His fingers on her wrist flexed, and his mouth tightened. For the first time, frustration replaced his constant look of relaxation and devil-may-care attitude.
They’d stopped in front of a boutique on Maple Street. The door to the store opened, filling the air with the cheerful sound of the wind chime at the door. Kacey glanced at the couple coming out of the store and tensed. Aaron released her wrist and turned.
The guy, tall and lanky, with the same rusty brown skin as hers, dressed in a pair of chino shorts and a white polo, grinned. “Kacey, how’s it going?”
Kacey returned the smile. “Hey, Dad.”
Cliff Randal strolled over and gave Kacey a hug. “What are you doing out here?”
“I’m walking home. I tricked Aaron into having dinner at Luigi’s.”
Cliff turned to Aaron and chuckled. “Luigi’s, huh? I hope you ordered something other than pizza.”
Aaron held up the pizza box. “To be fair, she did try to warn me away from ordering an entire pizza.” Aaron held out his other hand. “Aaron Henderson.”
Cliff shook Aaron’s hand. “I know who you are. Good luck with the merger.” He stepped to the side to indicate the woman who’d come out with him. “This is Brenda.”
Brenda didn’t stroll over, but she did smile and lift her hand. “Hello.”
Kacey waved back. “Hi, Brenda.”
“You are coming to your daddy’s birthday cookout on Saturday?” Brenda asked.
“I may have to work,” Kacey said. She could get off, but hanging out with her dad’s family, overhearing the remarks from them about how grateful she should be that he’d taken care of his mistakes, was about as high on her priority list as getting her toenails removed.
Cliff’s smile dimmed somewhat. “I’d love it if you came by for a few minutes.”
Kacey started to come up with a reason why she couldn’t, but Cliff gave her a hopeful look. Her dad’s side of the family might like to rub it in her face, but she was grateful for her dad’s willingness to try. She nodded. “I’ll drop by for a few minutes.”
“Good. Can’t wait to see you.” He looked at Aaron. “Come by, too, if you like. You two have a good night.” Cliff strolled over to Brenda and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Brenda snaked her arm around his waist so tight Kacey wondered if her dad could breathe. Cliff threw up his hand in a wave as they walked down the street to where his black Suburban was parked.
“Your dad and his girlfriend seem nice,” Aaron said.
Kacey watched the Suburban disappear down the street. “That’s his wife.”
“Oh.”
Kacey slowly continued down the street, and Aaron followed. “Have they been married long?”
“Why would you ask?”
“She stayed back. Almost like she was still unsure of how to relate to her new stepdaughter.”
“Cliff and Brenda have been married for nearly thirty years.”
“Oh.” Aaron nodded. Then his brows drew together and he stared at her. “Oh.”
“Yeah, oh. We’re cool, but I’m a constant reminder of her husband’s indiscretion.”
“A little awkward, I’d guess.”
“That’s a nice way of putting things. I don’t know why they stayed together.”
“He must love her.”
“Then why did he cheat with my momma?” The million-dollar question that had bugged her all her life. Why, if he loved Brenda? Why did her momma always have to be the “other woman” instead of ever finding the guy who loved her?
“People do stupid things,” Aaron said.
Like ignore their dreams and work hard to make up for a parent’s mistake. The thought didn’t revive her anger. Instead a heaviness filled her chest and questions she’d never asked before swirled in her head. Along with thoughts of Dewayne, Harold, Julio, and Aaron. Why were she, her momma, and sisters always the women for fun, never the women for keeps? Why did her momma, sister, and yes, even she go for those fruitless relationships?
Kacey pushed the bike and walked faster. “Yes, people do.”
Chapter 15
On Monday morning at six thirty, Aaron picked up his cell phone and called his best friend/brother-in-law, Fredrick Jenkins. Fred owned his own accounting firm and usually got up early in order to be the first one in the office. Aaron often called Fred early in the mornings or late in the afternoons when he knew his friend wasn’t in the midst of a busy workday.
