Talk a Good Game (26 page)

I was stunned. That was the last thing I had
expected to hear was that my man had gotten a job in a state that
was probably several thousand miles away.

“
What did you tell them?” I said
in this far off voice.

Jeremy paused then said the words
I wasn’t prepared to hear. “I accepted the position. I report
November first.”

“
I
’
m excited for you. Really I am.”
I tried to act happy for him but it was hard, considering my heart
was hurting. Here it was—I had met the man of my dreams and now he
was leaving. The story of my life. I guess some people just weren’t
meant to have a man for any length of time.

“
Excited?” he
mocked. “No you
’
re not, so quit
lying.”

His comment made me angry. “What
the hell you expect me to say? No baby, please don’t
leave!
”
I mocked.

“
Yeah, something like that would
be nice. At least then I would know that you cared.” A half-smile
curled at the corners of his lips.

“
You know I care about you. I love
you and you know that!”

“
And I love you.” His eyes locked
with mine.

“
Well if you love me then I can’t
understand how you would accept a job without consulting me first!”
I protested.

He looked glum. “Because I was
hoping you
’
d go with me.”

“
What?” I searched his eyes. Was
he serious? Me go to Hawaii with him?

“
You heard me. I want you to come
to Hawaii with me.”

Oh my God!
Jeremy was dead serious. “Uh… well… maybe. There
is
the Hawaii National
Guard.”

“
Yep. I already checked. Their
headquarters is a twenty minute drive from my job.”

I had to grin. He had put his work
in. “That
’s
something to think
about.”

“
I want you to do more than think
about it.” He rose, then slipped off his boxers and I gazed down at
his beautiful erection. My man might not have the same equipment as
Timmy, but he knew how to work with what he had. Again I felt
guilty about my lunch date but I brushed it aside and slid over in
the tub and made room for two.

“
C
’
mere,” Jeremy
commanded.

I moved between his legs then leaned back against
his chest.

“
Finish your wine,” he said and
then reached for his own.

Silence fell between us. We sat
there together, sipping and listening to music. I know it was wrong
but with him leaving in a few months I suddenly thought about
Timmy. Thinking now that Jeremy was leaving maybe we could have a
chance to see if there was anything left between us. But instead of
being hopeful about the idea, I felt sad. I knew there was no way I
could live without this. Now that I had Jeremy in my life, I didn’t
want to be without him.

“
Angel, I love you and I wanna
spend my life with you. But if you don’t want to move to Hawaii
then I’ll call them tomorrow and decline the position.”

“
Hell no. I
would never make you do that. You
’ve
been looking
for a supervisory position and who am I to stand in your
way.”

He brought his lips close to my
ear. “What you think matters. After all, I plan on you being my
wife.”

I gazed up at him. “You
do?”

“
Of course I do. Look,” he said
and then pointed to my glass.

I stared at it, with no idea what
he was pointing at. “What?”

He chuckled. “Angel, look inside
the glass.”

I tilted the glass and stared into the wine and
gasped. At the bottom of the flute was a sparkling diamond ring. I
gulped down the rest of the contents then turned it upside down so
that the ring fell into my hands.

“
Oh my God!” I cried.

Jeremy took it from my hand and
slipped it onto my finger. “Nyree Gail Dawson, will you marry
me?”

It was white gold with a diamond
surrounding by baguette. It wasn’t all that big but it was
beautiful just the same. “I had no idea!” I said and started
crying.

“
Angel,
what
’s
the matter?” he asked then
turned me around and cradled me in his arms.

“
When you said you wanted me to go
with you to Hawaii, I had no idea you meant as your
wife.”

He dropped his lips to my forehead
and cheek. “Sweetheart I would never ask you to uproot your life
for me unless I was offering to spend the rest of my life with
you.” He put his hand to my chin and tilted my head for another
kiss. “Now answer the question… will you marry me?”

I was laughing and crying at the
same time. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

We kissed and laughed and hurried
into my bedroom and then made love. I didn’t think life could be
any more perfect.

He was holding me in his arms,
waiting for our heart rates to slow when I said,
“
I
don’t
have much time to plan a
wedding.”

Jeremy smoothed my hair away from
my face. “All I care about is you and I being there. I don’t even
care if my family can’t make it.”

“
Well, I can’t
get married
without my parents.” I was pouting, but I couldn’t help
it.

“
Invite the
whole world. All I know is I
’
m marrying you and the
sooner the better, hopefully, before my orders are cut. The agency
is paying relocation expenses.”

“
I’ll need to put my house on the
market.”

He grinned. “So, the sooner
we
’
re married the
better.”

“
I agree.”

He had the nerve to suggest, “How
about we just go to the justice of the peace?”

I swung around in his arms and
faced him. “Hell no! You
’
re not cheating me out
of my special day.”

“
Okay, then
something small.” He dragged a hand across his face.
“
I promise
I’ll
make it up to you later. But right
now pick a date. Then we need to move you into my place and make
this happen. It’s already the end of June.”

I felt a shiver. I was finally
going to be someone
’s
wife again. But this time I was
going to make it work.

