“If it’s urgent, come in, if it’s not, you know the rest.”
She opened her boss’s door and went in. “I’m washed out. I have one routine appointment this afternoon, and I’m going to postpone it and go home.”
“I’ve noticed that you haven’t seemed yourself for the past couple of weeks, although I haven’t found any problems with your work. Go someplace where you can be alone and think through whatever’s bothering you. And turn your cell phone off.”
“Thanks, Lyle, but I can’t think of such a place.”
“Sure you can. It’s not cold today, somewhere in the high sixties, so why not trek over to the river. There some nice views in Gambrill Park over near Hamburg Road especially around Pal’s Ridge. I’ve sat there many times so peacefully that I fell asleep. With so many joggers and women pushing baby carriages around there, it’s safe in the daytime.”
“I think I will.” She looked down at her feet, saw the heels and grimaced. She went to her office, changed into flat heel shoes, locked her briefcase in her desk and left the building. She rode the bus to about a block from the park, bought a magazine and a bottle of ginger ale from a newsstand and strolled along until she found a park bench. She thought that she couldn’t have chosen a more beautiful afternoon on which to sit outside in the sun. She looked in her purse for a Snickers bar, her comfort food, saw her cell phone and remembered Lyle’s advice that she should turn it off. But she saw that she’d never turned it on, and that she had calls from Clark, Byron, Maggie and Matt.
She phoned Byron.
“Where are you, Tyra?” he said with the urgency of a desperate man.
“I’m up in Gambrill Park. I…uh…nothing was going right, so I…I forgot to turn on my cell phone.” Her heart began to race as hope surfaced within her. “Did you want to speak with me?”
“Clark didn’t know where you were, nor did anyone else, and I’ve been out of my mind with worry about where you could be or what could have happened to you.”
“It’s been too much for me, Byron, and after speaking with you this morning, and dealing with your cool detachment, I…it was too much for me.”
His long silence didn’t bother her; they couldn’t get much farther apart than they were. “It’s been too much for me, too, Tyra. Where are you in that park?” She told him. “Stay there.”
Was he coming to the park to be with her? She had a clear head, and she was not confused, but nothing made sense right then. She checked her cell phone. Yes, she had just spoken with Byron. He’d said wait, so she would. But each minute seemed like an hour, so anxious and flustered, she phoned Clark.
“Did you tell Byron that you couldn’t find me?”
“Where the heck are you?” She told him but added that Byron was on his way there and he shouldn’t come. “I’m fine. I needed some time alone. I guess I ought to thank you for telling Byron that you couldn’t find me. Maybe we’ll get back together.”
“I should think so. He was out of his mind when I told him I didn’t know your whereabouts.”
“I’m sorry if I caused you alarm, Clark. Would you please phone Maggie and tell her I don’t know what time I’ll get home, so she shouldn’t wait dinner for me.”
“Good idea. Pull out the stops, Sis. And remember that your pride won’t make you happy, but he will.” After hanging up, she tried to develop an interest in the magazine, gave up and said a prayer.
“Hello, Tyra.”
She hadn’t seen or heard him approach. Without knowing why she got up, she stood and smiled. “I’m glad to see you, Byron. I missed you.” Should she have let him say it first? She’d never been in such a situation, and she had no idea how to act.
“If I was allowed to do what I want to do,” he said, “I’d take you in my arms and hold you as close as possible. I have lived in hell since that night. We were both wrong. You didn’t have enough trust, and I didn’t have enough compassion. I learned something. Did you?”
“I had it reconfirmed that you are my morning sunrise and my evening shade, Byron, and that I’d trust you with my life.”
“I knew that I needed you, but I didn’t know how badly.” He opened his arms, and she walked into them, back home where she belonged.
“I’d suggest we go to dinner, but Andy is expecting me at home. He’s asked repeatedly why you didn’t come to visit us or why we didn’t go to visit you. You’re the only woman I’ve introduced him to, and not only does he like you, but he senses that you have a special role in our lives. Let me take you home, and perhaps tomorrow evening we can be together.”
