The Deal, the Dance, and the Devil (36 page)

I inhaled a deep breath, then started my lie. “My intent was to take off a year because my daughters are getting ready to enter their last year of high school and I wanted to make sure that I had time to devote to helping them with college entrance
exams and applications. And my husband and I wanted to take them on a college tour—all of the good things that come with preparing for this important part of their lives.”

“That’s exciting. So, what made you jump right back into the workforce?”

Part two of the lie: “Well, my husband just started his own business, working from home, and to be honest”—I lowered my voice—“we didn’t anticipate the … interesting issues that arise from us working in the same space. We realized pretty quickly that it wasn’t necessary for both of us to be home.”

Ellen laughed. “If this doesn’t work out with you and me, definitely apply for a job as a diplomat. What a wonderful, politically correct way to put it,” she said. “Trust me, I understand. My husband and I tried to work side by side when we first got married, and were almost divorced before our second anniversary.”

I just smiled. After a little more chatter, she thanked me for coming in and said she would get back to me within two weeks.

I had no doubt that she would. I had what a person needing to get a business off the ground needed.

Still, I kept looking, treating my job search like employment. I woke up early to get the children off to school, then I hit the office and the computer, searching until noon, when I would turn the office over to Adam—since he was still looking for work, too. Back in the day, we would’ve worked this job-hunting thing together, but it was safer these days to turn over the downstairs computer to him while I continued my search in one of the twins’ rooms.

As the days passed without an outburst from me or a letter from Shay-Shaunté, the frost that filled our home thawed. The children’s laughter returned—even in front of me. And Adam and I began to talk—not the normal, unabridged conversations
that had always been a part of our marriage, but we spoke, cordially, carefully, ten words at a time.

Until last night, in the middle of the darkness, I’d rolled over and touched Adam by accident. I’d awakened right away when I’d felt the electrical current that surged through my body when my fingertips had grazed Adam’s bare thigh.

I’d scooted away fast, back to my side of the bed, as if I’d seen a mouse. But the feelings had stayed with me, and for the rest of the night, I hadn’t been able to sleep. All I’d wanted was that moment again; I’d wanted to touch him again, even if it had just been for a second.

But as I’d lain awake, and thought, and wished, I’d decided I wanted much more than a touch. I wanted my husband back.

When Ethan had announced over his breakfast that this was the last day of January, I’d paused. One month ago, we’d been preparing for Adam to leave to be with Shay-Shaunté. And in truth, Adam Langston had never come home.

I’d decided then that tonight, I’d welcome Adam back, make him remember who he was, who we were.

Once the children were off, I went into the office as usual, but I didn’t sit behind the computer. Today, I paced, with thoughts and plans swirling through my mind.

In the past, it had been easy to go to Adam and tell him that our disagreement had to end. But that had been when we’d argue for thirty minutes. Never had we argued for thirty days.

Maybe I was doing too much planning. Maybe all I needed to do was walk up to him and start talking, letting the words come from my heart. So I took a deep breath and headed toward the door. Right before I got to the threshold, Adam came in.

“Adam!”

“Evia!”

We spoke at the same time. Then chuckled a little, hesitantly, together.

Then when we said, “I wanted to talk to you” at the same time again, we laughed outright—together.

Adam held up his hands. “Okay, we’ve got to do this decently and in order. You first.”

That was a good sign. I said, “I don’t want this to keep—”

I didn’t get the chance to finish. Adam’s lips were on mine before I had a chance to close my eyes. But once I did, I fell right into the familiar feeling.

A kiss had never done so much for me, and when we finally separated—minutes or an hour later, I didn’t know—neither one of us could hardly breathe.

“What were you saying?” he had the nerve to ask me.

As if I could remember. As if I cared.

This time, I leaned into him, wanting more. I couldn’t remember the words I’d planned, but I definitely remembered what I wanted to say with my lips. As I pressed my body into his, I told him that I was sorry, that I wanted him, needed him. My tongue told him that we had so much more of a life to live together. And my hands—my hands were totally out of control and revealed to Adam just how much I’d missed him.

