Realizing what she had done, Martha Jean froze mid-chew, then swallowed instantly as a blush fell over her. Antonio’s lids lowered, and a smirk sat on his lips.
“Ms. Martha Jean,” he said, “have you had lunch today?”
Martha Jean swallowed. “Lunch?”
He smiled. “Yeah, lunch.”
Martha Jean shocked herself by considering the open invitation. She cleared her throat. “I wouldn’t want to take up your time. I can hang with the best of them when it comes to eating.” She cleared off a nervous laugh.
Standing in the corner watching them with a smile, Norma waited for Antonio to move in and close the deal. She’d been around the Rose men long enough to know not many women were immune to their charms. And she didn’t blame them. Being a part of the family for a little over three decades, Norma had been able to watch her three sons grow up and send them off to college with paid tuitions. She hoped her boys would turn out to have the integrity the Rose men carried. The year they left, Norma had packed up and moved in to the compound after much coaching from Christopher. He reasoned that there wasn’t much reason for her to stay in her home, alone, so he’d given her the other side of his mansion.
Antonio’s smile widened. “I love a woman who can eat,” he said. “Please, join me, that is, if you’ve completed the reason for your visit.”
Martha Jean stumbled for an excuse. It had been a long time since she’d have to find a way to turn someone down without just flat out being rude and saying hell no. This new caring side of her must have been Samiyah’s doing. She was the one always telling Martha Jean to turn it down a notch. Whatever that means. At least that’s what Martha Jean told herself.
“I’m trying to watch my calorie intake, so I probably shouldn’t.”
“Does that mean you don’t eat?”
“Of course not,” she stumbled, “I- um, just don’t know many restaurants that can cater to the diet that I’m on.”
More lies. They were flying out of her mouth like she manufactured them ahead of time, and they stood in a line waiting for the moment when she needed to use one.
Antonio slipped his hands in his black slacks pockets. “If you need assistance with maintaining a healthy regimen and burning calories,” he drawled, “I’m the perfect person to help you out.”
The smile he offered was just as naughty and wicked as the words he spoke. And Martha Jean wondered why she hadn’t slapped him yet. Because you love it. She almost shushed her inner thoughts out loud but was glad she didn’t.
Antonio pushed her further. “Come on, Ms. Martha Jean. Have mercy on a brother and dine with me.”
More tug of war went on inside of Martha Jean. She was interested in Christopher. What did she look like going out with his brother? That would just be confusing. But Antonio wouldn’t give up. He knew the feisty firecracker that Martha Jean was. And he loved it. Soon enough, he surmised she would feel the same way about him.
“We’ve blended families, right?” Antonio continued. “What better way to get to know each other. Then, maybe you’ll never forget my name.”
Martha Jean swallowed, and she suddenly wondered how she’d ever forgotten his name. Was he this fine all this time?
She shrugged. “Well, you’re right, but only if they have food I can eat.”
Antonio was smiling so wide she could see his full set of pearly white teeth. Remembering to be polite, Antonio turned to glance at Norma.
“Would you like to come along, Norma?”
“Oh no, I’ve got enough work around here to do,” she said. “You guys have fun.”
Antonio nodded. “Would you like for me to bring you something back at least?”
“Oh no, no, I’ve got plenty of food here.”
“If you insist,” he said.
With his eyes settling back on Martha Jean, he held his arm out. She glanced down to it and hesitated before circling her through his. They left the kitchen, and Norma trailed them to the front door. Standing in the doorway watching, Norma chuckled at them going back and forth over whose car to drive. That Martha Jean never ceased to amaze her. Norma figured she would get more laughs from that woman as the days went on.
Chapter Eight
When the doorbell rang, Adeline chose to peer out of the blinds. The door was so huge her height wouldn’t reach the door’s peephole. Whoever was outside was standing far enough to the side that she couldn’t see them. But the truck in the driveway informed her that it was Clifford again. Sighing harshly, Adeline unlocked the door. Thankfully, the chain wasn’t connected this time.
“Claudia is not here, and as you know, Desiree doesn’t stay here,” she said, taking in his five-foot-eleven frame.
“That’s too bad,” he said as if he’d come looking for his daughters. “Maybe you can help me with something.”
“I doubt that very seriously.”
“I don’t.”
“What is it?” she asked, deciding not to make a scene and be kind to the man for a change.
Clifford’s dark brown eyes lit up. “Take a walk with me.”
Adeline huffed and leaned into her cane. “Is that supposed to be a joke?”
Clifford frowned. “No, I—”
“Because I’m sure you can tell,” Adeline said, cutting him off, “that I’m in no position to be taking leisurely strolls.”
“You can walk just fine the way I see it. Besides, if you want to get better, you should practice more often instead of circling that built-in therapy center you have inside.”
Clifford held out his hand to further probe her.
“How is this helping you?”
“Because I need to pick your brain about something, and while it’s been terribly cold this season, today the wind holds a light breeze. Perfect day for a stroll.”
