My and Gia’s gazes suddenly found each other from across the room and locked. It was as though we’d just unearthed a major discovery: a source of compassion hidden within our father that seemed to be enshrouded in pain.
“Why do you think that will happen?” I asked him.
He turned away and tried to walk past us, but I grabbed his forearm. When he tugged at it and faced me, although he’d never placed a hand on me in his life, I slightly recoiled. Unfortunately, it wasn’t slight enough. Everyone saw it, even the cameras.
He looked up and around the room into the faces of those now convinced that with the way I’d flinched, he’d put his hands on me before. It was as though I could see the pieces of his public image falling off like flakes from his skin.
“This situation that you’re in doesn’t just happen to women, you know,” he barked, although his face reflected that of a sad puppy. “You think you’re the only one who has expectations that they want to shuck? That women are the only ones who have to conform to something that they don’t want?”
He groaned and flung up his hands while the room fell silent. Even the Justice had tucked his Bible beneath his arm and was watching the Miller family drama unfold like a midday soap opera.
“My parents were in love,” he began, gesturing to Grandma Evelyn. “The whole world knows it. It’s not as though I wasn’t exposed to it because it was evident to everyone around them. But from the minute that I was born, as the only son of one of the nation’s most beloved men, I had an image to retain as well. Part of that involved marrying someone with status, not for love.”
I gently touched his shoulder. “What was her name?”
“Who’s name?” He knew exactly what I was asking, but wanted to be difficult anyhow. It was the first time I’d ever seen any of Gia’s traits in him.
“It doesn’t matter what her name was,” he snapped. “All you have to know is, when you open yourself up to the possibility of love, you also open yourself up to the possibility of heartache. I know I might seem like an insensitive boar, but I didn’t want that for you…or you, Gia.”
He turned and I could tell that his acknowledgment caught Gia off-guard. It was one of the first times, in a very long time, that her name had ever left his mouth in a positive light.
“You say I’m hard on you, but I was just trying to protect you from,” he looked at Ethan, “lowlifes.”
I put a restraining hand on Ethan’s chest.
“Ethan’s not a lowlife, Daddy,” I said.
“It would have been easier to see you two in relationships that couldn’t hurt you,” he went on. “I know your mother has her story; I have my own. Without love, we were still able to make a good life for you both.”
“But, it could’ve been better,” Roderick spoke up. He’d still been at the altar the entire time watching the scene unfold. “It could have been a better life for all of you.” Then, he shook his head. “Alexandra, I might be a lot of things, but I am not the type of man to try to ruin another man’s career for my own gain. Especially when ruining his career puts the livelihood of children at risk.”
My father, embarrassed, shielded his face from our audience.
“So, you don’t have to worry about those images becoming public,” Roderick assured. “I had them destroyed.”
Ethan’s brows went up as though asking what pictures Roderick had been referring to, but they settled when realization hit him that they were compromising pictures of us.
“Sir,” Ethan spoke directly to my father, “have faith in the job you did raising your daughters. Even though you tried to shove them in different directions, they still ended up making choices in their best interests. One needed some coaxing,” he squeezed my waist gently, “but, man-to-man, I promise you that I will never do anything to send your daughter crying to your doorstep. I will give her such a good life that even after I’m gone from this Earth, she’ll still walk around like the happiest woman that ever lived. I’m going to start today by not leaving this building until she agrees to be Mrs. Alexandra Stewart.”
I was nodding along with everything that he was saying right up until the last part, and with a gasp, turned to him.
“W-what?”
“Did I mention that I had two flight delays, a nine-hour drive, and a stop at the jewelry store?” He pulled a box from behind his back and dropped to his knee. “Alexandra—”
I was screaming “yes” before he even had a chance to say anything else. I literally couldn’t even stay still as he tried to maneuver the ring onto my finger, and once it was snug, I pulled his lips down to mine and allowed all of my eagerness to travel through me and into the kiss.
Five well-dressed figures came through the open doors, one of them I instantly recognized as Ethan’s grandfather due to his wheelchair. As they drew nearer, I made out Tayler, a woman who looked so much like Ethan that it was eerie, a man holding hands with her, and Kellen pushing the wheelchair. Over Ethan’s grandfather’s lap was a tuxedo bag.
“You also didn’t mention that you have some of the best friends in the world,” Kellen said, grinning. “Do you know how much faith we have to have in you in order to find outfits and fly out to Louisiana for you to propose to a woman that was already getting married to someone else?”
“I was just hoping it worked out for the best,” Ethan answered, his face exuding pure happiness.
Mr. Stewart extended the bag towards Ethan. “Here, son. Go get dressed.”
He leaned down and gave his grandfather a hard squeeze before taking the bag. Then he did the same thing to the woman.
“By the way, Mom,” he looked at me, “this is Alexandra.”
I got that same feeling again: the one that I had at the assisted living facility when Maureen revealed that Ethan had been talking about me to her.
“So lovely to meet you,” his mother said, giving me a kiss on the cheek. “I can’t wait to get to know you. The two of you.”
From the way that they looked at each other, I could tell that the demons Ethan had been wrestling had all been defeated. Then, it hit me that I was getting married to the love of my life. Or, as Grandma Evelyn put it, my true match. All because of some sangria-like concoction.
