anson was gone, Claudette regained her sister, for good this time. And now, with this baby, even more changes were to come.
Julie turned to face herself in the mirror and put a hand on her belly.
“You, my sweet baby, are going to have the best aunties ever. One is Cla
udette. The other is Belinda, and they will know your heart long before you know yourself.”
She heard a door slam and her heart skipped a beat. Brendan was home.
She heard another door open and close and knew he’d just removed and stored his weapon.
Before she could get her clothes back on, he was standing in the doorway, still wearing the blue shirt and dark pants of the New Orleans P.D.
He grinned when he saw her naked.
“Now this is what I call a great welcome home.”
She lifted her arms and did a neat pirouette. “Take a good look because this trim little body isn’t going to last long. This isn’t exactly how I planned to tell you, but Merry Christmas, Brendan Poe. You’re going to be a father.”
His smile slipped, his lips parted, and then he opened his arms and was at her side in three steps. He touched her face, her breast, then dropped to his knees and laid his cheek against her belly.
Julie laughed as she dug her fingers through his hair, but it wasn’t until she felt his teardrops that she realized he was crying.
“Brendan! Honey?”
Unashamed of the tears, he stood up, taking her with him. Her feet were dangling against his knees as he started kissing her cheeks, her forehead, on both eyes and then the tip of her nose. By the time his mouth finally centered on her lips, they were both in tears. When he sat down on the side of the bed, she was in his arms.
She caressed his cheek and then ran the tip of her finger along his lower lip. “I take it you’re okay with this?”
“Beyond okay,” he said, then wrapped his arms around her. “You have no idea what this means to me. For twenty-six years, I’ve fought my way through life, mostly because of the social disgrace of my last name. This baby will be the beginning of a new generation to bring dignity and honor back to the family. I am so happy for us, but to you personally, I am grateful beyond words for making this possible.”
“No, Bren. This baby isn’t the beginning of a new generation. That honor goes to you. You were a hero twice over before you ever put on a badge, and wearing this uniform just makes it better. I was always proud of you, but being your wife adds a whole other level to my pride.”
