C.A.K.E novel Chapter 20

They find everyone else in the kitchen, bothering Ivana and Logan ― the Mitchells’ chef of twenty-nine years ― while they prepare dinner.

Ivana sees Arden and rushes over to her, and traps her in a hug so tight that she can barely take a deep breath.

"Ivana, you just saw me this morning," Arden says with a smirk. Her feigned irritation does nothing to disguise the comfort she feels underneath the crush of the woman's embrace.

"Makes no difference. You're home." Ivana kisses Ardi's cheek. "I'm going to hug you as much as I want."

Knowing that ending their embrace right now is not likely, Arden settles her head on Ivana's shoulder. Besides, there's a part of her that doesn't want the woman to let go. No one and nothing could ever replace her mother. But Ivana lessens the pull of Lillian's absence.

Ardi smiles as an endless stream of Russian is whispered near her ear. She doesn't understand much. But a warmth passes over her when she recognizes the phrase, I love you, followed by Ivana's pet name for her.

When she came to work for the Mitchells, Ivana gave both Arden and Adam nicknames. Ardi has always been “kroshka,” or “little one,” and Adam has been “krolik,” or “bunny.” Though most times Adam's nickname was just shortened to “no, stop or put that down.”

Adam has always been a moving target. He's the reason Arden knows that firecrackers and Barbie dolls don't mix very well.

Seconds after she and Ivana release each other, the front door flies open. Her brother storms into the house. He searches every room, bellowing her name in the process.

Arden leaves the kitchen and makes her way toward his voice. Adam continues to tear through the halls in the opposite direction of her. His wife, Esperanza, catches sight of Arden and tugs on his arm.

He sprints over to her and pulls her into a hug. The force of it almost knocks her off balance. They hang onto each other for a solid minute without saying a word. But she knows what's on his mind.

Since they were little, she and Adam could communicate volumes in silence. Lillian used to say their souls were connected. That this life was just one in a series of many before it. No matter what shape their reincarnations might take, Adam and Arden would always find each other in some form. This time around they were meant to learn something as brother and sister.

Their mother reasoned that Adam must have been the responsible one in their last reincarnation. Now it was Arden's turn to be mature and sensible. Arden always thought it was a convenient excuse for her brother’s more childish ways.

"Jesus, Elmer," Adam mutters before releasing her. "Being a Black woman in America isn't hard enough, you have to go and get yourself arrested?"

"Had to do something to earn a little street cred." She shrugs, a sarcastic grin forming at the corners of her mouth. "Marrying a white boy put me in the negative."

"That's interracial love for you." He spends a minute staring at her face with his eyes focused just above her cheekbone. Then he surveys the bandage on her hand. "That a prison tat gone wrong?"

"Can we save that conversation for another day?" She isn't ready for his reaction to the real or fabricated story behind her injuries.

Adam nods and moves aside so that she can greet his wife, who has been waiting in silence behind them.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” she says, giving Arden a quick hug.

“Melinda will have to try harder than that to keep me down.”

“True.” She cocks an eyebrow and lowers her voice. “I still got some cousins who would gladly pay her a visit, though.”

“As tempting as that is, I’ll pass … for now.”

“Just saying,” she shrugs, lightly nudging Arden’s arm. “I got you.”

Esperanza, better known as Perry, is a woman of Native American, African and Dominican descent. Her features are bold, with a sharp nose, high cheekbones and a proud jawline. At 5'11, she can easily tower over Adam in a pair of heels. Paired with her quiet authority, she commands attention.

Arden is grateful Adam found someone who balances him out so well. Perry knows how to earn respect without stepping on anyone else. Their relationship is a mutually supportive and playful union. Whenever the two of them get together with Arden and Elliott they all tend to lapse back into the easy spontaneity of their high school days.

Esperanza and Ardi spend a little while laughing about Adam's latest obsession with Lego models before they gather everyone else and head out to the back veranda.

The talk between them is about everything imaginable as they set the dinner table, though the topic of Ardi and Eli's brief stint in the slammer is wisely avoided by all.

No one wants to ruin the vibe of the sunset over Mitchell Lake. The marvelous rays of orange and pink filter through the thick spread of oak and pine trees, creating the best source of ambient light mother nature has to offer.

Arden arranges the last place setting and wanders over to the railing of the wide porch. She rests against a column and loses herself in the beauty of the garden and the lake beyond it.

Most of her life was spent with this serene picture as her backyard, and she can count on one hand the days she managed to make time to enjoy it. Sometimes Ardi longs for the days when all she had to worry about was having enough milk for her Captain Crunch and watching Saturday morning cartoons.

Simple things start to make sense with age, like the unsolicited and oftentimes vague advice of elders. But one would be hard-pressed to find a young person who heeded the warning not to rush into the responsibilities of adulthood.

She plunged head-first into the demands of marriage and family. Elliott was like a store-bought box of cake mix, just add water, and boom, instant family. Overnight, Arden became a wife and mother.

At twenty-three, she was still getting a handle on adulting. But she had dated this wonderful man and helped raise his kids for four years, so marriage just felt right.

After so many years of running from herself and the depression that threatened to consume her, she felt settled with Eli. The dark didn't seem so close when he was near, and she could take a breath at last.

So why does it still feel like she's gasping for air?

Maybe all these years have just been an illusion, something her mind created out of necessity. She's been jogging in place for the last sixteen years, chasing something that will forever remain just outside of her reach.

"Arden?" Eli's hand on her waist startles her. "You all right?"

She turns to see that everyone has taken their seats and dinner has been served. They all stare at her with uneasy smiles. Before anyone can catch on that she's a little off at the moment, she apologizes and walks over to the table with Elliott.

Soon the warm evening air is filled with the clatter of utensils against china and the roar of a good-humored debate between the men. The more noise everyone makes, the less she can hear herself think. And that just might prove to be her saving grace tonight.

Dinner settles into coffee and dessert with the last wisps of sunlight fading at their backs. Not long after that, the twins decide that whatever is on reality television tonight is more interesting than the adults and head inside the house.

Warren and Adam begin to discuss complicated legal maneuvers that could keep Melinda tied up in so much litigation, she'll be in court more than a public defense attorney. The angry calculations of her father and brother are no surprise to her.

However, Eli's contribution to the conversation does seem contrary to his usual position where that woman is concerned. It's nice to see a glimpse of his elusive backbone. But the sudden formation of it unnerves her all the same.

"How soon could we have that suit filed against her?" Eli asks. Her father just suggested that they finally level a lawsuit for defamation of character against Melinda. And Eli is the first to jump on board with the idea.

"Tomorrow." Warren shrugs and takes a measured sip of his coffee. "I could have it before a judge next week."

"Wouldn't be a minute too soon." Elliott frowns at the ladybug that just lit on his hand and then crushes it between his thumb and index finger.

Arden studies her husband, not at all pleased with the hate that has peppered his movements. She watches him devolve into a lesser form of himself with each word. It's like she's staring at someone foreign to her.

"Elliott, may I speak with you?" She interrupts the latest round of strategy and halts Adam mid-sentence.

"We're kinda in the middle of a conversation, darling." He gives her a look like she's a Stepford wife who just spoke out of turn. “Whatever it is can wait.”

The condescending expression causes a rage so raw to erupt in her, that she almost reaches across the table to smack him. "Elliott Finley Stone. If you ever―."