Cherished (2 page)

That all those dreams had turned to dust.

“K
ELLI
! G
IRRRL
. . .”

Kelli looked up—midpivot in the Electric Slide—and saw Stephanie threading her way through the line dancers in her champagne-colored dress. Soon as the song started, it seemed everybody left tables and mingled to claim a spot on the parquet floor. Kelli waved her sister-in-law over.

“I've been looking for you.” Stephanie scooted between Kelli and Devin, a nine-year-old cousin, as rows of people sidestepped to the right. “I haven't had a chance to tell you . . . girl, you
sang
that song. I had no idea—hold up, am I doing this right?” She was headed a different direction from everyone else. “Why am I even out here? I hate this stupid dance.”

Kelli laughed. “Back, Steph. We're going back.”

“Oh.” Stephanie checked Devin to get in sync, then leaned her head Kelli's way again, her voice elevated. “Anyway, I told Lindell I couldn't believe he didn't tell me about that song, 'cause I would've had you sing it at
our
wedding. And he said he'd never heard it . . . and then I couldn't believe
that
.”

“I know. Crazy, right? This way, Steph. Pivot left.”

Stephanie was behind her now, and Kelli turned to make sure she was following, but Devin had it under control.

Like a traffic cop, he moved his hands left, then right to direct her which way to go next. “And
pivot
,” he announced, to the amusement of those around them.

Side by side with Stephanie again, Kelli continued. “Lindell and Cedric had already moved out of the house by the time I started writing songs in high school, so it was easy to kind of keep my music to myself.” She shrugged. “Cedric overheard it because I didn't know he was there.”

“Hmph,” Stephanie said. “If I had that kind of talent, everybody would know about it. They'd have to tell me to be quiet.”

The music switched, and they could hear people near the center of the floor cheering, “Go, Cyd! Go, Cedric! Go, Cyd! Go, Cedric!”

Kelli and Stephanie craned their necks, moving toward the action.

“Oh, goodness,” Stephanie said, laughing. “Look at your brother. He's at it again.”

Kelli laughed too, remembering Cedric and Cyd on the dance floor at Stephanie and Lindell's reception. Now the two had cut a wide swath in the middle of the floor with a different line dance, this one a little livelier.

Kelli and Stephanie worked their way to a spot in the inner circle.

“Have you seen this version?” Stephanie asked.

Kelli nodded. “But you know Cedric's gonna add his own twist.”

Instead of a simple sidestep, Cedric led Cyd in bouncy moves to the left, with a slide before going right. And instead of a normal pivot, they did some kind of kick, kick, turn—with Cedric twirling Cyd into a two-step before moving back to the line dance, all of it seamless. The crowd was fired up.

After a couple of rounds, Cedric spotted Kelli and pulled her to the center.

“I don't know if you can hang with a twenty-five-year-old, big brother.” Although Cedric was a fit forty-two, Kelli didn't miss an opportunity to tease him about his age. “I'd hate to embarrass you in front of your guests.”

“Oh, you got jokes? We'll see about that, baby sis.”

Cyd led the cheers this time as Kelli whipped some different moves on him. Cedric paused, then mimicked every last one to let her know she couldn't show him up. Lindell dragged Stephanie out there—literally—and Kelli was in stitches watching them try to copy what she and Cedric were doing. Soon everyone on the floor had joined in again, and then the music switched to Motown, which got its own cheers.

Cedric draped one arm around Kelli and the other around Cyd and led them off the floor. They stopped at the bridal party table, which had emptied of all but Dana, one of Cyd's bridesmaids.

“Why aren't you on the dance floor?” Cedric asked. “We need all the forty-and-over folk representing.”

Dana glared at him. “Let's see how well you ‘represent' with some heels on. My feet are killing me.” Then she nodded toward the dance floor. “My husband left me. He's out there with the kids. And last I saw, Scott wasn't representing too well either. He looked almost as bad as Stephanie with that Electric Slide.”

“I heard that, Dana,” Stephanie said, walking up with Lindell. “I could learn the dumb dance if I cared to. And since you're trying to clown me, I might do it just to keep my black rhythm points. Can't have a white guy showing me up.”

Dana got a kick out of that, laughing as auburn wisps fell about her face. “How about a white girl? Let's tell the deejay to play it again and see who's got it.”

Stephanie eased into a seat. “Uh, no thanks. I always told you, you're one of those black white girls. You can go on the dance floor.”

Dana eyed the dancers out there. “Well, pray for Mackenzie. I think the poor thing takes after Scott. Look at them.”

Kelli's heart was smiling. Because she lived out of state, she didn't know these women well—not even her sisters-in-law—but from her brief interactions, including last night's rehearsal dinner, she could tell she would like them.

Cyd pulled out a chair and sat, her beautiful gown, passed down from her mother, swishing over the sides. “Ahh . . . think I can get away with sitting like this for maybe five minutes?”

Cedric massaged her shoulders. “You're good. The Jackson Five's got everybody occupied.”

Dana touched Kelli's arm. “The bridal table was talking about you earlier.”

“Me? Why?” Kelli took a seat.

“Are you kidding? That song. It was beautiful.”

Kelli blushed. “Thank you.”

“That's my little sister.” Cedric beamed.

“Mine too!” Lindell said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. “So proud of you, girl.” He looked at the others. “Just got her master's too, from UT–Austin.”

“I heard,” Dana said. “Is your degree in music?”

Kelli shook her head. “One's in communications and the other's in public relations.”

“Wow, two?” Dana nodded. “That's awesome.”