Fred answered on the fourth ring, right before Aaron was about to hang up. What sounded like a blender and loud talking came through the phone before his friend’s voice.
“Hello?” Fred answered sounding exasperated.
Aaron frowned. “Is everything okay?”
Aaron went into the kitchen and checked the fridge. Not surprising, there was nothing of interest in there. The bare shelves were reminiscent of the shelves of the fridge in his apartment back home. That was where the similarities ended, though. Everything about this apartment was clean and comfortable. From the matching green living room furniture and sturdy oak tables, the queen-size bed with a mattress that had to have been constructed in heaven, and the simple kitchen with cushioned white chairs around a white dinette table. Not lavish by any means and all purely functional, but compared to the sparse furniture he rarely used in his own apartment, the place was five star. Made him consider actually taking the time to properly furnish his own place back home.
“Oh, Aaron, hey, I didn’t look to see who was calling.” The whirling sound increased in the background.
“What’s that noise?”
“Janiyah is making breakfast smoothies. Apparently we’re getting healthy before the baby arrives.” The sound of his sister’s voice rose over the noise of the blender in the background. “I’m not complaining about getting healthy, baby.” Fred sounded like he’d pulled the phone away from his face. “I’m just saying nine months is a long time to only drink smoothies for breakfast.”
“Is this a bad time?” Aaron asked.
“Nah, I’m good. I just have to choke down some strawberry kale concoction your sister is making. And don’t you try to sneak in any bananas.”
Aaron guessed that last part was for Janiyah. He could picture his friend, standing in his regular button-up shirt and tie, rubbing his nose beneath his glasses while Janiyah exasperated him yet again. It was one of the things Aaron was sure Fred loved about her. No one ruffled Fred’s feathers better than Janiyah.
“She’s lost her mind, hasn’t she?” Aaron asked.
“Let’s just go with overly concerned. About everything.”
Aaron chuckled and shook his head. “I can’t believe she’s going to be a mother. That you’re having a baby.”
“Neither can I, man.” Fred’s voice filled with awe. “We waited twelve weeks before saying anything, but it still hasn’t quite sunk in. Janiyah is driving David crazy. She’s over there asking Sandra tons of questions and watching everything they do with Davina,” he said, referring to David’s daughter, the newest member of the Henderson family.
“Ha, I bet she is driving him crazy. What about you? Is she making you go crazy?”
“Not all day every day,” Fred said with a laugh. “Your sister is already full of energy; so now imagine her pumped up on pregnancy hormones.”
Aaron cringed. “Better you than me.”
“Good thing I love the woman, or else I’d throw her out for making me drink kale every morning.” Fred raised his voice, again probably for Janiyah’s benefit.
“Shut up, Freddy!” Janiyah’s words were clear, and the sound of the blender had ended. “Here’s your breakfast. Hey, Aaron!” She yelled the last part.
“Tell her I said hey.”
“I will,” Fred said. “So what’s up with you? How are things going with your college buddy?”
“Not too bad, actually. He’s got a good setup, and combining our fleets will be profitable for both of us.”
“That’s great, Aaron. Glad to see thing
s are still going well.”
“They are. But that’s not why I’m calling.” Aaron went into the living room and sat on the cushy green sofa.
“What’s up?”
Aaron thought about his last conversation with Kacey and the biggest thing that had bugged him since they’d parted. “Do you think I’m afraid of responsibility?”
“Say what?” came Fred’s confused reply.
“You heard me. Am I afraid of responsibility?” Kacey’s accusation had stuck to Aaron like hot asphalt. She had to be wrong. He wasn’t afraid of responsibility. He ran his own company. That meant something.
“Well, in a way, yeah.”
“Damn, you just gonna say it like that?”
“If you call me with a question, I’ll give you a straight answer.”
Exactly why he’d called Fred.
“I don’t think you avoid responsibility because you can’t handle it or anything,” Fred said. “You and Janiyah are a lot alike. You don’t want the typical ordinary life. For some reason you both like to do things your way and on your own terms, which means if there is a hint of traditional in something, you want no part. You’re looking for the next new, shiny, non-traditional thing.”
