by Tina Martin
Bryson frowned. “I don’t, but for her, I’d make an exception. I like her a lot, but I don’t want to fall in love with a woman who doesn’t want love…who doesn’t want me.”
“But you already love her.”
“And that’s the problem,” Bryson admitted. “I’m struggling with what to do at this point.”
“Well, I believe Kalina wants to fall in love. She’s just afraid. If you can show her that she can trust you, I think you’ll be okay.”
He’d already shown her that she could trust him, and if that wasn’t enough, there was no need to further put his heart on the line. He had to stop himself from loving her. “Ah…I have to go, but I’ll talk to you soon, Edith.”
Bryson dropped his phone on the desk and shook his head. He was making a mistake with Kalina – one that he couldn’t afford to make. There was no sense in falling for an emotionally unavailable woman. Kalina had enough problems, and like her, he didn’t want to get hurt either. But it seemed to be too late for him. His heart was already involved and now, he was at her mercy.
CHAPTER 31
She wondered why he hadn’t called…
Since he snuck a kiss this morning, Kalina hadn’t heard from Bryson. She was sure he would’ve called to discuss the dinner menu and what they would be cooking tonight for his family, but he hadn’t. Had he forgotten that he’d invited her over to help him cook and stay for dinner with his family? She was excited to see his brothers again, meet their wives and meet Bryson’s parents. She glanced at the clock. It was already after two in the afternoon.
“Guess I’ll have to call you, Bryson Blackstone,” she said in a low monotone.
“Hey, Lizette, I’m going to step outside for a minute. Be right back.”
“Okay, girl,” Lizette said, steadily typing.
Kalina quickly jogged downstairs and after she stepped outside of the front door, she dialed Bryson’s number, surprised he’d answered so quickly with, “Hello.”
“Hey…it’s Kalina.”
Silence. Bryson closed his eyes with the phone pressed to his left ear. I can’t do this to myself.
“Hello? Are you there?” Kalina asked.
“Yes, I’m here. What’s up?”
She frowned. “Is something wrong, Bryson?”
“No…just busy today,” he said, feeling awful for lying.
“Oh, well call me back when you get some time.”
“No, you’re on the phone now. What’s up, Kalina?”
Something wasn’t right. It was coming through loud and clear in his voice. Anyway, Kalina said, “I was calling to see what was up with this dinner thing.”
“Oh, um…about that…” He drew in a deep breath then said, “I was thinking that maybe it’s not such a good idea.”
Kalina frowned again. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t think it’s fair of me to ask for your time when you’re already going through so much. So I got this…you go and take care of your mother.”
Kalina’s frown deepened. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Why did it seem like he was blowing her off? “Okay…if that’s what you want.”
I want you, is what he wanted to say. Instead, he said, “Yes. Take care of your mother. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.”
“Bye,” Kalina said, listening to the dial tone since he had already hung up the phone.
She shook her head. Before, he was excited about her coming over, spending the evening with his family. Now, he was acting weird, canceling at the last minute and quickly ending the call. And why did the call seem so final – like he hadn’t really planned on talking to her again?
She was certainly disheartened by the cancellation. She walked back inside and sat at her desk. For a moment, she thought about calling him back, but if he didn’t want her to come to dinner, she surely wouldn’t beg. She inhaled a long breath and forced herself back into work mode. “Hey, Lizette...remember the discussion we had about my father and the blog post about loving someone who’s ill?”
“Yeah. Are you going to talk to your father, finally?”
“Yes. I’m leaving tomorrow at noon, so you can work at home Tuesday and Wednesday.”
“Cool. So did you talk to him and arrange to meet somewhere, or—”
“No. I’m going to show up at his house. I have his address. I don’t have any other information.”
“Wait…so you’re going to spring this on him?”
“I am. I don’t want to give him any warning that I’m coming. That way, he can’t prepare a bunch of lies to tell me. He will not get a chance to prepare for this.”
“Wow, Kalina. I’m all for you going to see him, I mean, it was my idea, but are you sure you want to do a pop-up visit?”
“He’s already ruined my life. What’s the worst that could happen? Anyway, I’m leaving tomorrow…going online to book a hotel now.”
“Alright, boss lady,” Lizette said. “I hope you get the answers you’ve been looking for.”
“Honestly, I don’t know what to expect. I just know I need to go.”
CHAPTER 32
Bryson had been in the kitchen cooking since four in the afternoon when he heard the doorbell. He had called his sister to come over to help him prepare the food, and since he needed to talk to her, he figured this would be the perfect opportunity.
He wiped his hands and walked to the front door, opening it. “Hey, Candice.”
“Hey…I assume you want to talk, finally,” she said with a hand on her hip.
Bryson hid a smirk. His sister was the youngest of his siblings and she’d always complain about how unfair her life was because, not only did she have overprotective parents, she also had four older brothers who were just as protective of her. Bryson could admit that he was the most protective of his sister. He always reminded her how he was a teenager when she was born. He used to change her diapers. He fed her and rocked her to sleep. He would never allow anyone hurt his sister.
