On the Way to Heaven (BWWM Romance) (10 page)

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

    
The next day, a white pickup truck drove
up to Neil’s while Trina was sweeping the porch.

    
“Hey there!” Louis stuck his head out of
the driver’s window.

    
“Ah, hell.” Trina swept with her back to
him.

    
“How you doing there, Mouth?” He got out of
the truck and sauntered toward her. “You know, I wasn’t happy when I had to
pick my son up from school yesterday and saw him looking like he’d been dragged
under a
semi truck
.”

    
“He deserved it.” Trina swept dirt off the
side of the porch.

    
He pulled off his shades. “I could file
assault charges against Winter.”

    
She stopped sweeping. “Are you out of your
mind?”

    
His baseball cap sat crooked on his head.
“She assaulted him.”

    
“He started it.” She moved the chair from
against the house. “It’s over with now. As long as Gaston leaves Winter alone,
everything should be fine.”

    
“I should just let it go, huh?” He looked
at his shades.

    
“Well, everyone ‘let it go’ when Winter was
being bullied.” She swept behind the chair. “You know the last thing your son
is, is innocent.”

    
“Damn, I hardly recognize this place since
you came.” He walked up the steps. “It hasn’t been this clean since Charlotte.”

    
“What do you want?” She swept the other
side of the porch.

    
“People in this town say you got magical
powers.” He snickered. “Yeah, not only have you turned this house around, but
even Neil’s different. Before you came, no one could scrape his ass off the
ground, and now he’s like a kid in a candy store. I saw how chummy you two were
at the carnival.”

    
“For the last time…” She stopped sweeping.
“What do you want?” He stood close to her. She swept past him.

    
“You don’t know me,” he said.

    
“I know enough to know I don’t
wanna
know you, either.”

    
“That punch that you laid on me at the
carnival…” He touched his cheek. “If a man had done that, he’d have been in
intensive care right now.”

    
She turned toward him. “Is that supposed to
scare me?”

    
 
“I
bet you think
nothing
scares you, Mouth.”
He looked her up and down. “Maybe it’s because of the type of men you’ve been
hanging around. I don’t think you’d know what to do with a man like me.”

    
“I don’t have time for this.” She threw the
broom down and reached for the doorknob. He blocked her. “Move.” She backed up.

    
“What if I don’t?” He raised an eyebrow,
grinning.

    
“Oh, I get it.” She held her waist. “This
is supposed to intimidate me? You’re so pathetic. I’ve heard about you.”

    
“I’m flattered.”

    
“Don’t be, because it’s nothing you should
be proud of. You’re a bully, and it’s sad you have to push people around to
feel important.”

    
“I don’t know who you’ve been talking to—”

    
“It’s a small town, Louis.” She stuck her
hand in his face. “All you have to do is go to the store and you’ll hear
everything about everyone.”

    
He moved closer to her. “Is that so?”

    
“You walk around like you’re some big man
but you’re a big man in a small town. You’re nobody, and you don’t scare me.”

    
“Really?” He grabbed her and pushed her
against the house. “I don’t scare you, Mouth?”

    
“Get off me!” She struggled beneath him.

    
He laughed. “Oh, I like you, Mouth!” He
pinned her with his body.

    
“Get off!”

    
“You’re just what this town needs…a woman
with some spunk.” He held her arms down.

    
“You’d better get away from me, right now!”

    
“What if I don’t?” He licked his lips.
“What are you gonna do? You know what you need?”

    
She wriggled. “Get away from me, asshole!”

    
“You need something to shut that mouth.” He
tried to kiss her.

    
“No!” She snapped her head away.

    
“Come on, now.” He cackled. “Let’s see you
handle a real man.”

    
Roxy appeared. “All right, then.” He
grabbed Louis’ crotch.

    
“Ah!” Louis let Trina go and hunched over.
“Ooh! Oh!” Roxy twisted Louis‘ genitals back and forth. “Oh!” Louis fell to his
knee. “Fuck!” Roxy let him go. Louis huffed and puffed as his face turned red.
“What the fuck was that?”

    
Roxy dusted his hands off. “I bet he keeps
his hands to himself now.”

    
“Who do you think you are, grabbing me?”
Trina yanked up the broom. “Get your dumb ass out of here.” She kicked at him.
“Go on.”

