by Tyora Moody
“I guess.” I smacked my hand to my forehead, “I don’t know, Candace. What I do know is I can’t stop crushing on this guy. I’m too old for this.”
Candace laughed, “You are not! There is some reason why.” She looked at me thoughtfully for a moment, “I also wasn’t sure how my kids were going to react to me moving on with someone who wasn’t their dad. Frank’s death was still pretty raw for all of us. You haven’t dated much in years. How do the boys feel?”
I swallowed, “You know Martin asked me a while ago, why didn’t I date. I thought that was the weirdest question coming from him. Drake was so young when he lost his dad. He talked to Nathan about his dad, which is strange. He never asks me or at least he hasn’t since he was little.”
“Nathan. Is that this counselor’s name?” Candace smiled. “First name basis, huh?”
I shook my head. “Nathan Chambers. He actually was a big basketball star in his heyday. Made it all the way to the NBA.” I rolled my eyes at Candace’s questioning gaze, “Yes, before you ask me how I knew that, I googled him.” I cringed, “I even follow him on Instagram.”
Candace chuckled, “Girl, that’s what you have to do these days. I say it shows you’re seriously interested.”
I stood and paced the small office. “I don’t know. I don’t want to be chasing him.”
Candace sat back on the couch. “You think he should make the first move? I agree. So what are you going to do in the meantime? You can’t be walking around all melancholy.”
I crossed my arms, “I am not doing that.”
“You know when Beulah retired, we discussed how much energy you bring to the salon. It’s why she passed on the co-ownership to you. We agreed your passion and ideas were what Crown of Beauty needed. Life is good for you now compared to last school year. You were living a parent’s nightmare. All that has been resolved. But you’re still not back to yourself, Tangie. As nutty as Beulah can be, I have to agree with her. Maybe you need to remain open to the possibility. Suppose Nathan can sense your hesitation?”
I held up my hands, “Well, what am I supposed to do?”
Before Candace could respond, my phone rang. I looked down at the screen and noticed Drake’s photo. I answered the phone. “Drake, what’s going on?” I glanced at my watch, “You’re at the house, right?”
“No, Mom. I missed the bus.”
Panic clutched me, “What? Why didn’t you call me before now? You’ve been at the school all this time.”
“Yeah, but it’s fine. Mr. Chambers can bring me home, but he wanted me to call you to make sure that’s okay.”
“Mr. Chambers is with you?” I glanced over at Candace who stared back with concern. “Look, I’m getting ready to leave the salon, but it will take me at least thirty minutes to get to you in this traffic. Martin and Mark should be home. If Mr. Chambers doesn’t mind dropping you off at the house, tell him I appreciate it.”
“Cool, see you at home, Mom.”
I looked down at my phone.
“What’s going on?” Candace asked. “Did you say Mr. Chambers?”
I nodded, “He’s taking Drake home. That boy missed the bus. He never does that.”
“Well, sounds like you better get going. I have a feeling something is about to change for you.” Candace winked at me.
My stomach flip-flopped. Nathan was headed to my house. Maybe he would just drop Drake off and keep going. I hoped so because at the moment I was freaking out on how much I’d been keeping up with my housekeeping. Knowing my schedule, not very well. With a hasty goodbye to Candace, I grabbed my bag and flew through the salon out to my car.
Chapter 6
Forty minutes later, I turned into my driveway and noticed an Audi SQ5 in front of my home. I’d never seen the vehicle before and assumed Mr. Chambers was still here. I groaned my despair, feeling as if a heat wave had taken over my body despite the cool air blasting through the car vents.
Nathan Chambers is in my house.
This was a development I could have never prepared for and now was not the time to be freaking out. I didn’t need my boys witnessing their mom have a meltdown.
So, I pulled myself together and exited the van. Despite my best effort to display confidence, my legs felt like they were disconnected from my body as I climbed the stairs to my front porch. I kept a huge amount of keys on my keychain, most I didn’t even know what they opened. For some reason today, of all days, I couldn’t locate the house key. I berated myself for the hundredth time thinking why didn’t I get those plastic things to identify keys.
