Cornbread & Crossroads

grin like the cat who ate the canary. “Why don’t you go see who that is?”
No telling who might be stopping by. As the town council member who held the high seat position, Nana was always in demand for someone’s attention. But at this early time of day, nine times out of ten it would be me or Matt. As soon as I saw the silhouette filling up the screen door, I celebrated that this was that one rare time and rushed to let the visitor in.
“Mason,” I exhaled with relief, barely waiting for him to step inside before throwing my arms around him and burying my head on his shoulder. “Oof huv nidee how mph aw nidded ew.”
His broad frame shook as he chuckled. “I didn’t understand a word you just said.”
Leaning my head back, I gazed up at him. “You have no idea how much I needed you. Especially this morning.”
In the months after returning from Charleston, we had both made great efforts to forge a new relationship. Although his full memory never came back, he didn’t let his frustrations stop him from courting me. In his words, he would rather enjoy the present than be pulled down by a past he couldn’t recall. And I took full advantage of his unwavering support while my powers returned bit by bit until life ironed itself out.
Mason’s strong hold banished the frustrations of my morning. He squeezed me back and kissed the top of my head. Standing on my tiptoes, I planted my lips against his and reveled in the warmth that grew from our more intimate embrace.
Nana cleared her throat. “Detective, I believe you take your coffee with a little cream?”
I snickered at her formality. She only called him by his warden position whenever she thought our PDA was a little too unseemly.
Mason’s muscles stiffened at being caught, and he finished our kiss with a slight peck and stepped back from me. “Yes, ma’am.”
“We’ll join you in a minute, Nana,” I insisted, willing her with wide eyes to give my boyfriend and me one more moment just between us.
My grandmother clicked her tongue. “Mm-hmm.”
Once she left us alone, I playfully pushed Mason. “I can’t believe you. I thought you were going to stand at attention and actually salute her.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know what happened. But for a second there, I felt like a naughty kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.” Closing the distance between us, Mason kissed the top of my head, the tip of my nose, and pressed his mouth against mine again.
The front screen door slammed shut. “Hey! Hands off my sister, mister!” Matt barked.
Mason ignored my brother’s edict, placing his hand on the back of my neck and pulling me closer. It revved my engines whenever the rule-abiding warden rebelled a little. Bonus points for it grossing out Matt to boot. Just to needle my brother even more, I groaned for good measure.
“Leave them alone. You and I did far worse when we were dating,” my sister-in-law teased through the screen while she still stood on the porch. “And how about you stop bothering them and come open the door so your wife, who is carrying your daughter, can come inside.”
The kiss ended in giggles, and I leaned far enough to see my brother shamed into helping his family. “Thanks for the solidarity, TJ,” I called out with a wave.
She shot my brother an exasperated glance as she entered and handed him my niece before giving Mason and me quick hugs. “Don’t let him give you too much heck. Now, I’m going to go stuff my face before heading into work. If y’all don’t get your behinds in there soon, I can’t promise I’m gonna leave you anything.”
Matt glowered at me as he followed his wife. “You better be right behind me, Birdy. And Detective, when you’re in my family home, rank doesn’t matter.” While his words sounded like a threat, the effort he made not to snort into laughter relaxed me.
I swatted my brother’s backside. “You better git!”
“Don’t do that,” he complained with a mock frown.
I stuck out my tongue once. “Make me,” I teased.
My niece squealed in delight at our playful banter and pointed a spit-covered finger at me.
“That’s right, sweetie. Your aunt is being a big ol’ brat.” Matt bounced his daughter up and down, encouraging her bubbles of adorable tittering.
“Nope. I’m teaching Junior how to be a strong woman who stands up for herself,” I countered.
Matt scoffed and held his daughter out for me to take. “Here. If you’re so big on teaching her, you take her. And while she’s in your arms, no PDA. I definitely don’t want her learning that until she’s like, what, thirty? Forty?” He skedaddled towards the kitchen with a snicker. “And her name is Rayline or Sunshine. Not Junior,” he shouted as he disappeared.
Mason reached up to stroke my niece’s plump little cheeks. “She is a cutie pie.”
I snuggled her into me, taking a long whiff of that fresh baby scent at the top of her head. “Yes, she is, but my brother is one big bucket of water. Although I did like watching you stand up to him.”
“Pfft. He doesn’t scare me. Your grandmother, on the other hand…” he trailed off.
“You ain’t the first and you surely won’t be the last to tremble in her presence,” I joked. “Now, give me one last kiss before we go stuff our faces.”
Obeying, Mason leaned his face closer to mine, but my niece blew spit bubbles at him and placed her hand over his mouth, stopping him from achieving his goal. Instead of kissing me, he planted one on top of her delicate fingers.
I rolled my eyes and spoke directly to the baby. “You are definitely your father’s daughter.”
Too hungry to delay any longer, I gave up trying to have a private moment with Mason and made my way to the kitchen. By the time I reached the room