Page 41 of Weather the Storm
“I’m nowhere near finished with you,” I growl in her ear, causing her to shiver. “Let’s go talk to them then send them on their way.”
Magnolia lingers in the kitchen while I answer the door. Sure enough, our whole crew is basically camped out on my damn porch.
With sarcasm seeping from every pore, I hold the door open for them. “Please, come in.”
One by one, they file inside. The only upside to their interruption is that Drake holds a brown paper bag I know is full of fried chicken from Danny’s—the best chicken fingers in town.
“H-hey, y’all.” Somehow Magnolia manages to greet our friends pleasantly, like they aren’t all the biggest cockblocks around.
Seraphine rushes to her cousin. “What is going on, Mags?” she asks, sounding hurt that she’s out of the loop.
“Oh G-God, I don’t even know where t-to start.”
“The beginning would be good,” Seraphine replies. “Come, sit.” She takes Magnolia by the hand and leads her to the living room. I smile when I see Magnolia claim my chair as her own.
Drake begins unpacking the food, arranging the grease-spotted boxes of chicken fingers, fries, and fried okra onto the island. Guess it’s a good thing Magnolia and I didn’t make it any further before they arrived—sanitary reasons and all.
I dish up a little bit of everything onto three different plates, carrying two out to the living room—one for my girl and one for Seraphine—before retreating and grabbing the one for myself.
Once we’re all seated, our plates balanced on our laps, Magnolia launches into the painful tale of her past. By the time she’s finished, there’s not a dry eye in the room. Cash and Drake do better at holding back their emotions, but if their clenched fists are any indicator, they’re struggling.
Seraphine is the first to speak. “Mags, why didn’t you ever say anything?”
“I…I d-didn’t want you to j-judge me.”
“Oh, Mags,” Seraphine wails, wrapping her cousin in her arms. “Never, honey,never.”
Myla Rose and Azalea waste no time huddling around my girl, slinging their arms around her and Seraphine in a group hug. After some time, they all pull back and return to where they were seated.
“So, what’s the plan?” Drake asks.
“Tomorrow morning, first thing, Magnolia and I are gonna file for an order for protection. Downside is we gotta wait for them to actually find that sack of shit before he can be served.”
Looking as dissatisfied as I feel, Cash speaks up. “What about until then?”
“Well, that’s where we need y’all’s help. I don’t want Magnolia at the salon alone—at all, ever.”
“Agreed,” Cash and Drake murmur.
“Her car should be ready by Tuesday, but I honestly don’t know how I feel about her driving alone.”
“I can drive out here and carpool,” Seraphine offers.
“Perfect. And y’all”—I address the entire room—“be fucking vigilant. Keep your eyes open. This dude is unhinged, and while I want to keep my girl safe, I don’t want anything happenin’ to any of you either.”
Finally, everyone leaves, and Magnolia and I are alone again. Together we clean up the mess from dinner, shooting one another heated glances all the while.
Once the living room and kitchen are spotless, we make our way back to my bedroom. I watch like a dog staring down a juicy steak as Magnolia strips and crawls into my bed naked as the day she was born. I fucking love this brave side of her, how she doesn’t hold back with me.
Following suit, I scramble out of my clothes and climb in behind her, wrapping her in my arms. “Sure do love you,” I murmur before showing her just how much.
Chapter Twenty-One
MAGNOLIA
Monday morning comes too soon, and before I know it, Simon and I are walking into the courthouse with the police report we picked up on the way. We pass through the metal detectors and make our way back toward the court administrator’s office.
Even though the chairs in the waiting area are empty, Simon walks up to the take-a-number dispenser mounted to the wall and grabs a ticket. I glance at the piece of paper in his hand. It reads 4, and the large, digital display mounted on the wall reads 3. At least the wait won’t be long.
