Raven lowered her gaze. When she raised it moments later she blinked away the moisture that had begun gathering there. “You’re mistaken, Linc. You haven’t been given a second chance. I don’t want any part of a relationship with you or anyone. My work is the most important thing to me. It’s all I need.”
“What about love?” he asked, frowning.
“Love only complicates things. That’s what happened with Falcon and John. They started out being lovers, then they fell in love, and after that everything went wrong.”
“Only because you and your sisters think that falling in love is wrong,” he said curtly. “It’s the most natural thing in the world for a man to want a future with the woman he loves.”
“Not if that woman doesn’t want to have a future with him.” She had to pull her gaze away from his face when she saw the hurt her words put there. “My work is my life and I don’t want anything else in it, especially love.” She paused and took a deep breath, hoping he had gotten her message loud and clear.
From the look on his face she knew he had. Raven looked at him, struck by the anger she saw there. She wondered if this was how John had handled Falcon’s decision not to marry him.
Linc slowly got out of the bed and began getting dressed. Not one time did he look at her. It was only after he had all his clothes back on that he turned to her. He stood there next to the bed, quiet, his eyes dark, his jaws clenched. Finally, gathering his composure, he said softly, “I admire any person, man or woman, who wants to make their mark by being successful in their chosen field. But there will come a time when your work won’t be all you need, Raven. There will come a time when it won’t give you everything you want. Without the one you love, life is meaningless, no matter how many goals you achieve. I love you.”
“No,” she said softly, lowering her head.
“Look at me,” he whispered urgently. Leaning down, he took her chin in his hand and lifted it so their eyes could meet. “Can you honestly look me in the eye and say that I mean absolutely nothing to you? That what we shared tonight meant nothing?”
Raven swallowed, knowing that she couldn’t, but she refused to admit it to him or anyone. “I want to be successful.”
“And you will be. I’ve no doubt of that. I’ll never ask you to give up anything for me.”
Raven didn’t answer for a brief moment. Then she spoke. “You can’t say that for certain, and I can’t take the chance that one day you might. Robin, Falcon, and I are a lot like our mother. She was a woman who loved her man with everything she had. She knew her daughters would probably do the same. If I were to love you, I’d gladly give up everything for you. I’d love you just that much. My mother loved my father so much that she gave him the world. In the end he gave her his behind to kiss. I can’t and I won’t let myself love anyone that much, Linc. I’m sorry.”
He looked at her for a long moment before turning and walking out the door.
At the sound of the door closing Raven pressed her face to the pillow, letting her tears flow, knowing that she had done the very thing she had not wanted to do.
She had fallen in love with Lincoln Corbain.
Sweat of anger popped out across Linc’s upper lip as he drove away from Raven’s apartment. Although he admired her stubborn determination to succeed and not let anything or anyone stand in her way, he felt she was going about obtaining her dreams all wrong.
His hands on the steering wheel tightened. None of this made any sense. From what he’d been told, his own mother had once been a very vocal advocate for women’s rights. She still was. She was also a very successful attorney. When she and his father had married they had formed a partnership. Neither one came first. They were both equal partners in their relationship. Why was it so hard for Raven to believe that that sort of relationship between two people who loved each other could exist?
Linc wasn’t in the mood to go home just yet and found himself pulling into the parking lot of Leo’s. It was an hour before closing, and he needed something a little stronger to drink than coffee.
Entering the establishment, he noted only one other individual sitting at the bar. Sliding onto the stool next to the man who was leaning down over his drink as if in deep thought, Linc waited for the bartender to take his order. “Scotch on the rocks.”
Suddenly feeling like he was under someone’s microscope, he turned to the man sitting next to him and found him staring. Linc frowned. “You got a problem?” he asked the man in a voice tinged with all the anger he felt.
The man’s chuckle surprised him. “No, but it sounds like you do. Let me guess. One of the Anderson sisters has struck again.”
Linc lifted his brow as he studied the man. Then it dawned on him as to who he was. John Augustan. Linc hadn’t recognized him dressed in casual clothing.
Linc drew in a deep breath. He took a swallow of the drink the bartender had placed in front of him. If anyone understood how he felt it would be John Augustan. “Yeah, one of the Anderson sisters has struck again.”
John met Linc’s gaze as he lifted his drink and said somberly with a wry smile on his lips, “No pun intended but welcome…to the club.”
Ten
Robin Anderson glanced around the room that had been decorated with balloons hanging from the ceiling and banners covering the walls before returning her gaze to her two sisters. They were waiting for her to make a birthday wish and blow out the twenty-eight candles on her birthday cake. Both Falcon and Raven had red puffy eyes that neither had managed to effectively hide behind carefully applied makeup.
Robin closed her eyes to make her wish, knowing what she was really about to do was say a birthday prayer instead. She needed to send up a prayer more than she needed to make a wish. She loved her sisters dearly, but knowing them, she realized they would not be open-minded and accept what she was about to tell them. Drawing in a deep breath, she let it back out over the cake. Hearing her sisters’ cheers, she knew she had hit her mark. Opening her eyes, she saw that all twenty-eight candles had been blown out with one mighty breath.
