Chapter 69 CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE.
Chapter 69 CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE.
"What's up with her?" Brianna muttered when they drove up to the front of her childhood home the next morning.
Yolanda Jackson was almost frantically pacing on the porch. She did look fabulous in a beautiful, long, body-hugging, lemon green top on black slacks. Brianna couldn't help her smile despite herself. Her mother was damn beautiful. As soon as Julian parked in the driveway, Brianna jumped out of the car and ran to Yolanda who had her hands covering her mouth as if she couldn't believe Brianna was there.
"Ma, are you okay?" Brianna grabbed her shoulders.
"Oh my god, I thought it was all a dream." She whispered shakily.
"As in my return?" Brianna drew her into her arms. "Im here all right."
"It dawned on me as I prepared breakfast that I must have dreamt it all." Yolanda looked up at her daughter when she stepped back from her embrace. "You didn't give me any number to reach you on. I called Saul to ask whether he'd heard from you and..."
"When he said he hadn't, you assumed it had all been a dream." Brianna finished, turning her head to roll her eyes at Julian.
"Hello, Ma'am." Julian grinned as he stepped forward and hugged Yolanda.
"Hi, handsome." Yolanda laughed delightedly as she hugged Julian back. "And the name's Yolanda, hon. Come on in boys, Breakfast is almost ready."
The three finally sat down to a scrumptious breakfast, during which they had a long chat about what to do.
Yolanda disclosed that packing was going to take a longer time than she'd thought the day before. Brianna and Julian agreed that she needed more time to sort out what to give away and what to keep. They also agreed that it would be better to go scouting for a new place and possibly, get it ready to enable Yolanda move her stuff directly into it.
"I want us to get a live-in housekeeper, Ma." Brianna said. "Im not comfortable with you being on your own."
"Ive been on my own for years, daughter. I'll be fine." Yolanda chuckled.
"I need someone to take care of the house work, Ma. I'm not going to compromise on that so don't even bother talking me out of it." Brianna said firmly. "The earlier we can get a reliable person, the better because she can help with the packing and unpacking when you go to the new house."
Yolanda nodded. "Thank you." She said quietly.
"I don't want to rush you, Ma." Brianna said. "Take the rest of this week to finish packing and the whole of next week to unpack and settle down in the new house. In the meantime, Julian and I will head back tomorrow and come back in two weeks to pick you up."
"Then you're all mine." Julian chipped in. "After your check up, you can relax for a while before you head back. How about that?"
"That would be perfect." Yolanda looked relieved. "But I'm going to miss you." She said pitifully.
"We will speak every day." Brianna said.
"That's still not like seeing you." She said, blinking back tears.
"Do you own a laptop, Yolanda?" Julian asked.
"No." She shook her head.
"So I will get you one." Julian said. "You can skype with Brianna every day."
"That will be better, I guess." She gave a shaky laugh.
"Thank you. And you don't have to come and get me in two weeks. I will come myself. I've missed all the excitement that comes with traveling. It will be nice to get back into the flow. Saul will see to the necessary arrangements. " She beamed.
"Alright then." Brianna patted the back of her hand.
"In fact, we need to call Saul." Yolanda announced. "He will take care of everything."
Yolanda called Saul Miller, who quickly got things in motion. He promised to get them one of the top real estate agents to help them get a place within the shortest possible time.
"Can you pass by the office before two p.m. to go over some documentation, Brianna?" Saul asked over the phone.
"Of course."
"Good. You can meet Elizabeth afterward, to look at some houses. She's the best." Saul said.
"That will be great." Brianna responded. "See you soon." She hung up and looked at her mother with a raised brow. "He sounds like a nice guy. Helpful."
"Money talks, baby." Yolanda shrugged. "With the kind of money you're paying him, he needs to drop everything and see to your needs."
"Im paying him?" Brianna drawled.
"Yes. I told you everything is in your name. And he's your lawyer." Yolanda yawned. "You can decide to get another lawyer if you wish." She shrugged. "But he's a good man. Very honest and helpful. Your dad wouldn't have kept him on retainer all these years otherwise."
"Well, you had better get going, Bri." Julian said as he stood up and began to clear the table. "The earlier you finish whatever documentation there is to complete, the earlier you can go house hunting with Yola.."
"No, no, no...you're not getting out of this, young man." Yolanda shook a finger at Julian. "You're going with Brianna to see Saul. And the two of you are going on that house hunt afterward. I have packing to do." She stood up and began to clear the table too.