    
“Damn bitch.” Louis limped off the steps.
“You did something.” He hobbled to his truck. “I don’t know what you did, but
you did something.”

    
“Like you said…” Trina called out. “I have
magical powers!” She went into the house. “What a moron.” She straightened her
blouse. “I hate men who think they can just grab a woman and do whatever they
want to her.”

    
Roxy rested against the door. “I don’t
think he or his son will be putting their hands on any more women from this
house.”

    
Trina hugged him. “Thanks, Roxy.”

    
“Don’t worry, girl.” He held his thumb up.
“I got your back.”

* * * *

    
Even though she’d insisted she shouldn’t
go, Trina accompanied Neil to the Ranch House that night for the “best barbecue
dinner she’d ever taste” according to Neil. They got their tray of pork ribs
smothered in barbecue sauce with potato salad and baked beans, and sat at a
booth by the window.

    
“Wait until you taste these ribs.” Neil
grabbed one. “I swear they’re some of the best.”

    
She bit into the moist rib and tangy sauce.
“My goodness.” She chewed. “I’ve tasted plenty of ribs in my day, but these are
amazing.” She took another bite.

    
“Told you.” He wiped sauce off his mouth.
“Hope this makes up for what that asshole Louis did earlier. I tell you, when I
see him, I’m gonna kick his teeth in.”

    
“Don’t even worry about it.”

    
“He had no business putting his hands on
you. What the hell is his problem?”

    
“He’s a loser whose bark is bigger than his
bite.” She dabbed her mouth. “I’ve known men like him all my life.”

    
“I hate how he treated you. You mean a lot
to me, Trina.” He sipped soda from the plastic cup. “You’re more than the maid.
I hope you know that.”

    
She smiled. The booths were crowded with
people who licked their fingers and talked with their mouths full. A blues band
played on the little stage at the back of the room. Couples left their tables
to slow dance.

    
“I’ve enjoyed every moment of being here.”
She dug her fork into her potato salad. “I feel like I never really lived
before now.”

    
“I’ll be forever grateful to you.” Neil
took her hand. “If it hadn’t been for you, I’d still be lost and depressed.” He
squeezed her hand. “My girls love you, Trina. And…” He sucked his lip. “I think
I do, too.”

    
Her hand went limp. “Neil.”

    
“I know you say you’d just like to remain
friends.” He let her hand go. “But if you said that because you’re concerned
about my feelings for Charlotte, then you don’t have to be.”

    
“What do you mean?” She sipped grape soda
through a straw.

    
“You might think this is complete
bullshit.” He picked up his spoon. “But I saw Charlotte last night.”

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

    
Meat stuck in Trina’s throat when she tried
to swallow. “What?” She coughed.

    
“Charlotte paid me a visit last night.”

    
“You mean you dreamt of her?”

    
“No.” He stirred his beans. “She was in my
room. I touched her and I smelled her. I don’t expect you to believe me.”

    
“I believe you.”

    
He looked in her eyes. “You do?”

    
She nodded. “What was it like?”

    
“It was wonderful.” He sat back. “She was
just as beautiful as always. She said she came to tell me it was all right for
me to move on.”

    
Jesus.

    
Trina stared at her
ribs.

    
“She even mentioned you.”

    
“Me?” She pointed to herself.

    
“She knows I have feelings for you and
she’s okay with that.” He ate some of his beans. “I’ve accepted her death and
I’m ready to move on.”

    
The band started another slow song.

    
“I don’t know what to say,” Trina said.
“I’m overwhelmed.”

    
“I’m gonna finish the boat, too.” He
smiled. “Will you help me?”

    
“That’s something sacred between you and
Charlotte.”

    
He put his spoon down. “Charlotte’s gone.”
He looked toward the band. “You wanna dance?” He stood and held out his hand.
“Come on.”

    
“Don’t do it,” Lorraine warned. “Be strong,
Trina.”

    
“I’m tired of being strong,” she muttered,
and took Neil’s hand.

    
They walked to the little dance area. He
pulled her close, and they swayed in each other’s arms.

    
“Hmm.” She inhaled his minty cologne. “This
is nice. I haven’t danced in so long, I can’t even remember when.”

