“We will,” he pulled her stool closer to his and captured her legs with his. “We are in love and it is an emotion that is all about showing, not just saying and I will always show you how much I love you. That reminds me: I have something for you.”
He released her and slid off the stool to leave the room only to come back shortly after with a small red velvet box. “Happy Valentine’s Day my love.”
“I did not get you anything.” She protested as she stared down at the box.
“You have given me everything.” He murmured. “Open it.”
It was a ruby stone suspended on a delicate platinum necklace and the red of the ruby shone dimly in the light. It was lovely!
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered as she took it out of the box and opened the clasp. She turned so he could pin it around her neck. The ruby rested inside her cleavage and she felt the warmth of the stone against her skin. She turned to face him and went willingly into his arms. “I love God and then you my husband,” she said huskily as she clasped him around his neck. “I have waited all my life for someone like you and I will always love you.”
“I have done a lot of things I am not proud of my darling and I want to apologize for being impatient and not waiting on you because everything else pales into insignificance beside you. You are my love and my heart and my heart and my body will always belong to you.” With that he swung her up into his arms and took her back into the bedroom where he spent the night showing her what he meant.
Chapter 11
He woke up the next day to find her gone from the bed. He had spent the night making love to her and realized that he could not get enough of her. He got up and reached for his robe and went to find her. He glanced at the clock beside the bed and realized that it was a quarter past ten; they had not gotten much sleep last night.
He found her in the kitchen preparing breakfast. He stood there in the doorway admiring her petite frame as she hummed a tune beneath her breath and whipped eggs rapidly into a large bowl.
He could see that the coffee was already percolated and what smelled like bacon simmering on top of the stove. She had put on very short pink shorts and pink and white fitted sweater and her hair was in a stubby ponytail. She looked like a precocious teenager.
She looked up and saw him and her smile came softly as she put aside the bowl and came into his open arms. “What are you doing up?” he asked her nuzzling her hair. She was such a tiny thing, he thought whimsically.
“Making you breakfast of course.” She went on her toes and kissed him on the lips. “I figured after last night and this morning we would both need our strength.” She murmured softly.
“We do but I could have taken you out to breakfast,” he protested, kissing her on tip of her small nose.
“I want to cook for my husband,” she pulled out of his arms and went back to beating the eggs.
“What can I do?” he asked her with a shake of his head as he came further into the room.
“Pour us some coffee and have a seat. I am catering to you this morning.”
He refused to let her eat on the next stool close to him but pulled her into his arms and they ate the meal just like that.
“I had no idea you can cook this well,” he teased her bending to kiss her in between bites of his eggs and bacon.
“I hate to cook,” she said with a grimace, leaning back against him in contentment. “I buried myself in singing and writing songs and totally lived in a world of my own.”
“Am I going to have to leave you alone when you are in creative mode?” he asked her curiously.
“Maybe,” she tilted her head to look up at him. “I am just kidding. I want you to be a part of everything I do Tyrese, I am not very good at letting people in but you are definitely in.”
“Good to know,” he kissed her forehead. “Now what do you want us to do?” She gave him a look and he gave a low throaty laugh. “I have absolutely no problem with that.” He murmured and swinging her up into his arms he took her back into the bedroom.
*****
Marion Simmons called the meeting to order. She had taken over most of her husband’s responsibilities and she was taking them seriously. She had told him last night that she had no intention of leaving the ministry into the hands of strangers and she was going to see to it that he was in control again.
“Why are you doing this for me?” He had asked her as they went home from their daughter’s wedding.
“I am actually doing it for us,” she corrected him. “I witnessed our daughter marrying the man of her dreams and that man was not a churchgoer and the love they shares and I asked myself where did we go wrong? We have been together for so many years John and we have taken each other for granted. Maybe the love was not present and you had to seek it elsewhere but whatever it is we need to ask God for his help to fix it.”
“I am willing to try,” he told her humbly. “I love you Marion but we grew apart and I want us to start over.”
So now she was doing damage control and trying to get somewhere.
“We really need to think about what Reverend John did; Sister Marion,” Deacon Williams told her stiffly. “It is not becoming of a man of the cloth to behave the way he did and I cannot see how you can be taking up for him.”
“We serve a God who is big on forgiveness Deacon Williams,” Marion told the man with a benign smile. “If he was not, none of us would be sitting here having this meeting. I have forgiven my husband for his failing of the flesh and I am asking you as fellow human beings to do the same. Our ministry must continue and we need to show a united front to the rest of the public. He has publicly apologized and he has taken a back seat in all of this but we all know that he is very good at leading his people. We need to show him love and forgiveness just like we would show any other brother or sister.”
