“So, Miss Alex, are you going to stay?”
When I gazed down at her hopeful expression, I didn’t know how to say no to her. Accepting defeat, I smiled. “Okay, okay, I’ll stay.” Then I gave Bishop a pointed look. “Just for dinner.”
“Yeah!” Willow squealed, doing a little happy dance around me.
Taking me by the shoulders, Beth led me over to one of the chairs. “You sit right here, honey.”
I let her ease me down onto the seat. “Thank you. I really appreciate your hospitality.”
“Hospitality?” Deacon repeated.
When I glanced over my shoulder at him, he shook his head. “You really are white-bread.”
“Don’t be inhospitable to our guest, Deacon. Just because your daughter has a greater vocabulary comprehension level at her age than you do doesn’t mean you can be a jerk,” Rev said.
A giggle escaped my lips at Rev’s teasing of Deacon. My laughter elicited a wink from Rev and a glare from Deacon. Rev took a seat across from me. Motioning Willow to his side, he said, “Come here, rug rat, and tell me what you learned today from Miss Alex.”
She wrinkled her nose as she wrapped an arm around his waist. “I’m not a rug rat,” she countered in a soft voice.
He cocked his brows at her. “Oh, you’re not?” he questioned, his voice laced with amusement. Willow shook her head back and forth. “Then what are you?”
“A ballerina.”
“Not that again.” Deacon groaned as he took a seat at one end of the table. The corners of Willow’s lips turned down in a frown. At her sad face, Deacon sighed. “Look, kid, we’ve been over and over this. I can’t let you out to go to school, so I sure as hell can’t let you go to dance lessons.”
“Language, David,” Beth chastised.
Deacon grunted at his mother before tossing his napkin into his lap. “Whatever. It ain’t happening.”
Rev narrowed his eyes at Deacon’s somewhat apathetic response. He reached over to ruffle Willow’s hair. “Just be patient, sweetheart. We’ll get you those dance lessons someday soon.”
“You’re in luck. I know how you can get your dance lessons right here at home,” I said with a smile.
Deacon’s eyebrows popped up. “How’s that?”
“I can teach her.”
“You?” he asked incredulously.
I drew my shoulders back. “Yeah, me. I started ballet at the age of three. I taught at the local dance studio to put myself through college.”
“That makes sense. You have a dancer’s body,” Rev said.
My gaze jerked from Deacon’s to Rev’s. Bishop slapped Rev on the back. “Oh, man. You’ve been checking her out, too, huh?” he teased with a grin.
“Just an observation,” he replied softly, without meeting anyone’s eyes.
After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Deacon cleared his throat. “Okay, then, Miss Twinkle Toes. Guess you’re getting your precious dance lessons.”
Willow squealed with excitement, her body bouncing in her chair beside me. “I want a pink leotard, Miss Alex.”
I grinned. “I think I can make that happen.”
Beth set down a large platter of ham. “Well, now. I think that’s everything.” After she dropped down into the empty chair at the other end of the table, she nodded at Deacon. “Will you return thanks, son?”
My mouth gaped open when Deacon laced his fingers together and bowed his head. It took me a moment in my stupor to bow my head as well. Deacon’s deep voice boomed through the silent dining room. “Bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies and our bodies to your service. Amen.”
“Amen,” echoed around the table.
We then started passing around the bowls of food. “This all looks so delicious,” I said, spooning some green beans onto my plate.
“Thank you,” Beth replied with a pleased smile. After she offered me some corn bread, she asked, “Now, where is it you’re from originally?”
“Marietta. I moved here when I was seventeen to live with my aunt and uncle.”
After nodding her head in acknowledgment, Beth chewed thoughtfully on her corn bread, and I could see the questions about my past whirling through her mind. Deciding to put her out of her misery, I said, “My parents were killed in a car accident when I was seventeen. My brother and I came to live with my mother’s brother.”
Beth’s face fell at my admission. “Oh, honey. I’m so sorry. Such a terrible tragedy for one so young.”
A knot formed in my throat, and I could only nod my head in acknowledgment. Although almost ten years had passed since my parents died, there were still times when I found it almost unbearable to think about, much less talk about. Most of my initial grieving had gotten pushed aside to be strong for Charlie.
“I believe your uncle is a lifer here?” Deacon asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.
“Well, for most of his life, I suppose. He was twenty when he got married and moved here to be with my aunt’s family.”
“He’s a former state trooper.”
My brows rose in surprise at all of Deacon’s knowledge about my family. “Yes. He retired two years ago with forty years with the Georgia State Patrol.”
“Ah, God’s Special Police,” Bishop said with a grin.
I laughed. “A lot of his local PD buddies teased him with that.”