Yvonne knew of one thing that would take her mind off of Thomas: the memory of the vow she’d made to David. She turned to the fifth chapter of Ecclesiastes. Usually, whenever she read this chapter, she paid close attention to verses five and six: “Better not to vow than to vow and not pay. Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands?” But tonight, verse four seemed to glare at her: “When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed.”
For so long, Yvonne had been condemning herself with verses five and six, thinking that if she didn’t honor her vow to David, then God had every right to destroy the works of her hands. But the fifth verse in Ecclesiastes wasn’t talking about any vow made to man, for the verse preceding it said that a vow made to God must be kept. Not that Yvonne didn’t think that the vows made to fellow human beings were important, but she was finally beginning to see that God did not expect her to uphold the promise she’d made to her husband on his deathbed to the point of closing her heart to love for the rest of her life.
Closing her Bible, Yvonne glanced at the bouquet of pink roses, Peruvian lilies, and butterfly asters in a vase on her dresser. Thomas had sent it yesterday—a “Happy Thursday” gift, he’d called it—and she’d found it so pretty that she hadn’t been able to bear leaving it at work. Besides, she had so many flowers in her office right now that the place was beginning to look like a funeral home. She knew she should give some of the flowers away or throw them out, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Good thing Thomas was due back in town in three days.
Yvonne put her hand over her mouth when she caught herself smiling at the thought of seeing Thomas in a few days. Okay, maybe she had realized that God was not asking her to keep a promise of exclusive love to her husband since he wasn’t living anymore. But her heart still didn’t know the difference. There were days when she ached for David, and then on other days, she ached for Thomas. Her emotions were taking her on a merry-go-round ride, and she wanted to get off.
The phone rang, and Yvonne instantly knew that it was Thomas. There were nights when she wondered why he’d left town in the first place if all he was going to do was send her presents every day and call her every night. “Hello,” she said when she picked up the phone.
“Hey! Were you asleep?” Thomas asked.
His voice sounded so richly masculine. “No, I wasn’t asleep. I was just studying my Bible.”
“Oh, really? What were you studying?” Thomas asked, as if her answer was truly of interest to him.
“A little of this and a little of that.” There was no way that Yvonne was going to confess to reading the Song of Solomon, even if it had been only one verse.
“I got a call from our investigator this morning, and he said that he had scheduled a meeting with you for this afternoon. How did it go?”
Yvonne was practically giddy as she said, “Thomas, I’m so glad you recommended that man. He knew exactly how to go in and get the information we needed on Mr. Marvel Williams.”
“So, what Clarence said was true? Marvel has been hiring undocumented workers?”
“Apparently, that’s how he managed to keep his costs so low and make so much money through the years. But when we get through exposing this man for the fraud he is, he’ll probably need an attorney to help him with all the fines and penalties he’ll face.”
“I told Clarence that I would bail him out of jail on Tuesday if he would agree to tell everything he knows against Marvel at the city council meeting,” Thomas said.
“He’s not going to do it, Thomas. I’ve known Clarence Brown for more than twenty years, and that man wouldn’t say a mumbling word to me that day I went to see him.”
“Trust me, Yvonne, if we let him sit in that jail cell long enough, he’ll be ready to snitch and worry about the stitches later.”
“Enough about Marvel Williams and Clarence Brown,” Yvonne said. “How was your day?”
“Fine—I was out all day visiting pastor friends in Houston, Texas, while Jarrod finished up his last meeting. We have plans to golf with a few friends in the morning, but after that, we’ll be back on the road headed home.”
“I still can’t believe the two of you drove all that way,” Yvonne said.
“It wasn’t a straight shot. Jarrod and I stopped in five different states. That boy has accounts all across the United States. I’m telling you, Yvonne, he’s going to be running the sales department at his company by the time he turns thirty. Mark my word.”
“Spoken like a proud papa.”
