No Place Like Home

by Trina Crooks

  The sun shined into the room, waking him from a surprisingly peaceful sleep. Antonio instinctively turned over to face Sonya as he normally did and found her side of the bed empty. But just as he was about to get up to go look for her, she came walking out of the large closet with a suitcase in her hand. “So, that’s it?” he asked as he sat there. “You’re leaving.”

  “I have to go back.”

  They stared at each other for a while, the quiet in between them seeming extremely loud before he sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Okay.”

  She turned and walked out of the room without so much of a hug or kiss goodbye which made him run after her. He couldn’t let her leave like this. In the short time Antonio had known Sonya he’d grown to love her and her leaving was hurting him. “Sonya!”

  She stopped at the bottom of the steps and when she turned to face him, he could see that she’d probably been crying all night long. Her eyes were so red and puffy and he hated seeing her like this. “Baby we can work this out. I don’t want to lose you. Let’s try a long-distance relationship.”

  Sonya placed her keys on the counter and gave him a quick kiss. “Good-bye Antonio.” She then walked right out the front door.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Please enjoy.”

  “Oh, I will,” Mrs. Sexton said as she grabbed her packages and exited The Sweet Tooth leaving me all alone in the store. It was the end of the day so I walked over to the door, turned the sign to closed, and then grabbed my belongings to go on home.

  “Good night Sonya,” Mrs. Forrester said to me when we both exited our stores. “I am so happy that you are back home.”

  “Yeah, me too,” I responded with a lackluster heart. I was elated to be back in familiar territory but I was missing Antonio terribly. Walking away from him was the hardest thing I’d ever done in my whole life but I was not happy there and just being with him was not enough to overcome that.

  I walked toward my car and practically fell inside from exhaustion. I wasn’t sleeping well with me not getting a good night’s sleep in the week I’d been back in Jasper. Even though I went to bed extremely early because I had to get up at three in the morning, I still couldn’t get enough rest. My mind was always on Antonio. What was he doing? Was he missing me like I was missing him? He did text and call me the first couple of days after I left but it hurt too much to hear from him so I simply didn’t respond back. I hoped after a while that the pain I was feeling would subside but it hadn’t done that yet.

  I made the short drive down the road to The Spring Estates, the name they gave the fifty condos that were now completed. That was my new home since I submitted my house to the vacation rentals. It was snatched up quickly and I was in no mood to try to kick the older couple out. So, I rented one of the fifth-floor units, which was the top floor and made myself at home. I was actually pretty happy with this change of pace because my house had memories of Antonio in it and I didn’t want to be reminded of him every time I turned around.

  I dropped my keys on the large center island of the kitchen and immediately pulled out a cookie from the box I brought home for myself. It was a sugar cookie in the shape of a heart with pink frosting on it. Tomorrow was Valentine’s Day and everyone in the town was coming in to get some baked goods for their sweetheart. I was surprised that I even had a few left but I was happy too. Now I had something to mindlessly chew on as I tried to keep my mind from wandering to Antonio. “It will get better,” I said to myself just as someone knocked on the door.

  “Hey girl,” Laya said as she stepped on inside.

  “How did I know it was you?” She had come by every day since I’d been back, partly to see how I was doing, partly because she lived just two floors down from me. Laya got a preview of them while she was dating Timothy, who was a part of the construction crew building this place. She fell in love and actually bought a condo on the third floor as soon as they came available.

  “I was waiting on you to get home. I can’t believe you are keeping the store open for extended hours these last couple of days.”

  “Valentine’s Day is a special day and everyone is picking up items. There are a lot of orders tomorrow so I will be getting an early start on that. I will be exhausted by the end of the day tomorrow though which will be great because maybe I won’t have time to think.”

  Laya helped herself to a cookie before we both sat down on the couch. “Have you talked to him?”

  “No.”

  “I think you are making a big mistake. You should hear him out. Why can’t you do that?”

  “I don’t want long distance and that is what he is suggesting.”

  “I’m sure he can figure it out. He’s a millionaire. He will be here more than he will be in New York,” Laya said with frustration at me. “I didn’t want that either but you pushed me to keep seeing Tim and I am so glad I did.”

  I smiled because I had never seen her so happy. They were really making a go of this long-distance thing, although Dallas and Jasper were only two hours apart. I barely called that long distance but I certainly understood. “I’m happy you guys are making it work.”

  “Well I want you to make it work too.”

  “I don’t think mine is so easy.” I pulled my feet underneath me and got more comfortable on the sofa. “Are you guys making plans for tomorrow?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

  “Yes. I am going to Dallas tomorrow. I’m leaving work early to make the drive. He says he has a special night planned for us.”

  “That’s great. I hope you have a wonderful time.”

  Laya stayed at my house for another hour before she ran off to call her boyfriend and I snuggled up on my couch which is where I’d slept several nights this week. The bed I bought for myself felt too big for just me so I preferred lying on the comfortable sofa. I was almost ready to dose off to Wheel of Fortune, when my cell phone began vibrating on the coffee table. I glanced at it quickly and saw that it was Kenyon so I picked it up. “Hey.”