    
“It’s been a while for me, too.” He slid
his hand down her back.

    
“When I last danced, it surely wasn’t in a
place like this.” She gripped his shoulder. “Can’t remember the last time I
went to a restaurant without a maître d’ or valet.”

    
“Really?” Neil squinted. “You dated pretty
well-off guys?”

    
Shit.

    
“See there?” Lorraine
asked. “You stuck your foot in your mouth again. That’s why you have no
business dancing with him.”

    
“You dated rich guys?” Neil asked again.

    
“You could say that.” Trina scrambled for
an explanation. “Uh, I dated one of my employers.”

    
“I see. Yet you won’t date me?”

    
“That’s because it was a mistake and I’d
rather not go through that again.”

    
“I won’t hurt you, Trina.” He rested his
hand on the curve of her back. “I know I’m damaged goods, but I’m ready to live
my life again.” He went in for a kiss. “I just need someone to live it with.”

    
She closed her eyes, ready to receive his
kiss. A pain stabbed the side of her neck. “Ow.” She flinched.

    
“You okay?”

    
“No.” Trina moved her neck back and forth.
“I got a cramp or something.”

    
“There’s more where that came from,”
Lorraine said. “We need to talk,
sista
.”

    
“I uh…” Trina let Neil go. “I gotta go to
the bathroom.”

    
“Are you sure you’re all right?”

    
“I’m fine.” She massaged her neck as she
ran to the restroom area. She waited for a large man to pass, and then shot
into the ladies’ room. She checked under the stalls, then stood by the sink.
“What do you want now, Lorraine?”

    
She appeared. “Correct me if I’m wrong.
Didn’t you take this task to get into Heaven? If so, then why do you keep
trying to break the rules?”

    
“I’m not trying to!” Trina leaned over the
sink. “I don’t know if I can do this anymore, Lorraine.”

    
“You have to.”

    
“No.” Tears fell. “I love him.” Trina hit
the sink. “I love him! I do! Is Heaven worth it?” She turned toward Lorraine.
“Life is so unfair. This is the happiest I’ve ever been. It’s the first time
I’ve felt like the real me and I can’t even be with him.”

    
“Trina—”

    
“No.” She wailed. “What good is going to
Heaven if I can’t be happy?”

    
“You can be happy but you have to do it
without Neil.”

    
“I can’t.” Trina looked in the mirror. “All
my life I’ve dreamed of a man like him. I’d marry him tomorrow if I could.” She
laid her hands on her chest. “He’s a wonderful, genuine, and kind person. I
haven’t had many people like that in my life.”

    
“I know.” Lorraine rubbed Trina’s hair.
“But your spirit is destined for bigger things than you ever experienced in
life. You were sent here to rescue Neil, and you did that.”

    
“I didn’t think I’d fall in love with him.”
She sniffled. “If I had, I probably wouldn’t have ever done this.”

    
“What I have to tell you is not easy.”
Lorraine clasped her hands in front of her. “Your time here is coming to an end
soon.”

    
“What?” Trina’s lips trembled.

    
“Your task will be finished when the boat’s
completed.”

    
“No!”

    
“After that, you’ll have to leave.”

    
“No!” Trina laid her head on the counter.
“Please, Lorraine! I’m not ready to go yet.”

    
“I’m sorry. But neither of us have a
choice.”

    
“I love him.” Trina stood up straight. “How
can I just act like that doesn’t matter?”

    
“You have to be strong.” Lorraine patted
Trina’s cheek. “That’s all you can do.”

* * * *

    
Neil and Trina arrived home an hour later.
Afraid she’d lose her self-control, being alone with him after such a magical
time together, she headed for bed. “Goodnight, Neil.”

    
He walked her to the stairs.

    
“I had a very nice time,” she said.

    
“Me too.” He stroked her back.

    
“See you in the morning.” She turned to go
upstairs.

    
“Trina.” He touched her arm. “Will you do
me a favor? Would you consider what we’ve been talking about?”

    
She avoided eye contact.

    
“I won’t pressure you.” He held up his
hands. “But I meant what I said. I do love you and I don’t throw that word out
to just anyone.”

    
“I know.” She smiled. “I’m more flattered
than you’ll ever know. I’m just not sure I deserve you.”