“I am proud of Jarrod.” Yvonne could almost hear the smile on Thomas’s face over the line. “And I think he feels good about getting to know his old man a little better, also. He didn’t fool me when he said he wanted to stop and check in with each of his accounts. That was simply his way of being able to spend more time with me.”
Yvonne was so happy for Thomas. She knew that the estrangement between him and his son had been a source of great regret to him, and it sounded like things were finally turning around.
“And the boy is more levelheaded than I gave him credit for where the ladies are concerned,” Thomas continued.
“I wish I could say the same thing about my girls where the men are concerned,” Yvonne muttered. “I used to think Toya would make the right choice regarding a potential husband, but now that she’s dated someone as conniving as Marvel Williams, I simply don’t know.”
“Toya will be fine. That Marvel guy just took her by surprise. I mean, you have to admit, the guy seemed like a pretty good catch—he’s handsome and successful, and who knows what lines he’d been feeding her.”
“Well, let’s just hope that she doesn’t run into another smooth talker anytime soon.”
Thomas laughed. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to save Toya from the smooth talkers. Jarrod hasn’t mentioned any other woman but Toya since we’ve been on this trip. He’s been going down memory lane, all the way back to his and Toya’s high school days. I don’t know, Yvonne. Toya might be the one that got away from Jarrod.”
“I sure hope that boy knows how to act this time, because Toya was through with him when he didn’t pick her up for senior prom.”
“Jarrod still swears up and down that he didn’t know Toya expected to go to the prom with him, but I think he just didn’t know what he would be losing by taking that other girl—whose name he can’t even remember now.”
Yvonne shook her head. “To be young and dumb again. I remember how bad I treated David the first time he tried to ask me out. It’s a wonder the man ever asked me out again.”
Thomas chuckled. “He told me that he liked how feisty you were, and you haven’t changed a bit. You’ve still got that same spirit about you. And now I know firsthand what David was talking about, because it’s the reason I fell in love with you, too.”
“Thomas!” she admonished him. “Don’t say things like that.” All week long, they had been having such wonderful conversations. Thomas hadn’t declared his love since that day in her office, so she’d let her guard down and had began to relax and go with the flow, enjoying their talks and looking forward to seeing him. But now he was changing the rules. How was she supposed to respond to a man professing his love for her? She’d wondered why Thomas hadn’t brought up their relationship, but now that he was, she found herself wishing he wouldn’t! She had been truly loved by only one man, and she had spent over thirty years married to him. She knew in her heart that God was not holding her accountable for the promise she’d made to David now that he was dead, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t holding herself accountable. She’d loved that man for so long and couldn’t just stop now and start loving someone else.
“It’s the way I feel, Vonnie,” Thomas went on. “I know you think that I didn’t care for Brenda, and that’s why I was gone from home so much. But that’s not true. Brenda and I were di
fferent, and we had different goals, so things were difficult for us at times, but I loved my wife. The difference between you and me is that I don’t feel guilty about allowing myself to feel those emotions again.”
Yvonne was silent. She wanted to respond to Thomas, but he was right. She couldn’t allow herself to feel such emotions ever again. She had spent thirty years with those emotions, and it just didn’t seem right to simply transfer the love she felt for David over to Thomas simply because he was still alive.
“Say something, Vonnie.”
“I don’t know what to say. This is hard for me, Thomas. Can’t you understand that?”
With a long sigh, Thomas said, “I understand.” He paused, then changed the subject. “I forgot to ask you if you liked the flowers I sent you yesterday. That bouquet reminded me of you…soft, gentle, and perfect.”
“I don’t know if that is an accurate description of me, but the flowers were lovely. I brought them home with me.”
“Do me a favor, Vonnie,” Thomas said with a tone of urgency.
“You know I’ll do whatever I can for you. What is it?”
“Go out with me on Monday night.”
Now, why’d he have to go and ask something like that? She hadn’t been out on a date in so long, she wouldn’t even know how to act!