She looked over at an elder in the church. “You were caught stealing church funds elder Franklin and you explained to us and my husband gave you the money to deal with the situation and welcomed you back into the fold.” Her gaze wandered over to Sister Reid. “You were having an affair with a man outside the ministry and we gave you back your position and welcomed you back. I am just saying this to make us realize that none of us are perfect. My husband sinned against God and myself and we have forgiven him, why shouldn’t you?”
*****
They finally surfaced out of the apartment and the first time they did there were photographers there ready to snap their picture and shout questions at them. They escaped in a car that pulled up for them. He took her to get some of the ‘best hot chocolate in the city’ and they sat in the private alcove and sipped the delicious beverage and watched as a light snow came down.
He told her about his childhood. “Tariq and I had always been close,” he leaned over and wiped the whipped cream mustache off her upper lip. “Even though we are several years apart he has always been there for me even when I was upset with him. Our dad put a lot on him for him to learn the business and when he was ill, Tariq had to basically take over. I was bent on avoiding the huge responsibility and left everything to him.”
“So how did that work out for you?” she asked him teasingly.
“Very well until I met you.” He grinned and then turned serious. “I felt something the first time I heard you sing Kayla and it has been growing ever since. My brother and sister in law were always pressuring me to find the right woman and settle down so I deliberately went against their wishes.” He leaned over and took her hands in his. “I stopped looking when I saw you and I have not looked at another woman since.” He confessed.
“I saw my parents marriage as a guide and I had my doubts that marriages were all about happiness and I balked at the idea of living with someone you can barely tolerate, someone who you can hardly have a conversation with until I met you,” she smiled to take the sting out. “You were never someone I would've thought that I would fall in love with but here we are and there is no one I would rather be with than y
ou.”
“Thank God for that.” He said fervently, bringing her hand up to his lips.
They finished their meal and took a walk in the nearby park. It was still very cold and there was hardly anyone out walking so they had a little solitude until they reached back to the apartment where they were bombarded by photographers.
*****
Erica answered the phone after a moment of hesitation. She had not spoken to him since the story had broken about their affair and she had to admit that she felt a little better since she had spoken to his wife. The woman did not judge her and she remembered how she had behaved when she had found out her husband had been having an affair.
“Why are you calling me?”
“To find out how you are doing,” his voice sounded subdued.
“What is it to you?” she asked him coldly. She was wondering how she could have thought she was in love with him.
“I care about you Erica and I want to know how you are doing,” he said patiently.
“It’s not love anymore?” she asked sneeringly. “You told me how much you loved me and how you never want to end the relationship. But all that was a lie wasn’t it?”
“It was not a lie but you see that I have to stay away from you now. I am sorry Erica that because of my selfishness you are now suffering.” He told her sincerely.
“Thank you for your concern Reverend John,” she said stressing on his name and his title. “But I would appreciate it if you did not call this number again.” She hung up before he could respond and listened if he was going to call back. She had failed twice now and she was going to be staying away from men for quite a long time.
*****
“So how does it feel man to be married? Is it like a noose around your neck?” His best friend Raymond teased him.
They just finished working out at the gym downstairs at the manor and were sitting on the floor drinking bottles of water. Tyrese had left Kayla upstairs with Lorelei and Tariq was in his study doing some work.
It was approaching seven and Raymond had stopped by to hang out with his friend for an hour. They had partially moved to the manor but were going to be sharing the time between the two places. The honeymoon was over and he had gone back to the office.
“All nooses should feel so good,” Tyrese said dryly, drinking down his water. “I love being with her. I thought it would be weird living with another person in my space but I love it. We do things together and we talk a great deal.”
“I never knew I would live to see the day man,” Raymond said shaking his head and looking at his friend. “I see the picture of the two of you in the magazines and you look great together. You owe me bro.”
“I do and I always pay my debts,” Tyrese said with a grin. “How about two tickets to my wife’s concert on Saturday? You can take that lady you have been seeing for the past three weeks.”
“She is no longer in the picture,” Raymond said with a grimace. “Too clingy for my taste.”
“You are going to find that special someone one day,” Tyrese said clapping him on the back.
“As I said before, never knew I would live to see the day.”
*****
Tyrese looked up in surprise as she stood framed in the doorway of his office. He had left her this morning sleeping after a particularly hectic night of lovemaking and had woken her up with a kiss but she had gone straight back to sleep as soon as he had left.
“Hey,” he stood up immediately, his surprise evident. He had been so deep into a file he was reading that he had not paid any mind to the commotion just outside his office. She had a basket with her and he realized in surprise that it was almost noon. “What brings you here?”
She put the basket on the desk and went into his arms. “Can’t a girl just pop by and see her husband?” she asked him mildly.
