After disconnecting the call, Gideon worked on getting the ice off his windshield and Victor’s before going to his mother’s. He parked in her driveway, thankful not to meet with a ravenous team of paparazzi.
He thought that being in Virginia, he would be able to avoid those trappings. He could only hope that with time, the fervor would die down and he could live a normal life until training time.
Although his mother would encourage him to walk in the house, he felt odd doing so now. He rang her doorbell and waited. A tall, dark-skinned African-American woman answered the door. With her two large Afro puffs on the sides of her head, Gideon couldn’t tell her age. She wore a tight T-shirt with the word Fancy emblazoned across the front and tight black leggings. Was she someone from the community center or one of his mother’s many employees?
The longer he stared at her, the more he noticed something unusual with her face. Although the pound of makeup she’d used around her eye probably hid something sinister, she couldn’t disguise the swelling. Gideon felt his pulse racing even though he didn’t know this woman, didn’t know her story. For all he knew, she could be a friend of Gunnar’s, a female MMA fighter. The way she stood so delicately and looked at him like a savior, he had a feeling she hadn’t asked for the fight she must have engaged in to get that souvenir.
“Well, well, well. Aren’t you a sexy thing?” She nibbled on her bottom lip.
Definitely not a teenager. Then again, nowadays young people said things that he would have gotten punished for had he uttered the same comment at that age.
“Thank you.” Gideon peered into the house to give this woman a hint that he wanted to be out of the cold.
“I suppose you want to come inside…of the house I mean.” She winked.
“Move aside and let my son into the house.” Elizabeth held the woman’s waist and eased her off to the side.
Like a teenager, the stranger rolled her eyes and moved away from the door.
Queen, in a crisp, white button-down blouse and black slacks, opened her arms to welcome Gideon.
“Hey.” Gideon hugged his mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“Honey, this is Shay. She works at Press ’N Curl. She’s staying here until she can get on her feet.” His mother put her hand on Shay’s shoulder. “Shay, this is my middle child, Gideon Wells.”
“Nice to meet you.” Gideon put his hand out to her.
“Oh, no. I’m a hugger.” Shay threw her arms around Gideon’s neck and held him tight enough that he could feel every part of her body. Gideon wished he’d worn all of his football padding.
Being a gentleman, he patted her back and attempted to let her go. Shay held onto him harder.
“Mmm, he even smells good.” Shay nuzzled her nose into the crook of his neck and took a deep whiff.
The feeling of air by his neck tickled. Gideon shrugged and tried again to get out of Shay’s embrace. She held him tighter. This woman needed to be a tackle or linebacker.
“Let that boy go.” Elizabeth cocked her head as she regarded Shay. “Go set the table, please.”
“Fine. You know how to ruin a girl’s fun.” She winked at Gideon before she trotted off to the kitchen.
“She’s, um, something.” Gideon removed his coat and hung it in the closet. “How long has she been here?”
“Only a few days.”
He waited a beat before continuing with his questions about Shay. “Did she slip and fall on the ice? I noticed her cheek looks a little swollen.”
Elizabeth held her son’s hand. “She has some issues.” She smiled. “Don’t we all?”
He felt that anger flaming up inside of him again. “Anything I need to do?”
“No,” Queen responded quickly. “You know I don’t like confrontation. It’s been taken care of.” She took a deep breath.
He recognized Queen’s desire to get off the subject as fast as possible. “Whatever you’re cooking smells great. And I skipped lunch, so I am starving.”
“Good. It’s all done. We can sit down and you can tell me about your day.” Elizabeth linked her arm around Gideon’s and walked him to the formal dining room.
Gideon stopped by the table. “Not until you tell me about Gunnar.”
Elizabeth glanced into the kitchen where Shay moved around getting dishes to set the table. “Later.”
Gideon nodded. “Now that I’m home, I think I want to get back into competing.”
“What do you mean, darling?” She rested her hand on her hip.
“Flower arranging. I hear the flower show is coming back in town. Have you already entered?” He had a plan to knock Janelle down a peg or two since she assumed he didn’t know anything about flowers.