“Just give me a chance, Vonnie. I promise that if you go out with me on Monday night and then you still want nothing to do with me, I’ll back off.”
“You promise to stop talking about all this love stuff if I still can’t see us together after Monday night?” Yvonne asked to clarify.
“You have my word that I’ll never again tell you how I feel. But Vonnie, I’ll never stop loving you, because what I feel for you is a forever kind of love.”
Chapter
Twenty-one
Yvonne assessed her appearance in the full-length mirror on her closet door and decided that she liked what she saw. She might be fifty-two, but she could wear an after-five dress better than some women half her age. She had on a yellow silk swing gown with a form-fitting bodice and a beaded sweetheart neckline. The knee-length drape skirt had soft pleats that flowed all the way down to the hem, and her open-toed, beaded gold shoes with two-inch heels were the perfect accessory. It was early September, so she didn’t need a jacket, but she grabbed a shawl just in case one of the places Thomas was taking her tonight still had the air-conditioning on.
Thomas had promised to pick her up at six thirty because they had reservations at seven o’clock. Yvonne had been shocked when he’d told her they would be dining at The Whitney because the place was normally closed on Mondays. Thomas must have pulled some serious strings. She wondered which of his vintage cars Thomas would pull up in today. If she could talk that man into purchasing a brand-new car, Yvonne would feel as if she’d accomplished something. Shrugging her shoulders, she said, “Boys and their toys.”
Yvonne glanced out the window and was taken aback. Her eyes widened at the sight of the two-tone Rolls-Royce parked in front of her house. It was dark blue on the bottom and silver on top. She grabbed her handbag, rushed downstairs, and pulled open the front door. That’s when she noticed the red rose petals that trailed from her front porch down the stairs, along the walkway, and to the back side door of the Rolls-Royce.
A driver Yvonne didn’t recognize stood beside the car and opened the door for her. In his outstretched hand, he held a red rose, which he handed to her. “I was told to give this to the most beautiful woman that I saw today, and to tell her to relax and enjoy herself,” he said with a grin.
Taking the rose, Yvonne smiled and thanked the driver. She then climbed into the backseat of the car, feeling like a princess. Thomas was inside, pulling the petals from yet another red rose and tossing them onto the floor.
“What are you doing?” Yvonne asked as she situated herself.
“Making sure that your feet never touch the ground.”
He was too good to her. Yvonne simply didn’t feel that she deserved all of the time and care Thomas was putting into this evening, and she wanted to make sure that he wouldn’t expect too much from her. “Thomas…I don’t want you to get the wrong impression.”
Thomas held up a hand and said, “If you’re going to tell me that you can’t see me again, ‘Well, then, you should have worn a different dress.’”
Yvonne laughed. She knew exactly where that line had come from. It was her favorite line from the movie Maid in Manhattan. Jennifer Lopez’s character wore this fabulous dress to a dinner party where she’d planned to break up with a guy, but he took one look at her dress and decided that he wasn’t about to let her go.
Yvonne wasn’t sure if she looked as good in her dress as Jennifer Lopez had in hers, but Thomas sure made her feel like she did. “Thank you for the compliment, sir.”
“No, thank you for wearing that dress. You look beautiful,” he said with appreciation in his eyes.
The driver pulled out into the street and drove them to The Whitney. Again, Yvonne thought about all the trouble Thomas was going to. “Why are you doing all this?”
“Hey, I’ve got one shot at this, so I figured I would pull out all the stops. Just relax and enjoy yourself tonight, lady, because I’m going to win you over.”
“I’d say you’re trying really hard. What year is this car?”
“Madam, you are riding in the Silver Dawn. It’s a nineteen fifty-four Rolls-Royce.”
“Will I ever be able to convince you to buy yourself a nice, safe, new car?” Yvonne teased.
“Never. But this one isn’t mine. It’s on loan to us for the night.”
