Page 57 of It Runs in the Family

“You’ve fooled everyone into thinking you’re a saved man. What do you plan to do, Billy?” I asked in defiance. “There’s a yard full of witnesses, and if you lay a hand on me, I will press charges, and at least half of our cousins will come forward as witnesses, not to mention you’ll be kicked out of the family again.”

“You think I’m stupid enough to try somethin’ here?” he scoffed. “I’m not that dumb. But I’m here to give you one more opportunity to do the right thing. If you do, I promise to let you off the hook for what you did to me Friday night.”

There was a likelier chance of hell freezing over. Besides, I was stubborn enough that I’d never give him a vision after what he’d done to me.

“Go to hell, Billy,” I spat out then tried to walk around him, but he blocked my path. “Get out of my way before I throat punch you.”

Billy’s eyes narrowed as his jaw clenched. “Give it a try, freak girl.”

That had been his favorite childhood nickname for me. He knew it had bothered me back then. But I was a grown-ass woman now, and I didn’t give two shits about what this unemployed loser thought of me.

I was about to kick him in the shin to distract him from blocking my punch to his throat when I heard Garrett say as he strode toward us, “Is there a problem here, Billy?”

Billy’s gaze lifted past me. “Why’re you askin’ me, Deputy Garrett?” he asked good-naturedly. “I’m here to enjoy fellowship with my family, grateful to be welcomed back into the fold. She’s the one threatening violence. Hell, she was violent on Friday night.” His eyes lit up. “Maybe I should file a police report.”

“Sure,” Garrett said moving up next to me. “Why don’t you do that?” He shifted his weight, crossing his arms over his chest. “I hear there’s a warrant out for your arrest in Dalton County … something to do with destruction of property?”

Billy’s face turned red, but he turned his anger on me. “This isn’t done, freak.”

“Oh, it’s quite done,” Garrett said in an icy tone. “If I catch even a hint of you bothering Iris, then I’ll haul your ass to the county jail myself.” He leaned forward. “The only reason I’m not taking you in now is because I promised Granny I wouldn’t.”

“So, then you’d be breaking your promise,” Billy sneered.

“Once I tell Granny it was because you were threatening Iris, she won’t give a shit. The aunts and uncles might not listen to her, but some of them will listen to me.”

Billy leaned closer to me and chomped his teeth together at me as if pretending to bite me.

“Why don’t you head back to the group?” Garrett said. “Your friend seems to be looking a little lost.”

Billy moved around us and headed toward the table.

“Billy brought a woman to Sunday dinner?” I asked in surprise.

“No, he brought a man.”

I gaped up at him. “What?”

He shook his head as his upper lip curled. “Let’s see what Granny has to say about that.”

I turned around to see where Billy had gone, but more of the cousins had shown up with their spouses and kids. There was a mass of people, and I couldn’t spot him.

“I have to get back in the kitchen to help Granny,” I said, then headed for the back door, trying to convince myself that I was okay, and Billy wouldn’t dare hurt me here.

Granny was done frying the chicken, so we grabbed the two remaining platters and headed out the back door. Some of my cousins were getting drinks at the beverage table, but most had started to claim their seats at the table. We didn’t have assigned seats, so everyone rushed to grab the places in the middle section of the table, which typically saw a better selection of food.

My aunts Doreen and Marcie stared at me in disbelief when they saw me carrying the chicken, their jaws dropping open. Granny either didn’t notice or ignored them as she took her platter down to the far end of the table. Ava and Mary Ellen were seated at the closest end. They grabbed my attention and patted the empty seat between them. The excitement on their faces told me they either had hot gossip to share or were up to something—possibly both. I decided living dangerously seemed to be the theme of the weekend, so I threw caution to the wind and sat with them.

“Why are you two so smiley?” I asked suspiciously as I glanced between them—Ava on my left and Mary Ellen on my right. “Is this about the potatoes or Granny letting me help in the kitchen?”

“Both of those things would normally be enough to amuse us, but what we know makes us downright giddy,” Ava said.

“We don’t know how this happened,” Mary Ellen said, “but we suspect you don’t know anything about it. We can’t wait to see your reaction.”

I was starting to get irritated. “What in the hell are you talking about?”

“Satan be gone!” Trinity’s seven-year-old son, Edward, said from across the table and a couple of seats down to my left. He was making a hashtag with his fingers as though warding away evil. It took me a second to realize he’d heard me curse.

I rolled my eyes. Like “hell” was the worst thing he was going to hear today. Why was Trinity here anyway? She was sitting a few chairs away from her son, almost at the very end of the table, holding her baby on her lap. Our eyes met, and when she gave me an expectant look, I realized she was still hoping to coerce me into watching her kids.