Xeni Read online
XENI
A Marriage of Inconvenience
Rebekah Weatherspoon
Rebekah Weatherspoon Presents
Contents
Books By Rebekah
Praise For Rebekah’s Work
About This Book
Content Warnings
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
More LOOSE ENDS
Acknowledgments
About the Author
BOOKS BY REBEKAH
* * *
LOOSE ENDS
Rafe: A Buff Male Nanny
Xeni: A Marriage of Inconvenience
* * *
BEARDS & BONDAGE
Haven
Sanctuary
* * *
THE FIT TRILOGY (And Friends)
Fit
Tamed
Sated
Wrapped
* * *
SUGAR BABY NOVELLAS
So Sweet
So Right
So For Real
* * *
VAMPIRE SORORITY SISTERS
Better Off Red
Blacker Than Blue
Soul To Keep
* * *
STAND ALONE TITLES
The Fling
At Her Feet
Treasure
PRAISE FOR REBEKAH’S WORK
* * *
RAFE
“‘Rafe’ is a breeze and a delight, a perfect book to read over and over again.”- Jaime Green, The New York Times Review of Books
* * *
“Weatherspoon has offered up a delicious treat that also admirably serves as a much-needed antidote to toxic alpha-male masculinity — a sexy tale you’ll want to add to your TBR pile yesterday.” – Maureen Lee Lanker, Entertainment Weekly
HAVEN
“…the perfect balance of sexiness, action and angst.” - Alexa Martin, author of INTERCEPTED
FIT
“I felt satisfied by a complete story at the end, and would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a fun, relatable contemporary romance.” - Elisa Verna, Romantic Times Book Reviews (TOP PICK REVIEW)
SATED
“…I LOVED IT. The book was respectful of geeks, people with disabilities, people of color, and the BDSM community, and it was informative and entertaining, and it was funny.” - Carrie S, Smart Bitches Trashy Books
TREASURE
“This story is rich yet beguiling, magnificent yet down to earth, and intriguing yet heartwarmingly human.” – J.J., Rainbow Book Reviews
About This Book
She just wanted to claim her inheritance. What she got was a husband…
* * *
Xeni Everly-Wilkins has ten days to clean out her recently departed aunt’s massive colonial in Upstate New York. With the feud between her mom and her sisters still raging even in death, she knows this will be no easy task, but when the will is read Xeni quickly discovers the decades old drama between the former R&B singers is just the tip of the iceberg.
The Secrets, lies, and a crap ton of cash spilled on her lawyer’s conference room table all come with terms and conditions. Xeni must marry before she can claim the estate that will set her up for life and her aunt has just the groom in mind. The ruggedly handsome and deliciously thicc Scotsman who showed up at her aunt’s memorial, bagpipes at the ready.
When his dear friend and mentor Sable Everly passed away, Mason McInroy knew she would leave a sizable hole in his heart. He never imagined she’d leave him more than enough money to settle the debt that’s keeping him from returning home to Scotland. He also never imagined that Sable would use her dying breaths to play match-maker, trapping Mason and her beautiful niece in a marriage scheme that comes with more complications than either of them need.
With no choice but to say I do, the unlikely pair try to make the best of a messy situation. They had no plans to actually fall in love.
**This is a stand alone romance that can be read along with RAFE: A Buff Male Nanny. It features a woman sick to death of her family's sh*t and a plus-size Scotsman who just wants to make sweet, sweet music. And love.**
For Sunny. And the moon.
Content Warnings
Below you’ll find just a few notes about the goings-on of this story. If you consider such warnings to be spoilers, please do skip ahead. xoxo - Rebekah
● Death of a family member before the story begins.
●Bisexual adult with an unsupportive parent.
● Discussion of abortion in a character’s past.
● Brief mention of miscarriage in a character’s past.
● A pregnant supporting character.
● Graphic Sex Scenes.
1
September
The stream behind St. Michael’s Episcopal Church was a lovely place for a memorial service.
It was a Tuesday, late in the morning and only a select few had gathered. Xeni Everly-Wilkins stood a few feet from the water’s edge holding a small portion of her Aunt Sable’s ashes. The rest had already been sent back to California at her Aunt Alice’s request. Xeni had been escorted by Lucy Pummel to the beautiful spot, shaded by tall trees and buzzing with the sounds of nature thriving in the extended summer heat. The elderly, dark-skinned Black woman stood beside her still, and beside his wife was the Reverend Pummel. They were joined by her aunt’s other close friend Bess Thompson and her daughter Maya, who Xeni guessed, like her, was also in her early to mid-thirties.
“We’re just waiting on Mason McInroy. He’s providing the music,” the Reverend said, breaking the silence.
“Thank you,” Xeni replied with a smile she knew the Reverend would understand. He reminded her of her Uncle Rand. A serene, older, Black man who always knew what to say and when.
