Hot Like Fire (21 page)

Kade shrugged. "Small-town talk. Small-town assumptions. Welcome to Holtsville, little brother."

"Funny thing about small-town talk and smalltown assumptions ... Sometimes they're right on
point," Kahron drawled as he took Kade's beer from
his hand to take a sip. 'Whether we want them to be
or not."

"Hey, Ma," Kade called out, just as calm as could
be. "I bet Kahron and Bianca are the reason for
those fish dreams."

Kade ignored his brother's swear and the evil eye
Bianca shot him as he picked up the remote to flip
through the channels.

"You two have something you want to say?" Lisha
asked as her eyes darted back and forth between
Kahron and Bianca.

"No!" they shouted out emphatically in unison.

Kade bit back a smile.

The front door swung open, and Kaleb strolled
in. "What's the deal, family?"

Kael jumped to his feet and rubbed his hands together. "Dinner's the deal," he said over his shoulder as he made his way into the dining room.

Lisha shook her head as she rose to follow him.
"Lord, that man."

Kade and Kahron were the last to follow the
family out of the living room. "You and Garcelle disappearing in the woods for hours at a time?" said
Kahron. "You best mind those fish dreams ain't all
about you, big brother."

"Curiosity killed a nosy-ass cat," Kade drawled as
he took his seat at the table, in between Kaeden
and Kadina.

Kahron just laughed as he took the seat across
the table, next to his wife.

Lisha walked out of the kitchen, carrying a huge
platter. She sat it in the middle of the table, amid
side dishes of macaroni and cheese, okra stew, white
rice, and corn bread. She cleared her throat as she
took her seat.

"Lisha Mae Strong, now enough is enough!" Kael
roared as he looked down at the big platter of fried
fish. "I thought you said you were frying chicken."

Lisha cocked her eyebrow as she eyed each and
every one of her children.

Kade shook his head before he reached over to
kiss the top of Kadina's head.

Bianca and Kahron looked at each other before
they paid way too much attention to fixing their
plates.

Kaitlyn reached in her purse and slapped her
birth control pills on the table as she calmly poured
a glass of lemonade.

"I wish somebody would go ahead and piss on
the damn stick," Kaleb grumbled before he focused
on piling his plate high with food.

Kaeden reached in his pocket for his inhaler.

"Daddy, what's with all the talk about fish lately?"
Kadina whispered to him.

Kade scooped rice onto her plate and then topped it with a spoonful of okra stew. "We'll talk about it
later," he whispered, praying like hell they didn't attract his mother's attention. The woman was on an
all-out mission.

"Papa Kael, thanks so much for making the okra
stew," said Bianca. "I have been-"

"Craving?" Lisha asked delicately as she glanced
at Bianca before taking a bite of her food. "I remember each time I was pregnant, I would crave
cheesecake. Had it so bad each and every time that
Kael would start buying Pampers as soon as I
started asking for cheesecake."

Bianca just massaged her temples with her fingers.

"Anyway, we brought you all here because we have
good news," Kael said, ignoring his wife as he rose
to his feet. "In December your mother and I are
going on a two-week cruise to Negro, Jamaica-"

"Negril, Jamaica," Lisha corrected him around a
bite of food.

"Yeah, right," said Kael as he rubbed his hands
together. "It's time I really start enjoying my retirement full time. So, Kade, I'll be relying on you
more than ever, Son."

"No worries, Pops," Kade said. "It's well deserved
... for both of you."

A round of questions about anything and everything concerning their trip followed, and then
Kade watched as Kahron rose to his feet, with his
glass raised. "Here's to working hard and learning
how to play even harder. It is time to sit back and
enjoy the fruits of your labor-"

"And the fruits of my children's loins," Lisha added.

Kael dropped his head in his hand as everyone at
the table dropped their forks and released a long,
heavy breath.

Garcelle glanced at her watch as she sat in her car
in the parking lot of the movie theater. Kade was running late for their date. "Humph, date," she said, only
slightly sarcastic. "For a real date, the man picks the
woman up at her house, and they ride together to the
movies. They don't meet in separate cars, like two
bad-ass adulterers."

She watched the couples arriving and walking
into the movie theater together. It irked the hell
out of her. I must be PMSing, she thought as she
picked up her ringing cell phone.

"Hey, you."

"Kade, I've been calling you for twenty minutes,"
she said, sitting up in the seat of her car.

"I must have turned the volume down on my
phone."

"Where are you?" she asked as she scratched an
itch in the palm of her hand.

Knock-knock.

She nearly jumped out of her skin as Kade bent
down to look through the driver's side window of
her car. She slapped the phone closed as he opened
the door for her. "Come on. The movie's started."

Kade frowned. "Are you mad?" he asked, obviously confused.

Garcelle forced a smile as she looked up at him.
"No ... no. Of course not. I just wanted to see the
movie. Can we ... go see the movie?"

Kade's frown deepened.

Garcelle turned and walked up to the line of
people, which ran down the stairs of the movie theater. She looked up at Kade briefly as he came up to stand beside her. She had to admit he looked
nice in khakis and an orange Hilfiger polo.

"My parents are going on a cruise," he said into
the quiet between them.

"That's nice," she said shortly. From the corner
of her eye, she saw him wipe his mouth.

"Garcelle, what's going on with you?" he asked,
lowering his head to speak directly into her ear.