“I haven’t. And I really didn’t think you would want to do it again with me. How nice. I think it’s a great idea.” She kissed his cheek. “I’ve been growing some white roses in the greenhouse at your house. They would make perfect for the arrangement.”
He rubbed his hands together. He had a plan for the plant. He would use their beauty to crush the competition. Now he felt like the old Gideon Wells. This flower competition couldn’t match the excitement of the Super Bowl, but it would mean something to him. Seeing the shock on Janelle’s face would be payment enough.
He faced his mother. “By the way, why did you want me to invite Janelle Gold to dinner?”
“You didn’t find her pleasant?” His mother crossed her arms over her chest.
“I know you taught me to never say anything negative about anyone, especially women, so I’ll say that I must have caught her on a bad day.” Gideon would leave out the fact that the woman had shot laser beams out of her eyes at him, especially when she’d discovered her customer had come to Pick ’N Clip without buying anything at her establishment.
“Really? That doesn’t sound like her. Yes, she can be a little guarded when she first meets you. But once she gets to know you, she’s very nice. I thought that she could help you at the shop and that you two would get along. She likes flowers. You like flowers. Just seemed…”
The hairs started going up on the back of Gideon’s neck. “Oh, no.”
“What?” Elizabeth’s eyes widened as she regarded her son.
“You’re trying to set me up.”
Shay chose that moment to walk out of the kitchen. “With who? Me? Is that why you invited me to stay with you, Queen?” She placed the stack of plates, utensils, and napkins onto the table as she stared at Gideon like he would be served as dinner that night.
“No. You need to get your life together before you think about dating anyone again.” Elizabeth shook her head at her and then directed her to finish her job. She faced Gideon again. “I wasn’t trying to set you up. I figured since you broke up with Hilary and you were in town that maybe you two could, I don’t know, get to know each other.”
“Mom, this is not like me going to a new school or those dances at the community center that you used to sponsor. I’m a grown man. I can find women on my own.” As much as he loved his mother, her intrusions into his life, especially now, still bothered him.
“Yes, you can.” Shay placed a plate on the table. She moved around to where Gideon stood and shimmied her body in between him and the table. Her ass brushed against his crotch. “A woman could be right in front of you.”
Gideon needed to nip this overly flirtatious behavior from his mother’s houseguest in the bud now to cut down on some embarrassment. “Shay, I’m really here for my mother and her business. I would like to make new friends, but I’m not interested in anything else. I hope you understand and respect that.” He glanced at his mother in hopes she understood what he’d said.
Shay sucked on her teeth and glared at Gideon and then Elizabeth. “Damn. You sound like your brother. Whatever.” She returned to the kitchen.
“You’re making friends all over the place, aren’t you, son?” Elizabeth smiled and held his hand. “She’ll be fine.�
�
“Which one?” The fact that his mother saw something in Janelle to want him to date her had him intrigued again.
Not that Gideon needed much prompting to think about Janelle Gold. She reminded him of a stripped-down version of his mother. Headstrong, stubborn, smart…slightly damaged.
“I’m talking about Shay.” Elizabeth leaned close to Gideon and whispered. “Glad you’re still thinking about Janelle.”
Damn. He couldn’t get anything past his mother.
“I hope you’re hungry.” His mother strolled into the kitchen to get dinner when the doorbell chimed. “Honey, will you get that for me?”
“Are you expecting someone?” He headed to the door. His luck, some overly ambitious reporter would be on the porch ready to pounce.
“No. Maybe it’s Eboni,” Queen called from the kitchen. “Or Victor. Or—”
Gideon opened the door. “Janelle.”
He stared at her for a moment while gripping the door like a bouncer.
After a beat, Gideon and Janelle said at the same time, “What are you doing here?”
She never moved back from him. She kept her stare directly on his eyes. “I thought you said you were going to the hospital.”
“Change of plans.” He wouldn’t go into detail about Gunnar. This woman had given him the cold shoulder for a reason. “How do you know where my mother lives?”
