Perfect Match (51 page)

“When I met with them separately, I told them how terribly
sorry I was for what I had done to them and their marriage. I asked for their
forgiveness, but I let each know that I didn’t expect it. In the process I
discovered two very strong and special women. One’s marriage was still
together, and the other was barely hanging on. One forgave me instantly. It
took the other wife over a year, but I understood.

“I had hurt them in a devastating way, but now I was in a
position to serve them, and serve them I did. Eventually I was able to counsel
them and their husbands. I had some apologizing to do to their husbands also.

“I had many awkward moments over the hurt I’d caused, but it
was in the middle of the hurt-forgiveness exchange that I developed my Marriage
Seminar. I thank God that He was able to take who I used to be and turn me into
something positive for marriages that are hitting some rough spots. The Lord
has brought success to the seminar training. Our classes are always full and
the feedback has been excellent. The Lord gets all the credit, not me.

She paused a moment. “Hurt and forgiveness are usually very
awkward states of being, but it is in that state that honest discoveries are
made about people, and who they really are. Apparently you and Selena know two
different Roscoe’s.” She took a moment. “Are you glad you slapped his face?”

Madison looked down at her lap, and answered “No. I regret
that.”

“Then you need to tell him, and ask for his forgiveness.”

“But Ramona, the man insulted, badgered, and discriminated
against me financially for over three years. Some months I was so short of
money that I found myself cutting portions of food that I put on the table for
Selena and me. How can that balance against the little swat on the cheek I gave
him?” Madison’s face was flushed, and her eyes were stinging.

“I agree, the offenses don’t match, but you’re too smart a
woman not to tell him ‘I’m sorry I slapped you, and I ask you to forgive me.’
You’ll benefit more from that than he will. But he needs to hear that from the
woman whom he mistreated and hurt. You’ll discover who he really is, and you
can move on with your life, one way or the other.” Ramona clasped her hands,
and steepled her two index fingers against her bottom lip. “The question is,
whether you’re woman enough to do that?”

Madison left the meeting feeling stirred up with indecision.
It was only 12:30 p.m., but she was too unsettled to eat lunch. The air was
balmy. She shut off the air-conditioner in the car, put all four windows down,
and streaked for Interstate 26. It’d been ages since she’d cruised carefree,
letting the wind take charge. Fresh air always cleared away troublesome
thoughts. She thought, after the mental cobwebs blow out, I’ll stop and get a
bite to eat, and then drive to the hospital, and demand to visit with my
daughter.

Without a car and driver’s license, Roscoe had stayed around
his business and loft when not working. Rachel had invited him up for a Sunday
morning breakfast, and he and Jerome had planned a one o’clock ride through a
few neighborhoods for possible inclusion in advertising.

Roscoe’s doorbell chimed, as he was getting ready. His
security intercom installation was completed a few days ago. He pushed the
talk, and door release buttons, without glancing at the video monitor, and
said, “Come on up. Both doors are open.”

He went back to his bedroom to slip on his shoes, and pink
cotton short-sleeve company shirt. As he came back up the hall, he heard his
upper door click, and called out, “Hey, Jerome, I like your idea of making a
list of target neighborhoods.” He rounded the corner into his open room,
slipping on his shirt. He stopped short, surprised.

“I’m not Jerome.” She stood just inside his door, arms down,
holding her small yellow clutch bag in front of her.

He smiled, “Madison, I’m glad—”

“You don’t mind me being here?” Her voice quivered slightly.

“No, no, come on in. Have a seat.” He started buttoning his
shirt.

“Don’t button it yet.” She placed her bag on the foyer table
and walked to him. “I want to see.” Her hands spread his shirt back, exposing
his chest. Slowly her right fingers touched the four small incision sites.
“Does that hurt?”

He shook his head, saying quietly, “No.”

She covered the sites with her palm, and then pressed both
hands against his upper chest. Her hands moved slightly. The warmth sent
unsettled feelings through him. “You have a firm chest.” She picked up the
scent of his cologne. Different from what he wore when he was the CEO of
Fallington. She liked it.

