Yearning for Love (16 page)

“I’m not complaining.  Although, I have to confess; I’ve never experienced anything like that before.”

Walker was glad her back was to him. She wasn’t able to see the macho, conceited grin spread across his face. “Really?”  He said keeping his voice in control.

“I guess I was a wham-bam girl.  I never gave him a chance to show me what foreplay before sex was about.”

He placed soft kisses on her damp shoulder. “Baby, do we have to talk about your former lover after, you know—what we did.”

“Yeah, I understand that not being appropriate.  I was trying to make a point.  Apparently I didn’t get there.”

He kissed her neck. “Well, don’t get there and let me assume I’m the best lover you ever had.”

“She burrowed closer to him when he pulled the bedspread over them.  Closing her eyes, she murmured, “My point of the story is, you are the best.”

Walker slipped out of bed to shower.  The spray of the warm water drenching over his head woke him up.  Cleaning himself from head to toe, he rinsed off the soap and stepped from the shower taking a towel from the shelf to dry off.  Looking in the mirror, he could not wipe the smile from his face or the weirdness shrouding his brain.  This was stupid. Crazy. Ridiculous.  Could he be falling in love with a woman he barely knew and who had more emotional scars than a daytime soap opera damsel? Applying toothpaste to the brush, he scrubbed his teeth hoping the preposterous notion would wash down the drain with the water.

Crawling into bed, he went to resume his position with Nicole, but she moved away from him swinging her legs over the side of the bed and sitting up.  He asked. “Where are you going?”

She leaned over kissing him on the forehead. “Don’t fret; I’m not running anywhere but to the bathroom to take a shower.  Keep the bed warm for me.”

Walker rolled on his back crossing his arms behind his head. The thoughts he was having about Nicole were ludicrous but somehow felt right.  He was ready to give up the single life and settled down.  Only Nicole had to agree to be his wife.

Chapter Ten

At work the following day, Walker mounted a wheel on the balancing machine.  He spun the wheel to make sure the weight of the wheel and tire balanced evenly around the axle to detect any imbalance.  Next he attached a lead weight on the opposite side of the tire to compensate for the weight differences. He had done this so often, the steps came naturally and he could do it in his sleep.  With the winter weather gone and warming weather arriving, pot holes were taking a toll on cars and his shop was inundated with customers needing new tires and wheel alignments.

Remounting the completed tire on the car, he heard his name being called. “Frank, I’m in bay 1.”

“Boss, you have a visitor in the office.”

“Who is it?” He asked mounting another tire on the balancing machine.

“Jeremy.”

Without breaking a step, he replied, “Tell him I’m busy.”

“Boss, he said he’s not leaving until you talk to him.”

His shoulders dropped.  Shaking his head, he might as well get it over with.  He didn’t want to make a scene on the job but if pushed by Jeremy, he would stand his ground.  He took off the heavy work gloves and goggles. “Frank, finish putting the tires on this car.  I’ll be back.”

Unzipping his coveralls, he tugged his arms from the sleeves tying then around his waist. He could see Jeremy sitting in his office from the waiting room of the Strongsville shop.  The bad attitude didn’t take long to overshadow the good mood he’d arrived at work with that morning.

Walker closed the door with a slam. “What do you want?”

Jeremy closed the magazine he was reading and stood up. “Walker, I didn’t come here to fight.  Please, can we talk like adults?”

Walker dragged the red bandana protecting his hair from his head. “What you want to talk about, I don’t want to discuss.”

“We’re brothers, man.  We shouldn’t be like this.  We had a good relationship.”

“We had a good relationship until you opened your mouth!”  He slammed the scarf on his desk. “I have to give it to you.  How you managed to hide your true feelings all these years is impressive.”

“Why do I have to defend myself, Walker?  I said what I did about Nicole and obviously it made no difference to you.  I hear she is living with you.”

“Yeah, she is and I’m glad she is.  I have never been happier in my life.”

“Then there isn’t anything for me to say but congratulations.  You’re standing your ground and going for what you want.”  Jeremy shoved his hands in the pockets of his expensive suit admiring his brother.  He wasn’t an ivory league graduate or wore business suits to the job, but worked with his hands.  He wished he had half the body Walker possessed and the balls to throw caution to the wind and go for what he wanted just once.