My front door suddenly swung open causing me to drop my pile of keys to the ground.
My youngest son grinned at me. “Mom, Mr. Chambers is still here. We ordered pizza.”
I frowned, “What?” Before I could get an answer to my question, Drake took off down the hallway leaving me standing in the doorway stunned. Not only was Nathan Chambers in my house, but he’s eating pizza. I reached down for my keys and stepped inside, my emotions were all over the place now. I couldn’t tell if I was nervous about Nathan being here or if it was a surge of anger that he’d seemed to have invited himself to stay. I placed my bag and keys on the foyer table and squared my shoulders.
Let’s do this, girl!
My march down the hall towards the kitchen slowed as I heard voices. I recognized Martin’s voice, “Man, that three pointer you took against North Meck during the championship was awesome. Coach Winters still brags on that shot to us.”
Nathan’s voice answered, “Seriously? Believe me that was pure luck. The clock was counting down and you know, you just gotta take that chance.”
I stepped inside the kitchen as the conversation kicked up a notch with Drake and Mark both jumping in. I found myself transfixed by the picture before me. My three boys were sitting around the dining room table with Nathan in the middle. Some days it was a struggle to get all of us to sit at the table together, and it had been years since there was an adult male at my table.
My eyes met Nathan’s across the room. His eyes were warm as a smile spread across his face.
Suddenly feeling shy, I looked away and concentrated on fixing my gaze on Drake. “So, someone missed the school bus today?”
Drake protested. “But I didn’t mean to. We were working on the robot for the competition next week.”
Nathan pushed the chair back from the table, “Ms. Nelson, that was probably my fault. The team was hard at work on some glitches and time slipped by.” Standing to his full height, “I realize I probably stayed longer than I should have. Let me get out of the way so you and your boys can enjoy dinner.”
Martin frowned at Nathan, “You’re staying, right?” He swiveled his attention to me. “Mom, let him stay. We were talking and the pizza will be here soon.”
I couldn’t help it, I huffed. “Who decided to order pizza again? There’s food in the freezer you could have unthawed.”
The doorbell rang.
Drake yelled, “It’s here.” I turned and watched as my son ran past me. Then, I lifted my hands in defeat. “You may as well stay for dinner, Mr. Chambers.” I walked over to the cabinet to pull out the paper plates I kept on hand.
He grinned, “Thank you, and it’s Nathan. Can I help?”
I turned, startled to see Nathan standing behind me. He moved fast.
“Uh, no, you’re a guest. And thank you, Nathan, for bringing Drake home. I know that had to have taken you out of your way.”
“It wasn’t a problem. I actually don’t live far from here.”
“Oh.” For some reason his statement made my face feel flush again. I turned and opened the fridge, needing to focus my attention anywhere but Nathan’s face. “What can I offer you to drink? We have ice tea, lemonade, ginger ale and bottled water.”
“Bottled water will be fine.”
I reached for the bottle and handed it to him. Nathan’s long fingers brushed against my hand. My eyes locked with his for a few seconds. The moment was broken by
the voices of my sons in the background tearing into the pizza boxes now on the counter.
“Hey, guys, where are your manners? Use the plates.” I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to Nathan. “You would think I didn’t feed them.”
He laughed, “They’re growing boys.”
The next thirty minutes, I smiled and laughed at my boys as they sparred over pizza slices and traded conversation with Nathan. He appeared to be right at home. My nervousness from earlier dissipated, instead replaced by comfort. It felt like Nathan had always been at our table.
Before I knew it, the boys had left the kitchen and I was alone. Nathan took it upon himself to crush the pizza boxes and place them in the garbage cans outside.
After he entered back through the side door, he headed over to the sink to wash his hands. I finished wiping down the island with a dish cloth. “You know my boys should have done that.”
“It’s the least I could do.” He reached over and grabbed a paper towel to dry his hands. “I want to thank you for your hospitality. I had a good time tonight with you and your boys.”
