Page 12 of Chasing Church
“Check it out.” Jones’ grin let me know that he was obviously pleased with himself. I squealed with glee, plus jumped up and down when I saw that the garage door I requested had been added to the structure. Having a garage door instead of a standard door would allow me to load the cases on an industrial cart and roll it out to load up my truck.
“Thank you. Thank you.” I included Jonah and his assistants in my appreciation. The three of them had really locked in after they missed that day due to weather. They had finished framing out the structure, put on the roof, and now the garage door had been added. “It’s coming along.”
“It is,” he agreed. “We’re on schedule to finish a little bit before we originally projected.”
I clapped happily, and the smile on my face practically cracked my cheeks. “Don’t tell me that, Jonah. I’ma be forced to give you a hug.”
He eyed me hungrily for a split second before schooling his expression. “Say, full disclosure,” he began. I braced myself for some bullshit. “Bright invited me to your mom’s house for Sunday dinner.”
I widened my eyes because it was usually just the Strongs and the Kingsleys in attendance. Even Mari had never attended. “Okay.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I just didn’t want you to see me there, and I don’t know, . . . feel some type of way.”
“Nah.” I felt the creases in my forehead form a semi-frown. “Who am I to gatekeep Sunday dinner? If Bright extended the invitation, he has his reasons.” My frown morphed into a small smile. “Besides, I would never deny a single man the pleasure of a home-cooked meal. The Kingsley women are beasts in the kitchen. You’re about to eat some really good food.”
He grinned, which made him look boyish and even more handsome. “Cool. Let me get back to work.”
You do that, I thought to myself. “Okay,” I said aloud, then made my way back into the house. “Damn!” I muttered. “Why his fine ass gotta have community dick? The fine ones always have some unappealing ass character flaw.”
Sunday dinner didn’t havea specific start time, though the food typically hit the table between 6:00 and 6:30 p.m. I arrivedabout an hour before, carrying a big bouquet of flowers for the table and a large pan of Apple Brown Betty.
Perkins opened the door for me. She took the flowers then gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She was the oldest Kingsley sister, and I was the youngest. She had a tendency to mother me. Both she and Collins had that tendency, but Perkins was more overt with it. I let her make it.
Without my permission, my eyes scanned the room for Jonah. I spotted him sitting at the dining table with the elder Mr. Strong, and my mother’s husband, Bayliss. I purposely went in the opposite direction and headed for the kitchen where the ladies were holding court. My mom and Mrs. Strong called themselves whispering about Jonah. “I know Bradford is probably over there telling him to keep it in his pants,” Mrs. Strong said with a chuckle.
“I know he’s just being young, but—” my mother began.
“He ain’t all that young, Ma,” Bailey said. “He’s only a year or two younger than Bright.”
“Right,” Mrs. Strong agreed. “I remember when his mother was expecting him. He’ll be thirty-five in November.”
“Wow. By the time I was his age, I had four girls, and two of them were in high school.” My mother shook her head at the thought.
“I had four boys myself,” Mrs. Strong agreed. “I guess he’s enjoying his freedom until he settles down.”
“You think he’ll settle down?” Perkins asked.
“Bright said they talked about the damage his behavior was doing to his reputation. I think he told Bright he wants to be on something different.”
“I hope so,” Mrs. Strong said. “He’s always had so much potential but a lack of discipline.”
“Good for him,” my mother added. “It takes some of us longer than others to catch on to life’s lessons. We spend toomuch time waiting for things to change instead of being the change.”
My sisters added their positive and supportive feedback. Me? The only thing running through my mind was,I’ll believe it when I see it.
“Well, don’t look now, but your boy keeps sneaking glances over here at one of your daughters, Alisha,” Collins teased.
“Which one? Perkins or Church? Because the other two are spoken for.”
“Uh, that’s somebody’s baby boy, and more than that, he’s clearly a YN. He’d better not be looking at me or Church.” Perkins didn’t even bother looking up from her task of preparing the broccoli florets for roasting.
“You’re about to be mad then because he’s definitely looking at Church.” Bailey giggled.
I waved her off. “You know we kinda know each other. He’s the foreman on my production room project.”
“That’s not all he wants to be the foreman of.” Collins looked pointedly at me.
“Cut it out, Coll,” I told her.