It was only later, when the three of them were sitting on Raven’s living room floor Indian-style, that Robin decided to drop the bomb: “I’m in love.”
Falcon and Raven stopped eating their cake and drinking their wine and stared at her. By the look of horror on their faces she knew they had taken her news badly. There was no way she could soften the blow because there was more news to come. “I met him in Paris not long after I got there. His name is Franco and he’s asked me to marry him and I’ve accepted.” That last statement she knew was the finishing blow. It didn’t take long for them to react.
“Whoa, wait just a minute here,” Falcon was saying at the top of her voice. “You can’t get married yet. You aren’t even close to opening that cooking school you want in New York. You’re at least three to four years away from doing that, Rob. How can you even think of love and marriage?”
“Falcon’s right,” Raven chimed in. “How can you?”
A flash of defiance appeared in Robin’s eyes. “Haven’t either of you heard what I just said? I love him. That’s how I can do it. And now, after seeing you two today, I know more than ever that I’m making the right decision.”
Both Raven and Falcon set their plates and wineglasses down. “What do you mean by that?” Raven asked, pulling her eyebrows together in a frown.
“Just look at you two. Falcon’s been in a state of funk ever since she turned down John’s marriage proposal. I found myself not wanting to call her anymore because each time I did she would start crying, and it’s been over a year.”
Robin then turned her full attention to Raven. “And I don’t know who your lover boy is, but by the looks of you, it seems you’ve also given him the boot, and you’re suffering because of—”
“It’s Linc,” Raven muttered in exasperation, getting to her feet.
Robin lifted her gaze to Raven. “Ooh, you mean to say you’ve run into Lincoln Corbain again, after all the
se years?”
Raven thrust her hands into the pockets of her jeans, frowning. “Yes.”
Falcon stood and glared at her. “And you didn’t tell us? Why?”
Raven sighed. Her sisters knew all about the week she had spent with Linc in Daytona four years ago. And they had known that he must have meant a lot to her for her to have gone to bed with him. She had always sworn that the first guy she slept with would be someone she loved. “I was hoping he’d go away.”
“And he didn’t?” Robin asked.
“No.” The word got caught in Raven’s throat for a moment. She swallowed to let it down before continuing. “Not until last night. I sent him away.”
Robin nodded. “So that’s why you’ve been crying.”
“She’s been crying?” Falcon asked in alarm, walking over to Raven to study her face.
Robin smiled, amused by the question Falcon had asked. “You’ve been crying so much yourself this past year, Falcon, that it’s not obvious to you when someone else has red puffy eyes. To you it’s a normal look.”
Falcon glared at Robin. “That’s not funny.”
Robin’s smile widened. “You’re right; it’s not funny. It’s pathetic. And that’s the reason I have all intentions of marrying Franco. I refuse to go through life miserable and crying like the two of you have decided to do.”
“What about your dreams? Your plans?” Raven asked in desperation.
“What about what Mama drilled into us?” Falcon added.
Robin shook her head. Sometimes she thought she should have been the oldest of the three. Falcon could take the smallest piece of information and run with it—usually in the wrong direction. “First of all, I still have every intention of pursing my dreams. Franco is also a master chef, who wants to share my dream. It’s our desire to open a school together.” She shifted her position to stretch out her legs as she gazed at her two sisters standing over her. “And furthermore, Mama’s drilling was not about men in general. It was about the three of us, as individuals, as women who have choices and dreams. She wanted us to fulfill our dreams and not let anyone stop us from doing so. She died believing that she had given us every means in her power for us to be successful. And she did. I’m not giving up my dream to marry Franco. I’m expanding it to include him.”
“I don’t believe this,” Falcon said, her tone tinged with anger. “Just like that, you think you have all the answers. Don’t you think that I did a lot of soul-searching before I turned down John’s marriage proposal? Don’t you think if there was any way I could have made it work I would have?”
Falcon’s dark eyes reflected her pain, and Robin knew she had to tread lightly. “I’m sure you did, Falcon. But your situation was a little bit more complicated than mine. John wanted you to move here to D.C. with him, which meant losing the clientele you had worked so hard to build. With Franco, I don’t have that problem. We both want to live in New York. But…”
Falcon frowned. “But what?”
“But regardless of the reason, I think if I had loved John as much as I know for certain that you do, I would have figured out a way to make it work.”
Falcon’s eyes flared from the sting of her sister’s remark. “I couldn’t do it.”
Robin nodded. “Then why are you still crying over spilt milk? Why haven’t you gotten over it and moved on?”
Robin knew those questions were stabbing at her sister’s heart. She then turned her attention to Raven. “And what about you, Raven? You either want to be with Linc or not. You either love him or you don’t. I suggest that you be happy and love him and still be successful, or you can take the advice you think Mama gave you and not love him and be miserable but successful.”
After a lengthy silence and a sip of her wine, Robin said, “We all saw the movie Mahogany. Didn’t either of you get anything from it other than a good drool over Billy Dee Williams? The whole moral of the movie was that success is nothing unless you have the person you love to share it with.”
