Long Time Coming by Rochelle Alers

Author:Rochelle Alers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2008-12-08T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

Tessa maneuvered into the driveway behind her father’s car and cut off the engine. When she was younger, the entire Westchester County Whitfield clan got together the first Sunday in each month after church to eat together while catching up with the latest family gossip. But as the younger children became adults and started their own families, the ritual changed to holidays and milestone birthdays.

This Sunday wasn’t a holiday or a milestone birthday, so Tessa wondered why her mother had called a family gathering. And, for that fact, she could’ve come to Mount Vernon at any time to see Lucinda’s latest design.

She got out of her vehicle and turned up her collar to ward off the above-freezing temperature. Quickening her pace, she mounted the steps to the three-story farmhouse and unlocked the front door. Warmth and mouthwatering aromas greeted her as soon as she opened the door. Slipping out of her coat, she hung it on the coat tree in the entryway and placed her handbag on a cushioned bench.

She made her way through the living room, past the formal dining room, with a table set with china, silver and an elaborate floral centerpiece, and into an enormous kitchen bustling with activity. Her mother and her aunt stood opposite each other at a cooking island, ladling food into serving dishes.

Simone, resting a hip against one of two dishwashers, observed the activity with an expression of bored amusement. A roar of deep voices came from the enclosed back porch, where the Whitfield men were watching their favorite sport. In the spring and summer it was baseball, and in the fall and winter football and basketball.

Tessa smiled. Faith was decorating a marbled jelly roll cake with curls of dark and white chocolate. Another cake, this one decorated with coconut, sat on a countertop along with a baked ham, a stuffed pork crown roast and a platter piled high with fried chicken.

“What are we celebrating?”

Lucinda Whitfield stopped stirring a large pot of collard greens and glanced up. A bright smile crinkled the attractive lines around her dark eyes. Petite, with a rounded body, Lucinda wore her salt-and-pepper hair in a close-cropped natural style that complemented her delicate features and nut-brown complexion. Wiping her hands on a towel, she went over to her youngest daughter and kissed her cheek.

“You’ll know soon enough,” she said cryptically.

Simone straightened from her leaning position. “She told me the same thing.”

“Same here,” Faith added.

“What is it with the younger generation,” Edith Whitfield said, “that they’re so impatient? Everything is about instant gratification.”

Faith rolled her eyes at her mother. “It’s not about instant gratification, Mother.” Edith flinched visibly when she registered Faith addressing her as “Mother.” “You call and tell us to show up, but you don’t want to tell us why. I’ve been offered a contract to complete a coffee-table book with my designer cakes and—”

“When did this happen?” Simone asked, interrupting her cousin.

“It hasn’t happened. I’m still thinking about it,” Faith countered.

“What is there to think about, darling?” Edith crooned.

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