Page 26 of Conquered Obstacles

“You’re sure this isn’t weird?” I checked, ignoring Isiah and his mother were there.

He leaned in and kissed my cheek. “I agree with the twins. We’re nowhere near ready to be living together, but you’re also not ready to live alone. Not after what you’ve been through. You want them to have their own lives, and they’re scared to leave you alone, but your power is growing too much for you to be above the bakery.

“This is the best compromise, and I don’t scare you. And my family won’t make trouble for me here. Yes, this is great. We have our own space and clear boundaries.” He cupped my face and made me turn to face him. “That’s what you need, Arabella. You needed the push to let people in. Now you need the choice to invite us back. Every time you invite me to sleep over. I know this.”

The look he gave Isiah over my shoulder spoke volumes about how he needed to adapt that attitude now too. They’d messed up or even Colton breaking that bubble of safety I’d felt—I wasn’t sure, but I did agree with Jamie that I wanted to feel like I was in control and not pushed.

But I also knew he was saying it for his mother. She seemed to accept it and looked relieved. Maybe that she just wanted to know we discussed these things and I took his opinion to heart?

That was fair. I’d want the same for the twins, and she’d probably seen Jamie be pushed around too much since he was a passive wolf.

“I have an idea that I was hesitant to bring up to you,” Patti said as we moved back to the original area of the house and she was pulling up things on my tablet. “It’s a bit underhanded, but it’s been on my brain after learning your brother reinvented himself as Jesus. I kept waking up angry for you how much it must chap your ass to have to bake treats for his false holidays.”

“More than I can ever put into words,” I bit out, taking the tablet rougher than needed when she offered it to me. “Sorry.”

She nodded, knowing I wasn’t upset with her.

“This is perfect,” I praised, putting in the dining room table to match the chairs. “You have exquisite taste.” I gave her a glance. “How is your eye for jewelry? What I said at that function was true, and I do want my daughters to learn more, but I always get too impatient. They need a guide into that world.”

“Privately,” she said after a moment. “If you have items or…” She trailed off when I chuckled. “Of course.”

“I can bring you to one of my vaults if you set something up with the twins,” I told her and then cleared my throat. “And they will give you their protection should you need it.” I ignored when Jamie flinched. “Your husband’s brother will be a problem. You know Barb won’t be the only issue. The twins can’t let that stand.”

“No, I would think not,” she sighed. “They’ve all made their beds. I don’t think it can be any worse than my mother being one of your brother’s minions.”

I simply nodded, not wanting to speak on that topic. I hoped Hades had more to that plan than I knew, but… I wanted to have faith in my brother, I really did. “What idea did you have?”

She gave me an evil smile as she took back the tablet. “To hit the hypocrisy at the source.” She pulled up several perfect light fixture options and handed back the tablet. “I was thinking how you said you had other bakeries make Valentine’s Day treats and give them out… What if you did that for churches?”

Isiah threw back his head and burst out laughing. He laughed so hard he leaned against the wall and kept laughing.

Except the answer wasn’t actually funny.

“I’ve done that, and the church burnt to the ground and about twenty people died,” I told them when he stopped laughing, all three of them looking at me in horror. I nodded that I wasn’t kidding. “It was the days of slavery, and they used to hold slave auctions after services. I don’t think I need to explain more than that why their crimes and my power killed them.”

“Right, you warned the vampires not to deliver treats to prisons,” Isiah muttered. “Some churches could be just as bad.”

“And even the good churches would receive good fortune and karma and pray harder,” I drawled. “It would be like feeding a delusion given they’re good people who simply are being conned. There’s no Jesus. There’s no heaven. Only the underworld they don’t deserve.”

“Oh dear,” she muttered. “Yes, that’s much more complicated. I apologize.”

“The idea might not be completely dead,” Jamie muttered. “We just need to think on it better. Could you make treats without your power? Like slip one in a batch?”

“That’s what Poseidon said, but anything of my creation has my power,” I told him with a shrug. “And yes, we can think of it later, but there’s always more. More covens are already contacting you to do more, and we’re focused so much on the US, and there’s a whole world out there, right? Those churches and more have access.”

“True.” Patti dipped her head to me. “I apologize.”

“You wanted to help and I appreciate it. Truly.” I smiled as I changed the light fixture. “I welcome suggestions and ideas. We can keep them for later always. It’s when people get pushy or demanding. I even like the way you think. It’s when people can’t accept their idea won’t work in its original form or push me to change my mind.”

She snorted. “Idiot men you mean.”

“Most times, but do you think your daughter would accept my turning her down?” I didn’t push it, but I wasn’t going to let it be only male-bashing when we’d both made mistakes as well.

Her other idea of people “finding” a lost container of my treats at more lawless ports now and again as if pirates stole them from Costco would work great. I nodded to Jamie for him to figure it out or locations. I could have one bobbing right up to shore even if that was a real thing. We’d have to talk to Gina since she knew most about the docks and how they worked.

But the day went really well, and Jamie had been excited to have a nice dinner planned with his mom Friday night even.

So nothing surprised me more than getting a phone call from him after midnight and he was slurring so badly I could barely understand him.

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