California Sunshine (25 page)

Chapter 25

              I was standing there shocked, I couldn't believe Caleb had been so welcoming. I took a few steps forward, Josh right beside me when my grandmother stood.

              "Hey, sweetie how are ya?"

              I smiled slightly. "I'm fine. How are you?"

              "I'm good, better now that we're all together."

              I nodded, feeling the room spinning. This all felt so strange and so foreign to me. I hadn't been around my grandparents or Aunt since I graduated high school and flew the coop. Even then none of them were this nice to me.

              "So y'all live in Nashville?" I asked, worried that I'd have to start visiting them more.

              "Oh Lord no, we're still in Arkansas. This place is too big for me."

              "I love it," I replied, hightailing it to the kitchen to find Caleb.

              "What the hell is goin' on?" I hissed through gritted teeth.

              He pulled me further away from the door. "It's time all of us put our pasts behind us. We ain't gettin' no younger Jo, make amends."

              I scoffed. "Make amends? With them?! Why? They never loved me!"

              "That may be true, I don't know, but you gotta give 'em a chance."

              I glared at him. "I don't know what the hell you're up to, but I don't like it. The first time they say somethin' stupid we're outta here."

              "Fair enough. So tell me somethin', how'd you two meet?"

              "Ashley and Mike. I went to visit 'em back in September, remember? Josh is a friend of theirs, we hung out and things went from there."

              "I take it you're gonna take care of my baby sister right? We may not be as close as we used to be, but I'll still kill ya if you hurt her."

              I rolled my eyes. "Shut up Caleb, you didn't kill Lance."

              He laughed. "I didn't have to, you smashin' the shit outta his car scared him enough."

              I smiled. "Daddy didn't raise a scaredy cat."

              "That he didn't. Y'all want a drink?"

              I nodded. "Please! This is gonna be a long damn night playin' nice. Strongest thing ya got."

              "I've missed my baby sister," He replied winking at me and I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

              As we were sitting down at the table to eat, my Papaw looked at me with his serious expression and deep inside I knew shit was about to get real.

              "Joanna, I want to be the first to apologize for not havin' handled you better when you were livin' with us. It had just been years since we'd had kids in the house, and you were so, so--"

              "Wild." My Mamaw finished for him.

              "How was I wild? I didn't do nothin' on school nights. I came home, did my homework and if I ever had practice I'd go. Never did I stay out past curfew, and y'all only inforced that on school nights. So tell me, what did I do so wrong to make y'all punish me like ya did? Was it the tattoo's? Was it the inability for me to not stay in a town that knew my past and apparently my future, so they thought, better than I did? I wanted more for myself."

              "We understand that now. Yes, it was the tattoos, but it was also the fact you were datin' that boy. We all know you've always had a taste for the stereotypical bad boy."

              "Yeah and I'm fairly certain Lance cured me of that," I replied, feeling ashamed of the decisions in the area of love I had made when I was younger.

              "How's Joshua there any different?" My Papaw asked, looking between the two of us.

              "He ain't the stereotypical bad boy. He's been cheated on as well. However, he's got his life together just like I've got mine. And surprisingly enough he's been there more than any of you ever have been."

              "Now you know that ain't fair young lady. We would've been there for ya too if you'd let us." Aunt Phyllis said.

              "It's completely fair, comin' from the woman who couldn't let siblin's stay together. I understand y'all have two kids, but what was two more? That's right, I was easier to get rid of than Caleb was. I was the loudmouth, take no shit from anyone girl. I was too much to handle. And ya know what, I know it's comin'. One of y'all are gonna tell me that's enough, but it's not. I've held all this in for nine years, now I think it's time y'all get a little taste of how ya made me feel. Mamaw, Papaw I love y'all, but y'all could've supported me a little more. Aunt Phyllis, Uncle Buck, I ain't really got nothin' to say to y'all two. And Caleb, thanks for being my big brother, but we ain't been close in a long time so I don't even know what to say to you. That was no one's fault, just life. Now, I've said my peace, I forgive all y'all, now can we please eat?"

              I looked over at Caleb who was hiding a smirk behind his glass of tea.

              "Let's eat," He replied, giving me a quick wink. And in that moment, I understood why he'd gotten them all here. He knew it was time for me to let them know exactly how I felt for all those years so that I could move on with my life. And I had to wonder, did Ashley have anything to do with this?

To Be Continued...