“Who is it?” Elizabeth asked from behind him.
Gideon didn’t move or respond to his mother’s inquiry until he felt her hand on his shoulder.
“Janelle’s here.” He took a step back.
“Hi, sweetheart.” Elizabeth embraced her. “Don’t stand out in the cold. Come on in.”
“Thank you.” Janelle stepped into the house but kept Gideon in her sights. “To answer your question, Queen Elizabeth invited me over.”
Queen wrapped her arm around Janelle’s shoulders. “I think her thumb might be greener than yours.” She winked at Gideon.
“Gideon came to my store today and mentioned you and your health.” Janelle cut her gaze away from him long enough to look at Elizabeth. “I’m glad you invited me so I can check on you myself.”
“And no other reason?” Gideon wanted to hear if this stone-cold ice queen had a heart and would perhaps apologize for her actions.
“Do I need a reason to visit with my mentor?” Janelle’s glare could cut the thickest pane of glass.
Damn, Gideon liked his women with a backbone, but this one had a body made of titanium. She couldn’t be broken.
When she turned back to Elizabeth, she smiled again. “You’re looking good as always.” She glanced into the dining room.
Elizabeth smiled at Janelle. “I’ve missed our talks. Take off your coat.” She headed Janelle to the dining room. “I was just telling Gideon that he should have asked you here for dinner.”
“Really?” Janelle peered over her shoulder. “That’s very kind of you.”
“It’s no trouble at all.” Queen pointed to a chair at one side of the table. “You can sit there.” Then she pointed to the chair next to it. “Gideon, you sit there.”
“Mom, there are four sides to this table. We don’t have to sit on top of each other. We can each have a side.” He knew what his mother planned.
“I think this setup is better.” She rearranged the settings so that she and Shay sat across from Gideon and Janelle. “Okay, let’s dig in.”
Before starting the meal, Gideon held out a chair for Janelle. His mother would never let him live it down if he didn’t treat her respectfully, especially in Elizabeth’s home. He helped Janelle move the chair under the table after she sat in it. Then he did the same for Queen and Shay. With the women all seated, he sat down to what he knew would be an interesting dinner.
Elizabeth had prepared a tender pot roast with mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, homemade rolls, and chocolate cake for dessert. He hadn’t forgotten that he needed to stay in training condition. With his knee in its current state, he didn’t need to add more weight to it. He would eat the dinner but skip dessert.
Throughout dinner, he kept his attention on Janelle. With his mother, Janelle showed herself to be charming and bubbly, almost cute whenever she smiled. When Gideon caught her joyous expression, a warm feeling flooded his body. It started from the pit of his stomach and radiated out through his insides, going up to his head and down to his toes.
To keep from falling for her charms, he reminded himself of how she’d acted in her store earlier. She’d refused to help him without reason. He wouldn’t forget that no matter how attractive he found her slender fingers whenever she picked up her glass. Gideon cleared his throat and sat taller.
“Gideon, Janelle has had her store for nearly two years now. Isn’t that nice?” Elizabeth pointed her fork toward Janelle. “Like me, she opened it on her own. She hired a competent staff. And she’s helped me out a lot at my store. She’s great.”
Shay snorted. “Selling flowers? Queen, you do that and have two other businesses. How hard could it be to sell some shriveled-up roses?”
Janelle placed her fork down on her plate and regarded Shay. Gideon could almost see the flames coming straight from her eyes. “Actually, it takes a lot of knowhow to sell flowers. Besides selling them, I also do arrangements.” She smiled like she wanted to make friends with Shay. “In a lot of ways, you and I are a lot alike.”
Shay stopped eating to stare at Janelle. “How’s that?”
“You make people look good with different hairstyles. I try to make rooms look good with my plants and arrangements. People feel better after seeing you when you give them the style they want. Flowers make people feel good when they get them. Isn’t it always nice to get a surprise bouquet sent to you from a man when you weren’t expecting it?”