Then it was my turn to pull back and ask him if he had something to say.

He spoke as if his words were already there, right on the tip of his tongue. “Through it all,” he started, “I have loved you and missed you and wanted you.” Like in the old days, I melted.

“What happened to us?” I asked.

“Does it matter?”

“I guess not. It’s just that—”

He pressed his fingers to my lips. “Let’s just think about where we go from here.”

I nodded, and he pulled me into his arms again. “I think,” he said as he kissed my neck, “that we need to have a special night,” another kiss, “so that you can make all of this up to me …”

“Up to you?” I laughed. “Gladly.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I have some things I want to make up to you, too.”

I jumped into his arms and he lifted me, my legs wrapped around his waist. Forget about tonight; I was ready to get this party started.

“What about the celebration?” he asked. “Tonight.”

As he held me up, I shook my head, letting my tongue explore his skin, the terrain that I’d missed so much. “The celebration, tonight can wait, but I can’t.”

He laughed, but just before our lips met again, the telephone rang. Now me, I was willing to let the voice mail pick up that bad boy, because I had work to do.

But Adam’s sensibility took over. “It could be about a job. For either of us.”

My first thought was that they would call back, but I knew Adam was right—in today’s times, you couldn’t give an employer any reason to move on to the next candidate.

Adam grabbed the phone, since I couldn’t. It wouldn’t have been a good idea for anyone to hear me panting this way.

“Yes,” I heard Adam say. “Yes,” he repeated, this time with much more enthusiasm. “Mr. Yearwood, thank you. Thank you so much!” He hung up the phone and grabbed me by my waist.

“Was that … American Express?” I asked, remembering the name of the man who’d interviewed him before.

“Yes. They’ve lifted the hiring freeze for a few high-level positions and he wants me to come in now and get those papers signed.”

My eyes were wide. “This means …”

“Yup! I’m hired … again.” He lifted me and swung me around. Though I was beyond excited, I couldn’t stop my first thought—that if we had just waited … just waited one month …

My feet touched the ground as Adam set me down. “We are back! You hear me.” He turned away from me, paced the length of the room. His smile was so wide that the ends of his mouth were just about touching his ears.

Just one month.

I needed to shake away that thought, because what did it matter? Adam had the job, we had over a million dollars in the bank, and Shay-Shaunté had gone away.

“I’m going to run down to Amex right now.” He kissed me. “But when I get back … oh, girl, you better be ready.”

I laughed at the way he pimp-strutted out of the office and down the hall, and within fifteen minutes, he met me in the living room—dressed and ready.

He planted a final kiss on me that made me moan and want him now, but I waved when he backed away and jumped into his SUV.

Back inside the house, I’d expected to feel Adam’s exhilaration; I wanted all of his excitement. But it wouldn’t come.

Instead my thoughts were on the fact that we could’ve waited … we should’ve waited.

Although the door was firmly closed, I swear I felt a breeze blow right through the wood, making me shudder and making me wonder.

Chapter 59

T
HIS WAS THE DAY
I’
D BEEN
waiting for: For days that had turned into weeks, weeks that had almost turned into a month, I’d prayed that the moment would come when Adam and I would move beyond a truce to the end of the war. And the end had come—rather quickly, with this extra piece of good news.

I was still standing by the door, minutes after Adam had left; my mind was filled with wonder.

The ringing telephone brought me back, and with the way this morning had progressed, I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was a job for me.

The caller on the other end was even better than a potential employer. It was Adam.

“You know what?” he said the moment I picked up. “I’m gonna make reservations at the Ritz tonight. Dinner and a room.”

“That sounds wonderful.”

“Yup,” he said, his enthusiasm infectious even through the
phone. “Just get the twins and Ethan situated and then I’m taking you out of there.”

“Okay!” I said. “And maybe we can …”

I couldn’t say any more. It was the alarm that rang inside of me. The alarm that came from my center—that I hadn’t heard in a long time.