“Well . . . not really. Just means I didn't know what I wanted to do.” Kelli didn't mind admitting it. “But I'm done being a professional student. I'm looking for a job now—”

“—in Texas.” Cedric's tone made clear what he thought of that.

“What part of Texas?” Stephanie asked. “Are you trying to stay in Austin?”

“I've been looking at possibilities in Austin and Houston . . . and Dallas.”

“Mostly Dallas, I'd bet,” Cedric said. “That's where her boyfriend is.” He looked around playfully. “Where is he anyway? I wanted to meet him, see if he measures up. What's his name? Miller?”

Kelli smirked at her big brother. “Miles. Miles Reed. He wanted to meet you all too, but he had a conflict.”

“I'm sure we'll get another opportunity,” Cedric said, “if I can get you to move back to St. Louis.”

Cyd perked up. “Ooh, Kelli, I'd love that. Any chance?”

“I . . . doubt it.” Kelli hedged to be polite; her mind had said a fast no. She hadn't lived in St. Louis since she left for college, and the distance had been good. Her mother had relocated to Little Rock to care for
her
mother, so Kelli had gone there on school breaks.

“How's the job market in Texas?” Cedric asked. “Improved any?”

Cedric knew the answer perfectly well. He was a VP at a head-hunting firm. He'd made some calls for her, but nothing had materialized.

“Not exactly,” Kelli admitted. “I've been looking since early in the year, and, well . . . it's nearing the end of June.”

Lindell rubbed his chin. “I'm thinking you can be unemployed in St. Louis just as well as in Austin.”

Cedric gave a big nod to his brother. “
Better
than in Austin. In St. Louis, you can be unemployed
and
hang out with your brothers.”

Cyd raised a hand. “And sisters. Don't forget about us.”

“
All
of us,” Dana said. “We'd love to plug you into Daughters' Fellowship.”

“What's that?” Kelli asked.

“It started years ago with Dana, Phyllis, and me.” Cyd pointed toward the dance floor at her other bridesmaid. “Real informal. We'd do potluck and talk about—sometimes
cry
about—what God was doing in our lives. Stephanie crashed the party last year.” Cyd smiled at her younger sister. “It's evolved into kind of a Bible study/gabfest.”

“Emphasis on gab,” Cedric said. “Amazing how two hours can turn into five—every single time. You'd think you'd run out of things to talk about.”

“Now, now, brother,” Lindell said, “don't exaggerate. I think it was four and a half hours last time.”

Cedric and Lindell shared a laugh as the women pounced.

“We're praying too, you know,” Dana said. “Getting that fuel we need to be the best we can be.”

“Lindell knows.” Stephanie gave him the eye. “I left the house with an attitude before that last meeting. Came back changed. Didn't I?”

Lindell threw up his hands. “Hey, I'm not complaining. I might be the biggest DF fan at the table. Stephanie's not the same woman I married.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Babe, that's a good thing! I'm just sayin'.”

Kelli laughed as Lindell backpedaled. For years her brothers had been busy with their careers, living the bachelor life. Hadn't occurred to them or her that they should live near one another, be a part of each other's lives. But now they were both settled down, with wives Kelli would love to know better. She'd always wanted sisters. And it was strange that she, Cyd, and Stephanie kind of looked alike—all of them tall with honey brown skin and long brown hair.

And Daughters' Fellowship sounded great. Her own relationship with God wasn't where it should be. She'd known that for some time. Just wasn't sure how to get it back on the right track. The thought of getting together with these women, talking and learning from them, felt like water to her parched soul.

If only it were in another city . . .

Kelli sighed as she looked around the table at the laughter, the ribbing, the love. Did she really want to stay in Austin, away from all of this?

And what about Miles? They'd been dating almost a year. Although he'd graduated from UT–Austin last December and moved back to Dallas, the distance didn't seem so great with them both in Texas. Still, they were already several hours apart. Would a few more make a huge difference?

Kelli looked up as her mother stopped at their table.

“Hey, it's my gorgeous mother,” Cedric said, placing an arm around her.

“No, it's
my
gorgeous mother,” Lindell said, hugging her other side.

Francine London glowed with pride. “You boys are something else,” she said. “And I didn't come to see y'all. I came to see how my daughters-in-law are doing.”

“Oh, it's like that now?” Cedric asked. “I get married, and I get kicked to the curb?”

Francine laughed, keeping her arms around her sons' waists. “I'm wondering what's gonna happen when you all start having my grandchildren. I'm not gonna like being all the way in Little Rock.”

“You need to move back too,” Lindell said.

Francine dismissed it with a shake of the head. “Your grandmother's not doing well, can't get around, so we're better off staying put.”

“Well, help us convince your daughter to move back,” Cedric said. “We've been working on her.”

Francine looked at Kelli, nodding. “I was thinking about that today, how nice it would be if you could be around your brothers and their wives. You know I'm big on family.”

“Yes, I know, Mom.” Kelli cut them off at the pass. “So . . . which one of you would be willing to let your little sister move in?”

two

B
RIAN
H
OWARD HEARD THE EXTENDED APPLAUSE, WHISTLES,
and chants for more—just as he'd heard in other cities—but he still couldn't believe it was happening. He had to be living someone else's life.

The fact that it was happening here made it even more surreal. His St. Louis life was lab science and experiments and hours upon hours of working mostly alone—the exact opposite of this huge outdoor concert with several Christian artists from different genres and a crowd of tens of thousands. This music artist life was supposed to be secondary, but moments like this made him wonder what God was up to. When he got the invitation—once he'd gotten past the shock—he hadn't been sure how he'd be received. But the roar now was almost deafening. He patted his heart twice and pointed upward to let the crowd know where the praise belonged.