Walker answered, “I’m going for what my heart wants.  Jeremy, you were raised with everything handed to you.  I worked and scraped for what little I had at the time, and I’m not ashamed of it.”

“Why are you blaming me for that…I tried to help you.”

Walker felt the veins throbbing in his neck and took a breath to calm down.  “I’m not blaming you for being rich, I asking you stop looking at me as a charity case.  I’m proud of me and what I have accomplished.  I’m paying Mitch the money back and don’t you or Patty, ever go to him on my behalf again.  Are we clear about that?”

Jeremy lowered his head.  “It won’t happen again and I’m sorry.  I want this to end, and have my brother back in my life.  I want to apologize for what I said about your mother.  She was very courageous to raise you alone without any help from dad. I have to take him off the pedestal and look at the mistakes he made in life and realize he isn’t perfect.”

“None of us are perfect, Jeremy.  Mitch made a choice, and it was to stay with your family.  I’m not mad at you about that.”

Jeremy snorted, “Enough about that.  So, how is Nicole?  Is she going to stay in Cleveland?”

Sitting behind his desk, Walker shuffled the work orders into a neat pile. “I don’t know but I’m hoping she will.  It’s nice going home to a hot meal, a clean house, and a warm body to sleep next to at night.”

Laughing Jeremy raised a hand. “I told you only one woman would be able to provide that and you doubted me.”

“Right you did.  Look, Jeremy; I’m going to ask Nicole to marry me.  I don’t know when because she has some issues to deal with in her own life, but I’m not going to wait long.  I’ll either have your blessing or not; either way, I’m marrying her.”

Jeremy sat down. “Well, you leave me no choice but to give you my blessing.  Nicole has never done anything to me and for me to prosecute her as I did was wrong.  Walker, I know you won’t care, and I only telling you so you’ll have the information.  Dad is not doing well.”

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He has throat cancer.  He’s known for years; it took a turn for the worst shortly after the wedding.”

“Wow, I’m sorry, Jeremy.  Are you handling it okay?”

“I suspected he would get it the way he smoked.  Although I figured, it would be lung cancer.  Anyhow, you can tell your mother if you want.”

He nodded.  “I will let her know.  Well, I hate to cut this short, but this is a busy day and one of my guys is out today.”

“I need to get to work also.  Why don’t you and Nicole, join me and Patty for dinner tonight at Luigi’s; my treat.”

“Let me ask and not spring it on her as surprise.  I’ll call you later,” Walker said tying the bandana around his head.

“All right, I’ll wait to hear from you later.”

Walker returned to work after seeing his brother to the door.  The news of his father’s impending death didn’t shock him, and he would not be attending any funeral services when his demise came.

*****

Nicole sifted through the boxes in the garage looking for the tote containing her sewing needles.  She couldn’t stand looking at the stuffing falling from the arm of Walker’s recliner and had to repair it before it drove her crazy.

Darn it where is it!
Straining to lift a heavy box, the bottom came a part emptying the contents of sewing materials on the garage floor.
Great, now I find them!
Nicole got down on her hands and knees to clean the mess when a woman’s voice came from the opening of the garage.

“Hello?  Is anyone in here?”

Nicole peeked over the hood of her car.  An older woman’s head barely visible inside the door had not spotted her behind the car. She fisted a hand to her mouth to stifle the expletive from exiting after recognizing the woman.  She had not seen Walker’s mother since that dreadful day in Columbus.

A box fell over giving away her cover.  Slowly she rose from behind the car. “Yes, someone is here.”  She stepped over the scattered materials on the floor to reach the woman before she left.  Walker would be upset to know she’d ignored his mother.  Nicole had to brace herself from stumbling over the boxes. This was history in the making for her.  She was experiencing an
I CARE
moment.  She was actually caring about how Walker would feel if she rejected his mother.

“Mrs. Albright, I’m here.”  Nicole offered her hand to the older woman, saying, “I don’t know if you remember me…..”

“I remember you, Nicole” Leslie said curtly not accepting her hand.

Nicole withdrew her hand.  Rolling her tongue against the inside of her cheek to keep from shooting off a sarcastic reply, she was able to conjure a pleasant tone. “All right.  Walker isn’t home from work yet.”  She checked her watch.  “He should be home in about fifteen minutes.”

