by Nita Brooks
“Listening and going along with all your ideas are two different things.”
“Duly noted,” Yvonne said.
“When is he back in town?”
“Today,” Yvonne said. “He’s coming straight over when he gets back.”
“And will Richard be there, too?”
“If he is we’ll all make things work. This is my new family now. Everyone has to get used to it.”
Valerie laughed. “Good luck with that. I would come over to see the we’re-all-working-together thing in action, but I’ve got some work to do before I go out of town tomorrow to look at a potential property for a client.”
“You gone long?”
“I’ll be back early next week. But listen, for real, I am happy that you’re happy.”
Yvonne sighed and let go of her lingering resentment. “I know. Be careful while traveling okay. And text me as soon as you’re settled.”
“I will. Talk with you later.”
Yvonne stared at her phone after ending the call. Of course, her sister would have concerns. She and Nathan had a whirlwind romance. From first date to engaged in less than nine months. She would prove to her mom, Valerie, and anyone else, that everything was going to work out perfectly. Just like a room with clashing colors and architectural design, she’d find a way to make everything blend together in harmony. Just like she’d convince Nathan that signing the deal with Richard’s network really was the best thing for them.
Chapter 14
Yvonne’s doorbell rang twenty minutes after she got home with Jacob and the eight-piece chicken dinner from the grocery store near her home.
“Jacob, don’t touch that potato salad until I get back.” She snatched the potato salad container out of his little hands.
“I’m hungry,” Jacob said with a whine.
“And that’s Nathan at the door. We’ll all eat together.”
Jacob’s eyes brightened. “Is Dad coming, too?”
“Not for dinner.”
She started to email Richard and ask him not to come over today since Nathan was coming back. Then changed her mind because there was no reason to keep Nathan and Richard apart. They were a family. They had to get used to each other. She wasn’t settling for being nervous or worried about bringing the men in her life together. Because as much as she may not believe it, Richard was a man in her life now. He’d be an important part of every decision she made with Jacob from here on out.
Jacob’s bright expression dimmed. “Oh.”
“But he’ll be over later, and aren’t you glad Nathan is back?”
Jacob nodded and smiled. “Yeah. Maybe he’ll toss the ball with me.”
“I’m sure he’ll love that.” Her son’s bright smile returned, and she internally breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t want Nathan to think Jacob didn’t care anymore now that his dad was back, while also not wanting to censor Jacob’s reactions. “Now wait until we’re back in the kitchen before eating anything.”
He nodded, and she walked out of the kitchen. She glanced through the peephole and the tension in her shoulders eased. When she opened the door, she held out her arms and was wrapped in Nathan’s embrace.
“I missed you,” he said lifting her off her feet. His lips brushed her neck, cheek, and then finally her lips.
His kisses were warm and comforting. He was back. He was happy to see her. She was back on solid ground. The doubts, concerns, frustrations, and general wavering she’d gone through while he was away settled at her feet. “I missed you, too.”
He carried her over the threshold and kicked the door closed behind him. His lips found hers and he kissed her. The same type of urgent, passionate kiss that he’d given her before leaving in the park. He smelled like wood and sweat, his shoulders and body hard in the way they were whenever he’d been working a lot, and her body reacted. She loved Nathan, cared about him, wanted him, but she also felt the desperation in his kiss. His hands clung to her, pulling her closer, his lips demanding, his breathing ragged.
When he pulled back, they were both out of breath. “Wow . . . you really did miss me.”
He half grinned, as if embarrassed. “Sorry. It’s been a long week.”
She placed her hands on his chest. “Never apologize for kissing your fiancée.”
“And how long until I make you my wife?” His hand ran up and down her back.
“April of next year, but you don’t have to wait that long before taking me to bed.”
Nathan closed his eyes and groaned. “Don’t tempt me.”
Yes, tempt him. Tempt him every day. Tempt him so much that he tosses you over his shoulder and carries you to the bedroom.
