food in my body.
“Mr. Deveraux?” I asked in a hushed tone.
“Aye.”
“Haven’t you met him before?”
“Nae. I know he and yer mam were guid friends all their lives, but I ne’er had th’ pleasure. But I swear, I’ve seen ’im.”
Keeping my mouth shut, I just shrugged. I didn’t want Da to remember Louis had been at Mom’s funeral because I didn’t want Phil to know about it. Louis had known of his son’s infatuation with me. Phil had told his family about meeting me at Bougainvillea. Louis had known I was here the whole time and had never said anything to Phil.
Did he not want the two of us together for some reason?
The whole thing was a hot mess in my head. Louis had been ecstatic when Phil brought me home to meet his family. Louis had wanted to share stories of growing up with my mother and had been shocked to find out that my grandmother had passed away.
Then, why? He knew how badly Phil was hurting. How could he not at least let Phil know how to find me?
He must have had his reasons, and I wasn’t so sure I wanted to know what they were. And for that, I said nothing to Da. Hitching a smile on my face as Phil came back and took his seat, I pushed those thoughts from my mind.
He grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips, smiling back at me. “I love you,” he said softly.
How is he able to do that? Just erase any misgivings or doubt within me with three simple words?
There was no point in wondering about the whys and wherefores. Phil and I were together now, and our families got along beautifully. Phil and I were stronger than ever. Whatever reasons Louis had had for keeping us apart, they no longer applied.
Hours later, with most of the people gone, Phil and I were side by side at the kitchen sink, washing up the things that couldn’t go in the dishwasher.
He looked down at me, his warm maple eyes molten, smiling almost shyly. “Today was fuckin’ awesome,” he said.
That voice…it was as though the warm vibration of it cocooned my soul and hugged tight.
“Yeah, it was.”
“I could get used to this. We should have Christmas at our place.”
Our place. “Yeah, maybe. That might be fun. Would you guys play for us then?”
Dropping a kiss on my head, he laughed. “Once a fan, always a fan.”
“Too fuckin’ right.”
Laughter floated in from the patio, and Louis and Da came in with their mugs of coffee with Danielle and Gloria trailing behind them. Out back, X and Jason were talking with Connor over a few beers.
“She must’ve had a fit!” Da laughed. “Betty loved them bluidy flowers. Her mon planted the lot o’ them the first year they lived in tha’ house.”
“Yeah, she wasn’t too happy about it,” said Louis, laughing.
Da looked at Louis, recognition blooming in his silvery-colored eyes, and cried, “Tha’s it! I knew I hae seen ye before! Ye were at Laurie’s funeral. I saw ye speakin’ wi’ Betty.”
Phil handed me a plate to rinse and set in the drying rack. My heart felt as though it had crawled up and lodged itself in my throat.
“I wanted to speak with you and Kenna, but I had no idea what to say to you. I had never met you before, and I hadn’t seen Kenna since she was a toddler. Kenna looked so…she hadn’t looked well.”
I glanced up at Phil to see if he was paying any attention, and he smiled at me.
“A’weel, it was hard times on all o’ us,” replied Da.
The smile slowly faded from Phil’s face as it clicked in his brain what they were saying. His eyes widened at me, and I reached out and placed my wet hand over his heart. Disbelief and shock blanked out his features.
My heart sank. “No,” I said gently.
His nostrils flared and behind his eyes…hellfire, fury, rage, shadows and pain. His eyes snapped to his father. “You saw her,” he seethed.
The sound of that voice raised the hair on the back of my neck and arms.
“You knew her. You knew she was here. The whole. Fuckin’. Time!”
The kitchen went so, so quiet. I could hear the blood pounding through my ears, the drip of the faucet, the harsh breath sucked through Phil’s nose.
“Phil,” I said softly.
He looked back into my eyes, and I saw the sense of betrayal he felt.
“He knew, Kenna,” he said harshly.
Danielle gasped from the other