Chapter Eighteen

He did not know where his legs were leading, but he followed anyway. He did not bother to think. He just did. He was beside Tiwa within the time it took to blink.

He pushed Abeo off his wife and took her in his arms.

"Are you alright?"

Dele did not look at Abeo, only his wife. He did not bother about that man. If anything, he wanted to behead the man for touching his wife.

For touching his wife...

Dele could not phantom why he felt so strongly against Abeo all of a sudden. The man had been in his employ for only four months, but that could not be the reason.

Dele could not pinpoint why.

"Yes, I am fine," Tiwa answered too quickly before she pushed off from him. "Are you alright?"

Dele stood stunned and not moving. His eyes followed Tiwa as she moved to help Abeo from the ground. Dele had not even noticed that his push had caused the man to stumble and fall.

"Sorry," Abeo and Tiwa chorused together.

Dele furrowed his eyebrows as he watched the two of them. Tiwa was standing and smiling at Abeo.

"I think you are done."

Dele moved to pick up the hoe that Tiwa had discarded in the process of her fall. He stared at the hoe as if it had committed the vilest crime against him.

"No," Tiwa was the one answering. "I have made only three heaps."

"And that is enough for you, at least for one day." Dele was vexed. He threw the hoe into the soft soil and stood akimbo to direct the full force of his glare at his wife.

"Iyawo mi, I am not giving up so easily."

He heard Tiwa drawl. She had moved closer to him and smiled a wicked smile right up his face. He had agreed to be her 'wife' after all. What came over him to make that sort of bet?

"Tiwa would you not pity yourself? Your back is covered in sweat." Even though Dele knew that was a far cry from the truth, he exaggerated the drops of sweat that stained the underarms of her Buba.

"Don't worry about me." Tiwa smiled up at him. "Besides, Abeo is here to help me."

It was then that Dele raised his head to look at Abeo. The man had been standing less than five feet away from the couple during their banter.

"I can help you," Dele grunted. He looked from side to side as if trying to find help from the air around him. It was futile.

"Don't worry. You are the wi..."

Before she could complete her statement, Dele interrupted her.

"Don't remind me of that stupid deal. It should be over by now."

"Are you alright?" Tiwa put her hands on her waist and angled her head. Her tone let him know that she referred to his common sense in that question. "I'll tell your friends about your loss."

Dele did not even pause before he spat words at Tiwa.

"Tell them. I don't care." He huffed and threw his hand in the air.

"Leave this work for me. There is no need for you to struggle here."

Dele was too concentrated in his rant to realize that he had raised his voice a tad too high. Anyone from afar would guess that he was scolding a child. He was done with his speech when he noticed Tiwa. Had he done it again?

He looked at his wife. She had her eyes directed to the ground. She lowered her head, but Dele could still see the pout of her lips. She was not firing back comments as she had been only moments ago.

"Tiwa."

Dele lowered his voice till it resembled a whisper. He wanted an answer from her. He wanted to see her deep brown eyes, but Tiwa gave the ground all her attention.

"Tiwa," He called again, this time taking her right hand. He took her fingers and drew them to himself, handling her like she was ceramic that could break at any moment.

Before moving forward with his intentions, Dele raised his head to look around the environment. Abeo was wise--he made himself scarce.

Dele pulled her fingers, drawing her to himself. Tiwa was cushioned by his chest when he called her name again.

"Tiwa"

"Yes." Her voice was weak and low. She still did not raise her eyes to accord Dele. Fear started to creep in his heart. It had taken months for Tiwa to come out of her shell and speak to him.

"You can continue work if you want," He sighed. "Just be careful."

Tiwa's face did not light up before, but it was at least less gloomy, and for that Dele was grateful to Eledumare.

Dele let out another sigh as he turned to the tree where he had come from. Tiwa was his jewel, and he did not want to lose the playful girl that had finally come from the scared woman. Even though his intuition told him he would regret walking away.