“I did too.” Feeling a bit tired, I put the dish cloth down and pulled out a stool to sit. “Thank you for looking out for Drake. I appreciate it.”
Nathan tossed the paper towel in the trash and then sat on one of the island’s stools on the side where I’d just sat. “You’re doing a great job with your sons. You should be proud of all of them.”
I nodded, feeling very aware of Nathan’s presence near me. “I am proud of them.”
He cleared his throat. “You should know about another conversation I had with Drake.”
I sat up straight. “What’s wrong?” I cocked my ear to listen at the kitchen door expecting Drake or one of my other sons to appear. “Did he mention his dad again?”
Nathan shook his head. “No, his concern was for his mom.”
“Me?” I touched my chest, alarm bells were going off in my head. “What did he say?”
Appearing amused by my panic, Nathan clasped his hands together before explaining, “He’s concerned that you spend all your time working for him and his brothers. That you don’t know how to have fun.”
My shoulders dropped as I let out a breath. “What? I do know how to have fun, I just … I don’t have time.”
He wrinkled an eyebrow. “Sounds like Drake was on to something.”
I folded my arms and eyed him. “Why would this interest you? And haven’t we held you up long enough tonight? You have to have someone at home waiting on you.”
Nathan peered down at his watch. “Just my dog. I’m sure he’s upset about not being fed yet.”
“A dog? That’s all. Surely, you have someone.”
He grinned, “Are you asking if I’m dating anyone?”
My face flushed with embarrassment, I retorted, “No, that’s not what I asked.”
“But you are wondering if I have someone at home waiting, like a girlfriend?”
I couldn’t help but look down at his hand. “It doesn’t appear you are married.”
“You noticed.”
I smiled. “Yes, I don’t need some woman coming after me.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that.”
So, he claimed he wasn’t with anyone but still I remembered the PTO meeting last fall. How could I inquire about the woman who picked him up without showing that I’d clearly been interested for a while. Then it came to me.
Why not let him know?
This entire evening was not perchance, and I had a sneaky feeling that my boys just didn’t accept Nathan Chambers in our house this evening out of the blue, even if he was a former NBA basketball player.
I decided to plunge forward. “You remember the PTO meeting last fall when you walked me to my van?”
Nathan nodded, “I remember. I wanted to talk to you.”
I smirked, “I got the impression you wanted my attention more than about Drake.”
“I did, but something told me to back off. You seemed like you weren’t ready.”
“Probably for a good reason, a woman came to pick you up.”
He stared at me, “You saw that!” Then he laughed, “Wait, you didn’t think? That woman was my sister. My car was in the shop and she picked me up.”
I responded weakly, “Your sister?”
“Yes.” He leaned forward, “I know I’m Drake’s guidance counselor, but I knew the moment I met you that I wanted to get to know you. You are a smart, beautiful business woman. A single mom raising three brilliant young men. When I walked across the room that night it was my intention to ask you out for coffee, but something told me it wasn’t the right time.”
I gulped, trying to process Nathan’s words to me. “So, how do you feel now after spending the evening in my home with my boys?”
He reached over and took my hand in his. “If you’re interested, I’d like to officially ask you out on a date.”
I took a deep breath. “I would love to go on date with you.”
“Saturday night? I’ll pick you up at six o’clock.”
“It’s a date.”
I felt that disconnect from my body again as I walked Nathan to the door. Long after I closed the door, I stood wondering about the entire evening. Was this a dream?
“Mom, are you okay?”
I turned around and saw Drake on the stairs watching me.
“Yes, it’s been a long day. Shouldn’t you be in the bed by now?”
“I heard Mr. Chambers leave.”
“Yes,” I eyed him. “And what are you doing telling people I don’t know how to have fun?”
He shrugged. “He’s always asking about you. You do the same thing.”
I stared at him. “Wait, he asks you about me?”