She ignored the devilish voice in her head. Nathan was a man of faith and tradition. If he wanted to wait . . . well, she wouldn’t push him at his weakest.
“In that case, let’s eat. Jacob is starving and probably already halfway through the potato salad.”
Nathan chuckled and slowly let her go. “You’re right about that. How has he been this week?”
He followed her through the house toward the kitchen. “Really good. I got an email from his teacher saying he did well with the class assignments this week. He agreed to be in the end of the year play and is excited about that.”
“How’d it go with Richard?” Nathan asked. His voice tightened on Richard’s name.
“They’re getting to know each other. You’ll see soon enough. Richard is coming over again tonight.”
She said the last quickly and right as they entered the kitchen. Maybe that was a cheap shot to keep from having a conversation about why Richard was coming over, but she didn’t care. This was step one of not settling. She wanted Richard and Nathan to get along. Well, today was as good a day as any to start.
“Nathan!” Jacob exclaimed, cutting off any reply Nathan may have had for her. Jacob waved him over. “Come on, Mommy said we could eat as soon as you got here.”
Nathan glanced at Yvonne. His eyes said they’d finish what she avoided later. “Mommy is right.”
They settled around the table. Jacob updated Nathan on all the cool things that happened during the week. Every time Jacob focused the conversation on Richard, Nathan easily maneuvered it back to school, afterschool, or playing t-ball. Nathan had signed Jacob up for t-ball and coached his team. Jacob didn’t seem to notice or care about the change of subject, but Yvonne grew a little more irritated each time Nathan did it.
She turned to Nathan as soon as Jacob ran out of the kitchen to go get his homework. He had to finish that before Nathan would go outside and throw the ball.
“Why are you doing that?” she asked.
“Doing what?” He shrugged as if he didn’t know what she was talking about, but the way his eyes slid from hers told another story.
“Not letting him talk about Richard.”
“I’m not doing that. I’m asking him about what’s going on while I’ve been gone.”
“Nathan, you promised to try.”
“When did I promise? I said I trust you, and that I don’t trust him. I never once promised to try and like the guy.”
“Well how about you add that to the list of things you try and do for me,” she snapped back. “He is Jacob’s father. He’s not going away. I want you two to get along. Especially since we’re signing the contract to work with his network.”
Nathan held up a hand. “Hold up? Who said we were signing the contract?”
Yeah, that was not how she planned to enter this conversation. “Richard told me Judy called back asking questions as if negotiating the contract.”
“What? I didn’t tell her to do that.” His eyes narrowed. “Did you tell her that?”
She shook her head. Shocked and hurt by the betrayal in his voice. “Of course not. Not without talking to you first. When Richard mentioned it, I told him we weren’t sure.”
“It sounds like you’re sure now,” Nathan shot back. “You just said we were signing the contract.”
&nbs
p; “That’s only because I think it’s a good idea. Let’s be honest, Nathan, the W.E.W. offer is the best offer. It’s the best platform for our show and it’s the best audience. This is exactly what we want.”
“And it makes us susceptible to the whims of your ex-lover.”
She clenched her teeth. He said lover as if it were dirty. What she’d had with Richard may have been a lot of things, but it wasn’t dirty. She even, begrudgingly, understood why he’d gone back to Natalie after learning she was pregnant.
None of that would matter to Nathan during this conversation. None of that mattered in the long run. The past was exactly that. Past tense. She needed to look to the future and this deal was the future.
“This deal is what we both wanted. Before we even knew Richard was the head of W.E.W. we both wanted to sell the show to this network. Furthermore, we would not be susceptible to his whims. Richard isn’t petty or vindictive. Anything that happens between us as a family.” She pointed to Nathan then herself including him in the reference to family. “Would stay between us. The show is completely separate.”
“I don’t like it.” He shook his head. “I don’t want to work for him.”
