Indebted: Part Three (Series Finale): The Virgin & The Bad-Boy Billionaire (A BWWM Billionaire Romance) Read Online Free Page A
was done with him." We laugh.
“Well, I should get a start on these dishes,” Paula stands up from the table and begins clearing the empty plates. I pop up from my seat, ready to lend a hand, but she pulls the cups I’m collecting from my hand. "Now you just sit back down and enjoy your time with your brothers, Kendra. It's not often that you all get the chance to get together. Tania, you stay put too. I remember how exhausting it is to be in your shoes,” Tania smiles wearily and rubs her hand over her baby belly.
“I’ll help you out,” Winnie offers, picking up where I left off. We all sit at the table awkwardly watching Paula and Winnie clear away the supper dishes. I feel like a bad guest to just be watching them clean up after they served me such a nice meal. This silence doesn’t lift when they disappear into the house with armfuls of dirty plates and cutlery. Everyone seems to be lost in thought, everyone except for Tania. She looks like she may soon fall asleep.
I debate my question back and forth in my mind. Part of me wants to just close the book on Matthew and move on, but a larger part, a stronger part, wants answers. "Guys,” my brothers abandon their inner monologues and turn their attention to me. “I was just wondering, uh, do you know anything about the guy that hit Dad in the accident?" I try to ask casually, but my mouth dries up, and my forehead has telltale beads of sweat forming on my brow as I wait to find out what happened.
“Yeah, I know a little bit about it.” Reginal looks at me out of the corner of his eye, “why are you asking about this now? You’ve never wanted to know about the accident before.”
I shrug off the silent stares of my brothers, “I guess I’m an adult now and feel like it’s time for me to know a bit more.”
“I don’t know much about it either, to be honest,” Blake pipes in, sitting up a little straighter in his seat. Regional stares at the beads sliding down his beer and his eyes cloud over.
“You two were pretty young when he passed away. It was important to Mama to keep the details to a minimum.” Reginal starts picking the label off his beer bottle as he disappears into a different time. A time when our family had a simpler, happier life. As the oldest, he has the most vivid memories of our father. Of all the children, I think he was actually affected the most by his death at the time. As he said, Blake and I were too young to fully grasp what was going on and Issaiah put up a tough facade, never letting anyone know how he was dealing with the loss.
“He was working double shifts at the factory.” He pulls himself back to the present to answer my question but still looks off into the distance as he talks. “We didn’t have a reliable car back then, the stupid thing was always busting down. It was one of those times when the car was on the fritz, so Dad missed the last bus and was walking down the side of the street sometime after midnight. Anyway, a drunk driver swerved right into him.”
That’s the same story I’ve heard a million times. Normally, it’s all I’ve ever felt I wanted to know about it. My father was a good man, killed by a drunk driver. Case closed. However, with Marjorie’s recent bombshell, I need to know more. “I know that, but what happened? Why weren’t there any charges laid against the guy?” I pretend to be ignorant.
Reginal sniffs, and clears his throat. “The driver? Well, he died too. Not on the scene, but a few days later in the hospital. He had a kid in the car with him too, not like the boys.” He nods over at Bailey and Jonah, sitting over in the grass together looking at a caterpillar with the dedicated fascination that only four-year-olds can. “He was older. Probably in his early teens. Anyway, he walked away from it, but he had some broken bones and got cut up pretty good. He was pretty banged up.”
“Matthew Blackwell?” The question hangs over
“Well, I should get a start on these dishes,” Paula stands up from the table and begins clearing the empty plates. I pop up from my seat, ready to lend a hand, but she pulls the cups I’m collecting from my hand. "Now you just sit back down and enjoy your time with your brothers, Kendra. It's not often that you all get the chance to get together. Tania, you stay put too. I remember how exhausting it is to be in your shoes,” Tania smiles wearily and rubs her hand over her baby belly.
“I’ll help you out,” Winnie offers, picking up where I left off. We all sit at the table awkwardly watching Paula and Winnie clear away the supper dishes. I feel like a bad guest to just be watching them clean up after they served me such a nice meal. This silence doesn’t lift when they disappear into the house with armfuls of dirty plates and cutlery. Everyone seems to be lost in thought, everyone except for Tania. She looks like she may soon fall asleep.
I debate my question back and forth in my mind. Part of me wants to just close the book on Matthew and move on, but a larger part, a stronger part, wants answers. "Guys,” my brothers abandon their inner monologues and turn their attention to me. “I was just wondering, uh, do you know anything about the guy that hit Dad in the accident?" I try to ask casually, but my mouth dries up, and my forehead has telltale beads of sweat forming on my brow as I wait to find out what happened.
“Yeah, I know a little bit about it.” Reginal looks at me out of the corner of his eye, “why are you asking about this now? You’ve never wanted to know about the accident before.”
I shrug off the silent stares of my brothers, “I guess I’m an adult now and feel like it’s time for me to know a bit more.”
“I don’t know much about it either, to be honest,” Blake pipes in, sitting up a little straighter in his seat. Regional stares at the beads sliding down his beer and his eyes cloud over.
“You two were pretty young when he passed away. It was important to Mama to keep the details to a minimum.” Reginal starts picking the label off his beer bottle as he disappears into a different time. A time when our family had a simpler, happier life. As the oldest, he has the most vivid memories of our father. Of all the children, I think he was actually affected the most by his death at the time. As he said, Blake and I were too young to fully grasp what was going on and Issaiah put up a tough facade, never letting anyone know how he was dealing with the loss.
“He was working double shifts at the factory.” He pulls himself back to the present to answer my question but still looks off into the distance as he talks. “We didn’t have a reliable car back then, the stupid thing was always busting down. It was one of those times when the car was on the fritz, so Dad missed the last bus and was walking down the side of the street sometime after midnight. Anyway, a drunk driver swerved right into him.”
That’s the same story I’ve heard a million times. Normally, it’s all I’ve ever felt I wanted to know about it. My father was a good man, killed by a drunk driver. Case closed. However, with Marjorie’s recent bombshell, I need to know more. “I know that, but what happened? Why weren’t there any charges laid against the guy?” I pretend to be ignorant.
Reginal sniffs, and clears his throat. “The driver? Well, he died too. Not on the scene, but a few days later in the hospital. He had a kid in the car with him too, not like the boys.” He nods over at Bailey and Jonah, sitting over in the grass together looking at a caterpillar with the dedicated fascination that only four-year-olds can. “He was older. Probably in his early teens. Anyway, he walked away from it, but he had some broken bones and got cut up pretty good. He was pretty banged up.”
“Matthew Blackwell?” The question hangs over
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