Yearning for Love (20 page)

“Yes, and it’s good to finally be home. I could sleep for a week.”

“Did you have fun at Disney World, baby?” He asked letting his fingers trace her hand that was dangling off the side of the couch.

“I had a ball.”  She rolled off the couch to sit on his lap. “I am overwhelmed with happiness and it’s all because of you and the magic kingdom.”

He nipped a light kiss on her lips.  “I aim to please.”  He patted her on the hip. “We have to decide on a place to stay.  My lease is up at the end of this month and there isn’t enough room for all our combined junk.”

“Hmm, do you want to find a bigger apartment or rent a house?”

“Nah, why give someone else money. We should buy a house and decorate it to fit our style; well your style,” he said pulling more cotton stuffing from the arm of the chair.

She tensed her around his neck. “That is a big commitment, Walker.”

“What we are doing now is a commitment.  Baby, we are living together.”

“We’re committed to paying rent for a year at a time, not a 30-year mortgage.  We aren’t married, Walker, we should consider renting instead of buying a house in case things sour between us.”

He groaned. “You are always looking for the worst to happen.  Get up for a second.”

Nicole got off his lap as he crossed the room opening his carryon bag that sat on the table.  “What are you doing?” She asked dangling her legs over the arm of the chair.

“I’m about to shut your mouth once and for all.”  He palmed an item in his hand returning to her.  “Sit straight,” he demanded.

Stunned from his tone of voice, Nicole hesitated then sat straight in the chair.  “Okay,” she said swinging her legs around until she was sitting correctly and facing him. “I’m sitting straight as a pencil.”

Kneeling in front of her, he kept his one hand behind his back. “Nicole, I know this is not how I envisioned this to happen,” he said.  “I planned on us dressing up in fancy clothes and going to a nice restaurant with violins and plenty of people watching.  However, you seem to doubt my love for you and my intentions to be with you for the rest of my life.”  He opened his hand displaying the small ring box.  Cracking it open to reveal an emerald shaped diamond engagement ring with a platinum band, he asked.  “Nicole McLin, I love you from the depths of my soul, I’m asking you today to make me the happiest man on earth by marrying me.”

Nicole’s mouth hung open, speechless for several seconds.  “Yes,” she whispered barely above a whisper.

He put his hand to his ear. “What was that?”

“I said
yes
. I will marry you, Walker Albright.”

“You’re not pulling my leg are you?  You are agreeing to be my wife.  We won’t date anybody else.  Think it through; you have never dated another man besides me.  Are you sure you want me?  It will be just me and you for the rest of our lives.”

She nodded her head rapidly instead of screaming the elation beaming across her face. “Yes, yes, and yes!  I love you and only you!” She said holding a shaky hand out for him to slip the ring on her finger. He slipped the ring on her finger and sealed the placement with a kiss.

He hugged her tight when her brown eyes became teary. Fearing a bone would crack he eased up. “I love you so much, Nicole.  I promise never to make a day of your life dull.  I will go to my grave doing my best to keep you smiling.”

“I have to pinch myself to make sure any of this is real. I’m a woman who thought she didn’t need anyone in life, now I cannot imagine life without you.  Walker, you are amazing, and I wish I had my nanny to share this moment with, but I know she is sharing in my bliss, in heaven.”

“Baby, she is.  We can set a date for a big wedding or go somewhere and have a private wedding just the two of us.  Whatever you want is fine with me.”

With a gleam in her eye, she said, “A private intimate wedding is perfect.” She pressed her lips together. “Walker, what about your mother; she is going to hit the ceiling when you tell her.”

“Let me worry about her.” The doorbell rang interrupting the jubilation of the unexpected proposal.  “Who knew we were coming home today?”

Nicole shrugged her shoulders.  “Other than Patty, I don’t know.”

“I’ll get rid of whoever it is so we can celebrate,” he said with a wicked grin.  He opened the door; Jeremy was standing on the other side of it.  “Jeremy, what’s up?”

“Hey, I know you’re just getting in from your vacation but um….”

Alarms blared in Walker’s head after noticing Jeremy’s odd behavior. “Mitch passed away, didn’t he?”

Jeremy’s face turned a deep red as tears flooded down his face. “Yeah, he died about three hours ago.”