Brianna grinned as she turned amused eyes on a surprised Julian. "You heard my mama, baby. We're going to see Saul together, then go house hunting, after." Her eyes shone with naughty amusement. She laughed when Julian groaned and turned towards the kitchen with their plates. "We're in this together, remember?" Brianna called after her boyfriend, to her mother's amusement. "But Ma, shouldn't you be part of the house hunting?" She asked with a frown.
"Oh no. It's your house, darling, I'll love whatever you pick." She started for the kitchen. "You have Julian to help you decide. Just make sure you don't pick a bachelor pad." She added making both Brianna and Julian who was coming back to the dining area, burst into laughter.
"Were you able to get some packing done yesterday?" Brianna asked her mother as she wiped the table.
"I packed just one box." A flash of sadness swept across Yolanda's face. "It is for you."
"I don't want anything from my childhood, Ma." Brianna said quietly.
"Oh what I packed, you never really had." She started for the living area, followed by both Brianna and Julian.
Both watched as Yolanda pointed at a big opened box which had in it various colourfully-wrapped parcels. She looked up at her daughter's face with suspiciously bright eyes. For a moment, everyone remained quiet as they waited for Yolanda to compose herself enough to speak.
"There are..." Yolanda paused and took a deep breath. "There are eleven presents in there. I got you a present on each of your birthdays. I hoped every year that you would come back so...I kept them. I know you don't want anything in this house but I should be grateful if you could at least take these presents. You can give them away after you've unwrapped them."
"I’m keeping all of them." Brianna breathed. "Even if whatever is in there is spoilt." She hugged her mother. "Thanks."
"Well, I hope there are some condoms in there." Julian drawled, making Yolanda laugh.
"Don't remember the last time I saw one." She rolled her eyes.
"Me neither." Julian responded without thinking but the murderous look Brianna threw his way was enough to draw his attention to what he'd said. His eyes bulged and his cheeks turned a bright shade of pink as he stared straight ahead. The woman was a preacher's wife for goodness sake, Julian scolded himself.
"Would you mind if I take them away now?" Brianna said quickly, crouching down beside the box. "I don't want to keep Saul waiting."
"Of course you can take them away." Yolanda nodded. Then she turned to Julian and whispered. "Personally, I hate those rubbers." Her conspiratorial whisper drew a gasp from Julian, followed by uncontrollable laughter.
"I’m not going to ask what brought on that laughter." Brianna muttered as she stood with the box in her hands. "Don't let him influence you, Ma." She kissed a laughing Yolanda on both cheeks. "He's naughty."
"You're just like your Mama then, my daughter." Yolanda chuckled. "We both obviously adore 'naughty." She gave the word air quotes.
"Aw come on, Ma." Brianna snorted as they all started for the door. "Dad was the most serious person I've ever known."
"He wasn't always like that." Yolanda said. "Hey, I hope he didn't write anything bad in that letter." She said softly.
"Here, give that to me." Julian took the box from Brianna and went to the car, to give mother and daughter some privacy.
"Well, he said he regretted saying all that nasty shit in my presence." Brianna said gruffly. "The asshole."
"Brianna Jackson, you watch your mouth." Yolanda growled. "I don't care how mad you are, you won't speak about your father that way." She visibly shook.
"I’m sorry." Brianna groaned, rubbing her neck in a sign of frustration. "But Ma, saying he shouldn't have said those things in my presence, meant it would have been okay to have said that elsewhere or to others. That's not good enough."
"Your father said those things in a fit of anger, Brianna." Yolanda stated firmly. "What he meant by what he wrote was that no matter how angry he was, he should have controlled himself and not said that to you. He had every right to rave and rant to me after you had gone to bed or wasn't in the room." She breathed. "When it finally dawned on him...oh and that took some time..the negative impact that his words were going to have on you...he was devastated. Trust me. He never forgave himself."
Brianna let out a deep sigh. "Let's just drop this, Ma. I have a lawyer to see." She kissed her mother and started for the car. Julian watched as Brianna got into the car and slammed the door. He sighed and went to Yolanda.
"I know it's hard, Yolanda. But give her time. She's been through a lot. Reading that letter...it brought back all those memories." He said softly.
"I know." Yolanda whispered. "I just want her to be happy."
"She is." Julian smiled. "I'll make sure of that." He kissed her cheek and went to the car.
When he got in, Brianna was staring straight ahead, her jaw tight. Julian reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it.
"You okay?" He asked softly.
"No." Brianna whispered. "I hate him, Julian. I hate him so much."
"I know." Julian murmured. "But your mother is right. He's dead. You're giving him too much power by staying angry."
"He called me a slut, Julian. He said I was the spawn of the devil." Brianna's voice shook. "How am I supposed to just forget that?"
"You're not." Julian said firmly. "But you're a soldier. You're strong. Don't let those words define you."