I glanced over at her and she nodded as though she could hear my thoughts. Then, I smiled.
Red velvet punch.
Who knew?
-----
Ethan
Have you ever been in a situation that you never thought you would ever found yourself in, but it eventually turned out to be something you couldn’t ever see yourself living without? I was looking into sparkling brown eyes, holding nervous hands that fit exceptionally well with my own, listening to a voice that rang against my eardrums like music, and declaring my promise to love in sickness and in health. I was surrounded by some of the best friends a person could ever ask for and a family that, to me, was as complete as I needed. I gave Alexandra a look that said, “See? Nothing fell apart,” and she smiled, shrugged, and smiled again.
Her mother had given me a hug that felt genuine, and Gia had wrapped me up while a loud, “Finally,” rushed from her lips. Even General Miller’s scowl had faded some and he seemed to give me a nod of approval, which meant that he might actually come around one day. But, even if he didn’t…
…ask me if I cared.
Epilogue
* * *
Evelyn
So, now you know that my meddling eventually did pay off. My granddaughters will not have to end up tangled in an existence doomed to misery. They will now have the opportunity to know the true happiness that I had with Ellis, and a love as perpetual as the sun’s energy.
However, I just noticed that Ethan’s friend Kellen is a handsome one. He has strong Spanish features with a head full of thick, dark hair and beautiful hazel eyes. He also has some of the most beautiful lips that I’ve ever seen on a man. I noticed him checking his phone and nervously tapping his foot during the ceremony. Every time his phone lit up,
his temperature would spike, which told me everything that I needed to know.
At the start of the reception, he disappeared. When he returned, it was with a young lady on his arm. I could feel her apprehension not only at being introduced to the bride and groom, but being in a room filled with so many people.
Her standing next to Kellen created an invisible conflagration. This was a woman that I could sense had been broken nearly to the point of giving up on life, but it was also a woman who desperately wanted to make Kellen the happiest man in the world. She was just dealing with a wall of pain that not even Reagan could have demanded to be torn down.
Now, I know that you all sat here and listened to me tell Alexandra there was nothing mythical about Red Velvet Punch. That wasn’t entirely true. I didn’t completely lie as it wasn’t the punch that kept Ethan and Alexandra together. It’s what brought them together. Its potency is contingent upon a true match, which is something that only a sensitive can sniff out.
But, as I’m getting older, I’ll need someone else to carry the torch. You never know…you might be a sensitive. When was the last time you had an “unusual feeling” that something was happening in someone’s life when that person hadn’t even remotely mentioned it? Or maybe you had a “weird feeling” that someone was pregnant and then a few months later, they started sporting a belly?
I rest my case.
“Kellen, right?” I asked, walking up to the ball of fire disguised as Kellen and his lady friend. “I’m Evelyn.”
“Oh, hi.” He gave me a hug. “Alexandra’s grandmother, right?”
“Yes.” I turned to his companion. “You’re quite beautiful.”
As expected, she lowered her eyes in embarrassment. “Thank you, ma’am.”
Kellen was preparing for introductions when I cut him off by extending two glasses filled with a red liquid that looked “a lot like sangria.” These two didn’t need an entire pitcher, but I did take the opportunity to book them a suite upstairs. I arranged for a full pitcher to be chilled in the room they would be heading to in the next half hour. I’d also taken the liberty to leave the room keys right next to Kellen’s place card, giving him just enough time to see them when dinner was being served. These two wouldn’t be staying for dinner though.
“From the bride and groom,” I said, watching intently as they both drained their glasses.
“Wow,” Kellen said, staring at his flute.
“That’s delicious,” chimed his companion.
I grinned, turned away, and spotted Ethan’s other friend, Tayler, swaying by herself across the room.
She would be next.
The room clapped and I joined them as Alexandra and Ethan made their entrance.
THE END
Make sure to 1-CLICK my other Alpha Male, BWWM reads:
The Game of Love
The Game of Love 2
A Very Special Christmas
About the Author: Alex is a Caribbean-born romantic introvert. When she's not writing, she's reading and eating. Sometimes eating and reading. She enjoys writing sultry romantic fiction with HEA endings, watching NFL and NCAA football, reading the work of independent authors, and going to the puppy store when writer's block stars to set in. Currently she is a graduate student at the University of South Florida and a Florida State University alumnus. Eventually, she'll be able to end this bio with: She lives in {insert city here} with her hubby, two human children, and third furry child.
Thank you for taking the time to get to know a little about Alex! She loves to communicate with readers and writers so stop on by at kalexwalker.com, email at [email protected] -or- hit her up at twitter.com/kalexwalker.
Don’t miss an Interracial Romance from K. Alex Walker and Jessica Watkins Presents. Text the keyword “femistry” to 25827 to get excerpts and links sent to your phone on release day.
Jessica Watkins Presents is currently accepting submissions for the following genres: African American Romance, Urban Fiction, Women’s Fiction, and BWWM/Interracial Romance. If you are interested in becoming an author and have a complete manuscript, send a synopsis and the first three chapters to [email protected].
Fated: An Alpha Male Romance Page 22