A Love Like This (Book 1) (36 page)

I feel that he
’
s about to explode
 
so
 
I stop and pull away leaving him throbbing and pleading,
 
“
Baby don
’
t stop,
”
 
he says.
 
I feel powerful when I guide him inside
 
me and roll my hips until
 
my body tingles
 
and explodes
 
from head to toe.
 
I keep up the
 
rhythm until he tenses and irrupts
 
inside me.
 
I
 
kiss him
 
breathlessly
 
before
 
collapsing
 
and falling
 
asleep on his chest.
 
 
 

Chapter 15

 
 
 
 
 
Dana looks around the kitchen
 
and realizes there’s enough food to feed a small village.
 
Grandma Bess brought over sock-it-to-me cake.
 
Dana’s sister-in-law Clara made gumbo and pecan candy.
 
The collard greens are simmering in a big black pot with salt pork and smoked turkey just the way Leila likes them.
 
Dana mixes butter, sour cream, salt and pepper and enough cheddar cheese to clog an artery with macaroni noodles. She pours the mixture in a casserole dish and places it in the oven next to the peach cobbler.
 
The potato salad is chilling in the refrigerator and the chicken is seasoned and battered.
 
Leila is scheduled to arrive in about an hour.
 
Dana will drop
 
the chicken in the deep fryer a few minutes before she gets to the house.
 
She’s
moving quickly around the kitchen and lifting lids on pots to make sure everything’s perfect.
 

“Where is everybody,”
 
Nickie
 
asks as she walks through the front door.
 
She’s carrying bags of fruit for a fruit salad and she has an uncharacteristic scowl on her face.

Dana takes out vegetables for a green salad.
 
“They’re all in the back yard.
 
You’re daddy’s barbequing.”
 
 
Nickie
 
puts the bags down on the counter and bends to kiss Dana’s cheek.
 
“Where’s Keisha?”

“She’s still getting the kids ready,”
 
Nickie
 
says as she walks over and slumps down in a chair.
 
“She’s gotten little X dressed three times.
 
She puts on his clothes and when she leaves the room he rips them off and sits on the couch in his underwear.
 
I drove Doug’s car over here because they may never get out of that house.
 
I swear I’m not having any kids.”

“That boy’s not right,” Dana says as she rips open a bag of mixed greens.
 
“So what’s going on with you?
 
Why do you look so gloomy?”

“I’m just a little confused.”
 
She twirls a curl around her finger.
 
“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do next.”

“I don’t think you really have to know what to do next.
 
You know the old saying, man plans/ God laughs?
 
Just figure out what makes you happy and do it.”
 
Dana wipes her hands on a towel.
 
“Now come here,” she says extending her open arms to
 
Nickie.
 
She ambles over with tears in her eyes and Dana wraps her arms around her daughter.
 
 
Nickie
 
stoops down and rests her head on her mother’s shoulder.

“I don’t have a job, I haven’t finished my degree and I’m living in a house full of insane kids.
 
It just seems like things will never get better.”

Dana never asked what happened between
 
Nickie
 
and Damian.
 
She’s just happy he’s out of the picture.
 
“Stop it right now,“
 
Dana says moving away to look into
 
Nickie’s
 
eyes.
 
“If you want things to change then change them.”

Nickie
 
nods and wipes her eyes with the back of her hand.
 
“
Momma
can I ask you something else?”

“Anything Nick you know that,” she says releasing
 
Nickie
 
and turning her attention back to the salad.

“Who is
 
Valery Callaway?
”
 
 
Dana goes pale.
 
 
Nickie
 
thinks that maybe her mother didn
’
t hear her.
 

She
’
s about to repeat the question when Dana replies:
 
“
Where did you hear that name?
”
 
 
There
’
s ice in her voice that wasn
’
t there before.
 
Dana looks down at the vegetables.
 
Her breathing is shallow and her expression has contorted into a grimace.
 

“
A lady at the beauty shop asked Keisha and I about her,
”
 
Nickie
 
says feeling her body tense nervously.

“
Oh really,
”
 
Dana asks trying to sound casual.
 
 
“
What exactly did she say?
”

Nickie
 
can tell that Dana is holding her breath waiting for her response.
 
They hear a ruckus at the back door and stop talking.

Xavier
’
s deep voice rumbles through the house interrupting their conversation.
 
 
“
You both look like you saw a ghost,
”
 
He says brushing past
 
Nickie
 
and Dana caring a platter full of ribs and hotlinks from the backyard grill.
 
 
“
What are you two talking about?
”
 

“
Nothing,
”
 
Nickie
 
says taking out a knife and cutting board to start the fruit salad.
 
 
“
I was just telling Momma
about Leila
’
s new boyfriend,
”
 
Nickie
 
says avoiding her father
’
s gaze.
 
 
Nickie
 
received three strongly worded e-mails from Leila last night.
 
The emails were addressed to her,
 
Pookie
 
and Keisha.
 
The first one was titled,
 
‘
Don
’
t Ask Don
’
t Tell.
’
 
 
In this letter Leila briefly discusses her marriage.
 
She goes on to say that she and Tucker will reveal their relationship status on their own terms.
 
It was like reading a cease and desist letter from a lawyer.
 
The next letter was titled,
‘
Seriously Help a
 
Sistah
 
Out.
’
 
 
In this letter she
’
s basically pleading with all of them.
 
She promises to watch Keisha
’
s kids and to let
 
Nickie
 
have her favorite boots.
 
She tells
 
Pookie
 
that she
’
ll go shopping with him and wait patiently while he tries on fifteen pairs of shoes that look exactly the same.
 
The third letter was titled,
 
‘
Tell on Me and I
’
ll Tell on You!
’
 
 
The body of the email simply said,
“
I know secrets about all of you.
”

“
So what
’
s the boy like,
”
 
Dana asks happy to change the subject.

“
He
’
s a great guy.
 
He
’
s tall, handsome, and smart.
 
He
’
s the total package.
”

“
Tell me about his personality.
 
I expected him to be tall, dark and handsome,
”
 
Dana says.

“
No he
’
s not very dark,
”
 
Nickie
 
says concentrating on the cantaloupe she
’
s cutting.

“
I
’
ve heard enough,
”
 
Xavier says walking back outside.

“
That man doesn
’
t think anyone
’
s good enough for his girls,
”
 
Dana say
’
s shaking her head.
 
 
Nickie
’
s
 
mouth is poised to speak.
 
She wants to pick up the conversation where they left off but Dana looks her in the eye and mouths the words,
 
“
not now.
”

Chapter 16

 
 
 
 
 
“So let me get this straight,”
 
Sarah says as she shoves shoes in an overnight bag.
 
“You just found out that Joan Noland is Tucker’s mom?”
 
I nod yes feeling silly.
 
Sarah has been berating me
 
for the last hour about my unwillingness to Google people.

“How was I supposed to know?
 
I mean I knew his mother ran a non-profit but Marin is full of non-profit organizations.”
 

Sarah just shakes her head.
 
“I research the men I date the minute they tell me their names.”
 
I stretch out on the bed and watch her pack.
 
My bags have been packed for two days.
 
“Why weren’t you in class this week?”
 
She asks.

“I only took upper division courses so all of my final exams were projects.”

“So why didn’t you fly back home sooner?”
 
I just smile at her.

“You two are terrible,” She says laughing. “I hope you’re on the pill.”

“I
 
was
 
worried about that but I got a visit from aunt flow this
 
morning. I also received a call from
 
Kensler.”