Page 70 of Kandi's Crush: A BWWM Sweet Billionaire Romance

When I entered the kitchen area, Natasha and Chadwick were busy unpacking aluminum foil pans and plastic containers filled with the turkey and sides. Before dinner, we would transfer each dish onto white serving platters.

“What should I take on?” I asked. I leaned in and hugged my best friend. She opened her mouth to answer, her lips formed a perfect ‘O’ shape when she took in my appearance. In the short time since my reception, I’d lost a few pounds and had little sleep, but I didn’t think I looked that bad.

As if he could read my thoughts, Chadwick walked over with his arms outstretched. He wrapped me into an embrace.

“Sweets, you look beautiful. Don’t worry about helping, Natasha and I have it under control.”

“Um. Yeah. We’ll take care of everything. Dinner will be fabulous.” She sang out the last word, dragging out the three syllables. “My grandmother packed two dozen bacon deviled eggs. I put together a cheeseboard loaded with dry-cured meats. Kandi, go have a seat, and I’ll bring the tray over.”

Jesus. I must have looked worse than I thought.

Shortly after she placed the cheeseboard in the center of the cocktail table, James entered the loft with his typical boisterous demeanor. He handed over a bottle of Dom Perignon to Chadwick and pulled me in for a big hug. His wife, Kenya, presented me with a vase filled with autumn foliage before giving me a hug.

Jealousy was a green-eyed bitch. The two were so perfectly matched, both were attractive and stylish. Their wedding had been gorgeous. They’d had perfect bridesmaids and groomsmen. The weather had been perfect, and their parents had appeared elated. Here they were one month later, visibly happy and so in love.

I was thankful that neither gave me a second curious glance after the hugs. They both sat down on the sofa, and we began catching up on their honeymoon to Bali. James cast his phone on the television so we could watch a slideshow of their five hundred honeymoon images. Most of the photos were of Kenya’s happy and smiling face.

Kenya practically glowed, and her smile was so genuine. I wished I felt as great as Kenya looked.

Over warm apple cider, appetizers, and light jazz, we caught up on life. I noticed that Chadwick seemed distracted and rushed. I caught him checking his watch several times and made a mental note to ask him about it later.

“It’s a quarter past four, let’s eat dinner.”

He took me by the hand and led me to the dining room table. Our guests followed closely behind. Chadwick sat at the head of the table and I to his right.

We were about to lower our heads to say the prayer when the doorbell rang.

Perfect fucking timing. For the first time in six weeks, I had an appetite. I had just placed the napkin in my lap and prepared myself to dive into all the food.

“Please excuse me. Give me a minute to see who it is.” He removed the napkin from his lap before sprinting to the iPad to check out the security system.

Chadwick buzzed the guest inside, and I leaned back in my chair to see who would be so rude to interrupt our Thanksgiving dinner.

We all sat in our chairs, expecting the uninvited, unanticipated guest to appear. The only person who would be so rude was Quad, dragging along his poor wife, Emery. He had an uncanny ability to know when food was being served.

The elevator arrived, and we finally saw our unexpected guests. My mother and grandparents walked out of the elevator into the foyer.

My eyes fell upon my mother. She looked so small and so frail, so unlike herself. I leaped from my seat and ran over to the three with my arms extended.

Tears pooled in my mother’s eyes when my arms encircled her body. Unlike the night of the reception, she pulled me into a tight embrace, and we rocked each other back and forth. With our arms interlocked, she stood back and examined me from my hair to my feet before returning to my eyes.

Shame washed over me. I couldn’t believe we had allowed this to go on for so long.

I turned to my grandparents and hugged them while Chadwick helped my mother out of her jacket. She regarded my appearance with a visible wince of regret. Pop-Pop handed a large box over to Chadwick.

“Just in time for dinner, I see. We couldn’t arrive empty-handed. There’s brisket, macaroni and cheese, and pecan pie in the box. I smoked the brisket all day yesterday.”

“You’re a good man. Very good man.”

“No turducken?” Natasha yelled over before hugging my grandmother.

I refrained from gagging. My grandfather’s specialty is chicken stuffed in a duck that is all roasted in a turkey. I think it’s gross, but my family and friends think it is the best thing since . . . well, smoked meat.

Each of our friends followed with hugs. Chadwick took the box to the kitchen with my grandfather following closely behind. I smiled when Chadwick groaned appreciatively when he peered into the box.

Joy overwhelmed my heart. My family was here. My mother was here. But we were missing one person. I turned back to my mother and gave her a shy smile.

“Where’s Auntie?”

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