Wrong Way Renee (45 page)

She signed with a trembling hand they accepted an envelope from the woman
.
“Thanks.
”
She hurried
from
the room. Halfway down the hall, she found a bench and sat down to read her fate.

Skimming through medical mumbo jumbo, she finally arrived at a line marked
“Impression
: No MRI Evidence of Malignancy.
”
S
he read then reread. She held back a torrent of
emotions
as she
offered up
a silent prayer of thanks.
And she asked for the same positive results for everyone she’d seen waiting in the
waiting
room with her.

Now she could get on with her life.

* * * * *

Two weeks later, Renee called her
mother
to ask if she could bring Joe to
her father’s
birthday celebration the next night.
“I'd re
ally like for you all to meet him.”

“We're all still reeling from the news that you've broken
Cleave
's heart,
”
Elizabeth said.

“
Mama
,
Cleave
was never my idea. I know everyone thought he'd be perfect for me so I could fit into the slot you want me in, but it doesn't always work that way.
”

“What in the world are you talking about? I never tried to put you into any slot, as you call it. Contrary to what you believe,
we just want you to be happy.”

P
erhaps she was being too hard on her
family
.
“I know you do,
Mama
. But
Cleave
wasn't the one. I think Joe is, and I'd really like you to meet him. So what do you say? Can I bring him?
”
She
crossed her fingers
, hoping for the right answer.

“Fine. I'll see you both tomorrow.
”

Relief washed over her.
“Thank you,
Mama
.
”
Everything was going to be okay.
Sh
e hung up the phone and
chewed at the corner of her mouth
. She knew she had to prove to Joe that she wasn't ashamed of him. If their relationship was ever going to progress, she'd have to introduce him to her family. She called his cell to ask him if he'd come with her.

“So, I finally get to meet the elusive Wrights?
”
he said.

She
was tense as a spring but she tried to sound casual. “They're looking forward to meeting you.”

For a moment, he said nothing.
“Okay. Want me to pick you up?
”

“Nope. I'll
drive
.
”
She couldn’t keep the smile off her face
.
She just hoped her family liked him, although she couldn’t imagine anyone not liking Joe
. But
whether
her mama
approved or not,
h
e was the man for
her
. She knew it as sure as she knew her own name.

* * * * *

“You look so happ
y.
”
Renee
set a cup of coffee in front of Melissa Tuesday morning at her nail station
.

“
Our lawyer has located a baby. The
mom
is due in three weeks. It's a girl.
”
Her eyes sparkled
, radiating her delight.

“Oh, Melissa, that's wonderful. Where is she?
”
She felt like crying tears of joy for her friend.

“Arizona. We'll fly out as soon as she's born. Of course, the
mother
could always change her mind at the last moment.
”
Her
face cloud for a moment. “But I promised my husband I wouldn’t be a pessimist. I’m going to assume everything will work out.”

“
This is going to happ
en for you, I know it is.” She knew she should take Melissa’s husband’s advise in her life too. She had to believe her parents were going to embrace Joe with open arms. They had to.
And that Joe would like them back.

Melissa bit her lip.
“It's go
t to. It's just got to happen.”

A few hours later,
Toy
arrived for a manicure. Renee noticed her friend had a rosy glow that hadn't been there before.

“Have you been in the sun?
”
Renee asked.

“Nope. Never to
uch the stuff. God gave me all the color I need. Why do you ask?”

“You're glowing
Toy
. Or fl
ushed or something. What's up?”

Toy
cupped her cheek in her palm as she smiled wistfully.
“I think I'm falling in l
ove. Really in love this time.”

Renee smiled.
“Wesley's lawyer?”

“Yeah, John.
He
looks at me and he seems to understand me completely. He's thoughtful and we click. It's never been like this before with any man. And I still haven't slept with him. Can you believe that? I'm sort of saving myself.
”
She rolled her eyes and smiled.

“For marriage?
”
Renee raised her
brow
.

“Not necessarily. For the absolute perfect time. I think both of us know how special the relationship is. We want it to be the right moment for us to make love for the first time. Have you ever h
ad that with a guy?”

She thought about Joe. “
I have it
like that
with Joe. We're going to St. Augustine in a few weeks, to a bed and breakfast he knows there.
”
Just thinking about it made her heart skip a beat.

Toy
sighed.
“It's such a romantic place.”

“Yeah. It's so cool that we're both experiencing th
is at the same time, isn't it?”