He gave a small chuckle. “Work can change you.”

“I want to see the other scar.”

“Umm…It’s much lower.”

“I know. Lower your pants.” Her hands were already undoing
his belt.

“Oh, Madison, you don’t—”

“Yes, I do.”

He held his arms by his side, hesitant, afraid to move. His
heart beat erratically. He thought, Lord, I don’t know what to pray.

Madison gently lowered the top of his pants and boxers. She
saw the beginning of his dark lustrous pubic hair. Something unruly stirred
inside her. Her fingers found the main incision on the lower side of his
abdomen. She touched along the site that had healed well.

Warmth flowed from her fingertips. Nerve endings jangled all
over his body.

She looked back at his face, searching his eyes. He wasn’t
sure what was happening, but he knew he’d never be the same again. His emotions
were stirring like a twisting tornado.

He eased his pants back to his waist, and hooked his belt.

Her eyes traveled across his chest and back to his face. She
felt him searching her eyes for the first time ever. She thought, he never used
to look at me. I wonder what he sees.

Eyes locked, she asked him, “Did you feel any pain?”

He shook his head. “I was fast asleep during surgery.”

Her eyes roamed his face, his full head of hair, back to his
eyes, his mouth, and then to the left side of his face. Her hands reached up
and pulled his head closer. “I want to see this one also.” She let her fingers
gently touch the hairline scar on his cheek. And then she lightly kissed along
the length. Her kisses spoke an unknown language that he’d never heard before.
Her fragrant scent invaded his private thoughts.

She was inches away when she moistened her sensuous lips,
and said, “I will never be able to thank you enough for what you did for
Selena…and me. You were a brave, and giving man to do that.” Her breath was
flavored with citrus tea, fresh and moist.

He started to speak, but decided he needed to listen. He
needed to hear her voice. Why did I never listen to her?

Her eyes were misting, her voice cracked, “I’m sorry that I
slapped you the other day. That was terrible of me, and also the ugly things I
said about you. I came here to ask you to forgive me. Your forgiveness is
important to me.” Her bottom lip twitched ever so slightly. Her hands were at
her sides, her head tilted, as she watched his eyes. He held her gaze, not
turning away.

He was bursting inside, as he’d listened. “Madison, I’m
going to break apart, if you don’t let me hold you. I didn’t want to assume
that it’d be okay to do that. Please, I’d like to hold you.”

“Really?” Her head tilted to the side at the end of the
question.

His arms slipped around her, letting her feel the comfort of
his embrace. She let her head rest against his chest. She could feel the
pounding of his heart. The heat from his body tugged at her. As his hands moved
around her back and sides, shoulders, and arms, new awakenings stirred within
her breasts and womanhood.

He eased back, and gestured with his hand. “Let’s sit. I
have lots I need to tell you.” As they took two chairs at his kitchen table,
his phone rang. The caller was leaving a message before he could turn the
volume down. “Hey, Roscoe, this is Jerome. My little boy cut his knee, and
since our resident nurse was called to cover a shift, I’m gonna have to take
him to the clinic for a stitch or two. We’ll have to reschedule our drive. I’ll
check with you later.”

When the machine shut off, he said, “Sorry to hear that, but
I would’ve canceled so I could talk with you.” He took his seat again.

He smiled and said, “You don’t owe me any kind of apology,
but I’ll gladly forgive you for anything you feel a need for. I deserved the
bop you gave me and much, much worse punishment for the terrible and despicable
way I treated you.” He shook his head. “I’m ashamed and embarrassed.”

“You don’t dislike me because I’m part Hispanic? You know,
‘taco woman?’”

There was the slight tilt of her head again. Why is that
familiar to me, he thought.

He took her hands in his, kissed her fingers, and said, “No.
My ugly slurs at work were another example of how cruel, uncaring, unthinking,
coarse, and bullying, comments can be. I’ve been miserable every time I’ve
thought of my immature behavior, especially toward you.