“I’d like that,” she said, and they started hand-in-hand to his car, which he’d parked at the edge of the park.
“Would you like to come in?” she asked him when he parked in front of her house. He walked with her to the door, opened it with her key and a second later, she had the comfort of his loving arms around her. More. She wanted and needed more of him. All of him. Like a starved animal getting its first meal in weeks, she clung to him, taking all that he gave her as he reminded her of the fire they built together. Heat roared through her body, and when she attempted to wrap her leg around his upper thigh, begging for what she wanted, he broke the kiss, panting for breath as he did so.
“Honey,” he said, “we are not alone in this house.”
“I forgot.” Depleted of energy, she backed to the opposite side of the foyer and let the wall take her weight. His gaze was soft upon her, the eyes of a man in love. She told herself to straighten up and lighten the situation, and a way to bring them closer together began to form in her mind.
“Byron, could you…would you, your aunt and Andy have dinner with me and my family Thanksgiving Day?”
He didn’t hesitate. “That would be wonderful. Aunt Jonie wants to go to Virginia to be with her daughter and sister, but I’ll tell her that you invited her. Andy will be ecstatic.”
“What shouldn’t I cook? I mean what does he dislike?”
“He dislikes broccoli, but he eats it, because he has to eat whatever we give him. Not to worry. I’d better head home.” He cupped her face with his hands. “I love you. I love you deep down inside at the pit of me.”
Her arms went around him. “And I love you, Byron. I haven’t ever loved any other man. See you tomorrow.” He brushed his lips across hers and left. She skipped toward the stairs, stopped and said a word of thanks that she hadn’t ruined the most precious thing that had ever happened to her.
Two days later, Lyle called her into his office and showed her Byron’s notarized letter. “This is disgusting,” he said, “and I have a mind to fire Fuller. I have eleven full-time professionals and half-a-dozen volunteers, and Fuller is the only person on my staff who gives me problems. But if I terminate him, he’ll attempt to defame both you and Whitley. I am going to censure him and put it on his record. I suspect that since Whitley sent a letter to the Taxi and Limousine Commissioner, Christopher Fuller and his brother will pay heavily, and if I get a chance to fire Fuller for something relating to his work, I’m going to do it. I don’t want such a person around me.”
She thanked Lyle and stood to leave. “I hope he didn’t impair your relationship with Byron Whitley. He’s a fine man, and he’s contributed a lot to the Legal Aid Society.”
“At first, it was touch and go, but I think we’ve weathered that storm. Thanks for your concern.”
A telephone call from Andy that evening surprised her. “Hi, Miss Tyra. This is Andrew Whitley. My daddy said I could phone you and thank you for inviting me to eat dinner at your house Thursday. When are we going to your house, Miss Tyra?”
“You can come Wednesday if you want to, but it’s up to your father.”
“Oh. Is my granddaddy going to be there? He loves turkey, too.”
“Andy, that’s a good idea. Do you have his phone number?” He recited it from memory. “Thanks. I’ll see if he’s free.”
“He’s free, Miss Tyra, because he always eats with me and my daddy.”
<
br /> “My daddy and me. I’m going to call him.”
“You are? I love you, Miss Tyra. Bye.”
“Andy, darling. I love you, too. See you this weekend.” She hung up and dialed Lewis Whitley’s number.
“Whitley speaking. Good evening.”
“Mr. Whitley, this is Tyra Cunningham. How are you… I know you’re surprised to hear from me, but Jonie will be in Virginia Thanksgiving Day, and Byron and Andy are having dinner with me and my family. I’d love for you to join us.”
“Well, it’s wonderful to hear from you, Tyra, and I’ll be absolutely delighted to join you for Thanksgiving Day dinner. I hope we’ll spend many Thanksgiving Days together.”
She gave him her address. “We eat around two in the afternoon, and at seven-thirty, we’re ready for a light supper. Thank you for accepting my invitation.”
“Thank you for inviting me. I should tell you that Andy called to say you were going to invite me and asked me to be sure and accept. He’s a kid who dots every i and crosses every t, Byron incarnate. I’ll see you Thursday around noon. Thank you again.”