Shay snickered. “I wouldn’t know about that. I guess I don’t know guys who are the flower-sending types.”
“That’s a shame. Every woman should have a relationship where she gets at least one bouquet sent to her for no reason.” Janelle carried a wistful expression as she picked up her fork.
“I will agree with that.” Gideon stared at Janelle until she connected her gaze to his. Then he looked at his plate of food. He swirled the strings of beef through the brown gravy.
Elizabeth laughed. “I know you believe in that.” She dabbed the corners of her mouth. “Out of my three sons, Gideon is the romantic. Back in high school—”
Gideon shook his head. “Mom, don’t.”
“Don’t interrupt me, please.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He clamped his mouth shut and counted in his head until she told her embarrassing story about him, one of many.
“Like I was saying, Gideon here worked with me at Pick ’N Clip, so he had every kind of flower and plant at his fingertips. I could tell how much he liked a girl by the number of flowers he would give her. First-time courtship, he would give her one flower.” She held up her index finger to illustrate her point. “If she was a nice girl, she would get a carnation.”
Janelle chuckled but quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
Elizabeth continued. “If she was a, um, popular girl who he’d just met, she would get one red rose.”
“Ooh, you are so nasty.” Shay gave him a playful hit on his arm. “You know one long-stemmed red rose means you’re telling her that’s how big your di—”
Queen cut off her employee. “That’s enough, Shay.”
Shay winked at Gideon and took a healthy chomp from a roll. He had already counted to one hundred in his head and hadn’t stopped.
Elizabeth stared at him. “Gideon took this lovely girl to the prom. Not only did this girl get a dozen roses delivered to her at school, he also made her corsage.” She covered her mouth to stifle her laughter. “The thing was so huge it weighed the poor girl’s wrist down. She could barely pick it up. I think in your prom picture, you had to hold her hand up.”
At
this point, the other two ladies at the table erupted in laughter.
“It was my first time making a wrist corsage.” He straightened his back. “She said she liked it.”
“Because she liked you.” Queen pointed at him. “At least you treated her like a lady. The gesture was very sweet.”
Janelle corralled her laughter for a bit. “Yes. Very sweet.” She wiped under her eyes.
“Not bad for a weed, right?” He needed the attention off him for a bit as he turned to Janelle. “What about you? How was your prom?”
The smile slipped down her face. She continued eating while keeping her focus on her food. “I didn’t go to my prom.”
“Too busy?” Queen took a sip of her water.
When Janelle didn’t respond, Shay happily filled in the blanks. “No one asked you?” She shook her head and stared at her with pity in her eyes.
Although he had gotten off on the wrong foot with Janelle, he didn’t see her as a woman deserving pity. He definitely didn’t understand why no one would have asked her to prom. He couldn’t imagine that she looked that much different now than when she attended high school. Her lips and eyes alone had him drawn to her.
To lighten the mood and break up the tension, he spoke. “Congratulations on the shop. I mean that.” He nodded. When Janelle brought her attention to him, he continued, “Most new businesses fold within the first few months. Takes a lot of guts to go out on your own, and it takes a lot of knowhow to make it this long.” He wiped his mouth and steeled his nerves to be the bigger person here. “And thanks for helping out my mother and being a good business associate to her.”
“Your mother has supported me from the very beginning.” Janelle shifted and her knee brushed against Gideon’s leg.
Although she moved it away quickly, the damage had been done. The one connection had ignited the spark within him. Staring at her luscious mouth fanned the flames.
“Is that why you sent business to my store today?” Janelle allowed a small smile to peek through. “The last three hours that I had my store open, we were flooded with customers. I sold out of everything. So if you did that, I appreciate it.”
Gideon studied her face. Janelle had changed from that hard woman who wouldn’t allow him to have her surplus flowers to a genuinely appreciative store owner. As soon as he took in a deep breath, he knew fighting against it would be futile. He caught her distinct scent of citrus and vanilla, an odd combination that worked for her. He found it fascinating that she didn’t go for a flowery aroma like his mother.
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