Trial By Fire - Bouncing Back, Book 1

Thirty

Tanisha made her way over to them, a faint smile on her face. She’d seen what happened and wanted to make a suggestion. Though she wasn’t sure of the girl’s intent at first, watching how she was with the two toddlers gave Tanisha a deeper understanding of the red-head. It was as if she and Memphis were meant to be. She’d been watching them gravitate toward each other the whole time, noting when Memphis pointed out Charmaine Julian only to fill Kennedy in on his history with the woman.

Sneering, the family matriarch sadly shook her head as she thought about the differences in the two women.

With Charmaine, there was always an underlying edge to everything she said. Her clothes were nothing more than scraps held precariously with string and thread. She was always brazenly asking for money to spend, constantly fighting with the staff, and always acting like she should be served on hand and foot.

Then there was the woman her grandson fell in love with. Though brassy, it was easy to see that she was easy-going and gentle. She stood firm for what she believed in and had convinced Thomas not to steal them away from his family. It had been years since she last saw him and his boy, and now they were here. Not once had the younger of the two women said anything that would be a mark against her in any way.

Clearing her throat, she smiled as they faced her. "I would like to offer the dress my mother’s mother made for her back in the day when she married my father, Kennedy. It’s a tradition for my direct line. My daughter, her children, and their brides used it as well.”

"Oh, no. I couldn't," the red-head tried to argue, but three women descended on her, and dragged her into the manor. Memphis fought a laugh as she glared at him over her shoulder.

Less then an hour later, she was standing on a small stool while they pinned up the hem, so she didn't trip on it.

She fingered the hand-stitched bodice, deep in thought as the other women worked. A bright blue strip of cloth was tied just under her bust line and blue lace threaded with white pearls accented the hem, neckline, and arms. As they tended the fabric carefully, they told her how the dress was made. From scraping together the money to buy the items she needed, Tanisha’s grandmother had painstakingly stitched every detail by hand. Every pearl, stitch, and piece of blue lace was kept in mint condition over the years, allowing each female descendant that came later to wear the beautiful gown.

"Grand-mère stayed up well into the night, burning the midnight oil for weeks just to have it done in time. But, oh! Was it ever a cold winter that year! Maman ended up having triplets her first go around, and Papa began knocking on the neighbour’s doors for work he was good at. Soon enough, he met a man that gave him a job keeping his yard. Well, Papa took that to heart and masterfully created a beautiful garden area for the Madame of the house, trimmed all the trees and hedges, and took good care of the grass." Tanisha said as she looked the young woman over. "Ma chérie, it fits you so well!"

Throwing her arms around the woman, Kennedy dry-sobbed. Her heart was filled with love for the women who barely knew her already, and they had only just met. "Thank you for letting me wear this. I hate dresses, but this is more than a dress. It's a memory, a tradition, and I'm proud to carry it forward. What happened after the man hired him?"

“Oh, well, he was making his mark on the province, getting more and more people hiring him to do their lawns, too. Soon, he had enough money to build the house we’re in right now for my Maman and their children. By that time, they had eight of us underfoot. The older of us helped Maman and Papa as much as we could for how we were, but we learned to earn our pocket money.” Tanisha answered.

Kennedy’s lower lip shivered as she fought her tears. No. She would not cry. She would never give anyone the pleasure of seeing her tears. Well, she’d let Memphis get away with it a few times, but he never once mocked her for it. “I’m so glad I got the chance to meet Thomas and Memphis’s family.”

Marigold sighed, "You trust them, don’t you?"

"With my life. Thomas trained us growing up, and Mem was always my top challenger," Kennedy answered.

"You won't have him for long," someone said. "He's been after me since we were children, and I’ll have him before the nights out. He’s gotten so handsome, too."

Rolling her eyes, Kennedy turned to the door. The other women with her were watching cautiously as she smiled. "All kids have a crush on someone growing up, but there aren’t many that make it to the love stage of things. I’m the one that’ll be wearing his ring by the end of the day."

She could tell the woman was seething. It amused Kennedy that Charmaine was actively trying to get her angry, but the woman had some major shoes to fill. After all, there was a German dunce back in Ontario that could do it in no time.

"I'll go keep Memphis entertained," the girl said snidely.

Grabbing the nail file from the table in front of her, Kennedy hurled it at the door. It shuddered, vibrating as the force of her throw caused it to stick out of the painted wooden frame. Shrieking, the girl ran from the room in fear while calling her crazy.

"f*****g b***h better keep her hands off my man. I’ll cut them off finger by finger if she don’t," she muttered.

Marigold snickered before giving in to her laughter as her mother and daughter stared at the red-head in shock. She knew the young woman in front of her was full of biting comebacks after meeting her at Thomas’s house. She also knew that the family was in for a jolt when it came to Kennedy.

"Did you really just do that," the other young woman asked.

"You better believe it, Helena. Memphis is mine, and I'm willing to fight for him. She can go straight back to the hole she crawled out of if she thinks I'm going to let that slide," Kennedy answered angrily. Spotting the colourful kit on the table in front of her, she shook her head. "Please, put away the make-up. My brother-in-law would tan my hide, and I hate it."

Eyeing the girl suspiciously, they asked if her family abused her.

"No, of course not," Kennedy told them. "Declan firmly believes that a man should love a woman for her natural beauty, and not society's expectation of it. After he met my sister, he raised me with the same values."

"What about your parents, dear?" Marigold asked suddenly. She was curious as to why the girl never mentioned them before. Even now, the only people she called family were her sister, brother-in-law, and their kids.

Closing her eyes to fight the tears, Kennedy took a deep breath. She knew the question would eventually come up, but it didn’t make it any easier to handle. "They were murdered when I was nine.”

Helena pulled the girl into her arms and sighed heavily. "I'm so sorry for your loss. It can’t have been easy to lose them at such a tender age."

"Thank you. It wasn’t, but I had my sister with me every step of the way," Kennedy whispered. She looked up as Thomas appeared in the doorway, “What do you think?”

Smirking, he said, "You look beautiful, Baby Girl. Declan's arguing with me over who's walking you to the arch. Would you mind dealing with this?"

Grinning, she looked at the other ladies. "I appreciate your help, but I have to go settle this before my brother-in-law has a conniption."

Grabbing a small basket from the closet, Helena bit her lip. "Kennedy, wait! We don't have a ring bearer or flower girl."

No, she realized, they didn’t.

"Clearly, we dropped the ball," Kennedy moved fast as she pulled out her phone and called her sister. "Hey, I need Hans and Melody to come into the house."

"Hans won't leave Neo's side," her sister said. “And your niece is stuck to her new friend as well.”

"Okay, well send all four of them in. Two from Memphis’s family, and two from mine."

Hanging up, she watched Helena run out of the room.

“Um, where’s she going?” Kennedy asked.

Tanisha smiled tearfully. “She’s gone to grab petals from the garden.”

“Oh,” she said as she took a look in the floor-length mirror. Blinking away her tears, she forced a smile. Gathering the skirt of the dress in her hands, she made her way to the lower level. An older man was standing at the base of the stairs. She noted that his eyes were glassy as he looked up at her.

“Madame, I’m to guide you to where Master Thomas is waiting. Might I say that you look absolutely stunning in Lady Tanisha’s gown?” He said, smiling warmly as he offered her his arm.

Blinking, she nodded. “Thank you. That’s very gracious of you to say.”

His smile fell, shock settling in his eyes. He’d overheard the conversation earlier about her inheritance, expecting her to be snooty. Yet, she was pleasantly polite to the staff. Quickly pushing it away, he said, “You’re welcome, Madame.”