JANELLE

It was slow at the restaurant, so I decided to head
home with dinner for the men in my life.

I stepped out the restaurant and
walked passed Al
’s
tacky clothing store. A
mannequin with some tight-ass zebra leggings was on display in the
window. Every morning when I walked past, I was tempted to sling a
big brick through that damn window but I talked myself out of
it.

As I walked over toward my BMW, I
forgot all about Alphonso Rucker and couldn’t resist a grin. That
little beauty was all mine. I pulled off down the road, and noticed
the people looking at my car, staring with envy.
I truly love my life.

Things were starting to settle in
pretty nicely. I never thought of myself as being a wife and a
mother at the same time, but, like I said before, CJ was relatively
a good kid so he made motherhood pretty easy. They were both needy
as hell and wanted all my attention the second I stepped into the
door but I was learning to adjust to the demand. Hell, for all them
millions, I could even consider having that man
’s
baby.

I climbed out of my car and reached for the two
aluminum pans on the back seat and stepped inside. Immediately,
Midnight came trotting into the kitchen sending dog hair flying
everywhere. Ugh! I backed up just before he could brush against my
Antonio Melani dress.

“
Midnight, get down!” I cried as
CJ came stomping into the kitchen with his big heavy
feet.

“
Midnight no!” he said with an
apologetic smile. “Sorry, Ms. Jae.”

I smiled and carried the food over
to the counter and heard his father pounding down the stairs, as
well and Honey
’s
collar jingling.

“
How
’s
mama
’s
baby?” I
cooed, as Honey bounced around trying to get my attention. “You
missed me?” Of course he did. As usual Midnight was stepping all
over my dog trying to get closer.

“
What did you bring?” CJ
asked.

“
I brought home some food from the
restaurant. Ribs, corn on the cob, and macaroni and
cheese.”

“
Oooh, ribs!
” Immediately
he reached for a plate from the cabinet.

“
Go wash your hands.” I tried to
say it as nice as I could but I saw the way his face dropped at
being scolded. Damn, did his father teach him anything? “And not
dish soap. Go in the bathroom.” We went through this almost every
day. I didn’t even want to think what he was doing when I wasn’t
around.

“
Hey babe.”

I turned and grinned at my man
walking into the room while CJ moved into the powder room sulking.
I wrapped my arms around Kaleb
’s
neck and leaned in for
a kiss.

“
What
’s
wrong with him?” he asked with
a frown.

“
I told him to wash his hands
before eating.”

“
CJ, what the fuck you upset
about! Just wash your got-damn hands so we can eat!” he shouted,
and had me even flinching.

“
Yes, sir.
I
am
washing my
hands.”

I smiled, glad my man had my back.

“
What you got in those
pans?”

I pulled back the aluminum foil so
Kaleb could see inside. “Hell yeah! That looks good.” He pulled me
into his arms again.

“
How was work?” I asked because
Mama taught me to always ask about your man. It made him feel
important.

“
Bullshit like always,” he said
with a scowl.

We washed our hands, said grace then all dug in. CJ
went up to his room with his plate and his big ass dog. Honey was
under the table beneath my chair waiting for something to fall on
the floor.

“
Babe, I have a game
tonight.”

I frowned. “What? I was hoping we
could spend the evening together.”

“
Me too but I forgot I agreed to
referee a basketball tournament at Hickman High School
tonight.”

Well, at least when Kaleb was
refereeing he was too busy to blow up my phone. “Okay. I’ll just go
back to the restaurant later and lock up.”

After dinner I put the food away and Kaleb came down
shortly after in his black and white referee gear.

“
Babe, I’ll call you between
games.” He walked over and gave me a sweet kiss then swung a large
duffel bag onto his shoulder.

I nodded and walked over to wipe
down the island. “What
’s
that?” I said,
pointing to some small green army men.

Kaleb looked almost embarrassed as
he scooped them off the counter. “Those are CJ
’s
little men he carries around in his pocket.”

I tried to keep a straight face. That kid got
weirder by the second.

“
If he asks
I
’
m sticking them in the drawer in
the living room.” I nodded and leaned in for another long wet kiss.
“Love you babe. I’ll see you later.”

He went back upstairs to grab his whistle and by the
time I was finished with the kitchen he was pulling out of the
driveway.

I went up to the third bedroom that Kaleb had given
me to set up as a home office. It was his way of getting me to
spend more time at his place than at mine. I padded into the room
with Honey under my feet and took a seat behind a glass desk. I
made it clear if he wanted me here, then I needed space that was
conducive to working. Last weekend we also moved my red love seat
from my bedroom to his house so I could feel more at home.

I spent the next hour working on an advertisement
for Fourth of July weekend. The holiday was always a big draw for
the restaurant and I was planning on having a buffet style dinner
that would top any other restaurant in the area.

By the time I had a draft ready to be sent off to
the printers, Frankie was calling. Since Kaleb was nowhere around,
I answered.

“
Guess what?”

I smiled. “What?”

“
I found a gas station I want to
buy.”

I could hear the excitement in his
voice. “Good for you.”

“
But I want you to come down and
look at it.”