She went to the lounge where she knew she’d find Maggie watching television. “Maggie, I’ve invited Byron, Andy and Byron’s father for Thanksgiving, along with Clark’s and Darlene’s dates, we’ll be ten for dinner. So I think I’ll hire a caterer, because that’s too much work.”
“It’s just three more than we’ve usually had in recent years. We’ll just cook more of everything, but you can get someone to serve the meal and clean up, if you want to”
“That’s a fair compromise. Would you please make out the grocery list? I’ll take Wednesday off and help with the cooking.”
Byron telephoned her several times a day and every night just before he went to sleep. “Can’t you and Andy spend the weekend with us?” she asked Byron when he called her that Tuesday evening. “Andy can sleep in Clark’s room and you can have the guest room. Take Friday off, and we can have a mini-vacation right here.”
“Won’t Clark need his room?”
“He’s taking his friend to Bermuda Friday morning and returning to Baltimore Sunday evening.”
“All right. I’ll let you know about that tomorrow. I like the idea. Kiss me.”
She made the sound of a kiss. “This tease is getting to me.”
“I consider it my nightly punishment,” he said. “I love you, woman. Good night.”
“And I love you. Good night, sweetheart.”
Thanksgiving Eve finally arrived, and Byron would discover what it was like to live in Tyra’s world. He could hardly wait to experience her home, her family and the aura she would create. “Can we go now, Daddy? I’m taking Nassau. Can I call Miss Tyra and ask if we can go fishing?”
Byron looked at his child, so eager to attach himself to this woman. He couldn’t understand it, accustomed as he was to Andy’s standoffishness with everyone except Jonie and him. He sat down, pulled the boy between his knees and said, “I’ll take the fishing rods and tackle, but if she has other plans, we’ll do as she likes, because we’ll be her guests.”
“Yes, sir. But she’ll do what I ask her to do. Let’s go, Daddy.”
Tyra opened the door, and he looked down at her, hoping to see in her eyes the love that he needed, but Andy dashed past him and into her arms.
“Gee, Miss Tyra, I thought Daddy would never get us here. I could hardly wait.”
She hugged the boy and then, as if she feared what she’d do next, she brushed his cheek with her lips. To Byron’s delight, the boy took the initiative and kissed her, looked her in the eye and said, “You always smell so good.”
She thanked Andy, then she stood, opened her arms to him and he walked into them. “It’s like coming home,” he told her and he meant it.
He and Andy followed Tyra to their rooms. He hadn’t realized that the house was so big. Andy would get lost or worse, get into something he shouldn’t. He asked her, “Could you give Andy a tour, tell him where he can go and where he can’t go?”
She walked them through the house and out to the back porch and deck. “We’re having a cookout, a barbecue supper. I thought Andy would like that. Tomorrow, there’ll be ten of us for Thanksgiving dinner. Clark and Darlene will have their significant others with them and—”
“And Granddaddy’s coming, isn’t he, Miss Tyra?”
Byron stared at her. “Since when?”
“Since she asked him, Daddy.”
“You two, go put on something casual,” she said. “I’ll start the fire in the barbecue pit, and then I’ll wake up Maggie.”
Andy reached for Tyra’s hand. “Don’t you have a mommy either?” She shook her head. “Do you have a daddy?”
“Both of them are in heaven,” she told him.
He hugged her thigh. “My mommy’s up there, too.” How had his child developed an affection for Tyra? He didn’t know when it happened, but it was there, and it was solid.
“We’ll be back in a few minutes,” he told her.
She grabbed his hand, detaining him. “Whenever you get tired of people, you’re welcome to go to your room and close the door. I want you to feel at home, and that means having privacy whenever you want it. Okay?”
“Thanks. It’s something that I need from time to time, but I doubt I’ll need privacy from you.”
She started the fire in the big, aluminum barbecue grill and covered it with charcoal briquettes. “Tyra, what are you doing?” Byron asked her. “Don’t you have any wood chips?”