  “Hey Sonya. How was your day?”

  “Busy. Everyone wants sweets for their sweet. But tomorrow should be better. I might get out of there early after I make the special orders.” Usually the bakery closed at three in the afternoon but I extended the hours for the last couple of days which the customers appreciated. Tomorrow I could go back to normal.

  “That’s good to hear. So, what are you doing tomorrow for the holiday?”

  I pulled the phone from my ear to look at it. Kenyon was all too aware of the situation between Antonio and I so I was unsure why he would ask this dumb question. “Uh…”

  “I know that you don’t have your man here but I don’t want you to sit at home by yourself. Come have dinner with the group.”

  “I don’t really feel like being out with you guys tomorrow. I don’t want to bring all of the happiness down with my sadness.”

  “Well I will be alone too actually. Tanisha had to go away for a family emergency.”

  “Aww,” I said.

  “I know. No Valentine’s nookie for me.”

  I started laughing but knew that he was seriously wishing his love was going to be home with him tomorrow. “I don’t know.”

  “We are meeting at Rizzo’s for dinner so tell me you will be my date. Please! Please!” he begged like only he could.

  I sighed before I answered. “I guess I will go. Just for a little while. If those other couples start getting too chummy, I am out of there.”

  “Girl, who are you telling? I will beat you out of there. I can be depressed by myself. I don’t need them to push me into it.”

  We hung up the phone and I drifted off to sleep at seven o’clock because I had to be at work earlier than usual tomorrow. By the time I got into the store I busied myself with making all of the orders I had in house already and even found more orders placed overnight via the order form I started online. I was starting to regret that. Who knew so many people in Jasper Springs wanted cookies and cakes on a regular basis? But
several cakes and dozens of cookies later I was ready to start on my regular display of the day.

  The bell dinged over the door around noon and in walked Gigi, Antonio’s grandmother. Normally I would be excited to see her but not today. She was just a reminder of Antonio, whom I was missing tremendously on this day. “Hello Sonya.”

  “Hi. How are you doing?”

  “I’m doing great.”

  I stood there with my professional smile. “Is there anything you are looking for in particular today?”

  Gigi placed her purse on the glass counter and reached over to grab my hand. “I know things are a little shaky with you and my grandson but nothing has changed between us honey. No need to be so formal.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come off that way.” I placed a genuine smile on my face while I helped her to find some selections for her and Mr. Frazier. “Have you and Mr. Frazier picked a wedding date?”

  “Oh, we are still deciding. He wants the summer but I am leaning toward fall.”

  “Either way, I know it is going to be a wonderful day.”

  Gigi’s face lit up. “It will.”

  I packaged up the half a dozen cookies that Gigi wanted and threw a couple of cupcakes in for her before she left and I went on with my day. There was a steady stream of customers until I finally locked up the store and went home to catch a quick nap. I even wished that Kenyon would forget about me but oh no. He texted me to make sure I knew he was picking me up at 6:00 for the 6:30 reservation. I pushed myself off of the couch, jumped into the shower, and then dressed myself in a cute little black dress. Wearing red today was not exactly what I was in the mood for because my heart was not in it, but to avoid all of the questions about my gloomy clothing, I accessorized with red. A red purse, shoes and jewelry completed my look and would hopefully be satisfactory to my friends.

  “You look pretty,” Kenyon complimented me as he opened the passenger door.

  “Thank you. You know it’s not too late to just go over to the diner for a burger.”

  “Oh no. A steak has been on my mind all day long. That is the least I can get since I’m lonely today.”

  “Alright,” I answered with a chuckle as we drove the short distance to the steakhouse. We arrived and found the large table with our friends who were already there eating appetizers. “You couldn’t wait?”

  “Not when you have a pregnant woman around,” Michael said as he stood up to pull out my chair. I was seated next to him while Kenyon chose to go around the table to sit next to Desiree. The table was large enough to seat ten people which made me wonder were more people supposed to come.

  “Why do we have this big table?”

  Kira spoke up for the group. “In our defense, I didn’t know Tanisha was not going to be here and we wanted extra room. They always try to squeeze people onto small tables and I wanted my food to be able to spread out. And I don’t want to sit on top of each other, you know.”

  I chuckled because I did know and actually appreciated that they thought about that. I pushed the extra chairs down and tried to scoot over to give us more of that desired room when another figure came over to our table—Tanisha. My eyes shot daggers at Kenyon.

  “Oh baby. I thought you were away for family,” he exclaimed with his hand over his mouth in feigned surprise. “I am so happy you are here.”

  “Yeah. I managed to get away.”

  I was so upset I was almost in tears. “I can’t believe you guys. I am going to go.”

  “I wish you would stay,” a voice said from behind me which held me captive to my chair. The seat next to me pulled out and Antonio sat down next to me looking as fine as he always did and was definitely a sight for my sore eyes.

  “But…”

  “Your friends lied to you for me. I wanted to surprise you. There was no way I could not spend this lover’s holiday without the woman I love.”

