Persephone laughed. “No! But it’s...it’s past time. Way past.”
“Hawaii, huh? I’ll bet it’s some place.”
Persephone was scanning the horizon beyond her property. “It’ll do,” she sighed, loving the look of the mountaintops disappearing into the whitest of clouds.
“So uh...are you sure you don’t want to call him first before he- you know? Comes there?”
“No Bill,” Persephone was already shaking her head. “When he gets here, I’ll deal with it. It’s the only way to get it done.”
“Alright then,” Bill didn’t sound completely convinced. “I’ll leave you to your work too. Persephone? Just remember that family matters are a bitch but when there’s love at the root of it, you can depend on that to get you through. Just um...just remember that.”
Nodding, Persephone took comfort in the words as well as the view. “I will Bill and thanks.”
The connection broke shortly after and Persephone slipped her mobile into a side pocket on the red satin lounge dress that stirred elegantly against the breeze.
Family matters and love. She tried to take
comfort in Bill’s reassurances but in her more memorable
experiences with family matters, they’d never so much as shared the
same airspace with love.
***
Outside Mt. Kisko, New York~
“Mr. Tesano...I’m never going to finish your breakfast if you won’t let me keep my clothes on long enough to cook it.”
Imani Tesano’s speech was as labored as her breathing. In spite of her attempts to shift her husband’s intentions, she couldn’t resist resting her head against his shoulder while his fingers explored her body beneath the nightshirt he was working to get her out of.
Roman grinned, loving the way Imani gasped his name while his fingers plundered. “Last I checked, you don’t need clothes to cook.” He grazed her nape, inhaled. “If you were really interested in eating, we could’ve gone out.”
“We uh-we tried,” she managed against a gasp. “You wouldn’t let me keep my clothes on then either.”
Roman was nibbling his wife’s ear then. “Does that mean you’ll agree to just not wear a damn thing?”
Imani turned in his arms then. “So...may I assume the same goes for you as well?” She tilted her head to give his fit physique a lingering and suggestive appraisal.
Roman snapped his fingers when he heard the phone ring. “I’ll have to get back to you on that,” he left her with a ‘saved by the bell’ look.
“Make it a long talk,” Imani encouraged. “Maybe I’ll be able to finish our breakfast.”
Wearing an irresistibly, devilish grin, Roman went to grab the phone mounted on the wall in the kitchen’s cozy living space. “Tesano,” he greeted and soon the grin was accompanied by laughter. “Pitch!” Roman rested back against the wall, enjoying the sight of his wife moving-walking-around the kitchen.
“The news?” Roman chuckled in response to whatever his brother had asked him. “No P, we haven’t been catching much news. It ruins the mood we’re tryin’ to keep up around here.” He caught Imani by the waist when she passed on her way to the pantry.
Imani took her chance to escape when she felt Roman’s hold loosen. Her steps halted a few inches from the pantry when she heard the change in his voice.
“What?” Roman’s tone and manner had noticeably shifted.
Imani waited, observing that her husband replaced the receiver to its cradle a little more harshly than needed. Thankfully, he didn’t make her question it.
“Gabe’s been shot. It was Vale.”
“Vale?” Imani forgot her trip to the pantry. “But I-I thought they were partners.”
Considering the newest turn of events, Roman stroked his square jaw while moving to a large Chesterfield chair in the living area. “Guess all bets are off since he helped Cai find SyBilla. Not to mention everything else he’s had to say over the last few months.”
Imani went to stand before the armchair Roman had settled into. She sank her fingers into his thick hair when he drew her close to press his forehead into her belly. “So what does ‘all bets are off’, mean?”
Roman’s body jerked when he grunted a laugh. “You mean, ‘what does it mean this time’?”
“Well… you said it yourself that aside from helping Cai, he really hasn’t done much more than talk about the past-mourning Giselle and Brogue.”
“Things are down to the
wire here, Immi,” he said, “We’ve never known as much about what’s
going on as we do now. Gabe’s in the hospital, shot. I can’t help
but think the next call I get about one of my brothers will be to
tell me one of them’s dead.”
***
Days turned into a full week and Persephone had yet to hear from Hill. She was sure Bill and Caiphus had given him her message, but still there’d been nothing-not even a phone call to discuss a plan to meet.
She should have realized, after the first day that he’d probably not show. That, of course, didn’t stop her from jumping out of her skin every time the phone rang. Then, there was the doorbell. Talk about the ground falling out from under her.
Going into the second week, she was a wreck and celebrated the fact that her mother had already left to visit with her family in Georgia. This, after Maeva’s departure for parts unknown a few days prior to her call to SyBilla.
It was a little easier to hide her unsettled emotions from the girls-but only a little. By late Tuesday evening, even the six year olds had grown suspicious of their mother’s behavior. In true Leeya and Layah style, the girls kept their own council through the passing of meaningful looks- the silent language of siblings.
No doubt, the conversations carried on chords of curiosity as well as amusement over Persephone’s sudden klutz-prone demeanor. The little girls were surely giggling themselves to pieces as loudly on the inside as they were on the outside. They’d dissolved into howling bouts of laughter when their mother poured their cereal onto the table instead of into an actual cereal bowl. They’d lost all composure when she ran water for their nightly bath and poured an entire container of bubble solution into the tub.
That snafu had resulted into loads of fun for the girls who’d enjoyed running and jumping amidst the foam wonderland their bathroom had become. Persephone took it all in stride- electing to clean the mess herself instead of having one of the house staff tackle it.
By Wednesday afternoon, Persephone was sure a few weeks in an asylum would set her to rights.
There was no need to go to such lengths, however. The girls’ homeschool teacher had called that night to ask if the children could join her and her sister’s kids for a weekend sleepover. Persephone all but jumped at the chance for a little solitude. She kept only light house staff on hand deciding that she could use the pampering during her mommy time.