“Yeah, he’s like ‘how’s your mom doing?’” Drake rolled his eyes. “And you are always asking, ‘have you seen Mr. Chambers today?’ I figured you two just needed to talk to each other.”
My mouth fell open. Had I been that obvious to my own son? “So, you decided to do some matchmaking?”
He grinned, “Looks like it worked.”
Then he ran back up the stairs leaving me speechless.
Chapter 7
The next day before I could set up for my first client at the salon, Candace wanted to know everything. By the time I spilled all the events of the night before, she was jumping up and down like a schoolgirl.
“What, what, are you kidding me? And Drake set that up?”
I shrugged. “Apparently, I’m not as good at hiding my feelings as I thought. Anyway, I have my first date in years on Saturday and I hope that I’m still functional by then.”
Candace clasped her hands together. “I’m so happy for you.” She grabbed my shoulders. “This is your time. It’s time for you to be happy. Everyone wants this for you. Even your sons.”
Tears sprang to my eyes. “I’m trying not to trip, but it was wonderful how Nathan got along with the boys. You know that’s the scary thing and one of the reasons I just stopped dating. My boys are everything to me and we come as a package deal.”
***
Package deal. Despite it being Saturday, all of my sons were home. Most Saturdays they were out with friends. Not tonight. When the doorbell rang, one of the twins answered the door. I wasn’t too bothered since I wasn’t quite ready yet. I could hear Nathan conversating downstairs as I applied my lipstick. I took one last look in the full length mirror in my room. The pile of clothes that I’d rejected for tonight’s date lay on my bed. Nathan didn’t mention where we were going, so I came up with a bright fuchsia blouse that appeared dressy but could convert to casual pretty quickly since I’d worn my black jeans over black ankle boots.
When I appeared at the living room door where Nathan sat, he and my boys turned around to stare at me. “Well, I hope I don’t look like an alien.”
“You look great, Mom.” “Nice.” Comments and smiles from my boys warmed my heart.
Nathan approached me hold
ing a bouquet of roses in his hands. “You look beautiful. These are for you.”
I smiled. “Thank you, Nathan. Let me put these in water.”
Drake jumped up from the couch. “I can do that for you, Mom.”
Surprised by his offer, I stuttered. “O-Okay, Drake. Thank you.”
Next thing I knew, Nathan was holding open his car door for me. Once inside, I nervously glanced back at the house. Nathan climbed inside the driver’s seat. He laughed, “Your boys are quite protective of their mom. I don’t remember getting the third degree like that since taking a girl out for prom.”
I whipped my head around, “No, they didn’t? I’m so sorry.”
He winked. “Don’t! You’re raising gentlemen and they wanted to be sure my intentions were on the up and up with their mom.”
My body was warm all the way down to my toes and it had nothing to do with the toasty heat from inside the car.
Nathan drove into downtown Charlotte to South Caldwell street. “Have you ever been to Fahrenheit Restaurant?”
I shook my head, “I’ve never been here before.”
A valet stepped up to our car.
“Good, I wanted this to be a unique experience. You’re going to love Chef Rocco Whalen.”
We rode the elevator to the twenty-first floor. The host clearly recognized Nathan, and we were seated a few minutes after arriving. The combination of the dining room’s intimate atmosphere, and the view of Charlotte’s city skyline was stunning.
“This is beautiful, Nathan. You certainly don’t play around on the first date.”
“I wanted to take you somewhere special. This is one of my favorite views in the city.”
Nathan ordered the Cowboy Ribeye entree, while I opted for the Soy-Glazed Salmon. Despite our elegant surroundings, I felt comfortable talking to Nathan, sharing some recent adventures with my sons as well as some stories from the salon.
The waiter cleared our dinner plates. “I feel like I’ve been doing most of the talking.”
Nathan wiped his mouth with his cloth napkin. “I’ve enjoyed listening to you. You are a remarkable woman. Really it wasn’t until I decided to go into teaching and started working with students that I can say my life served a purpose. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed playing ball, it came with its perks but also some vices.”