He wiggled his brows for added effect, and Adeline pierced him with a stare before offering up a smirk. As if it was the last thing she wanted to do, Adeline accepted his outstretched hand. Clifford pulled her carefully over the threshold, and he leaned in to shut the door behind her.
When Clifford held out his hand for balance, Adeline retorted, “I’m good right now. If you see me going down, that’s when you should catch me.”
Clifford smiled. “Like I used to do,” he said.
Adeline paused and looked at him with another peer of her eyes. “What are you talking about, like you used to do? When we were together, I could hold my own.” She stood up straight and placed a hand on her hip just to show him how stable she used to be.
“Well, when we were together, your falling had nothing to do with your stroke and everything to do with not being able to hang with the big dog,” he said with a naughty gleam in his eyes.
Adeline gasped, then knocked him over the shoulder with the palm of her hand. It didn’t stop laughter from trickling out of her, and in return, Clifford also smiled as he nodded slowly.
“Yeah, you know it, sweetheart.”
Adeline glanced around them, making sure no one was in the vicinity to hear his dirty joke. “Come on, you old fool,” she said with a chuckle still in her voice.
“What?” Clifford said as he easily slipped his hand inside Adeline’s without her noticing. “You know it’s the truth.”
They strolled away from the door and started slowly around the circular driveway in an unhurried pace.
“Someone could’ve heard you,” Adeline said.
“The way I see it, everyone around his is grown and getting more than me and you are. And I thought you said no one was home anyhow.”
Adeline let his words process before responding. “First, who says they’re getting more than either of us? You don’t know what I’m getting. And there’s no telling what you are,” she said. “Secondly, I didn’t say no one was at home. I said, Claudia wasn’t here, and Desiree doesn’t live here.”
“So, who’s here?”
“London’s here.”
“Well shit, she’s grown, too.”
Adelin
e couldn’t help but smile.
“Now about who’s getting what,” Clifford started.
“Ah! Nope, I’m not talking about this with you,” Adeline said.
“Why?”
“Tell me about this thing you wanted to run past me,” Adeline reverted.
Clifford let out a breath. For now, he would let that go. There was still some things to sort out when it came to he and Adeline, and right now, settling to be in her presence without the threat of being pushed away was all he cared about.
“Okay. Over the last few years of my captivity…”
Adeline paused her steps and side-eyed Clifford.
“Don’t you even go there,” she said.
They watched each other for a stretch. Clifford had disappeared a few years before Desiree was set to graduate from high school, and it pained him to leave. Unfortunately, Clifford had gotten mixed up in a gambling ring. At the time, he didn’t know the men he dealt with were shady. He assumed they were all just brothers trying to come up in the world. But he had been wrong. When the friend he thought was paying off his debt gypped him and ran off with his money, Clifford found himself in a situation where he had to work off his debt or suffer the consequences. There was no way he would endanger the lives of his wife and baby girls. So, he made the hard decision to leave. That had been over ten years ago.
When he returned, Clifford begged his girls for forgiveness and told them the truth about his disappearance. Or least what they needed to know. Claudia and Desiree had decided to let bygones be bygones. And now, Clifford was working overtime to get Adeline to do the same. Unfortunately for him, Adeline was more stubborn then she used to be, but he knew he was partially to blame for her hardened heart. No matter what it took, Clifford was determined to soften her into the Adeline who would sing with him in the kitchen on the good mornings when he was getting ready for work and the children were getting ready for school.
Coming out of his reverie, Clifford removed the cane from Adeline’s hand and tucked it under his arm.
“Hey!” she yelled with her hand outstretched. “I need that, give it back!”
Clifford clutched her palm just as Adeline took a wobbly step forward. With both of her hands in his, Clifford pulled her close.
“Do you remember when we used to dance?” Clifford moved slowly, leaning his hips from side to side in a soft sway. “Like this.” Without warning, he twirled her gently and pulled her back into his chest.
Half affright and half tickled, Adeline gripped his shoulder when she sailed back into his chest. Her eyes were wide, and she felt a sudden rush of warmth slip over her.
Clifford leaned down and kissed her forehead softly and waited for Adeline to scold him. When she didn’t, he exhaled a sigh of relief.
“You’re gonna make me fall,” she said finally. The usual sharpness of her tone had been replaced with a euphoric smoothness that sent a ripple through Clifford.
“I would never let you fall. You know that,” he said, staring right down into her deep-set eyes.
His gaze trailed over the bouncing bob that was her hair. Adeline had it cut and styled much like that of her daughter Claudia’s. The heat from her soft hands boiled Clifford’s blood. The manicurist had taken extra care with her feet and fingers, giving them a deep massage in an attempt to apologize for her tardiness yesterday.
“You’re just as beautiful today as you were the last time I saw you,” he crooned.
“That was yesterday,” Adeline reminded with a half snort.
Clifford smirked. “You know what I mean.”
“Unfortunately, I do,” she said, coming out of her haze to push off him. “Can I have my cane back please?”
Although she said it, for some strange reason, Adeline didn’t want the cane back. Never before had she had enough confidence where she felt she could walk off on her own without the assistance of the crutch. But Clifford was making her feel like she could do anything.