Leslie entered the garage slinging her purse on the trunk of Nicole’s car.  It landed with a thump and the metal rings and clasps scratched the car’s finish.   Leaning a stiff hip against the bumper, she said, “I’m not here to see my son but you.”

Nicole’s brows formed a straight line.  Granted her Silver, 2010 Chevy Malibu wasn’t new, but in pristine condition—it was until the scratches from the imitation Coach handbag left ugly marks on the trunk.

Nonetheless, disregarding the woman had marred her property; Nicole kept her attitude in check. “Okay, would you like to go inside to talk?’

“Would I like to go inside?  I’ve been coming to my son’s home for years.  He even gave me a key to come and go as I please.  I stopped using it when Mary Ellen appointed herself lady of the house, and now you are doing the same.”

“Mrs. Albright, I do not consider myself lady of the house. I was being polite but if you prefer to talk in a dusty garage, I’m okay with that.”

“It’s Miss Albright, and I’ll get to why I’m here.  My first question is what do you want from Walker?”

Nicole faced a possible blood curdling confrontation that could easily arise, if her words were misconstrued.  Nicole’s neck stiffened as her eyes widened. “Miss Albright, I’m not asking anything from your son. He was gracious enough to let me stay here while I’m in town.  Otherwise, we are two
SINGLE
adults consenting to do what
SINGLE
adults do.”

“Are you sure that is all you are doing—” She looked around the garage.  “This looks like you are moving in to me.”

“I get it; you don’t accept my relationship with Walker because of the color of my skin.  However, it’s not going to change anything.  What we are doing is between us and I’m not going to discuss it with you.”

Leslie backed off identifying the message Nicole was clearly sending. “Young lady, I’m not implying I’m prejudice or your intention is to take everything my son has.  You have to understand his last girlfriend was a wretched woman that left him vulnerable. I don’t want my son to be hurt again.”

“He told me about Mary Ellen.  Miss. Albright, I’m not Mary Ellen.  I don’t have kids, or an ex-husband or any ex-boyfriends to crawl from under the woodwork and make a fool of him.”

“I’m to believe you won’t cause any drama for Walker?”

Nicole nodded. “I have no reason to lie to you.”

The old woman raised a frail shoulder under the worn pinkish-gray sweater. “Then what’s wrong with you?  You’re pretty and seem sane.  You aren’t a lesbian hiding in the closet and using Walker to fool your parents, are you?  That won’t solve anything.”

Nicole shook her head.  “No, it wouldn’t and I’m attracted to men.”  The lump stuck in her throat; another revelation chipped away at her crumbling wall.  She always found certain men attractive.  Television was filled with leading men she fantasized being with if she were normal.  She’d had a share of wet steamy dreams staring Adam Rodriguez, Mark Wahlberg, and Shemar Moore, to name a few.

Leslie eased her tone.  Her soft voice emoting the love and devotion she had for her son.  “Nicole, my son is all I have in this life.  If you honestly say you love him, I will walk away and never question this relationship again.”

Leslie Albright’s question startled the hell out of her.  Somehow she managed not to jump out of her skin.  There was no way she could answer that question without reasonable time to examine the definition of what love meant to her.

“Well, that is a loaded question.  Walker and I have been together a week and that is not long enough to call ourselves in love.”

“Just as I thought, you are toying with him until a black man comes along.”

“You’re so off base; race would not be a factor if were to split.”

“If you are talking about sex, I don’t want to hear it,” she said covering her ears.

Although it wasn’t what she was talking about; their copulating played a major role with her achieving a healthy relationship with Walker.  Her voice rose slightly as she became agitated with the woman. “I’m not talking about sex either.”

Leslie took a hold of Nicole’s hand.  Her sad eyes warmed. “Honey, I’ve been the other woman.  I wasted my whole life wanting a man that didn’t give a damn about me or his child.  Please see past Walker’s hospitality and look at what is really happening here.  My baby is in love with you.  If you aren’t feeling the same for him, don’t play house as a way to string him along; just go about your way.”

Nicole moved her hand.  So far, she enjoyed taking turns cooking meals, cleaning house, pretending to be a married couple.  And at night when the lights went out,
ohmigod
, she thought as an internal quiver originated in her groin.  Embarrassed, she crossed one leg over the other to stop the sensation.  Running her fingers through her hair, she suggested. “Please, come in the house with me to finish talking.  I could use a cup of coffee; how about you?”