    
“Deserve me?” He gripped her hand. “You
have no idea how you’ve affected my life, do you? I never thought I’d feel this
way again.”

    
“Please.” She fought tears. “You’re making
it so hard.”

    
“Making what hard?” He pulled her close. “I
don’t understand. You say you care about me. Why are you fighting it? You want
me, right?”

    
She closed her eyes. “I do.”

    
“Then, what is it?” He placed his hands on
the sides of her face. “Look at me. Why are you so against us being together?”

    
“You won’t understand.” A tear escaped her
eye. “When I first came here, I had one purpose in mind, and now I wish I’d
never come, because this is so damn hard. I do want you.” She gently kissed
him. “I came to help you, but I didn’t expect things to get so complicated.”

    
“They don’t have to be complicated.” He put
his arm around her. “You’re the one making it hard. We both want each other,
and we deserve to be happy. We can be a family, Trina.” He caressed her cheek.
“We can be the family you’ve always wanted.”

    
“I…” She moved his hand from her face. “I’m
going to bed.”

    
“Just don’t be afraid of what we could
have.” He kissed her cheek. “Don’t be afraid.” She nodded, and ran upstairs.
The girls shouted and argued from down the hall. Trina pressed her ear against
their bedroom door.

    
“You’re crazy, Winter,” Paige said. “That’s
never gonna happen.”

    
“It can happen. She loves Daddy. I know
it.”

    
“Just because she loves him, doesn’t mean
she’s gonna marry him,” Paige said.

    
“What?” Trina whispered.

    
“Trina’s gonna be our new mother,” Violet
protested. “You’re the stupid one if you don’t believe that, Paige.”

    
“Shut up and go to bed!” Paige shouted.
“Both of you are nuts. Trina’s not gonna marry Dad no matter how much we want
her to.”

    
“How do you know?” Winter asked. “She
belongs here. We all know it.”

    
“Don’t you want her to be our mother,
Paige?” Violet whimpered.

    
“’Course I do, but we can’t get our hopes
up about something that won’t happen.”

    
“How do you
know
it won’t happen?”
Winter asked.

    
“Because it won’t,” Paige said. “Go to
bed!”

    
“We love Trina,” Violet said. “If you love
somebody, then anything can happen.”

    
Trina covered her mouth and tried not to
sob any more than she had. “Girls?” She tapped on the door. “May I come in?”

    
“Yes!” Violet shouted.

    
Trina held her breath and walked in. “Hey.”

    
“Hey,” the girls answered in unison from
their beds.

    
“What’s going on?” Trina asked. “I could
hear you all the way down the hall.”

    
Paige cut her eyes to Winter, and then back
to Trina. “Can we talk, women to woman?”

    
Trina grinned. “Sure.” She sat on the end
of Winter’s bed.

    
“You like Daddy, don’t you?” Violet asked
with wide eyes.

    
“You know I do.”

    
“Do you love him?” Winter peered at Trina
from over her glasses.

    
“You mean as a friend?” Trina cleared her
throat. “Yes, I do. Very much.”

    
“What about not as a friend?” Paige wiggled
her legs under the cover. “What about, like a boyfriend?”

    
“Are you attracted to Daddy?” Winter pushed
her glasses up. “He’s handsome, even if he belches loud at the table
sometimes.”

    
Trina leaned back. “I—”

    
“He’s happy again,” Paige said. “He’s like
he was before Momma died. We never thought he’d be that way anymore.”

    
“Girls—”

    
“He doesn’t drink as much now,” Winter
said. “He doesn’t go to the bar every night. He spends time with us. He does
that because of you, Trina. You changed him for the better.”

    
“Yeah,” Violent said. “You love him, right?
Like a mommy loves a daddy?”

    
“You don’t understand.” Trina exhaled.
“You’re too young to understand that things can get complicated even if they
seem easy.”

    
“What’s complicated about it?” Winter
asked. “If a man and woman love each other…that’s all that matters.”

    
“No.” Trina sobbed. “Sometimes it’s not.”

    
“Why are you crying?” Violet walked to her
and put her tiny hand on Trina’s. “We didn’t mean to make you cry. See what you
did, Winter?”

    
“Me?” She got out of bed. “You know we love
you, right, Trina?”

    
She nodded, wiping her eyes.