“Well, I thank you for going to the extra trouble. And speaking of that, how on earth did you get The Whitney to agree to serve us on a Monday night?”
Thomas leaned back in his seat and smiled smugly. “Money talks, my dear, money talks.”
Yvonne gave him a playful punch in the stomach. “Whatever, Mr. Show-off.”
“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Tonight will be just a glimpse of what life with me could be like.”
“If this is just a glimpse, I don’t know if I can handle the full picture.” Goodness gracious, the man was treating her like royalty. Yvonne was well aware that many men in the body of Christ referred to their wives as their queens but didn’t always treat them as if they were. She knew quite a few wives who complained that their husbands ignored them, even though they called them “queen” in public.
“Oh, you can handle it, baby,” Thomas crooned in his sexy baritone. “I’ll hold your hand through it all.”
“You don’t play fair, Thomas Reed. When David and I were first married, we couldn’t buy one Happy Meal at McDonald’s. The Lord blessed us through the years, but we still would never have been classified as millionaires. David couldn’t just rent out a restaurant or have limousine drivers spread rose petals at my doorstep.”
“I’ll have you know that I spread those petals across your doorstep myself,” Thomas corrected her.
“You know what I mean, Thomas. I have no comparison for what you are doing.”
He sat up, took Yvonne’s hand in his, and looked deep into her eyes. “Look, Vonnie. I know that what you had with David was special. It wasn’t about money, and if I thought you were the type of woman who was looking for a man with money, I certainly wouldn’t be wasting my time with you.” He paused and took a deep breath before continuing. “And I don’t want to be compared to anybody. I want you to judge me by what you see in me. That’s all. I can’t spend the rest of my life wondering if I’m measuring up to a dead man.”
“A dead man who was once a very good friend to you,” Yvonne reminded him.
Thomas fell back against the seat and closed his eyes. When he opened them and looked at Yvonne again, he said, “David was a very good friend to me. Nothing will ever change that fact. I didn’t come back to Detroit to fall in love with you, Yvonne. I came because David made me promise to help you in any way I could if you needed me. He was
fond of reminding me that it was my fault you were preaching in the first place.”
Thomas had been her hero, even way back before she’d recognized him as such. He’d championed her cause when no one else would stand up for her. She had always been grateful for the friendship they shared. But could she really move their friendship in another direction without bringing a load of guilt on herself?
“Just relax, Vonnie,” he said gently. “I won’t pressure you. You’ve got all night to make up your mind.”
When they pulled up in front of The Whitney, the driver opened both back passenger doors. Thomas got out and came around to Yvonne’s door, where he took her hand and helped her out of the car. Once they were inside the restaurant, a mansion built by lumber baron David Whitney Jr. for his family, the host directed them to the music room. This room was where the Whitneys had entertained their guests with musical performances. Tables filled the room now, but it was still elegant, with authentic Tiffany stained-glass windows and a ceiling mural that featured cherubs dancing on the clouds.
Yvonne pointed up at the angels and said to Thomas, “Did you pick this room because of them?”
“Hey, I need all the help I can get,” he said with a shrug. Then, he lifted his head and folded his hands together as if praying to the cherubs on the ceiling. “Please, Mr. Cupid, strike my lady love with your arrow so that I will be the only man in her heart.”
Yvonne thought that Thomas’s little prayer was cute, but she honestly didn’t see his wish coming to pass anytime soon, not with David still taking up so much space in her heart.
They were seated at one of the smaller tables, and they perused the menu in silence while their server filled their water glasses. Yvonne was enraptured by the selections and had a hard time deciding what to order. When the server returned, she finally decided on the risotto with butternut squash, leeks, fennel, and wild mushrooms. Her mouth watered just thinking about it.
Thomas ordered the salmon with spinach, bacon, and Gruyère, and an herbed tomato galette.
“And had you selected a wine to have with your meal?” their server asked them.
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