“We can compare notes.
”
Toy
playfully slapped Renee’s arm
.

Sh
e
felt like a schoolgirl. She was giddy, happy and excited every day.
“G
uess what we're doing tonight?”

“What?
”

Renee applied basecoat to her friend's nails.
“I'm taking Joe to meet my family.
”

Toy
's eyes
widened
.
“Oh,
Lord
. I know it's serious now. How did they take the
Cleave
fiasco?”

“My dad was not very happy with me. But he knows I couldn't continue a relationship to save face for him at the office. He said
Cleave
is thinking of going back to Atlanta. I fee
l awful that I've caused that.”

“
Sister, please.
You didn't cause it. You broke up with the man, Renee. Whatever he chooses to d
o with his career is his deal.”

She shrugged.
“I know. But I feel terrible about it.
”
She thought about the look on his face as she left his house
the day she broke up with him and s
he cringed.

“Well, snap out of it.
”
She snapped her fingers for emphasis.
“Y
ou've got a great thing going.”

Yeah, she knew she did. Now she just had to convince her family of that.

* * * * *

Renee helped her mother and sister load up serving dishes in the kitchen that night while the men stayed in the dining room with the kids.
“I feel awful about
Cleave
. But I have to follow my heart. I never should have let things
go as far as they did with him.
”

“You have to follow your heart,
”
Char
said.
“It's not like you purposely broke his. I like
your Joe. He seems very sweet.”

Renee smiled.
“He is.” She wished her mother would say something about Joe, preferably, something good.

The women arrived in the dining room in time to watch Joe handcuff Gary Junior's hand to his chair with the boy's toy handcuffs.

“I'll un
-
cuff you when you've eaten your dinner to your
mom
's satisfaction,
”
Joe told him.

“Wow, I nev
er thought of that. Thanks, Joe.
”
Char
winked
at Renee
as she set a bowl of mashed potatoes on the table
.

“My turn.
”
Alyssa
handed Joe her jump rope then offered up her wrists for him to bind.

Joe threaded the rope around the back of the chair, pulled it around her and knotted it from behind.

“When a policeman cuffs you or ties you up, you have to stay that way 'til he lets you go. Otherwise, he'll have to take you to jail,
”
Gary told his children.

Gary Junior's
jaw
dropped
and Alyssa's eyes grew huge. The adults laughed.

“I’m allowed to let you out for good behavior.” Joe gave the children a stern look.

Gary Junior
used
his
fingers to eat chicken
his
mother had cut into small pieces. “I didn’t know a white man could marry a black lady.”

Renee held her breath.

Char
blanched. “
Gary
!”

“They are not married,” Renee’s mother said.
“But they are allowed to get married. When I was a little girl, people didn’t do that often, but now, it’s no big deal.”

Renee studied Joe’s expression. To her delight, he seemed perfectly com
fortable with the conversation.

Alyssa stared at Joe then at Renee. “Do you want to marry him, Aunt Renee?”

Renee
coughed and
sputtered
.

Thankfully, her mother handed her a glass of water. “That is not a polite question, sweetheart.”

“I think she does.” Joe winked at the child.

Aside from her embarrassment at the kids’ questions, Renee thought the evening went well. She
left
her parents’ house
feeling triumphant. Her family actually
seemed to like and accept
him.

S
he and
Char
got along well after all the years of animosity. When they arrived at her apartment,
she kissed Joe and pulled him inside.”
“Would you like to stay?”

He wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Is that a rhetorical question?
”

“Does this mean you trust me?
”
She hardly recognized her own voice
.

Joe unfastened the top three buttons of her blouse and dropped it down past her shoulders. He kissed the skin above her cleavage.
“It means I can't wait one more second to make love to you.
”

Those
butterflies
she loved took to flight—
thousands of them. She led him to her bedroom. Thankfully her bed was actually made. It was every day now. It was the grownup thing to do, she told herself every morning as the little devil in her tempted her to be lazy and leave it unmade. Apple was sleeping soundly on the bedspread. Renee gently lifted her and relocated her to the couch.

When she returned, Joe was
sitting on the edge of the bed with a larger-than-usual
bulge in his jeans
. S
he moved in
to the space between his thighs and set
her hands on his shoulders.

H
e opened her blouse the rest of the way to reveal her black lacy bra.
He
worked the hooks around the back of it
and
slipped it off
.
Meeting her eyes, he silently asked for permission to proceed.

“Stop now and you’re a dead man.”
She moved closer.