“You got Janiyah to be happy with the house in the suburbs, job, and kid thing. That’s pretty traditional.”
“That’s because I’m not changing who she is. Believe me, she still lives and works on her own terms.”
“I can’t see myself doing that. Settling into the routine. Hell, it annoys me now that I can’t go on the road as much because I have to handle the office stuff.”
“Aaron, you’re not looking at your success the right way. You’ve got staff to do the work, now you can really just travel for fun. No deadlines, no deliveries, no pressure. You can handle the office stuff, go on vacations, and still have a successful business. It’s evolution. The only thing that remains the same is that change is constant.”
“Where in the world did you hear that?”
“I don’t know, somewhere.” There was a pause. “Ugh, this smoothie is as bad as it looks.”
“Toss it out.”
“Nah, she made it, I’ll drink it. Then I’ll stop and grab something on the way in to the office. Just don’t let her know,” Fred said with a laugh. “Hey, are you really okay? What made you ask that question?”
“Nothing really, just a conversation I had with this woman.”
“She shot you down?” Fred asked, surprise in his voice.
“Not really. We’d already hooked up, but we can’t anymore.”
“Damn, Aaron, please don’t let Janiyah know you hooked up with someone else. She thinks you and Liz are really hitting it off.”
Aaron rolled his eyes heavenward. Again with this Liz thing. “Liz and I slept together a few times then agreed to see other people. Now we’re just friends. She’s seeing that architect.”
“Janiyah says he’s just a rebound thing and that you two will be back together again.”
Aaron groaned and realized this thing with Liz was going to be a bigger headache than he’d expected. Exactly why he never should have slept with his sister’s best friend. Janiyah had seen happily-ever-after in every relationship since she and Fred got married.
“Look, I’ll handle the situation with Liz and make it very clear to Janiyah that I’m not getting serious with her best friend. I’m not trying to get serious with anyone.”
“Hmm, it sounds like that fear of responsibility is rising up again,” Fred said with mock surprise.
Aaron wished his friend were there so he could punch him in the shoulder. “You know what, I’m gonna let you go. Thanks, Fred.”
“Hey, anytime. I’m always happy to rain the truth on you.”
• • •
Reggie stomped back into his office and slammed his cell phone on the desk. “That woman drives me crazy sometimes.”
Aaron slowly sat back in his chair, where he’d been reviewing the latest profit-and-loss statements for their businesses, and eyed Reggie. His friend paced back and forth, his mammoth muscles bunching with frustration beneath his blue uniform shirt as he ran a hand over his face.
“There are a lot of women in your life,” Aaron said slowly. “Which one is driving you crazy?”
Reggie took a deep breath and dropped his hands. “Camila. I love her, I swear, but…damn.”
“What happened?”
“She wants to go to a party.”
Aaron raised his brows and waited for more. Reggie stared at Aaron, then held out his hands as if waiting for Aaron to get upset.
“Is the party at the gates of hell? Because I don’t see a problem.”
“She’s pregnant,” Reggie said, again with an expectant expression.
Aaron frowned and tried to understand his friend’s frustration. “Okay, so she can’t drink. Which means you can’t. Is that why you’re upset?”
“Our days of partying are over. She’s pregnant. We’re about to become parents. We shouldn’t be hanging out, acting foolish with a bunch of people with no kids.”
“Reggie, what’s the big deal? You’re having a kid, but that doesn’t mean you suddenly lose your ability to have fun.”
Reggie shook his head. “You don’t understand. We have to set the example now. Start living the lives we want our kids to emulate. But the closer we get to her due date, the more she wants to go out, party, travel. Why can’t she just be happy?” The confusion in Reggie’s voice went way beyond the simple question of why Camila wanted to go to a party.
Back in college, Reggie had partied with Aaron, but he’d also always been the more responsible of the two. His friend’s transition from wild playboy to role model of the year didn’t surprise Aaron. Yet Aaron didn’t see the link between going to a party and setting a bad example for his kid. Unborn or not. Another reason why he wasn’t ready for marriage. What if Kacey felt the same as Reggie?
