Page 101 of Spilling the Tea

“Being checked by the paramedics for her burns, and then she’s going to jail.”

“Good.”

“And before you two get lost,” Corbin said, “Mama Laverne has called a special family meeting at Whispering Pines in an hour—as she put it—to start spilling the Madaris tea.”

“That ought to be interesting,” Chance said.

“It’s not as interesting as Jake and Uncle Jonathan trying to talk their oldest four brothers to turn over their shotguns to them. They just arrived ready to kick ass at the thought of anyone messing with their mama.”

Chance rolled his eyes. “They shouldn’t be running around with loaded shotguns.”

“If you ask me,” Corbin said, “those four will seize any opportunity to revert back to their hell-raising ways.”

Knowing his grandfather Lucas was in the mix, Chance had to agree.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Felicia Laverne took a sip of her tea while glancing around the living room. Her sons, grands, great-grands, and their spouses were all present to hear what she had to say. The murder attempt on her and Zoey’s lives had them demanding to know why Chance’s ex-fiancée had tried killing them.

She saw Zoey was sitting close to Chance. His arms were wrapped protectively around her shoulders. Felicia Laverne suspected there would be another Madaris wedding soon. This would be one love match she hadn’t orchestrated. However, she was convinced her beloved Milton, Waylon, and Victoria had. Undoubtedly, the three felt it was time to end the Satterfield and Madaris feud once and for all.

“What I’m about to tell you are things that happened in this family years ago, and how that history has become tied to the present,” she said, getting everyone’s attention. “I had assumed I would take this story to the grave with me, but that won’t be the case.” After taking another sip of her tea, she said, “First, I must tell you about the Madaris Scandal.”

Milton Madaris Jr., her firstborn, who felt he had a right toknow everything about the family said, “I never knew about any Madaris Scandal.”

“It was before you were born, Milton,” she said.

“Oh.”

Felicia Laverne then told everyone about Milton Sr.’s close friendship with Waylon Satterfield. Everybody listened, and no one asked questions. She told them of Charlotte’s lie and how it tore the two families apart. She shared Charlotte’s banishment and the terms Kurt Satterfield had in his will that neither Charlotte nor any of her offspring could inherit Satterfield land. She also explained how Kurt had ended Waylon and Victoria’s engagement.

After taking another sip of tea, she resumed her story, bringing them to when Victoria and Waylon attempted to elope, Pa Jantzen’s stroke, and why he made Victoria promise never to marry Waylon.

Felicia Laverne wasn’t surprised when several women dabbed tears from their eyes. She then apprised them of Victoria’s decision to remain in Paris after attending nursing school, and working at a hospital there. After five years, Waylon married a woman named Deedra and moved on with his life. When their uncle Quantum died, Victoria returned to the States and took a job at a hospital in Ohio. Felicia Laverne realized her sons knew that much, since they’d always looked forward to their aunt’s visits.

“Then she died in a senseless robbery,” Jonathan said with both anger and pain in his voice.

“Yes, but several things happened a few years before that. When her pa, Jantzen, became ill, Victoria returned home to help care for him. Before dying, he released Victoria from that promise to never marry Waylon. His wife Deedra had died of pneumonia five years earlier.”

“Did Victoria and Waylon reconnect?” Justin’s wife, Lorren, asked, with hopefulness in her voice.

“Yes, they began seeing each other in private.”

“Why in private?” her son Lee asked. “They were both single.”

“Yes,” Felicia Laverne confirmed. “However, Penny Satterfield still had a grudge against the Madaris family.”

“Who cared how that old woman felt?” Milton Jr. asked, frowning.

“Your aunt Victoria cared. She didn’t want to do anything to upset Waylon’s mother in her old age. However, Waylon was past caring.”

“Good for him,” Clayton said.

“Waylon wanted more than to date in secret. He wanted marriage and felt they owed that to each other.”

Felicia Laverne gazed at Jake who was sitting with his wife, Diamond. “So, Jake, you and Diamond didn’t have the first secret marriage in the Madaris family.”

“Wait a minute,” her son Nolan said, standing. “Are you saying Aunt Victoria got married without any of us knowing about it?”

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