“How about you help me get this food prepared?” Bryson said. “We’ll cook and talk.”
“Whatever,” she said, walking into the kitchen. She noticed a large pan of ham, green beans, mashed potatoes, corn, baked chicken and rolls. “Looks like you have everything covered.”
“Well, I still have more chicken left to fry and I need you to put the biscuits in the oven, but first, I want to say this, Candice. Yes, I told Quinton to leave you alone.”
“Why?”
Bryson grimaced. He didn’t want to hurt his sister which is the reason why he never told her what he’d discovered about Quinton. And he didn’t want to tell her now, but he knew he had to.
“You told him to stop talking to me because you don’t like him, right?” Candice asked. “Just like you didn’t like Jamar. You promised me you would let me make my own decisions, Bryson. I’m aware that I’m younger than you and that you’re playing the protective big brother role, but I can take care of myself.”
“I’m sure you can, Candice, but if I see someone disrespecting you, I’m going to step in regardless.” He took a breath. “I didn’t want to tell you this because I knew how much you liked Quinton, but I saw him having dinner with another woman. And this wasn’t a friend…they were holding hands, laughing…he even kissed her after he walked her to her car. So yeah, I told him to leave you alone and I would do it again, because you are my sister, I love you and I will never let a man disrespect you.”
Candice blinked quickly to clear the water from her eyes. “You should’ve told me, Bryson. Why let me be angry at you for so long?” She dabbed her eyes.
“Like I said, I didn’t want to hurt you.” Bryson walked over to her, wrapped his arms around his sister and squeezed her. “And I’ll never let anyone hurt you, Candy.”
Candice sniffled. “I’m sorry for the things I said at dinner.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Bryson said, breaking their hug. “Now go ahead and get crackin’ on those biscuits before the family gets h
ere.”
“Okay. Let me wash my hands first.” Candice walked over to the sink and after washing and drying her hands, she began kneading the biscuit batter, rolling small chunks into a ball, flattening them and placing them on the pan. “So, Bryce, are you serious about never being in a relationship again, or did you say that only because you were still hurt?”
“I’m not hurt. I was, but not anymore.”
“Then why don’t you date?” Candice opened the oven door and slid in the large pan of biscuits. She watched Bryson sprinkle salt on the corn.
“I don’t have the time for it,” he said.
“Oh stop your fibbing. You have time to date.”
“Well I don’t want to. Better?”
“Why not?”
“Because I didn’t really want to get married anyway, Candice. It wasn’t one of my life goals or plans…”
“Yet you and Felicia were married for six years. Not one, not two. Six.”
“Your point?”
“Are you telling me it was an accident that you fell in love with Felicia?”
“No, it wasn’t an accident but, now, I wish I never met her.” He also wished he hadn’t fallen for Kalina so quickly.
Candice carefully removed some chicken wings from the deep fryer before she put the last batch in. Focusing her attention on Bryson again, she asked, “So if you don’t want to date, what are you doing house hunting with Kalina Cooper?”
“And how do you know that?”
“I have my sources.”
Bryson grinned and shook his head. “Kalina’s a friend. I needed a woman’s perspective on the houses I was looking at so I asked her to tag along. I would’ve asked you but you weren’t too thrilled with me at the time.”
“I see.”
“Do you know Kalina?” he asked.
“I’ve never met her, but I feel like I know her. Her father talked about her so much…he would go on and on and on—”
Confusion washed over him. “You know Kalina’s father?”
“Yeah. He was one of my college professors. He used to talk about her all the time…about how proud he was of her for starting her own business.”
Kalina’s father was a college professor? Bryson frowned. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Interesting.” Bryson couldn’t fathom why Kalina’s father would brag about her to his students when he had left Kalina and her mother to struggle. And he was a college professor? A well-educated man? Certainly he had some morals. Then again, just because a person had a level of intelligence didn’t make them moral. Or maybe Candice was confusing the professor with someone else. To find out for sure, Bryson asked, “What’s his name?”
“Stanley Dixon.”
“Dixon? No, you must be talking about a different person. Kalina’s father’s last name is Cooper.”
“Noo…it’s Dixon. He was my professor, Bryson. Don’t you think I would know the man’s name?”
Yeah, she would know the man’s name. “What else do you know about him?”
“Um…not much. He only talked about Kalina. I think he died a couple of years ago, though.”
“He died?”
“I think I heard he had passed. He had cancer or something.”
Surely if Kalina’s father had died, she would’ve known, right? So there, it was settled. This person Candice was speaking of wasn’t Kalina’s father. Bryson felt a wave of relief at that realization. But to be one-hundred percent certain, he asked Candice a final question. “What did he say about Kalina…about what she did for a living?” Bryson paused, stirring the mashed potatoes, waiting intently for an answer.
“He said she owned some blog that she turned into a profitable business.”
The sound of his heartbeat pounded in his ears. This was her father! But why would Kalina express so much hate for her father, talk about how he never called, never inquired about her and her mother as if the man was still alive? She said he was living it up with his new wife. She never said anything about him dying.
