Page 29 of Mine To Honor (Southern Wedding)

I take a deep breath in as I turn and look at the mirror one more time, the redness in my eyes is down a bit, but they are still puffy. My nose is still a touch red. “I’m ready.” I nod, walking to him. “Let’s go,” I say, walking past him and toward the stairs. We walk down the front steps and he opens the car door for me.

“Now you want extra brownie points,” I joke with him, getting in the car and picking up the white cup of coffee. “Good thing I can scratch coffee off that list.” I take a sip. “This is cold.”

“I think what you mean to say is thank you,” he nudges, right before he slams the car door.

He gets in and I don’t drink the coffee because the closer he gets to the lawyer’s office, the more my stomach gets tighter and tighter. When he parks the car and I press the button for my seat belt, I mumble to myself as I grab the door handle, pushing it open, “I think I’m going to throw up.”

Levi pulls open the door to the office, letting me walk in before him. I wait for him before I walk into the office. Josephine is there talking to Alice, who just smiles at me. “Sorry we are late, we had a little bit of a meltdown,” I admit, looking at Levi, who puts his hand at the base of my back. “I don’t know if you’ve met.” I look at Josephine. “This is my husband, Levi.” I turn to him. “This is Josephine.”

“I think we met already,” Josephine says to him and he just nods. “You are married?” She looks at us.

“We are,” Levi confirms, slipping his hand in mine.

I don’t have time to say anything before a tall man comes out. “Hello.” He nods at me. “You must be Evangeline,” he says my full name. “I’m Larry.” He holds out his hand. “I’m sorry about your loss.”

“Thank you,” I reply, shaking his hand.

“If you will follow me,” he says. And I look at Alice.

“I’ll wait here if you need me,” she states and I nod at her, not letting go of Levi’s hand. We follow him into his office with Josephine following us.

“Please sit.” He motions to the chairs that are around the conference table. I pull out one of the chairs and sit down, looking over to see Levi pull out the chair next to me. He pulls my chair as close as it can get to his.

“You okay?” He leans over asking me and I just nod my head.

Josephine sits next to Larry as he opens the folder in front of him. He looks down, starting to read. I look down at my hands and the tears come again. Levi reaches over and puts his arm around me. “It’s okay,” he whispers in my ear and I just nod.

“To my sister, Evangeline,” I hear Larry say, “I leave you my most prized possession. Cici James Crinkle. There is no one who would make a better mother than you,” he reads and I put my hand in front of my mouth.

I look over at Josephine, not sure if Larry has anything more to say. “When can I have my niece?”

She smiles at me and gets up from her seat, walking out of the room. “What’s going on?” I get up, my legs shaking, my whole body starting to tremble. “Should I get Alice?”

“I don’t think that is necessary,” Larry states and not even a minute later I see Josephine coming back into the room.

The sob rips through me when I see Cici looking around. My feet move before I can even think. “There she is.” I put a smile on my face. “Hello, baby girl.”

Cici looks at me and gives me a smile before she reaches for me. I hold out my hands and take her in my arms. “I’ve got you, baby girl.” I put my hand on her head, laying it on my chest. “I’ve got you.”

Chapter Fourteen

Levi

“Cabin crew, please take your seats for landing.” I hear the pilot say and look out the window at the city below us. The flight attendant comes on and tells us we will be landing in a matter of minutes. I lean back in my seat with my hands crossed on my stomach, my eyes looking at the black ring on my wedding finger.

It’s been over a week since we’ve gotten married, and it’s been exactly one week since I left Eva at her house with Cici. I didn’t think anything about leaving, but the day after, I was itching to return home. I’ve been on the West Coast and I never thought those three hours mattered, but they really mattered when you woke up at seven and it was ten her time and she was working. Then when you finish work at eight but then it’s eleven her time. So it’s been quick phone calls during the week. Texts also have been few and far between.

The wheels hit the runway, and I turn the Airplane Mode off. My finger nervously taps the phone, waiting for it to start beeping with alerts. I look down when it vibrates in my hand showing me emails are coming in. I pull up my text thread with Eva.

Me:Just landed.

I look down to see if the gray bubble pops up, showing she’s texting me, but nothing comes up. I wait for the ding of the seat belt before I reach under my seat to grab my backpack, then open the overhead bin and grabbing my black carry-on bag. I slide it over my shoulder, while I hold the bag in front of me, waiting for the plane door to open before I walk out. I make my way toward the baggage claim and exit. Passing the baggage claim, I head straight to the parking garage. Fetching the keys out of my bag, I press the unlock button, pulling open the back door and tossing the bag in there, along with my backpack, before sliding into the driver’s seat.

I pull out of the parking lot and head straight to my place. In a matter of twenty minutes, I’m walking into my place and tossing my keys at the table by the door, right next to the stack of mail my cleaning lady put there this morning. I dump my bag on the bed, unzipping it as I take out my dirty clothes and toss them in the laundry basket in the closet. The phone rings from inside my suit jacket pocket, pulling it out I see that it’s Eva.

“Hello,” I greet, putting the phone to my ear and leaning it against my shoulder.

“Hey.” She sounds breathless. “Where are you?”

---