Page 15 of Hurricane's House

“It’s not my fault that you’re too young to hang out in a bar,” Hurricane insisted. “Besides, if you gave kids your age half a chance, you might actually find a few friends of your own, kid.”

“Kids my age are overrated,” she grumbled.

“Tell me about it,” Hurricane teased. “Grab your shit and let’s go,” he ordered. He watched as Chasity ran upstairs and Tina turned to smile at him.

“You know, you are really good with her,” she said.

“Well, she’s a good kid and I love giving her a hard time,” he admitted.

Tina giggled, “I think that the feeling is mutual,” she said. “Are you sure that you don’t mind us tagging along tonight?” she asked. “You’ve seemed a bit pensive all day. Do you need a night off from us?” she asked. He hated that she was even asking him that question.

Hurricane pulled Tina into his arms, “Of course not,” he insisted. “I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately,” he admitted, leaving out the part of it being her that he couldn’t stop thinking about.

“Anything I can do to help?” she asked.

“Not yet, but I’ll let you know,” he promised.

Chasity ran back down to them, holding up her bag. “Ready,” she said.

“Then, let’s hit the road,” Hurricane ordered. He watched the two of them walk out of the garage, to his truck, and he couldn’t remember what he had been worried about earlier. None of that mattered because seeing his girls so excited to be a part of his life gave him hope that what he dreamed about for the future would come true. He just needed to believe.

Tina

Tina was a bit nervous about having her first “Dinner party” with Hurricane. They had become so domesticated that she wasn’t sure she could even remember her old, lonely life. They were becoming a family and that thought scared the hell out of her. She never saw herself with a family, yet being with Hurricane and Chasity felt right—familiar even.

Hurricane had invited Wren and Yonkers over to have a backyard barbecue and she had no idea what that would entail. Sure, burgers and hot dogs, but should she make a salad or anything else? Tina panicked over every detail and from the way Hurricane was watching her, he could tell.

“You do know that it’s just Wren and Yonkers,” he reminded as she handed him the grill tools.

“I know, but this is our first real get-together with friends here, and I just don’t want to screw it up,” she admitted.

“You can’t screw it up, honey,” he insisted. They won’t care what we serve, as long as there’s food and someone to hold the baby while they eat. I’m sure that they haven’t had a hot mealsince the kid arrived. Yonkers told me that the baby seemed to have some kind of damn radar every time Wren sat down to eat.

Tina smiled at the idea of being able to hold the baby while Wren ate her dinner. She loved spending time with both Wren and her daughter. They had quickly become good friends.

Tina helped to get the meat ready for the grill when Yonkers and Wren showed up just in time for the guys to start the grill and get the dogs and burgers on. “You want to come inside and help me with a few side dishes?” Tina asked Wren.

“Of course,” Wren agreed. “Do you mind if I put her down in your room? It’s nap time and I don’t want to mess up our schedule.”

“Absolutely,” Tina said, “you know where it is, right?”

“I’ve only been here one other time, but yeah, I think that I remember. I’ll be right back,” she promised.

Tina started making salad, chopping vegetables, and getting plates and silverware ready to put on the table when Chasity and Wren walked back into the kitchen. “Can we help?” Wren asked.

“Absolutely,” Tina agreed. “How about you finish up the green salad and I’ll work on the potato salad?”

“What can I do?” Chasity asked.

“Do you want to frost the cupcakes?” Tina asked. She knew that was one of her niece’s favorite jobs because when she was finished, she’d lick the spoon.

They all got to work and when things got awkwardly quiet, Chasity asked Wren about living in Alabama.

“I’ve never even been out of New York,” Chasity admitted.

“Me either,” Tina said. “I think that makes me a bit more pathetic since I’m double your age.”

“Neither of you are pathetic,” Wren insisted. “I had never been out of Alabama until I chased down Yonkers up here. He left to come up to New York to take care of his mother and well,I needed to tell him about the baby. So, I found him up here and ended up sticking around.”

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