So much for not letting male pride get in the way of reason. “We’d still be working for ourselves. He owns the network, but the people with creative control and our producer are the only ones we’d be responsive to.” She reached for his hand when he made a move to get up from the table. “Please, be reasonable. This is the deal we wanted. This is the move we wanted. Are we going to give up our own dreams because of your pride?”
He jerked back. “My pride?” he asked, affronted.
“Yes. Tell me this has nothing to do with my past with Richard and you having an issue with that.”
He opened then closed this mouth. Red spread through his cheeks. “This has everything to do with that. You lied to me, Yvonne. Now he’s suddenly back.”
“I can’t control the people who lied and kept him out of our life this long,” she countered. “Are you saying you wouldn’t have loved me or fallen in love with me if Richard had been in my life all along? That you were okay with dating a single mother as long as the baby daddy wasn’t involved.”
He ran a hand through his hair. This time when he stood she didn’t try to stop him. Jacob ran back into the room waving a sheet of paper in his hand.
“Mommy, I already did the math. I just need to read later.” He slapped the paper down on the table in front of her.
She smiled and tried to hide how much she wanted to throw something at Nathan. “Good deal, baby. Go get your ball and glove while I look over your math problems.”
“Okay,” he kissed her cheek, ran over and hugged Nathan’s legs, then ran out of the kitchen again.
Nathan ran a hand over his mouth. His loud sigh filled the room, followed by a sardonic chuckle. Yvonne glared at him.
“What’s funny?”
“Nothing. Not really. What you said is exactly what my sister said yesterday.”
“You talked to her about me?” Of course, he did. She was his sister. Yvonne talked about Nathan with Valerie. The idea of Nathan talking about their relationship with Cassidy shouldn’t make her feel as if Nathan was talking about her to his ex-girlfriend.
“She stopped in Savannah on her way up to Charleston,” he said sounding defensive. “I can talk to my sister.”
“I know. You didn’t tell me she came by.”
He shrugged. “It was a quick stop on her way. I didn’t think it was that big a deal.”
It really wasn’t, so she let it drop. “What did Cassidy say that’s so funny?”
“She asked if I’d be this upset if Richard had been around from the start.”
At least Cassidy pointed out the same thing that worried her. “And?”
“And the answer was no . . . is no.”
“So, can we move forward with signing the contract?”
Jacob ran back into the kitchen. “Got my glove.”
Relief spread across Nathan’s face. “Sure, buddy, let’s go.”
He picked Jacob up. Jacob squealed with delight and wrapped his arms around Nathan’s neck. They went out the back door without a backwards glance from Nathan.
Yvonne rolled her eyes. He was just going to ignore her question, huh? Fine, she’d let him ignore it for now. They could talk more after Jacob went to bed. She wanted the W.E.W. deal. Wanted it bad, and she wasn’t going to back down. If Nathan still wanted their show to be a success then he’d want this deal, too.
She put up the leftovers. Just as she finished, the doorbell rang. Her pulse jumped. Richard.
She hurried to the front door and glanced out of the peephole. He stood tall and imposing on her porch. Taking a deep breath, Yvonne opened the door.
Richard met her eyes and smiled as if his day had been made. Her mouth felt dry and she fought the urge to squirm under his scrutiny. He stepped forward and she quickly stepped back.
“Nathan’s here,” she blurted out.
His smile dimmed. His shoulders tensed. “I saw his car.”
“He’s out back with Jacob.”
Richard nodded. “I’ll go out back with him.”
They were silent as they went through the house toward the back. She could feel Richard looking at her. She didn’t meet his gaze. She wasn’t sure what he thought or wanted to say. She wanted to ask him to play nice with Nathan. To be easy with him and understand this was a big adjustment for him. That Nathan may not understand things were okay between her and Richard. But saying that would make it look as if Nathan had a problem with them. He did, but Richard didn’t need to know that.