  I caressed his cheek lovingly. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’ve been miserable without you.”

  “Me too.”

  “So, I am moving here.”

  I was stunned at the words coming out of his mouth. “You can’t. Your life is in New York.”

  “But the woman I love is here. I can do my job from anywhere. I just want to be here with you.”

  “I can’t let you do that,” I said although I didn’t mean the words. I would love nothing more than for him to relocate here to be with me but I truly wanted it to be his desire too.

  “I love you Sonya. I’m moving and there is nothing you can say to change my mind.” He then leaned forward and kissed me so passionately that I literally forgot where I was. It wasn’t until the ‘aws’ began to sing out around us that I was brought back to reality. I giggled as I pulled away from this fabulous man that I loved. My heart was so full. Antonio was now here so everything was right with my world.

  Epilogue

  “Could you be any more precious,” I said as I stared into the beautiful brown eyes of Cara, Kira’s four-month-old daughter. “Just so cute.”

  “Well I am waiting for you to give her a little playmate,” Kira fussed.

  I just shook my head as I looked at little Cara. She was so precious that she made a woman long for a baby of her own and I was one of them. “I hear ya.”

  “You better.” I rocked the baby for a little while longer before I handed her back to my friend. “I better get out of here but I will see you in a bit.”

  I left Kira’s home and made a pit stop at The Sweet Tooth to pick up a package, before I immediately drove to Prescott’s Event Center which was a new business that just opened up in Jasper Springs. Mr. and Mrs. Prescott felt that the town needed another place to hold events besides at the community center. I certainly agreed and since its completion, there were many special occasions that were celebrated within those walls.

  I found the bridal suite and went inside to find Gigi standing in front of a mirror looking as beautiful as she always did. “It’s about time you got here.”

  “Sorry. I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I woke up early this morning to make your wedding cake and then everyone seemed to need me for one thing or another.” I stood with my arms crossed and a huge smile on my face. “But it looks like you didn’t need me. You are absolutely beautiful.” Gigi had on a gray suit dress that was certainly age appropriate but she still had a bit of sexiness to her.

  “I can’t believe that I am doing this at my age.” Today was her and Mr. Frazier’s wedding day and from the looks of it, Gigi was a bit nervous.

  “You are never too old to marry the man you love.”

  “This should really be you and Antonio.”

  “It is too soon for us.” Antonio and I had only been dating for ten months but it had been the most amazing ten months of my life. Everything that I hoped for in a man he possessed and I couldn’t believe how lucky I was that he came into my life. His coming to Jasper Springs last Christmas was the best thing that ever happened for me.

  “Eh,” she said with a wave of her hand, dismissing my statement.

  “Did my friend Laya drop off my dress for me?” Since I was going to be at work this morning, I thought it would be helpful for someone to drop off my dress here to the venue. Gigi pointed it out and I took it with me to take a quick shower and then dressed myself in the purple dress I picked out for the nuptials.

  Gigi stared at me lovingly and said, “Now you are the one that looks beautiful.”

  “If you say so.”

  “My grandson lucked out when he managed get you in his life. I prayed he would find a woman of substance and character and wasn’t after him for his money and here you are.”

  “Thank you. I feel lucky to have him myself,” I said as I gave her a quick hug and tried to hold my emotions in check. I could cry at the drop of a hat these days and a wedding surely was something that I had to have tissues on hand for. “I am going to go out and see what is going on.” The wedding was set to
begin in just thirty minutes. Most of Jasper Springs would probably be in attendance for this joyous occasion and I couldn’t wait. Although I still hadn’t heard from Antonio who was coming into to town from a business trip. If he didn’t hurry up, he was going to miss his own grandma’s wedding day.

  *~~~*

  Antonio was running late but he could see the sign for Jasper Springs up ahead. He only had a half an hour to run by the condo he now shared with Sonya to change clothes and then race over to the event center where the festivities were going to be held. He hoped that Sonya set out his suit already so he didn’t have to look for it.

  “Where are you at?” his brother asked him. Everyone had been calling to see what was taking him so long to get there.

  “I’m on my way. I got to change first.”

  “Sonya had your suit brought here so just find the groom’s suite.”

  “Alright,” he responded and then mentally thanked Sonya. She was always one step ahead of him which he appreciated and loved.

  Antonio made it to venue where he found several men in the groom’s suite with one of them being Rashad. He looked at his watch as soon as Antonio entered the room. “I know, I know.” There was no time for anything other than changing his clothes so he did that as fast as he could and then they made their way out to join the crowd.

  Antonio went into the hall that the ceremony was going to be held to see it filling up with people. Sonya was standing at the front near the arch that the couple would be standing in front of and he couldn’t help but wonder what their big day would be like. Antonio knew with all of his heart that Sonya would be the woman he married. He had never felt like this about anyone else before her and he didn’t see that changing anytime soon.

  “Hey cutie.”

  She didn’t say a word; she just placed a gentle kiss on his lips. “I have missed you.”