Free Dinner with the Blakemores (The Blakemore Files Book 5) by Olivia Gaines Page B

name.
    “He can be happy, Dad, if you hadn’t forced him to marry.” Saxton said this out loud.  It was one of the things he had wanted to say to his father for years.
    “If he didn’t, he would be excommunicated from the church and go to Hell for his life choices,” Bobby Ray said.
    Kevin, still face down on the horse, lifted his head. “Sir, if we all went to Hell for our life choices and poor decision making, there would be no one in Heaven.”
    “That may be true young man, but the Church is not as forgiving,” Bobby Ray said to them both.
    “Sir, the Church can’t get you into Heaven, it is what is in your heart that will.  Besides,” Kevin said as he slid off the saddle. “You stop sending them checks every month, the Church will see things your way.”
    Bobby Ray stopped and looked down at him.  Kevin was smiling.
    “Does Connard go to church on a regular basis and is he active in the church’s ministry?” Kevin asked.
    Both Saxton and Bobby Ray were shaking their heads no.
    “Well it seems like you are keeping up appearances for someone who doesn’t really care what those people think, especially since he has nothing to do with them,” Kevin dusted off his shirt. “I’ll walk back to the house, Sir. If Dusty asks what happened, tell him I went to find my other set of balls. This pair is hurting.”
    Saxton sat watching Kevin walking away.  Bobby Ray watched him waddling back to the house. He spoke to his son, “He seems like an interesting young man.”
    “You have no idea, Dad,” Saxton said. His brother-in-law had really grown up in the past few months.  He had seen Kevin exhibit courage when it was needed and grace as he helped others.  The young man was a rare breed.  Saxton was proud to be related to him, even if it was by marriage.
     
     

Chapter 15. Being Mrs. Blakemore …
     
    It was a quiet ride to the bank as Grandma Patsy clutched her purse while staring out of the window.  Odessa was careful as she watched her speed and obeyed all the laws to arrive at the small bank in one piece. She quietly followed Patsy into the bank and took a seat in one of the waiting chairs.  A young man who spotted them walking in began to trip over himself to get to Patsy.  Odessa rose in defense and moved closer to her Grandmother-in-law.
    “Ms. Sterling.  I wasn’t expecting you today.  I see you have a new driver,” he looked at Odessa, then at her belly, his brain obviously trying to comprehend why a pregnant black woman was driving the bank’s best customer around.
    “Harold, you insipid ass, that is my granddaughter-in-law.  She is Saxton’s wife, and she is carrying my great grandson,” Patsy said with far more pride than Odessa expected.  The look on her face said as much.  The same look was on Harold’s face.
    “Stop dawdling, Harold, I need to get to my safety deposit box,” she said as he led her away.
    As Odessa went back to the waiting area, she was flanked by bank workers offering her sodas, water, fruit, and snacks.  “Is there anything you need, Mrs. Blakemore?”
    “What can we get for you, Mrs. Blakemore?”
    “I will be honored to be your personal banker and assist you with managing your assets and credit cards, Mrs. Blakemore.”  A business card was shoved into her hands.
    One young lady even brought out a pillow as she lifted Odessa’s feet from the floor to slip it under her heels. Odessa’s hands went up. “Please stop.  I am fine, thank you,” she told the workers.  She even handed the young lady back her pillow.
    That wasn’t the weirdest portion.  A young Mexican girl came out and asked her, “May I please have your autograph?”
    “No,” Odessa told her in disbelief.  The odds of her signature being used in all sorts of ways were too innumerable for her to count.  There was no means to calculate the probability of it being used for something else.  “I am not famous. You don’t need my autograph,” she said softly to the young