Dele went back to his position on the mat. This time, unlike the last, he did not lay down to sleep. This time, his eyes were wide open. Well, he kept them open until the cool breeze blew them shut.

Before long, Dele was struggling to keep his eyes open. He moved until he pressed against the trunk of the tree. One glance let him see Tiwa's enthusiastic strikes at the ground. At least, she had gotten the pimp in her step back.

No.

Dele shook himself as sleep threatened to capture him. He looked at Tiwa again. She was baptized with sand. But if this made her happy, he was ready to let her beat the ground for all it was worth.

Dele let a small smile decorate his lips as he watched his wife. She was a small thing. He then resigned to sleep.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Abeo?"

It was not his name, but the sound of questioning in Tiwa's voice was enough to rouse Dele from his slumber. He did not move from his position. He remained there, trying to make sense of what he was hearing.

What was it that she could not have asked me?

The tree's shadow had moved. It told Dele that at least three hours have passed since he shut his eyes.

He raised his head to look at his wife again. She stood an arm's length away from Abeo. Dele could not hear every word that escaped Tiwa's mouth, but he did not relent on his attempt to listen anyway.

"I grew up there too," it was Tiwa. There was light in her voice and excitement that Dele could not recognize.

"You are my..." Abeo's words were muffled, but the rise in his tone did not hide that he shared the same excitement that intoxicated Tiwa.

Confusion masked Dele as he remained seated. His eyes stayed on the two. There was nothing out of the ordinary. It was a mere conversation.

Well, it was once until Dele saw Abeo move. Abeo bent to wrap his arms around Tiwa.

Dele jumped. Yes, He did.

His heavy feet crushed the soft soil under them. He was beside Tiwa like before, so fast that neither Tiwa nor Abeo noticed him until he arrived.

He pulled her arm until her body mass was transferred to his chest. Her scream was loud, but it was not what was on Dele's mind. She was safe in his arms, and that soothed him.

"Abeo," Dele did not need to shout to get his point across. His baritone voice deepened and carried scorn with it. His eyes were hard, as hard as the metal portion of the cutlass he left under the tree.

"Oga," Dele glared at Abeo even though the latter's face was neutral. It was as if Abeo did not feel the weight of Dele's gaze. It made Dele's blood boil.

All the while, Tiwa was nestled in Dele's chest. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and she raised her hand to her chest as if she was cradling her heart from a shock it just received.

"Forget this side of the farm. Go to the other half."

Dele's voice did not soften, neither did his gaze. Abeo did as told. He walked away, carried his discarded hoe, and made a move on.

"Dele"

He heard Tiwa whisper his name. She crushed her face into his chest.

It was then he looked down and saw her.

"Why did you pull me?"

He heard her, but Dele refused to answer. His mind was still fuzzy. He did not know how it had come to this. Why was his blood hot? Why was he vexed with seeing Tiwa and that man? It was his employee!

"Nothing" he could not even look her in the eye and respond. He himself did not understand what had come over him.

"We are going home," Dele did not ask her while his eyes were still on Abeo. Abeo, although carrying the weight of Dele's gaze, did not flinch. He continued weeding the other side of the farm. Making holes in the heaps then planting Yam heads inside each heap.

"But it is not evening yet."

"It does not have to be."

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Delo ooo.

Beta vote and comment o. You won't die na

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Halo!!!

Happy New Year Rosies!!! 

(Of course I'm late)

I'm so happy to release this chapter. Finally, I'm at the last leg of the exams and issues that have kept me away from writing.

But I'm back babies. I missed you guys.

No kidding😁😅

Well, see you next week. (Yeah, I'm going to be posting every Saturday😘)

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This chapter is dedicated to every angel who cared about me when I got missing from Wattpad. You guys are just... 

Yeliya ,Irene6510 , unmask_reader , blackteen27 , Angellyreal , girllikeawuvafoge

AWESOME!!!!