“And that husband is very appreciative,” he murmured kissing her softly on the lips. “I thought you had rehearsals today,” he loved the smell of her provocative perfume and the way the baby blue cashmere sweater hugged her small frame.
“Later on today and I am going to my mom’s for an hour after that. I just wanted to come and see you.”
“I am glad you did,” he searched her face quizzically. “I want to become involved in church.”
She eased back and looked at him searchingly. “You attend church with me and I love that.”
“I want more baby,” he put her away from him and started pacing. “I hear you pray each time we are together and your commitment to God and I want that as well. I love you very much and that is something that is so wonderful that I cannot explain it but I want to have a relationship with God.”
Kayla felt her heart pounding inside her breasts. She had been praying to God for him to find him to touch her husband’s heart and let him see that there is something missing from his life. She never preached to him, preferring to let God handle it and now he had done so.
“You want to become a member of the church?” she asked a little breathlessly.
“I want to do that and I want us to become a team.” He stopped in front of her and took her hands in his. “You changed my life when you came into it. You are pure and beautiful and you are what I have been looking for all my life. I want that cleansing salvation that you are always talking about.” He said with a small smile.
“I never thought I could be happier than I am now but I was wrong,” she shifted into his arms and looked up at him. “You have made me the happiest woman in the entire world!”
*****
“I am so happy to hear that he wants to give his life to the Lord honey, now your circle is completed.” Marion Simmons told her daughter after hearing the good news. Her daughter had come over and they were having a light brunch before she had to run off to the studios. Reverend John Simmons was over at the sanctuary having a meeting with the elders of the church. They had taken him back into the fold thanks to the practical persuasion of his wife and now he was working tirelessly to regain their trust.
“How are things between you and Dad?” Kayla asked her soberly as she settled back against the sofa and sipped her herbal tea. It felt so strange for her to be back here and she could not believe that this was the place where she had grown up. Her home was with Tyrese now.
“We are getting there honey,” her mother said with a small smile. “We talk more these days and we are actually getting on better than we have in years.”
“Did you love him when you first got married Mom?” Kayla asked her curiously.
Marion thought about lying but decided against it. “We were very young and we were in church together. We were drawn together because we had the same intention and dreams and that was the main thing between us. He would bounce ideas off me and I would give him my opinion and we grew close.” She paused and looked down into her tea. “We were never in love but we had a healthy respect for each other and we decided to get married.”
“What about now?” Kayla asked her softly, finally beginning to understand them. Suddenly she knew what her next song was going to be based on and she was going to name it: ‘Waiting for love’.
“Now it is like we have just met for the first time and we are exploring each other’s feelings.” She said with a smile. “We are going to be fine honey but I really regret that we went into this very important relationship without the main ingredient and that is love.”
“At least you are starting to communicate and that's a start.”
*****
Kayla penned the words as soon as she went to the studios. She had become a regular there and no one gawked at her anymore. She had told Brian that she needed a little time to compose something and he had told her to go right ahead.
“Don’t settle for anything less but hold out for the best/Just wait until you find the one who is going to make your life a lot better/Don’t settle for companionship and a hand to hold but wait for the one will be there through the darkness and the cloudy days/It is not easy living without love
so it is best to wait for love.”
*****
“How are you feeling?” she asked the massive crowd as soon as she came out on stage.
“We are great and we love you!” they screamed.
“I love you too and God loves you even more!” she called out. “Before I go into my performance I just want to share some thing with you. A lot of people have been speculating about my life as Mrs. Malcolm and whether or not this is just another celebrity marriage but I am here to tell you that this is the real thing and I love my husband. Hi baby!” she waved to him sitting there in the front row along with her parents, his brother and sister in law, Kathy and her husband and Raymond and his latest girlfriend.
Tyrese blew her a kiss which she caught and had the crowd roaring. “Love is something that takes a lot of time and is a total commitment and so saying I want to sing the latest song I have written for all those who have decided to wait for love!”
She stepped back and gave a nod to the band playing behind her and the backup singers before lifting the microphone to her mouth. It was her first time performing the song and she sung the words with a poignancy that had the audience sitting still and listening to the sound of her voice and the words she was singing. She further entranced them by going to the edge of the stage and stooping down to take her husband’s hand as she sung the chorus: “I have waited for love and I have been rewarded/Your touch and the way you make love to me is like a gift from above/I have waited for love and all along it was you/I am so glad I waited and found you.”
He did not want to let go of her hand and he felt the familiar feeling of her song and her voice wrapping around him. She brought his hand up to her lips for a kiss before letting go and moving further on stage to finish the song.
The applause was tumultuous and she received several standing ovations during the performance. She glanced down and saw that her father was standing with the rest of them and clapping her enthusiastically.
Love So Heavenly (A Clean Christian African American Romance) Page 11