“Time check,” Candice said.
Bryson glanced at his watch. “It’s 5:15. We’re making good time. Just check the biscuits and make sure they don’t burn. I’ll be right back.”
Bryson walked to his home office, closed the door behind himself then sat at his computer. He typed Professor Stanley Dixon in the Google search engine. The second search result was an obituary with the picture of a black man. Bryson continued to read through the obituary and saw that this Stanley Dixon was survived by a wife and one daughter.
“Why would she not have told me that her father was deceased?” Bryson asked in a monotone. The question nagged him. She told him everything else. Why not that?
“Why would you not tell me that, Kalina?” he asked, thinking out loud.
And then Stanley’s last name was Dixon. Kalina’s was Cooper. Since he knew her mother’s last name was Cooper, it was possible she’d reverted back to her maiden name when Stanley left. It was also possible that Madeline and Stanley weren’t married when Madeline gave birth to Kalina, thus, she’d kept the Cooper name.
Even so, even if that were all true, none of it helped to answer the question that nagged him. He leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms over his chest and asked aloud again, “Why would she not tell me that her father had died?” Then it dawned on him. He sat straight up in his chair and said, “She doesn’t know!” That explained it all. She didn’t tell him because she didn’t know. That’s why she talked about her father like he was still alive because, as far as she knew, he was.
Bryson thought about calling her, but after he’d already uninvited her to dinner, he didn’t think it was an appropriate thing to do at the time. He’d wait to visit her in the morning instead, then he’d tell her about Stanley. If she knew her father was deceased, maybe she wouldn’t hold on to the grudge she had against him and, by extension, every other man. She’d be open to dating and desiring love in her own life. And maybe, he would have a shot at winning her heart.
CHAPTER 33
In the morning, Kalina packed an overnight bag, before sitting down at the kitchen table, eating a bowl of Corn Flakes. She wondered how Bryson’s family dinner had gone and why he had called to tell her not to come. Was it the kiss?
If it was, well, she didn’t want to kiss him either, so why was he the one canceling plans like she was out of line somehow. He kissed her – not the other way around.
After breakfast, she set her bowl in the sink before running upstairs to the office to pack up her laptop bag and a few notebooks she needed. Finally, after placing her bags in the car, she was on the road, heading for Fayetteville. She was about to crank up the radio when she heard her phone. She quickly glanced at it and saw that the caller was Bryson.
She frowned behind her shades. Why was he calling now? To tell her how good his dinner was? She shook her head, turned the volume up on the radio and continued her drive.
* * *
Where was she? He’d tried calling her five times, back-to-back and didn’t get an answer. He left an urgent voicemail, telling her to call him as soon as she got the message. He’d also sent a text message. He sighed. He needed to talk to her now.
He closed his office for lunch and drove to her house. He didn’t see her car in the driveway, nor did he see Lizette’s car. Today was a normal workday. Tuesday. Where was she?
Maybe she went to lunch, he thought. What if she had another lunch date with Isaiah? The thought of it angered him.
He dialed Edith and when she answered, he said, “Hi Edith.”
“Hi Bryson.”
“Is Kalina with you?” Bryson asked, getting straight to the point.
“No.”
“Do you know where she is?”
“No. As far as I know, she’s at home working. It is Tuesday.”
“She didn’t go to the hospital today to visit Madeline?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Well, she’s not at home. I just
left her house. Her car is not there and Lizette’s car isn’t there either.”
“Well, I can try to call her. Now you have me curious.”
“Call her and give me a call back. I need to speak with her. It’s urgent.”
“Alright. If I can get ahold of her, I will let her know.”
“Thanks.”
Thinking that she’d gone to lunch, he drove to the only restaurant where he’d ever seen her out to lunch – when he’d saw her with Isaiah. He parked and even walked inside the restaurant, looking around, feeling disappointed when he didn’t see her.
She must be at the hospital, he thought. That’s where he would head next.
On the way out of the restaurant, he bumped into a woman. He looked at her to offer an apology and that’s when he saw that it was Lizette.
“Hey, Bryson,” Lizette said all cheery.
“Hi, is Kalina with you?”
“No. She’s out of town.”
“Out of town?” Bryson inquired.
“Yeah. She went to Fayetteville to visit her father.”
“What?”
“She left this morning. I believe she’s staying at the Courtyard.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“No problem.”
Bryson quickly returned to his car. He didn’t think twice about what he was going to do next. He wouldn’t take the time to pack a bag and he wouldn’t go back to his office building to close it for the day. He’d have his secretary do that. He needed to get to Kalina as quickly as he could.
He blew a breath. What would make her want to go see her father anyway after she claimed to hate him so much? It wasn’t like her to do something so spur-of-the-moment like that. She was the type to do research – to look Stanley up online, find out where he worked. Where he lived. Subsequently, she would’ve found out that he had passed. Why hadn’t she done her homework before dashing off in a hurry?
An hour into his drive, Bryson heard his phone chiming in the passenger seat. He picked it up when he saw it was Edith.