Walker opened his arm to hold his brother. “I’m sorry, man. I’m so sorry you are going through this.”

Nicole blinked away her happy tears as her heart filled with sorrow for the two brothers. She got out of the chair going to the kitchen to give the brother’s privacy to share the loss of their father.

“Take a seat, Jeremy.  Can I get you anything, a drink, water?” Walker asked his brother.

“No, I’m fine.  I understand dad’s death is not affecting you, but I thought you should know so you could tell your mom.  As much as I didn’t approve of their affair, I know your mother loved him.”

Damn his mother!
  How was he going to spring a wedding, and a death announcement on her at the same time?  Common-sense said to tell her about Mitch and leave the wedding announcement to wait—possibly until after he and Nicole had a private wedding ceremony out of state.

“She will take it hard.  I’ll go over to her house later and tell her.  Are you sure you are okay?  Do you need me to call Patty?”

Jeremy used a linen handkerchief to wipe his nose. “No, I’m fine. I had to get away from the relatives for a bit.  Tell me about your vacation, how was Disney World?”

“What can I say about it?  It’s a big amusement park with plenty of food, entertainment and a bunch of people running around in costumes making sure people are happy.”

“Did Nicole enjoy herself?”

“She had a blast.  Look, Jeremy, I know you are grieving, and my heart goes out to your family, especially your mom.  Please don’t take my reaction to Mitch’s death as heartless.  I didn’t know him, and he didn’t bother to know me.”

“Yeah, I know and I wasn’t expecting you to be choked with grief.  To tell you the truth, my mother isn’t acting as a grieving widow should.  This funeral is going to be a mess, Walker.  The lies and secrets my father kept from the family will shred us to the core.”

“Jeremy, my mother and I aren’t going to be a problem for your family. I don’t want anything from Mitch’s estate.  I have half the money to repay Mitch in the safe at the shop.  I was going to send it to him later in the week.  I’ll hold off and send it to your mother after the services are over.”

“Dammit, Walker; will you get over that already! Dad had deeper secrets than signing a damn loan document for you.  He had other illegitimate kids scattered from coast to coast including Mexico.  He was a successful businessman but evidently all thumbs when it came to putting on a damn condom.”

“Condoms were exactly popular back in the day.  He was a ladies man, Jeremy. Those business trips he took produced more than just signed contracts.  However, that doesn’t mean you have to love him any less.  He spent quality time with you and your sister and kept his family together.”

“He was perpetrating a fraud.  We were the family he paraded when he needed to gain clients.  He didn’t have any respect for my mother or he wouldn’t have cheated on her repeatedly.”

“Man, I’m not taking up for the guy, but there are women who will look the other way.  She could’ve known about his trysts and turned the other way.  In exchange, he had to keep his family intact and living the life they were accustomed to living.”

“You may be right about that.  She didn’t seem too torn when his attorney found birth certificates belonging to seven other kids.”

Walker’s eyes bulked. “Seven! Damn.”

“Yes seven.  The man has nine kids total, Walker.  I was worried about him not accepting Nicole because she is black, and there he was banging women as if they were going out of style.”

Walker placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder in a consoling manner. “Just goes to show you cannot fight another person’s battle without having the facts first.”

“My nose is staying in my own business from now on.  I’m going to go so you and Nicole can unwind and get settled in from your trip.  I probably won’t be reachable for the next few days but as soon as the funeral arrangements are completed, I will get the details to you so your mother can view his body before the services.”

“I appreciate that, Jeremy.  I’m sure she would like to pay her last respects without daggers being thrown at her back.”

Nicole came from the kitchen carrying a tray of coffee.  “I have coffee,” she said sitting it on the table.

“None for me,” Jeremy said.  “I gotta get going.  I should be at the house with the rest of the family.”

“Of course,” she said giving him a hug. “I’m sorry for your loss.  Please know if you or, Patty require anything, I’m happy to do whatever I can.”

“Thanks,” he said holding her hand.  His fingers rubbed over the bauble on her finger.  “Hey, what is this?”

Nicole instantly covered her hand. “Oh, this….um, Walker,” she said looking at him.

Walker shoved his hands in the pocket of his jeans. “Nicole and I recently got engaged.  She agreed to be my wife about fifteen minutes ago.”