“While in the hospital, I had a long conversation with
Rodney expressing my regrets. I told him I planned to apologize to you at some
point. I didn’t know when that would be.” He paused studying her attractive
features. “Madison, you’re a beautiful woman. Very! I…I just never had the
manners to listen to you or others and learn about their lives. “I hope you’ll
let me get to know you. I don’t expect it, but I hope in time you’ll forgive
me, because I’ve never been more ashamed of myself. I will never be D.R.
again.” He paused. “But guess who turned me around, helped me see things in a
different light?”

She thought a moment. “Your grandmother? Rodney?”

He watched her face, when he said, “Your daughter. Selena
saved my life.”

Madison’s face was a puzzle. “Selena? How?”

He told her from the beginning about his mistreatment of the
hospital staff and how Nurse Rachel Johnson had challenged him. Then he
described how, at first Selena was an irritant, but how her challenging
questions made him think about his past life and his behavior. He pointed out
how her young personality inspired him, and how impressed he was with her love
for writing.

He recounted how Selena’s praise of her pastor gave him the
wild idea of leaving the hospital for the afternoon to visit the church and
meet preacher-woman Ramona.

Madison laughed. “You just left the hospital? Just like
that?”

He nodded. “Selena asked penetrating questions that caused
me to think about more than just me.”

He explained how the meeting with Ramona had brought him to
pray for the first time in years, and how easy it was to make the decision to
push to have the donor-recipient tests run, and to donate a kidney to Selena.

“Don’t lose your thought. Need my clutch bag.” She walked
over to the small foyer table. His eyes followed her closely. The sound of her
heels struck a familiar chord. He noticed the slightest little change of tone
when her right foot struck the hardwood floor. Where is that memory coming
from, he thought. He watched her return to her seat, dabbing her eyes with a
tissue.

She said, with that little tilt of the head, “What? A loose
string on my dress?”

“No, just noticing how nice you look.” He gave her a smile.

Her heart fluttered.

He finished filling her in on everything that had happened
at the hospital, including getting to know Trevor, the altercation with the
drughead he’d prevented from molesting Selena.

 He added, “Selena was always complimentary of you, said you
were ‘the best mom.’ She loves you dearly. But each time I asked her who you
were, or where you worked, and, oh, when I suggested that maybe I could meet
you, Selena got very evasive, and would change the subject. It was sort of
funny how she would do that, but I just accepted it as a teenage thing…not
wanting to talk much about parents.” He paused a moment. “By the way, how is
Selena, out with some of her friends today?”

Madison’s face grew sad. She was quiet for a moment.

“She’s back in the hospital. I had to call 911 Friday
night.”

A worried look crossed his face. “What happened? Is she
going to be okay?”

Her shoulders slumped. She twisted her hands, sighing
heavily. “We continued to argue after we got home. When she didn’t come to
supper, I went to her room. She was lying on her bed and informed me that she
wasn’t going to eat, and she’d flushed her medicines down the commode.

“She got fevered and was shaking, so I called EMS.” She took
a beat. “She’s stable now, but they haven’t let me see her, since apparently I
am the provoking party.” She shook her head. “I really need to leave.” She
looked toward the door. “I was going to check with the doctor and see if I
could visit with her a little.”

She got up and headed for the door.

Everything clicked all at once for Roscoe. He said,
“Catalina.”

She stopped, and turned. “What did you say?”

“Catalina.”

“How did you know my middle name?”

“I didn’t, but you’re Catalina. It all makes sense to me
now.”

“What are you talking about?” Her hand reached for the door
latch.

“Wait. Don’t leave just yet. Come over here, I need to check
something.”

Puzzled but curious, she slowly walked back to him at the
kitchen sink. He was dampening a paper towel. He turned to her. “Look up at me.
Don’t move. I promise I’m not going to hurt you.” He knew exactly where to
gently rub her upper lip. The small freckle peeped through her touch of makeup.
Beautiful, he thought.

“What is going on with you? This is crazy.” She stepped
back, touching her upper lip. “Why did you do that?”

“Please, please don’t leave. I’m about to solve something. I’m
about to make a major discovery…I think.”

He guided her to the chair. “I need you to sit just for a
moment.”