Standing up, Robin said, “So, sisters dear, on my twenty-eighth birthday I’m willing to be the first Anderson sister to walk out in faith and love. Our father was heartless. He was a jerk. He was a dog. But I don’t believe all men are like him. I’m blessed to have met and fallen in love with one who’s not. I believe if Mama was alive, after meeting Franco she would agree. And I also believe that she would have been happy for me.”
She walked over to her sisters and took their hands in hers. “I don’t need your blessings, nor do I need your permission. But I do want the two of you to be happy for me and accept that I love this man and that I’m putting our future plans in God’s hands. And whatever the future holds, thanks to Mama I’ll be prepared either way.”
She kissed both of her sisters on the cheeks. Smiling softly, she said, “I’ll see you guys later.”
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Falcon asked as she watched her sister head for the door, pausing long enough to grab her purse off the couch.
“To the hotel. Franco should have arrived by now and checked in.”
“He’s here?” Raven asked, amazed at the turn of events. Granted, Robin had always been the most rebellious of the three, but all of them had agreed at one time or another that men and success didn’t mix. Looks like Willow Anderson’s middle child was now singing a different tune.
“Of course he’s here. It’s my birthday and I want him to meet my two closest friends—my sisters. But first, he and I have to celebrate my birthday in style, so don’t wait up. You can both meet him in the morning. I’m inviting him to breakfast.” With that said, Robin left, closing the door behind her.
“Well, what do you think of that?” Raven asked Falcon with utter amazement in her voice.
“I hate to admit it, but what I think is that Robin may have the right idea,” Falcon said, shaking her head. “Hell, she has a man. We’re the ones who don’t.”
The corners of Raven’s lips lifted in a soft smile. “Are you insinuating that she’s a lot smarter than we are?”
“I wouldn’t go that far. Robin is just more daring. She’s a risk-taker.” Falcon couldn’t help but laugh. “Always has been, and turning one year older hasn’t changed her.”
“I still can’t believe she actually left her own birthday party,” Raven was saying as she and Falcon took down the last banner.
“I can’t believe she left the two of us here to clean up this mess,” Falcon grumbled. “OK, what’s next? And don’t you dare suggest that we go to one of those video stores and get a copy of Mahogany and watch it again.”
Raven grinned as she looked at her sister. “Don’t worry; that’s the furthest thing from my mind.”
With no hesitation Falcon added, “Same here. But I have been thinking about what Robin said.”
Raven released a deep sigh. “Me, too. You still love John, don’t you?”
“Yes, terribly. Robin was right. I’ve been miserable this past year. But I think it’s too late. He probably hates me. For all I know he may have someone else in his life now.”
Raven knew she could at least get her sister out of her misery for one day. “He doesn’t. He’s turned into a workaholic. Just like you.”
Falcon folded up the birthday tablecloth. “What about you and Linc, Raven? Is there any hope there?”
Raven tilted her head, her expression somber. “No. I said some pretty harsh words to him about not wanting a relationship with him. I told him in no uncertain terms that I didn’t want him to be a part of my life and that my plans for the future came before anything, including him.”
“Do you regret what you said?”
“Yeah, now I do. Robin’s got me to thinking, too. I love him so much, Falcon.”
At that moment the phone rang and Raven reached out and picked it up. “Hello.”
“OK, you guys, here’s the deal,” Robin said, coming in over the phone line. “I just left Leo’s. I thought I’d drop by and say hello to the Hardcastle twins since I had to
pass by there to get to the hotel. I saw John and he was dining with another guy, a good-looking brother. When I asked Tyrell who the brother was, he said the guy was your friend Linc, Raven. I left Leo’s before either of them saw me.”
Raven raised a brow. “You saw John and Linc together at Leo’s?”
“What about John?” Falcon asked, rushing over to where Raven stood with the phone glued to her ear. “Who are you talking to?”
“It’s Robin,” Raven whispered, taking the time to tell her sister. “She stopped by Leo’s and claims to have seen John and Linc eating dinner together.”
Falcon frowned. “They know each other?”
“I introduced them a couple of weeks ago, but as far as I know they haven’t come into contact since then,” Raven said. She then turned her attention back to the phone. “Are you sure you saw John and Linc?”
“I’d know John Augustan anywhere, and as for your Linc, I can only go by what Tyrell told me. According to him, John and Linc were at Leo’s together late last night. They were the last two customers who left the bar before closing.”
Raven nodded. Evidently Linc had left her place and gone straight to Leo’s and had run into John there.
“What is she saying?” Falcon wanted to know, so Raven told her.
“So why is she calling us?” Falcon asked.
Raven shrugged. “Why are you calling and telling us about it?” she asked Robin the same question Falcon had asked her.
“Because if either of you are having second thoughts about your future and the men you want to share it with, I suggest you two get your butts in gear and hightail it to Leo’s and do whatever you have to do to get your men back before some other sistahs scoop them up.” After that blunt suggestion Robin hung up.
Raven placed the receiver back on the hook. “What did she say?” Falcon asked.
Raven relayed her sister’s message to Falcon.
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