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Authors: Cheris Hodges

Just Can't Get Enough (6 page)

BOOK: Just Can't Get Enough
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CHAPTER 6
By Monday, Celina had traded her thoughts of Darius for concern about her father as they made the one-hour drive to Columbia for an appointment at the Palmetto Health Cancer Center, one of the premiere cancer treatment agencies in the southeast. The center, which pooled its resources with other major health centers in the state, had recently added former St. John's University cancer expert, Dr. Lewis Russell, to its staff.
Dr. Russell had a reputation for “curing cancer.” He used the latest in cancer treatments to treat lung and throat cancer and he also adapted eastern medical tactics like using herbs and acupuncture. Celina was excited that her father was to see Dr. Russell and prayed that he would recover from his cancer or that the disease would go into remission.
Celina and Thomas walked into the doctor's office. She glanced over at her father, who didn't look as frail in his khaki pants and lime-green golf shirt, but he did seem nervous. “Are you all right?” she asked.
He nodded. “I don't like doctors, that's all. Every time I come to see one, I seem to get sicker.”
The door to the office opened and Celina and Thomas whirled around and looked at the man walking through the door. He didn't look like much of a doctor, with his Albert Einstein afro, colorful Hawaiian-style shirt, and a pair of lavender slacks. Celina thought his outfit was better suited for a Halloween costume or he at least deserved a citation from the fashion police.
“Good morning, folks,” he said with a huge smile plastered on his face. “Mr. Hart, I just finished reading your file. I believe I can help you.”
Thomas grunted. “I've heard that before.”
Celina shot him a cautioning look. She wanted her father to keep an open mind about this treatment. Dr. Russell ran his hand through his wooly hair. His olive skin seemed to glow as he turned on his desk lamp. He continued laying out a course of treatment for Thomas.
“There's one thing,” he said as he cleared his throat. “I want to admit you for at least a week. Your right lung has a number of cancer cells and before we suggest surgery, I want to try a different course of action.”
“What do you mean?” Thomas asked. “Surgery?”
Dr. Russell opened a manila folder sitting on his desk and pulled out a sheet of white paper. “This is the course of treatment that I would like to start you on.”
Thomas ignored it, but Celina took the paper from the doctor. “Acupuncture?” she asked. “What will this do to the cancer?”
Dr. Russell explained how acupuncture treats the entire patient, not just the illness. “The acupuncture relieves pain without the use of drugs, although, because Thomas's cancer is so advanced, we will probably have to use drugs and radiation as a part of his treatment.”
“What are the risks with this type of treatment?” she asked.
Before the doctor could answer, Thomas banged his hand against the desk. “Now wait a minute. I never agreed to any of this crap.”
“Daddy, we're just talking,” Celina said, placing her arm on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. Thomas picked up the paper.
“I'm not a human pin cushion and I ain't staying here. I have a good doctor in Elmore who can take care of me.”
Celina pouted. “When's the last time you saw your doctor, Daddy? I thought you called me to come home because you wanted me take care of you?”
“Do you two need some time to talk?” Dr. Russell asked. “I understand if you do. This is a big decision.”
“I'm not staying here more than a week,” Thomas said. “I know I'm going to die. And sticking pins in me isn't going to change a damned thing.”
Celina's eyes glistened with unshed tears. “Daddy, don't say that,” she whispered.
“Mr. Hart, I want to make sure that doesn't happen, but you have to want it as well,” Dr. Russell said.
Thomas looked at the tears in Celina's eyes. “I want that,” he said.
Celina reached over and hugged her father.
 
