From This Moment (12 page)

Jonathan pulled into the first free space he could find at the crowded restaurant. Tiebels had been in the area for over fifty years and they were known for their Sunday afternoon brunch. They served bloody marys and Cointreau mimosas, crustless ham and egg tarts, cracked pepper and brown sugar bacon, vanilla challah French toast, and layered fresh fruit salad.

They made their choices and found a table near the window.

“Would you like a bloody mary or a mimosa?” Jonathan asked.

Ivy stared at him.

Jonathan held up his hand in surrender. “Oh, baby, if you don’t want it with the alcohol, we can always have them use 7-up instead of champagne in the mimosa.”

Ivy stared at him before they both burst into laughter, remembering the time they shared in Vegas.

“Man, that was a crazy time,” she said, taking a bite of the delicious bacon.

“Why don’t we just have them substitute the champagne for us both,” Jonathan suggested.

“We had wine the other night, so I’m okay with it the way it is. It’s just for some reason when you said bloody mary, it made me think of Vegas.”

Jonathan wanted to ask her feelings about Vegas now that their relationship was on track, but he didn’t want to do anything that would trigger a negative response from her.

He looked down at the newspaper she’d brought along with her. “Have you read the article yet?”

Ivy shook her head slowly, pushing it over to him. “No, I’m a little nervous about it. The editor told me that I would write this column for a month and then they would see how well it does before possibly making it a permanent part of the Neighbors section.”

Jonathan picked up the paper off the table and opened it. He looked up at her and asked, “Do you want me to read it aloud or what?”

“Lili said it was good, but I’m not ready yet. So you read it and tell me what you think.”

From time to time as Jonathan read the article, he’d smile and look up at her.

“What?” Ivy asked, picking up her glass and taking a sip of her champagne and orange juice.

“This is good, baby. You give good advice.”

Ivy released a sigh of relief. She didn’t know if the column was going to work out with all her other responsibilities. Not wanting to spread herself too thin, she’d decided once she’d turned in her column that if it didn’t work out she wouldn’t be upset. One woman can’t do everything.

Jonathan laid the paper aside and reached for Ivy’s hand. “Tomorrow is a big day for you. Are you ready to face Randall again?”

Ivy hadn’t thought about Randall in a week. Since she hadn’t heard from him since she’d left the office, she figured everything was okay.

“No, I’m not nervous or anything. I hope he just comes and takes care of his business and leaves.”

Jonathan turned his head to the side, hunching his shoulders. “Well, doesn’t matter what he does, I’m going to be there to see for myself.” He squeezed her hand.

Ivy leaned over close to him and placed a wet kiss on his lips. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Jonathan’s body reacted to the kiss and the sexy sound of her voice. “Girl, don’t start nothing in this restaurant.” He picked up his glass. “Let’s hurry and eat, so we can get back to your place.”

They completed their meal and headed back to Ivy’s place.

As she was getting out of the car, Ivy suggested, “Why don’t we watch one of my favorite movies,
Love Jones
with Larenz Tate and Nia Long? I have it on DVD.”

“Sure, as long as I get to spend more time with you, I’m game.” He closed the door and followed her inside.

“I’m going to pop some corn and you can put the movie on. It’s on the shelf above the DVD Player.” Ivy walked into the kitchen. She placed the bag of un-popped corn into the microwave and waited until the bag had expanded. Pouring the contents in a large bowl, she opened the refrigerator and pulled out two bottles of sweet tea, then joined him on the sofa.

Jonathan stretched out and Ivy lay between his legs as they watched the classic film. Midway through the movie, they both fell asleep.

Ivy awakened first. Careful not to wake him, she moved slowly to an upright position. Glancing at the television, she saw the movie had ended.

Carefully studying him, she watched his chest rise and fall, the smooth features of his face and relaxed expression, his full lips, the point on the tip of his nose. The wideness of the palm of his hand as it lay across his chest. She was amazed at the fact that he’d spent the night and most of the day with her.

She reached out to caress his face when he started to wake up.

“Hey, you,” he said pulling himself up in an upright position. He looked at the television.

“We must have been tired,” Ivy commented.