Xeni had already attended one homegoing celebration for her beloved aunt the week before. Sable Junette Everly was survived by her seven sisters and too many nieces and nephews to name on a program. She’d lived a full life, bursting with love and laughter and, most importantly, music. Xeni had done her job that day. She’d woken up early and sent texts to her cousins, Anton and Rosia, and made sure they were ready to help her wrangle their many family members. She’d held her mother’s hand, let her step-father hold them both. She’d sat through hours and hours of stories and laughs, recounting the life of the former R&B singer who was also one of the only people in Xeni’s life who truly knew her.
Xeni had doled out hugs of comfort, accepted condolences and bit her tongue as each and every member of their community told her just how much they loved her Aunt Sable and how much they envied the bond and the amazing life she’d shared with her sisters. Xeni hadn’t said a word about how her mother and her other aunts had been fighting with Sable since before Xeni was born.
Xeni kept quiet about the Thanksgiving dinners and Easter Sundays that had come to a grinding halt when one of the Everly sisters would bring up Sable refusing to do a tribute show, or how Sable wouldn’t have missed a birth, graduation or birthday if she would just try to think about someone other than herself for a minute. She didn’t mention how suddenly, when Xeni was twelve, Aunt Sable had thought it was best to finally put three thousand miles between herself and her sister
s.
She’d kept Xeni close. Phone calls. Quiet trips. Gifts. So many gifts, but it wasn’t the same. Xeni knew how stubborn Everly women could be, but in all those years she still wished that just once her mother and her sisters could put their petty beef aside and be a family again.
Now Sable was gone.
When all of the plates and all of the leftovers were wrapped up and divided, Xeni had handed her part of the emotional responsibility for her mother off to her step-dad and boarded a plane alone. Her aunt had made her final wishes very clear. After she was gone, she only wanted Xeni in her home. She only wanted Xeni going through her things. She’d left money for everyone in the will, all her sisters and all the kids, but she didn’t want twenty-plus people tromping through her house, fighting over her stuff. She’d put it in writing so it was nice and legal, and then called Xeni to make sure she heard it directly. Any help Xeni needed was welcome, whether friends or an assistant, but she did not want her sisters anywhere near Kinderack, New York.
Xeni had known for sure there were three things waiting for her when she got there. A thirty-five hundred square foot colonial filled with the remnants of Sable Everly’s life, a will and, from the way her aunt had left things with her family, probably a whole heap of other bullshit that Xeni didn’t want to deal with. Maybe a secret husband somewhere in her Aunt Sable’s past. Definitely the jewelry she’d stolen from her sisters in a petty squabble. Or something worse, like proof she and her sisters were covering up a murder.
It had all crossed her mind, but every time she asked her mom about any piece of Sable’s life, Xeni had found herself in the middle of another argument. If she asked one of her other aunts, they’d tell her to stay out of grown folks’ business, as if thirty-five wasn’t grown. Thirty-five hundred square feet was a lot to tackle on her own, but she knew going it alone was for the best.
She’d already spent one night in the sprawling colonial and, though it felt cold and already untouched, Aunt Sable was in every corner. Xeni could hear her voice, hear her deep laugh. The scent of her favorite perfume lingered everywhere. They deserved more time together, but that wasn’t the way life—or death—worked.
She glanced around their small gathering again and almost shook her head. Her aunt had moved to the smallest, mostly White, town she could find in the middle of nowhere New York, but still managed to befriend every Black person in shouting distance. A moment later, she heard the sound of footsteps rushing through the trees.
“I know, baby. After, we’ll get ice cream. I promise,” she heard a woman say. A child responded, but Xeni couldn’t make out what they said. A moment later, another Black woman, carrying a toddler on her hip, and this White dude who was larger than any human being had the right to be, came hurrying up the path.
“It’s my fault,” the man announced. “Apologies.” By the look of the bagpipes tucked under his arm, the kilt and the thick Scottish accent, Xeni guessed this was Mason McInroy. Of course her aunt would want a bagpiper to commemorate her final send off. Xeni ignored how lusciously thick everything about him was. His beard, his wide shoulders, his arms, the massive legs emerging from the perfectly hanging plaid, even his neck—she ignored all of that and smiled at the woman instead.
“Xeni, this is Mason and his cousin Liz,” Reverend Pummel said. “And that’s little Palila.”
“Hello.”
“My husband, Silas, couldn’t make it, but he sends his regards. He loved your aunt very much. We all did.” Liz said, breathing heavy. She wasn’t a small woman, either. Easily six feet tall and pregnant. Very pregnant. Xeni was pretty sure her husband ran one of the busy apple orchards in the next town over. Whatever he did, eleven a.m. on a Tuesday wasn’t the ideal time for anyone to step away from work, and according to her aunt’s final wishes, that was the point. She didn’t want the whole town to show up. Just the people who mattered to her most.