Jeremy’s sad face turned into a smile. “That’s excellent, Walker.  Congratulations to the both of you.”

Feeling a sense of relief, Walker, said, “Thanks, bro.  Hey, I double what Nicole said.  If you need me to do anything that doesn’t require me coming to the funeral, I’m here for ya.”

“Thanks guys.  Hey, I’m gone so you can celebrate your engagement…if you know what I mean.  Oh, I want to do something for you two. Please don’t get married before I can.”

Walker raised his hands. “Due to the circumstances, we aren’t planning anything right away.  We want you and Patty to be a part of whatever we decide to do.”

Walker closed the door.  His emotions were on a spiral rollercoaster.  His impending nuptials to Nicole had him sky-high, but word about Mitch didn’t affect him.  He thought he would feel something for the man dying, but nothing.  He did feel sorry for Jeremy.  Jeremy and Mitch had a close father and son relationship, and the recent discovery of Mitch’s deception could ruin years of memories for Jeremy.

Nicole put her arms around his waist. “Baby, are you handling the news okay?”

He rubbed her arms. “Yeah, I’m cool.  Baby, I used to miss having a father in my life.  Mitch wouldn’t have been good role model for me, and I’m sort of glad I didn’t know him.”

“I heard what Jeremy said.  “You have other brothers and sisters you have never met.  What are you going to do about that?”

“What can I do?  We are the bastard kids of a man that used sex for his own gratification.  I often wondered where I got my
ladies' man
mentality, and I’m sure now it did not come from mom.”

Nicole tugged on his shirt. “You belong to one lady now—me.”

“Yeah, I belong to you,” he said kissing the top of her head.  “I had my fun and made sure to cover up to avoid accidents, but even with Mary Ellen, I knew she wasn’t the one for me to marry and settle down with; I wanted more.”

“Heck, even I know you shouldn’t settle. Walker, I think you should locate your brothers and sisters.”

“What?”

“Find those you can and reach out to them. Look at us.  I have no immediate family, and you only have Leslie and Jeremy.”

“You have a family, Nicole.  We could round your lost relatives together too.”

“I’ve already started looking for them on the internet.  Our kids will know their background.  Some of it will be good but most of it will be confusing.”

“Hmm,” he said pulling her against his body. “You want to get started on making the first heir to the Albright throne?”

She grinned kissing the dimple on his cheek. “Yes I do.”

“For real?  Before we get married?”

“We’ll wait until after we’re married, Walker.  But we won’t wait too long. I’m a diabetic and pregnancy will be risky for me, and I don’t want to wait until I’m too old to keep trying to conceive.”

“We could adopt if it comes to that.”

“We’ll go that way as a last resort.  I want your baby growing inside of me.”

He blew a slow breath from his lips. “All this talk about marriage and babies had me forgetting I have to tell mom about Mitch.  Do you want to come with me?”

“Oh, no thank you. You can handle this one alone. It will be hard enough sitting through her yelling when you tell her we’re engaged.”  She released him and grabbed the handle of the luggage. “I’m going to unpack our luggage, throw a load of clothes in the washer and take a bath.  I’ll be here when you get back.”

He laughed. “You are a big chicken.”

She flapped her arms. “Quack, quack….that’s me.”

“Wish me luck,” he said taking the keys from the table.  He was off to deliver the worst news of his life to his mother.  Well, maybe the second worst news.

*****

Patty looked out the window a third time. “I can’t believe they are going to be late for lunch.”

“Relax, honey, they will be here.  Walker called and said they were on the way.  They went by the hospital to see his mother.”

“Aw, that was sweet of them. He was hoping she would be well enough to attend the wedding next month.”

Jeremy took a sip of his drink.  “She is making progress so she might.”

Patty rubbed her stomach. “Honey, you are okay, I’m quitting my job now that I’m pregnant.”

Lighting touching her tummy, Jeremy assured her. “We are set for money, Patty.  Junior will live a lavish lifestyle.  So go head and give notice.”  He scooted his chair away from the table.  I’ll be back; I need to visit the restroom.”

“Bring me a sparkling water with lemon on your way back,” she called to her husband.

A tall black woman entered the restaurant where they were having lunch. Patty spotted the woman looking as if she were lost.