She stayed on the back deck as Richard went down to hang with Jacob and Nathan. Jacob screamed “Daddy” and ran toward Richard. Richard swept Jacob up in his arms and hugged him. Nathan’s face looked like a kid’s who’d had his ice cream cone snatched away. By the time Richard put Jacob down and they walked back over to Nathan, he’d cleared his face and greeted Richard with a smile and handshake.
She gave them their space. Watched as they took turns tossing the ball to Jacob. Everyone on their best behavior. Everyone being extra polite to each other. They played like that for half an hour before Jacob was ready to go back inside and watch cartoons before bed.
Jacob ran inside and the three of them stood silently and awkwardly on the back deck. Nathan came over and put his hand on the small of Yvonne’s back. Possessively marking his territory. Richard looked at them, raised a brow, and turned back to the backyard.
“I noticed the latch on your privacy fence was broken,” Richard said.
“I’m replacing it this weekend,” Nathan answered.
Yvonne bit her lip to hold back her surprise. She’d asked him two weeks ago about replacing that latch, but she let it slide. Let Nathan feel as if he were handling things.
Richard nodded. “I can take care of it tomorrow”
“No,” Nathan said. “I’ve got it. I take care of what needs to be done around here.”
Okay, time to change the subject before they started Tarzan-yelling at each other and pounding their chests. “We were talking about the deal,” Yvonne said.
Nathan stiffened next to her. She didn’t look at him. They needed to get this over with.
Richard turned back to them. “And what have you decided?”
Nathan spoke up before her. “We’ll sign under one condition.”
Richard crossed his arms and eyed Nathan. Yvonne forced herself not to look at him as if he were a stranger. Just an hour ago he was telling her that he didn’t want to work for Richard. Now he had a condition.
“What’s that?” Richard asked.
“We keep your connection to Yvonne a secret,” Nathan said.
This time she couldn’t control her expression. She did look at him as if he’d turned into a red Martian. “Why? Are you ashamed of my connection to him?”
Nathan faced her. “No, but we have an image to uphold. If it got out that
Richard is your child’s father and we’re working for his network things would get complicated. People will ask questions and dive into your past. It could ruin our brand.”
“Our brand?” Is that all he cared about? How the situation would look to other people? Didn’t he understand that if they showed everyone how well they worked together that would do more for their image than pretending that Jacob’s dad didn’t exist?
“Fine,” Richard said before Yvonne could argue.
Her head swung to him. “You’re okay with that?”
At first glance, Richard’s face was that of the impassive, practical businessman. Then she realized he was doing his look. The I-know-this-is-bullshit-but-I’ll-go-along-with-you look. The look he’d given her when she’d told him he had to watch the four-hour-long Pride and Prejudice movie because it would “change his life.”
“I only want to get to know my son,” Richard said evenly. “I keep my personal life out of the spotlight and no one cares about me as the network owner. I have no problem with keeping my connection to Yvonne under wraps. I want your show on my network and have since the first pitch. If that’s what it takes to seal the deal, then I’ll do it.”
“You really don’t care about hiding your connection to Jacob?” And, hiding his connection with her.
He nodded and held out his hand toward Nathan. “As long as we all understand I’m his father regardless of what we show the world then I’m good.”
Nathan hesitated a second then took Richard’s hand. “So am I.”
They both looked at Yvonne. Nathan’s face was apologetic but determined. Richard’s face was a blank slate of let’s-appease-this-guy. She didn’t want to agree to this. She was tired of lies. Tired of pretending as if Richard wasn’t back. But she wanted this deal. They could reveal the truth later. After the show was a success and she and Nathan were married. It wouldn’t matter as much then.
She met Richard’s eyes and nodded. “Deal.”
Chapter 15
The sound of Jacob’s delighted laugh from her backyard was the first thing Yvonne heard when she got out of her car after work. Rochelle had agreed to pick up Jacob and bring him home since Yvonne had to work late.