She gave him another one of those fake smiles
that made her face muscles tense. "I wish you'd
stop asking me that," she said in a low voice as the
line moved forward.

"I wish you'd tell me what's going on with you."

Garcelle stepped aside as they reached the outdoor box-office window. She watched Kade as he
paid for their movie tickets. As he walked up beside
her and held the door, she avoided his eyes. She
was angry, and holding it in, pretending she wasn't
angry, was making her even angrier.

"You all right? You want something?" he asked,
looking down at her as they passed the snack counter.

"I'm fine.

She felt him tense beside her.

When they walked into the dark theater, the
movie was playing, and a loud action sequence of
gunfire and bombs coming through the surround
sound made it seem like they were in the middle of
World War III.

Garcelle followed Kade to a spot near the far
wall. She tugged his hand once they settled into the
seats. "Are you sure you want us to sit together?
Somebody might see us."

"And?" he snapped as he turned in the seat to
look at her.

"Hell, it's your issue, not mine," she snapped back.

"Sshhh."

They both ignored that from the people behind
them.

"Listen, what the hell is your problem?" said Kade.

"My problem?" she asked, sitting up in the theater seat to face him. "What is my problem?"

Kade threw his hands up as if exasperated.

Garcelle crossed her legs and then crossed her
arms over her chest as she rocked back and forth in
the reclining theater seat, mumbling under her
breath in Spanish.

Kade mumbled something unintelligible under
his breath.

"What did you say?" Garcelle asked, knowing she
was being childish and not caring one bit.

Kade stood up. "I said you're crazy," he said, looking down at her.

"Hey, sit down!" someone yelled from behind
them.

Garcelle jumped to her feet. "And you're selfish."

"Y'all need to take that outside," someone else
yelled.

"Shut up!" both Garcelle and Kade roared at the
theatergoers.

Garcelle pushed past him and stormed out of the
theater just as an usher entered. She heard Kade
say, "Oh, trust me, we're out of here."

She was walking out of the building and toward
her car when she felt a hand wrap around her
upper arm. She felt a tingling sensation, and she
knew without looking that it was Kade. She pulled
away from him. `Just leave me alone, Kade," she
said coldly as she reached in her purse for her keys.

"You want me to leave you alone?" he asked just as coldly, moving up to walk beside her. "You ain't
said nothing but a word."

He quickly walked past her, climbed into his SUV,
and sped away, without giving her a second look.

Garcelle fought the urge to flip him off, jumped
in her car, and sped away as well.

Kade slammed his hand on the wheel in frustration. He was still lost as to what the hell had just happened. The Garcelle who acted like a child needing
to be spanked was not the fiery, up-front woman he
thought he was involved with. This night was nothing but drama with a capital D, and it wasn't something he had the time or patience for. Ever. Period.

He pulled up to a red light and glanced down at
his cell phone, which was sitting on the passenger
seat. He patted his hand on his thigh in time to the
music playing on the stereo as his eyes kept darting
to his phone. He shook his head. "I'm not calling
her," he told himself aloud as he pulled away.

What he had thought was going to be a fun night
out with his woman had turned into one of the most
embarrassing and frustrating spectacles of his life.
Catch a flick. Maybe go by Ye Old-Fashioned Cafe
for ice cream and then spend the night at their favorite hotel. How the hell had those plans become
a hollering match in the middle of a movie theater?

Kade had just left Charleston and entered Summerville when he picked up his phone and turned
it off. He wasn't sure if Garcelle even wanted to call
and talk to him, but he did know that they both
needed a little time to cool off.

Garcelle couldn't sleep. She would doze for an
hour and then jump up and check her cell phone
to see if Kade had called. She truly needed her
sleep. She had her first pathophysiology test in the
morning. She tossed. She turned. She knew she
would have bags as big as one of her textbooks
under her eyes.

She sat up in bed and picked up her cell phone,
which lay by her pillows. This couldn't be the end
for Kade and her. Could it? Not over a silly little argument in a movie theater. It was not like anyone
there had known them, right? They hadn't said anything yet that they couldn't get past, right?

They needed to talk.

She dialed Kade's cell phone number, but then she
stopped, her thumb hovering over the SEND button.

It was one in the morning. Maybe he was sleeping. She couldn't believe she felt nervous about
calling her man. She was being ridiculous. She hit
SEND.

"Your call is being transferred to an automated
voice mail system."

She sat up straight in the bed. His phone was
turned off. "Oh no, he didn't," she muttered to
herself as she dialed him again.

"Your call is being transferred to an automated
voice mail system."

Garcelle fought the urge to leave him a voice
mail before she turned off her phone and flopped
back down on the bed in frustration.

The next morning, before the sun even began to
rise, Kade busied himself getting Kadina ready for
school. His daughter wasn't exactly a morning riser, and she grumbled as he led her into the bathroom.
"Teeth. Face. Wash. Underwear change. Go," he
told her, placing fresh undergarments on the sink
before he left the bathroom. He walked in her bedroom to find out which of her new outfits she'd
chosen to wear.

Not that he had anything to worry about. Garcelle had taken her shopping, and each coordinated outfit had been hung in her closet, with a
little Polaroid pinned to each one showing which
shoes to wear with it. Garcelle had really tried to
make sure that everything ran smoothly during
Kadina's first couple of weeks of school.