A smile touched the corners of Jonathan’s lips. “Of course, with all the lovemaking we’ve done in the past twenty-four hours, we have the right to be tired.”

Ivy blushed.

Jonathan glanced at his watch and stood up. “I better get going. I need to stop by Aunt Rachel’s.”

Ivy stood as well. “Okay, call me after, then.”

Jonathan bent down and reached for his shoes. “Okay.” He sat and slipped his shoes on, then picked up his coat.

Ivy followed him to the door and they shared a passionate kiss before he left.

Once she closed the door, she decided that she needed to talk to someone about her feelings. She didn’t want to tell Rose because she was married to Jonathan’s brother, and she didn’t want to share with Lili because she didn’t think she could talk to her in confidence. The only person she could talk to was Violet.

Ivy picked up the phone and called her younger sister. “I need to come over.”

“I’m here, come on,” Violet said.

Ivy got up and put on her shoes and coat, grabbing her purse and keys as she walked out the door.

Jonathan couldn’t help but smile as he thought about the blissful two days he’d shared with Ivy. It felt good being with her, sharing a meal, loving her.

He pulled up to his aunt and uncle’s ranch-style home and spotted his Aunt Bertha’s car.

His aunts had been meeting every Sunday afternoon to quilt together. They’d been making quilts for cancer patients for the last eight years. It all started as a tribute to Jonathan’s mother Ruth, who died of breast cancer when he was nine years old.

The quilts had become so popular that they decided to continue making them and donating them to the hospice center that took care of his mother.

Using his own key to the front door of the ranch-style house, he walked in calling out, “Hey, I’m here.”

He followed the sound of their voices to the kitchen.

“You’re late,” Marc said when Jonathan walked into the kitchen.

“I was tied up.”

“I heard,” his brother replied.

“I know you’re not going to come in here and not speak,” a woman yelled out.

Seeing one of his aunts, he went over to where she sat.

“Hey, Auntie Anna,” he said, kissing her cheek.

She pushed him away, saying, “Don’t be trying to get all sweet with me . . . trying to give me some sugah so we won’t work your tongue out today.”

“Get over here, boy, and give me some if Anna doesn’t want it.”

“How are you, Auntie?” Jonathan asked, going over to his Aunt Bertha.

“Auntie’s fine. Just a little pain in this here knee, but I don’t let it keep me down. Gotta keep moving.”

“I hear ya,” Jonathan said, smiling brightly.

Jonathan went over to his Aunt Rachel and gave her a kiss.

Rachel Damon was a tall, thin, chestnut-brown-skinned woman with short salt-and-pepper hair. She and her husband, Isaiah, raised him and Marc after the deaths of their mother and father. He’d always have a special place in his heart for them.

“I didn’t think you were going to come; you haven’t come to visit in a while.” Rachel looked up at him.

Before Jonathan could respond, his Aunt Anna piped up.

“Yeah, must be sniffing around some woman.”

Jonathan quickly denied the suggestion. “Why would you say that, Auntie?”

“You should bring her around,” Annie said.

“Annie, he must be ashamed of us, then,” Bertha chimed in.

“Sister, he’s not. He’s just been busy,” Rachel said.

Anna peered over the top of her cat-eye glasses. “When are you going to get married?”

Rachel continued working with the pink square fabric on her side.

“Anna, don’t start. He’s got plenty of time to marry.”

Anna sighed. She looked over in Jonathan’s direction. “I’m sorry, sweetie, I didn’t mean to give you a hard time.”

“It’s all right, Auntie,” Jonathan said, wishing he could tell them that he was already married.

Anna paused before continuing. “I must say, though, that I’ll be glad when you do.”

Bertha teared up. “I know your momma would be proud of both you boys. Marc’s wife is a lovely girl.”

“Okay, Aunt Rachel, you wanted me to come over to help you.”

Rachel got up and pressed the button to change the CD on the player that was mounted under one of the kitchen cabinets. The distinct sound of Pastor Shirley Caesar wafted through the room.

They all fell into a nice rhythm.

