Page 44 of Stronger Than Blood

“It’s a good space, full of happiness and… love,” Kalinda said as she walked in. “I have no doubt I’ll rest well here.”

“Granny said she wanted her own pillows, so I have new ones in my car that I picked up. Besides that, there’s sheets in the hallway, almost every color under the sun. You can pick whichever you want, same with the bedspread, I—”

Kalinda put her hand up. “I have my own sheets and comforter. I just need to get them out of storage and have them sent to me, but thank you, Mick… This is more than I thought I’d have.”

I smiled and nodded, leaving her in the room.

Somehow, I knew she needed time just to be there.

Since the jackass ghost was behaving, I decided to put on some of Granny’s canned veggies for dinner.

We were picking her up tomorrow morning, and I sorta thought it might be good to have the house smelling like the food she normally cooked.

Kalinda smiled when she and Rory came in and spied all the food I was cooking. “You said you couldn’t cook,” Rory said.

I chuckled. “I said I’m not as good at it as the ladies in these parts, but no, I know how to make a basic meal. Besides, all this was canned, meaning it was already cooked. I’m just heating it up.”

I slipped the cast-iron skillet into the oven and began mixing the cornbread. I was about to add a dash of sugar when Kalinda stopped me. “Son, I know there’s people who swear sugar is needed, but if you put all that in that cornbread, it’s going to taste like cake.”

I laughed ’cause Granny had complained about the same thing. “Do you know how?” I asked, and she actually looked offended.

“Does a woman born and bred on the bayou of Louisiana know how to cook cornbread? What a question. Stand aside, baker man, and let me show you how it’s done.”

I chuckled and did as she asked. Of course, there wasn’t much left to do.

I’d already added the egg and buttermilk I’d brought with me, knowing we’d need groceries.

Luckily, Joann had cleaned the kitchen last time she was here working in the garden.

To the best of my knowledge, the evil one had never given her any grief.

Kalinda stirred the mixture, and when the skillet was nice and hot, she took it out and poured the batter in.

It hissed and steamed just as I knew it needed to for it to have that amazing crust I loved so much.

“Granny has greens frozen in the freezer. Do you both like them?” I asked.

“What kind?” Rory asked, and when I told him she tended to mix hers with mustard and turnips, he nodded. “Yeah, that’s perfect. I don’t mind collards, but don’t love the stems.”

Kalinda shook her head. “Never say that around any Southern folks, Rory. Collards are a part of our heritage.”

“Those stems are like eating a tree branch, and I have never liked them.”

“Pssh,” Kalinda fussed but didn’t argue.

I’d had my fair share of collard greens, and although I liked them fine, I always preferred Granny’s blend.

Of course, when I’d first arrived, I was almost starving to death, and those greens were some of the best food I’d ever eaten. So, I knew I was biased.

I pulled the bag out of the freezer and poured the contents into the pot, just as I’d watched Granny do most of my life.

It wasn’t long before the entire kitchen smelled like my adolescence. That night, as we sat to eat, Kalinda had us join hands, and she sang and prayed over the food and the house.

I heard rustling from the living room, but I didn’t look. I didn’t know the words Kalinda was singing, but I knew they were words of love, family, and the security those things brought. Nothing would irritate the bastard in the living room more than that.

The thought gave me great pleasure, and when Kalinda finished, I smiled with a full heart, winked at Rory, and dug in.

***

As Kalinda suggested, we spent the night at the house. “Let’s fill the space with love and family again,” she’d said. “So when your Granny gets here, that’s the feeling that’ll welcome her home.”

I hadn’t expected it, but Rory agreed to spend the night with me too. Luckily, my mom had told me the bedroom downstairs was soundproof. She knew because she’d snuck out of that bedroom so many times growing up that if Granny or her mom had heard, she’d have surely gotten caught.

I hadn’t slept in that bed in a long time, mostly because when I was finally old enough, I wanted to get as far away from the hateful ghost and my spells as I could. Tonight, though, having Rory’s arms around me in my childhood bed felt nothing less than amazing.

We’d had sex, but not even that was as wonderful as being held. I dozed off but woke as the sun filtered into the room. Rory snored quietly behind me, but I felt his cock tucked up against my ass, and I couldn’t help but push myself against him.

Our lovemaking that morning was slow and easy. I hungered for that amazing body of his and couldn’t help but feel blessed that he was there, loving on me when I knew for a fact he could have any number of men just by snapping his fingers.

After we finished, I showered, happier than I’d ever been in that house, and came downstairs to hear Rory talking to Kalinda. I smelled coffee and breakfast cooking from the landing. The memories of all the mornings I’d done that, smelling similar smells, almost made me get emotional.

Of course, back then, it was just Granny and me, but today, either Rory or Kalinda was cooking. I felt as if I were opening a new chapter in my life, a new chapter in the home.

I glanced toward the living room and immediately felt the telltale signs of being watched. I smiled, knowing my happiness was annoying the entity. Maybe, just maybe, it was exactly what was needed to drive the ghost of Preston Garrison out of our world forever.