Aaron shook his head and almost slapped his face. No thoughts of Kacey and marriage.
He jumped up from the chair and clapped his hands. “What do you want for lunch?” He didn’t want to get into Reggie’s issues with Camila and he damn sure needed another topic to discuss.
Reggie stopped staring in the distance and turned to Aaron. “What?”
Aaron rubbed the back of his neck, which was as stiff as his truck bed after spending the entire morning going over spreadsheets. “I’m starving and will eat pretty much anything.” He thought about the leftover pizza sitting in his fridge. “Except pizza from Luigi’s.”
Reggie smirked. “Yeah, I heard about your date there with my sister.”
Aaron froze in the middle of stretching his arms above his head. He’d been sure the kids had reported he’d left the park with Kacey, but when Reggie hadn’t brought it up this morning, he’d hoped maybe they hadn’t. Reggie seemed way too chill about Aaron and Kacey’s “date.” Surprising. Aaron had expected his friend to come out with more brotherly indignation.
Aaron lowered his arms. “It wasn’t a date. We ran into each other and both wanted something to eat.”
Reggie crossed his thick arms. “Honestly, Aaron, if I thought you could be serious about her, I’d say okay. I want her to get married, be happy, all of that.”
Aaron stood and held up his hands. “Hold up, I’m not dating your sister. I like her. She’s cool and easy to talk to, but you and I both know I’m not ready to settle down the way you have. I like partying too much.”
“I don’t know, the other night you said you’d treasure her. Got me thinking you’re ready to give up the single life.”
Though Reggie teased, Aaron was eager to get off this topic of conversation as well. “I was tired. It was late. Now, can we figure out lunch?”
“Are you sure? Because with us going into business, if you two were serious I’d deal. Keep things in the family, so to speak.” The smirk left Reggie’s face and he got the serious expression Aaron knew all too well.
“Where is
this coming from, Reggie?” Aaron asked. He couldn’t mask his surprise at Reggie’s one-eighty.
Reggie shrugged. “The ‘treasure her’ comment, I guess. You seemed sincere. And again, I like things staying in the family. Figured you two together wouldn’t be so bad if you meant what you’d said. So tell me, is there anything going on?”
Aaron’s shoulders tensed. Now was the time to come clean. He didn’t. Couldn’t. His outburst and the trip to Luigi’s were giving Reggie dangerous ideas. He already had Janiyah practically planning his wedding. He didn’t need Reggie doing the same.
Aaron waved his arms back and forth in front of him and shook his head. “There’s nothing going on. Seriously.”
Reggie studied him, then finally exhaled heavily. “All right. I’ll take your word and won’t bring it up again.” Reggie snapped his finger and pointed at Aaron. “Oh, by the way, I heard you agreed to coach Marcus Kestner’s team. You sticking around for a while?”
“Hold up, I didn’t agree to coach them. I just offered to help out while I’m in town.”
Reggie chuckled. “Kids hear what they want to hear. He’s already bragging to half the town that he’s got a former professional baseball player coaching their team.”
“What? I’m not professional. I turned down the contract.”
Reggie gave Aaron a what can I say? look. “Again, kids tend to only hear parts of the story. His grandmother is happy someone stepped in to help. Marcus’s mother passed away a few years ago, and with his dad in the military now, she’s the one who’s raising the kid. Baseball is his life, and his dad supports him. But with his constant tours overseas there’s only so much he can do, ya know?”
“I get it, but I’m not here permanently. I’m happy to help the kids, but coaching them…”
“Don’t look so panicked.” Reggie’s smile returned. “The kids like you and they’re proud of your help. Don’t worry, they won’t get too attached.” Reggie glanced at his watch. “Let’s go to Momma’s Kitchen for lunch.”
Aaron perked up at the thought of going there. Not just because he’d see Kacey, the food was good too. “You don’t get tired of eating there?”
From One Night to Forever Page 12