 
Darius sat at his breakfast table picking at the banana nut muffin he should've been eating. He hadn't seen Celina since Saturday night, though he'd caught a glimpse of her walking to her rental car Sunday morning dressed as if she were going to church.
Maybe she was just all talk. I wouldn't be lucky enough to find a woman who can separate sex and emotions, he thought as he looked out of the window, hoping he would see her rental car in Mr. Hart's driveway. When he didn't see it, he remembered that she was going to take her father to the cancer center in Columbia.
The telephone rang, interrupting his thoughts of Celina. “Yeah?”
“Darius, I know you said you were coming in late, but we have a problem,” Richard said.
“What kind of problem?” he asked.
“Vandalism. Someone broke the front window out last night,” he said.
Darius swore under his breath. “Was anything taken? Who would do this? Damn it! I'll be there in a few minutes,” he said as he pushed his chair back from the table, knocking over his coffee cup. No one had ever broken into the hardware store. Things like this just didn't happen in Elmore. After mopping up his mess, Darius threw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, then dashed out the door to go survey the damage.
When Darius got to the store, Richard was standing outside, sweeping up shards of glass. Darius looked at the front window. The glass had been completely broken out.
“Did you call the police?” he asked, rubbing his hand across his face.
The older man nodded. “It was probably some rowdy kids messing around and things went too far.”
“I don't give a damn. This little joke is going to cost us hundreds of dollars that we can ill afford to pay out. Have you checked the inventory? If those little . . .”
“It doesn't look as if anything is missing. Darius, we have insurance for things like this. Calm down, boss.” Richard paused, leaning on the broom.
“Things like this don't happen in downtown Elmore and I want to make sure a message is sent. If some bored kids want to throw bricks into businesses, they need to know there will be consequences.” Anger flickered in his dark eyes. Richard backed off. Darius was nothing like his father. He had a quick temper and Darius blew up at things that David would have laughed off. Richard chalked it up to the time Darius spent in Washington. “Big-city residue,” he'd named it, though he'd never say that to Darius.
“Rich,” Darius said making an attempt to soften his tone. “I'm not upset with you. It's just the situation has me on edge.”
“Are you sure that's all it is?” Richard started sweeping again.
Darius nodded, but he had more on his mind than a broken window and insurance claim forms. Celina. He'd much rather spend his time planning his seduction than dealing with this. “I'm going to go in and call the insurance company.”
“All right,” Richard said, not looking up from his sweeping.
Darius stalked into his office and picked up the phone to call his insurance agent. As he dialed the number, his cell phone began to ring. “What?”
“Grouchy this morning?” Tiffany said.
“I don't have time for you today.”
“Trouble at the store? I saw the damage while I was on my way to work. Who knew a little brick could do that?”
“You're behind this, aren't you?” Darius snapped.
“What are you talking about? I wouldn't stoop to something that juvenile.”
Rather than argue with her, Darius snapped his cell phone shut and continued his call to his insurance agent. He knew Tiffany had something to do with the vandalism and as soon as he could prove it, she was going to jail. He really wished she would grow up.
The hardware store didn't open until noon. Darius and Richard covered the front window with a piece of plywood. Customers chattered about what happened to the window and voiced their concerns about crime in Elmore. Darius wanted to scream that this wasn't the start of a crime wave, but a scorned woman acting her shoe size and not her age.
“Darius,” Richard called out from behind the register. “Mayor Hamilton's office is on the phone.”
Darius looked away from his customer. “Take a message,” he growled. “Better yet, tell them the donation for the festival is on the way.” The last thing he felt like doing was being jovial. That woman was spiraling out of control and she needed to be stopped.
Richard shook his head, then relayed the message to the mayor's secretary. Darius handed his customer the drill bits he'd requested, then busied himself, straightening the items on the shelf in order to keep himself from being drawn into another conversation about the broken window.
By the end of the day, Darius was worn out. Between filing a police report, the business in the store, and the insurance paperwork, he felt as if he had been in a dogfight and had come out on the losing end. But his smile and energy returned when he pulled into his driveway and spotted Celina sitting on her father's porch. She seemed to be engrossed in her drawing. Darius wondered what she was furiously capturing on paper. Her head was bent over the pad, her curly locks spilling over its spiral edge. Darius wanted to bury his face in her hair and inhale its scent. He knew she smelled like roses and jasmine. Darius had her fragrance memorized. It haunted him at night when a cool breeze floated through his bedroom window. He wished she was standing outside his window when he smelled it so that he could invite her in.
He slowly eased out of the car, wondering if she saw him in her peripheral vision. He leaned over the fence, trying to find the right words to say. Celina looked up as if she felt Darius watching her.
“Hi,” he said, once their eyes locked.
“Hello,” she replied curtly. Celina hugged her sketch pad against her chest. Darius ignored the negative vibes he was getting from her and pressed forward with the conversation.
“How's Mr. Hart?”
Celina nodded. “He's going to be fine, I think. The doctor admitted him to the hospital for some intensive treatment. I wanted to stay, but the doctor said I would damage the ‘chi' if I stayed there worrying about the treatments.”
“The chi?”
Celina shrugged her shoulders. “It's some Asian medicine that works in conjunction with the clinical medicine.”
Darius tugged at his bottom lip with his teeth as he and Celina locked eyes again. He didn't know what to say. Should he apologize for the other night?
“Celina, the other night . . .”
Celina stood up and turned toward the door. “You must stick to my ground rules. Rule number one: don't ever kiss me again.”
Darius climbed over the fence, stalked to the porch, and stood one step beneath Celina, who was still clutching her notebook to her chest. “I can't promise you that. Remember, I don't play fair.” Darius reached over and pulled Celina's chin up to his petal-soft lips. He gently brushed his lips across hers. Celina turned away, but Darius's lips followed her up the side of her cheek.
“Stop,” she murmured, quickly turning her head toward his in order to look directly into his eyes.
Darius seized the opportunity to capture her lips and assault her with a mind-numbing kiss. She melted against him and Darius felt her body react to his kiss. He gently stroked her bare back, urging her to come closer to him. His desire pressed against the fly of his jeans and he wanted her to feel it so that she'd know what was in store for her, when she decided the time was right.
Celina pushed him away with a strange look flickering in her eyes. He didn't know if she wanted him or if she wanted to slug him.
“Darius,” she said in a near whisper. “You
don't
play fair.”
“But I do play to win,” he said. He looked down at the sketch pad, which had fallen on the porch. The image on the paper shocked and intrigued him. Celina's face flushed with embarrassment. Darius leaned down and picked up the pad.
“What's this?”
 
 
Celina inhaled sharply. She'd been sitting on the porch thinking of Darius. The image of his sculpted body was emblazoned on her mind and when she started to draw freehand, it was easy to capture his face, body, and what she imagined he would do if he were lying on a sandy beach with a woman—a woman like her. The picture, while it wasn't erotic or pornographic, was sensuous and private. She'd never wanted Darius to see it. Showing him that picture would force her to admit that he had taken a piece of her mind and made it his home.
“It's nothing,” she said, snatching the pad from his hand. She dashed for the door, hoping the added inches between them would allow her heart to return to its normal beating pace. She had no such luck because he quickly closed the space between them.
BOOK: Just Can't Get Enough
11.83Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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