Page 52 of Make Me Remember

His smile was so damn big. I knew he wanted us there, but I didn’t realize just how badly he needed us. His issues and whatever he may have had going on always took a back burner when LaTee and I were with him. He’d said a countless number of times that we were his peace, his consolation, and his heart. He’d grown so much from the horny ass player I first met at the hospital months ago.

His expressiveness left no room for doubt, and he’d given me all the proof of his love through his actions. The man was love purified and personified. It felt innocent… until we were fucking. It was like we were each other’s firsts, and I couldn’t get enough of the high his love put me on.

He looked in the back seat and said to LaTee, “Welcome to the country, baby. We gotta get you and yo’ mama on a horse.”

LaTee said, “Yay!”

She started clapping loudly as Jacob pulled off the funeral home parking lot with a smile on his face. He pulled my hand to his lips and kissed it. “You are the missing piece. You gon’ be Missus Henderson before you know it.”

I blushed hard as hell. My face was so hot. I loved him vocalizing his intent. While most times he was laid-back and low-key, when it came to his emotions… Jesus. I was gonna ride a horse alright. I planned to ride it into the sunset as soon as we got home. Yeah… home.

CHAPTER 19

JACOB

“They had the audacity to put me in the obituary, like me and Shayla were even on speaking terms. It was on sight whenever I saw her ass. I honestly don’t even feel one way or the other about her death. Fuck outta here!”

I watched Cassie take the obituary from Uncle Storm and throw that shit in the trash. His eyebrows were lifted as he watched her walk away. He looked at KJ and me and said, “That’s why I love Martha. She don’t give a fuck. Let me go see about her.”

KJ rolled his eyes. I didn’t know how Uncle Storm ended up crashing our party. KJ, Cassie, Christian, Mya, Rylan, and Angel were here with their kids, and the twins, Ashanni, Maui, and Milana were supposed to be dropping by later. Zhori was here too. We’d gotten Mekayla and LaTee all moved in and put her things in storage until she could figure out what she wanted to do with them. My house was fully furnished, thanks to my mama and Aunt Chrissy.

Grandma’s furniture chain was still up and running, thanks to Aunt Chrissy, and she kept up with the times when she created new pieces. Sometimes, Aunt Syn helped her because she liked fashion and designing shit. My dad helped her from time to time too. He was getting tired of the boutiques, but CJ was looking into taking it over once he graduated from high school in a couple of years. He had an eye for it, just like Dad.

Uncle Storm was joking, but Cassie looked and sounded pissed for real. It had been a week since Mekayla’s father’s funeral, and Shayla’s funeral was today. I didn’t understand why it took them two weeks to bury that woman, but whatever. Whoever had said it would be last weekend had gotten their wires crossed.

Courtney’s body was still on ice. Had they been thinking like normal people, they would have had those funerals at the same time. They had the funeral at the church in Nome, and we’d all made a point in slow rolling by that shit.

Uncle WJ wasn’t happy about that, but fuck those people. They wanted smoke? We would start the fucking fire. Jameka’s mama had seen us and watched us slow roll. Her ass was gon’ be next. She’d bailed out again, and Watchful Eyes was gon’ be on her ass. She seemed to be the last one that we could possibly have problems with. The rest of them were followers. They were just following her, Shayla, and Traylon’s lead. Two of those people were dead for fucking with the Hendersons.

No video had surfaced in the investigation of Shayla’s death, but Jess was still nervous as fuck. I didn’t blame her. Jess’s pretty ass wasn’t meant for jail. Although she could hold her own, she was way too bourgeois for that shit. Cassie told her if she went down, she would go down with her. KJ had just stared at her like she’d lost her damn mind.

The women were all seated on the covered patio attached to the house, and we were under the lean-to in front of the barn. I missed being out here. With my leg being fucked up, the last thing I could do was fuck around on the ranch. Now that things had gotten better, I took out the horses so LaTee and Seneda could ride. Uncle Marcus had dropped her and Malia off earlier. Malia loved being with Ashanni and Maui. She was still a teenager, but she was getting close to being grown.

As we sat, passing a blunt around, three trucks pulled up. I frowned and stood to see who it was. When I got a better look, I saw it was Uncle WJ, Uncle Kenny, and Uncle Jasper. Aww shit. Uncle WJ and Uncle Kenny didn’t crash parties. For them to be here, something was going on. Shortly after, more cars pulled up.

Uncle Storm slowly shook his head. “Y’all probably started some shit by rolling by Shayla’s funeral. I don’t know where y’all get that thug shit from. We supposed to be a good, wholesome Christian family.”

Christian stared at him for a second and said, “Nigga, shut that shit up.”

We all chuckled and made our way to the house. Mekayla was looking scared as hell, like some shit was about to go down. I didn’t blame her. What happened at the diner had probably crossed her mind. She was gon’ learn that the Hendersons didn’t take no shit, and we didn’t have a problem backing our words up.

When my mom and dad walked in with CJ and Jess had gotten here with her family, I didn’t care who else wasn’t here. I stood in front of Mekayla and pulled her to her feet and hugged her. The room had gotten extremely quiet, waiting for what would happen.

“Mekayla Chatmon, you are my life, baby. I wasn’t living until you came in that hospital room. I mean, you wasn’t fucking with me then and threatened to find me another therapist if I didn’t stop flirting with you, but I knew you were the one. KJ thought I was losing my mind by going after you with all the shit I was going through, but I knew you were the peace I was subconsciously seeking.”

Her eyes were darting around, and when she saw her family standing on the other side of the room, she broke out in tears. It was soon… real soon to be going down on one knee, but here I was doing just that. This woman had me sprung as fuck, and I’d admit that shit to anybody. She had me fiending for her ass as soon as she left my presence.

I pulled the ring from my pocket and stared up at her, grabbing her hand. “Mekayla, I love you. I don’t ever wanna lose you or my baby girl over there.”

I tilted my head, beckoning LaTee over. She looked like she would cry any minute. Wrapping her arms around Mekayla, she stared at me, waiting for me to continue. “This is love amplified. This is where the three of us were supposed to be at this very moment. Mekayla, will you do me the honor of being my wife, baby?”

She nodded and said, “Absolutely.”

“And LaTee, will you do me the honor of being my daughter?”

She frowned. “Daddy, I thought I was already your daughter.”

Everybody chuckled, and there were a few awws. I could see my mama and Jess dropping tears. “I’m just making it official, baby.”

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