“Sing, Shirley!” Bertha exclaimed, pulling the thread out of the fabric and rocking back and forth to the beat of the music.

“How did you ladies learn how to quilt?” Jonathan asked.

“We learned when we were little girls,” the aunts replied in unison.

“We used to make some of the prettiest quilts. Your momma used to help us, too, God rest her soul,” Anna added.

Jonathan looked at the boxes on the floor filled with quilts. “How many of these do you guys have to make, Aunt Rachel?” he asked.

“We are making three for this month. Then we’ll start on new ones for the next month,” Bertha responded.

“There are so many people who have this dreaded disease; we want to be a blessing to as many as we can.” Rachel said, smoothing out the patch she worked on.

“You have to know what you’re doing, though, boy,” Anna pointed out.

“How long have you been here?” Jonathan asked Marc.

“Twenty minutes before you arrived.”

“I can’t believe how fast they are,” Jonathan said as he bent down and picked up one of the fancy covers from the box on the floor.

Jonathan figured out that his aunt really didn’t want anything; she only wanted to see him. “Well, where is Uncle Isaiah?” Jonathan asked.

“You didn’t see him outside in the garage?” Rachel asked, sounding concerned.

“No, his car was there, but I didn’t see him,” Jonathan said, he and Marc both seeing the sudden panic in their aunt’s eyes. Marc left immediately, while Jonathan stopped to hug his aunt, saying, “Don’t worry, we’ll check things out.”

* * *

Jonathan ran out the side door and around to the back and found Marc trying to open the garage door. “Why didn’t you get the remote control?”

“Why didn’t you?” Jonathan asked, running back into the house through the side door into the house and pressing the button from the inside.

When he got back outside, he heard his brother calling him and ran in the direction of his voice to the side of the garage.

Their uncle was lying on the ground, and Marc was supporting his upper body.

“Is he hurt? What happened?”

With a dismissive wave of his hand Isaiah said, “Oh, hell, I’m all right. I just missed a step on the ladder when I was coming down.”

“I thought Aunt Rachel told you to stay off ladders,” Jonathan said as he and Marc helped to test his reflexes.

“I was trying fix that gutter. It was trying to come away from the house.”

“Aunt Rachel has asked us to help you with some things around here, but she didn’t go into any detail,” Jonathan said.

“Maybe she wanted us to fix the gutter and not you,” Marc speculated.

“Help me into the garage; I need to rest a minute before we go back inside,” Isaiah said, in effect admitting that he was at least winded.

When they reached the front of the garage, Jonathan got a folding lawn chair for his uncle.

“Rachel wanted both you boys close to her.”

Jonathan and Marc looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

Pulling himself forward, Isaiah reached over and rubbed his hand over Jonathan’s close-cropped hair. “She feels that you don’t come over to see us as much as you used to. Since sonny boy over here got married, you don’t come over for dinner.”

Then it hit Jonathan. She was jealous.

“Don’t tell me Auntie is jealous,” he said, surprised.

Moving his head vigorously, Isaiah said, “No, she’s not jealous. It’s just sometimes she gets a little emotional when it comes to you two. We never had kids of our own, and after your mother and then my brother died, both of you belonged to us. We got the children we always wanted, but we both lost our siblings. It was a bittersweet experience.”

The brothers fell silent for several moments, and then Jonathan spoke.

“Let’s go inside before she comes out here looking for us. She was already concerned because I told her I hadn’t seen you out here when I drove up.”

When they got inside, Rachel ran over to Isaiah, asking, “Where were you?”

Isaiah kissed Rachel on the lips in response.

“Isaiah Damon, you were out there on that ladder again, weren’t you?”

Isaiah only smiled.

Rachel rolled her eyes and went back to piecing together the fabric squares without another word. But Marc and Jonathan were not off the hook.

“Okay, boys, I want you to take these boxes out to Bertha’s car,” she said.

Jonathan picked up one of the boxes and headed for the door. As he walked down the sidewalk to the car, he thought about the tacit exchange between his aunt and uncle and admired the way his uncle communicated with his wife without words. Clearly, there was a real love between them. He wondered if he and Ivy could ever have that kind of love and understanding.