“Well, I’m glad you could make it. I know this isn’t an ideal time. How are you, sweetheart?” Xeni asked the little girl. She buried her face in her mother’s shoulder in reply.
“Sorry. Selective shyness is the thing these days.”
“It’s okay,” Xeni replied.
“I think this is everyone,” Bess started to say when they all turned at the crunching of leaves coming from down stream. Three teenage girls came tromping through the trees.
Xeni looked over as Bess’s hands went right to her hips. She cocked her head at the short Black girl in the group. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”
The girl’s mouth opened, then shut again. Xeni knew the look on her face. She was considering her words very carefully. “Yes, grandma. We should, but we didn’t want to miss this.”
“My mom said I should come, since she couldn’t close the restaurant for lunch,” the tall Asian girl blurted out.
“And you, Miss Vargas?”
“I’m—I’m ditching, but if it weren’t for Ms. Everly, I wouldn’t already have the lead in Oklahoma. Imagine me. A little Dominican girl playing Laurey. This part will help me get into drama school. I owe Miss Sable my life.”
“As soon as we’re done here, I’m taking all three of you back to school.”
“Yes, ma’am,” they all said.
“Xeni, this is my granddaughter, Sydney. My son, Christopher’s, daughter. Her friends, Mari Vargas and Emma Chen. Say hello to Ms. Sable’s niece.”
“Hi,” they all said.
“Nice to meet you,” Xeni replied, mustering another smile. “It’s been nice meeting all of you.”
Reverend Pummel stepped forward then and the moment he cleared his throat, the distractions from the late arrivals faded away. They were all gathered by the stream for a reason. Though her hands were sweating, Xeni gripped the small gold jar tightly.
“When our friend Sable told me what she wanted today, she made herself very clear. She told me to keep it short and sweet,” the Reverend said. “She asked that we all say one nice thing about her before we send her on her way.” Xeni tried not to laugh, but a little snort managed to escape. All their disagreements aside, the Everly women had one thing in common: they loved constant, over-the-top praise.
“She asked that Mason play one song and that we truly say goodbye. Again, her words, she didn’t want any of us hanging on to any ole bullshit. She didn’t have time to haunt anybody. She was too damn tired.”
Xeni choked, a burst of laughter sputtering out of her, bringing a couple of fat tears with it. A few of the others joined her, trying to chuckle under their breath. She hadn’t had the cathartic cry she needed yet, the true release, but from time to time, a few tears would escape on reflex.
“Who would like to go first?” the reverend asked.
Lucy Pummel spoke up. “Ooh, there’s a lot I could say, but I think most importantly, Sable taught me that I am never too old to make new friends.”
“She’s been there for us ever since my dad died. Like, she’s been a really good friend to my grandma. And she taught me how to drive. She didn’t yell at me once, even when I almost crashed her car. She—yeah. Ms. Everly was the best,” Sydney said.
“I think, maybe, she filled that void for all of us. She collected wayward souls in need of her warming glow,” Liz added, tears lining her eyes. “Some of you know I lost my parents way too soon. Then I moved here and thought Maya and Silas were the only Brown faces for two hundred miles, but Miss Sable, and Mrs. Pummel, Bess, Mrs. Chen, Maya. You let me in to your little coven. You were all there for me through two pregnancies and I’m so sad that she won't be here to meet this little.”
“She helped me come out to my mom,” Maya said. Xeni watched as she reached over and gave Bess’s hand a squeeze. “I’m going to miss her courage and the way she shared that courage around. God knows she had more than enough to share with all of us.”
Bess smiled at her daughter, then let her gaze drift back to the ground. “She cheated at cards and had the audacity to be offended whenever she got caught. And every time it made
me laugh. I will miss laughing with her every day.”
Mason took a step forward then and adjusted the bagpipes in the crook of his arm. “The day before she passed, she told me I was single because I refused to shave my neck.” More laughter erupted around their tight circle. Even through his thick accent, Mason was able to convey her aunt’s blunt delivery. “I thought it was my numerous attempts to prove myself as an amateur magician. I’m not one that thrives on insults, but Ms. Everly just wanted the best for me. She wanted me to be happy. She didn’t want that for just anybody.”
“No, she didn’t,” Bess said through a tearful smile.
Xeni shook her head in agreement. Her aunt hated a lot of people.
“I was shaving my neck for her approval when I got the call from Maya here. I’m sure if Ms. Everly were still with us, she would have me turn my head this way and that. Tell me to crouch down. ‘Couldn’t expect someone at sea level to examine the top of a mountain.’ And then she’d tell me I did a good job and now I just needed to work on my wardrobe. She wanted me to be my best me and I am grateful for that. Also, one time I was there to witness her calling Marle Langsby an ashy-lipped demon who was filled with nothing but hate,” Mason chuckled a bit. “You have to admire a woman who speaks her mind.”