She stopped, looked up at him, dressed in a red turtle-neck sweater and dark-navy jeans, and resisted licking her lips. “I wanted to get it started in a hurry,” she said, explaining her reason for not using wood chips.
“Sweetheart, the wood burns just as fast and releases less impurities. Let me help you.”
“What y’all doing down there? All you have to do is grill the meat and shrimp and roast some potatoes. Everything else is in the fridge,” said Maggie.
“I know, Maggie, but do you know it’s already five minutes to seven. You slept forever.”
“Five minutes to seven? Lord, I slept away the day. I’m coming down.”
Tyra lighted the garden with lanterns and built a fire in the pit to keep them warm. Maggie had hotdogs and marshmallows for Andy, steaks and shrimp for the adults and assorted vegetables and potatoes that they grilled along with the meat and shrimp.
“Gosh, this is fun,” Andy said, and she made a note to invite other children for a picnic with Andy when he visited her again. She answered the house phone and heard her sister’s voice.
“I…er… Okay, you’re grown, Sis, so this shouldn’t shock you. I’m going to spend the night with Edward. Be home tomorrow around twelve.”
“I hope you at least prepared yourself for it.”
“I did. See you tomorrow.” Well, that was a surprise.
After the barbecue supper, they sat in the living room, and she nestled herself in Byron’s arms. To her amazement, Andy stopped reading his book, came over to her and sat on her lap. She eased an arm around his waist and held him close to her. She’d been leaning against Byron’s chest, and she felt his breathing change. Since she wasn’t sure whether that was a positive or a negative sign, she twisted enough to see his face.
He bent over and kissed her mouth, but his lips trembled against hers. “It’s Andy’s bedtime. I’m going to put him to bed, but you stay here. I’ll be back in half an hour.”
“I want Miss Tyra to tuck me in and kiss me good night.”
“In that case, ask her nicely.” He did, and she climbed the stairs with them, feeling like a character in a real-life drama. Game playing. Yet she knew that what they did then could well be a preview of their lives in the near future.
The child changed into pajamas and crawled into bed. He asked her to tell him a story, and she told him the story of The Little Engine That Could, dramatizing the sound as the engine plodded up the hill. He raised his arms for a kiss and was soon fas
t asleep.
She could see that the scene undermined Byron’s composure, for he blinked rapidly and turned his back to her. “I’ll be downstairs,” she whispered, leaving so that he could have privacy.
“Please don’t go, Tyra. Maggie’s asleep on the other side of the house. Is there a reason why we can’t be together for a few hours? I’m about to boil over.”
She walked back to him. “You stay up here. I’m going downstairs to lock the doors and turn out the lights. I’ll find you.”
Perspiration soaked his shirt and rolled down the side of his face. He walked to his room, thankful that it had a private bath, stripped and stepped into the shower. In spite of the chasm they’d had to bridge and the reservations it provoked, he didn’t want to live without her. He still wanted her as he wanted air to breathe, and he loved her as he’d never loved any other woman. The moment he gave in to his feelings and made up his mind to ask her to marry him, he’d burned with passion and his love for her had almost overwhelmed him. He laughed at himself. Why should deciding to ask the woman he loved to marry him make him sweat? He dried off, found a pair of shorts that would pass for pajamas, got into bed and waited.
Tyra locked the front and back doors, opened a bottle of Chablis, got two stem glasses and tripped up the stairs. She put the bottle and glasses on the floor by Byron’s bedroom door, and went to her own room. After showering and pampering herself, she put on a red teddy, covered it with a white caftan and walked barefooted to Byron. One light tap, and the door opened. He reached for her but, with a grin spread over her face, she pushed the bottle and glasses to him. She didn’t know where he put them, but it seemed that not a second had passed before he had her tight in his arms.
“Are you sure that everything is all right between us?” he asked her.
She put her palms on his bare chest, keeping him away from her. “I’m positive, but are you?”
“Yes. Yes,” seemed to rush out on his breath. “I know you love me and that you believe in me. If I didn’t know it, I wouldn’t be here with my child in your house.”
Finding Mr. Right Page 20