“Maybe we can what?”

I leaned against the wall to steady myself. “No … nothing. The Ritz and dinner will be great.”

“You got that right.” He paused, more serious now. “Evia, I know things haven’t been great, but from now on—”

“I know.”

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you more.”

“I love you best.”

I hung up, feeling like I was once again living in the best of times. But then, there was that alarm—what was that about?

I stood in the quiet stillness of our house, just to be sure that I’d really heard it. Closing my eyes, I inhaled, then exhaled—it was probably just the excitement of the morning.

But as I stood pressed against the wall, it was the alarm that I felt for sure. The only thing was, this felt different from all those other times. This didn’t feel like a warning, this felt like dread.

I shook my head and pushed that feeling aside. There was no need to listen, because what could go wrong? Even if American Express pulled back its offer again, it wouldn’t be like last time. Adam would be hurt, but we had money in the bank. He’d just keep on looking. And me—even if I didn’t get a job for another one, two or three years, we would still be all right.

But it was hard not to listen. My heart was singing for all that had happened in the last few hours, but beneath that joy, my soul was twisting and turning.

I went through the next hours doing all that I had to do, preparing dinner for the children, then showering, getting dressed in jeans and a white shirt—Adam’s favorite outfit. I packed for both of us for our overnight excursion, filling our suitcase with nothing more than toiletries and what we would wear home tomorrow; we didn’t need anything but each other for tonight.

The alarm stayed throughout—soft, but constant, and in those in-between moments, I had to stop and sit and wonder.

I used the TV in the living room, the radio in the kitchen, turning both up so loud that my ears burned. But like a stubborn child, the ringing stayed.

When the telephone rang and I checked the caller ID, I knew this was what the warning inside had been all about.

Hesitantly, I picked up the phone. “Adam?” I whispered.

“It’s official; I am now an executive VP with Amex.”

I released a long breath, delighted that I’d been wrong. Nothing bad was going to happen.

“You got the kids situated?” he asked.

“Yup, dinner’s ready for them, and I packed an overnight for you.”

“Great.” He laughed. “I can’t remember the last time I was this happy.”

“I know. And the kids, especially the twins, they’ll be happy to see us … you know … kinda back to normal.”

“All the way back to normal,” he corrected. “But we’ll all be fine now. It’s a new day. Okay, I’m pulling up to the house now. I’ll be right in, Shine.”

Adam hung up, but I stayed still, the phone stuck in my hand.

It was a simple word, a simple name. But he’d called me Shine. Enough days to fill a month had passed since I’d last heard that name. Hearing him call me that filled in all the
empty spaces in my heart. It was better, bigger than any diamond he could’ve placed on my finger.

I was Shine again. That meant that everything was going to be all right.

Then …

Adam walked inside, through the front instead of through the garage. He stomped through the door, certainly not the gait of a man who’d just declared that this was a new day. His eyes were dark, his forehead was full of wrinkles, and the tips of his lips were turned downward, aiming for his chin.

What could possibly have happened in one minute?

Not enough time had passed for fear to settle inside me, but with the way Adam glared, panic caught up to me quickly.

He waved a sheet of paper in front of my face. “I was just served with this,” he said. “A guy just walked up to me and handed it to me.” He opened his mouth, but then pressed his lips together as if he was holding back a tornado of words. Finally, it blew out of him. “She’s suing us, Evia! For five million dollars. I told you she would. She’s suing us.”

The anger that I thought was gone was right there in my face. Adam tossed the paper in my direction, but before I could grab it, the lawsuit floated downward, swirling through the air like a paper jet, until it landed at the pointed toes of my stilettos.

Then Adam glanced at me, shook his head, and stomped away.

Chapter 60

I
WAS NOT GOING TO LET
this happen.

We’d come too far, we were too close to getting back to being the wonderful couple we’d always been. We needed each other—now more than ever before if we were going to win this legal battle.

Rushing behind him, I followed Adam into our bedroom. “I didn’t think she would do this,” I said, my voice filled with surprise and panic.