“You don’t need it,” he said, keeping it tucked under his arm and stepping to her side. “Hold on to my hand and leave the other one free and let’s walk. I still haven’t told you about my idea.”
Adeline opened her mouth to refute his words but decided against it as his peering stare.
“If I fall, Clifford Stevens, it better be on top of you, then maybe you’ll learn.”
Her suggestion was innocent enough. But at the thought of Adeline falling on top of him, Clifford wiggled his brows suggestively. It was too late for Adeline to take back the words, and a string of warmth ran through her fingers to her toes. She shut her lips tightly for fear of what she might slip up and say next. Which was what? she wondered. This was Clifford she was talking about here. Adeline hadn’t want him since Oprah was doing daytime talk shows. Adeline glanced away from him to clear her thoughts.
“What is this venture you’ve come up with now?” she said, getting back to the topic.
“I have some money I want to invest in a store.”
Adeline pulled away from him. “Is this legal money?”
“Of course, it is.”
Adeline mumbled, “You never know with you these days.”
“I realize it going to take probably another century for you to forgive me for leaving, but just know I’m willing to wait as long as it takes.”
They watched each other again, and Adeline pursed her lips. “Continue,” she said, deciding not to respond to his statement or acknowledge the rushing wave of nerves that bubbled in her stomach.
“I found a building that I could rent out, but I’m wondering if I should just right out purchase it instead.”
“If you have the money to make a full purchase, why pay rent?”
“Well for one, I want to test out the location. If I put all my money into buying the building, and the area is bad for business then, I’ll have to try and sell it. Then I risk losing money on the sale.”
“Have you spoken with the current owner?”
“Yeah. He wants the rent more than the sale, but my offer was too hard to refuse. He told me to give him a few days to think about it, but I feel in my gut he’s going to accept my proposal.
“Why don’t you ask if you can do a rent-to-own lease. That way you’ll have a chance to test out the market and if it doesn’t work out, you won’t be stuck with the building.”
Clifford smiled down at her. “That’s not a bad idea, but it could ruin my credit,” he said.
“Oh, you have credit?”
Clifford laughed, and Adeline smiled.
“Is this about that detailing shop you always wanted?” she asked.
This brought on a gorgeous full-fledge smile from Clifford. Adeline had almost forgotten how handsome his smile was until just then.
“You remembered,” he said as an air of pleasure coursed through him.
Adeline’s heart held an extra beat. One she hadn’t felt in decades.
“Of course, I remember. We were only together for a lifetime, and you talked about that detail shop every chance you got.”
Clifford lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. It was then that Adeline noticed she’d walked several steps with only the assistance of her threaded fingers with Clifford’s.
She gasped slightly, and Clifford knew immediately why. “What did I tell you,” he said. “You don’t need this cane. Now I know it will take some time for you to stop using it completely. But we can practice for as long as you want, whenever you want.”
Adeline’s brows rose. “We?” she queried.
Clifford nodded. “Now that you’ve worked up an appetite. Let me buy you lunch.”
Adeline pursed her lips. “You’re trying your luck today, aren’t ya?”
Clifford chuckled. “But I’m good company, right?”
“Yeah,” Adeline agreed. “Until you start getting on my nerves.”
That brought a full laugh from Clifford. He slipped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug.
“Let me help y
ou inside my truck.”
Chapter Nine
“You have been sulking around here over the last few days, but you still haven’t told me why,” Eden said. “Does this have anything to do with Quentin?”
Phoebe glanced at Eden. They were inside their three-bedroom Lincoln Park condo.
“How am I sulking? This,” Phoebe pointed to the papers strung all over her desk, “is called working from home. It has never been more difficult for me to find the dirt I need on a corporation. There are definitely some higher-ups covering for the defense.”
Phoebe took her eyes over the paper she’d been staring at for the last forty-five minutes. As a lead attorney at Rose and Garnett LLC, Phoebe didn’t get too many chances to take a load off and enjoy the fruits of her labor, which is another reason why Phoebe was completely annoyed. She’d managed to set aside time to take off, to enjoy the holiday season with her family. But the only thing she could manage to do currently was think about the way Quentin had dissed her at the gym.
She sighed and sat the pen down that she’d been tumbling through her fingers and stared over at her sister.
“Are you telling me the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” Eden said.
Phoebe smirked. “Why don’t you just come right out and ask me whatever it is you’re thinking about?”
“Is Quentin partially to blame?”
“As much as you talk about how much of a dog Quentin is, you are always talking about him.”
“Because I know you have a crush on him, and you’re the happy triplet, so to see you sad makes me think he’s done something.”
Phoebe sighed. “You know, for someone who is so judgmental, you tend to forget that Derek James Clark is not a good boy either. You know what they say, birds of a feather flock together.”
Eden plopped down into the chair next to Phoebe. It was true, Derek James Clark and Quentin Davidson had been best friends since junior high school. Both men grew into their own successful entrepreneurs after receiving their bachelor degrees from Harvard University alongside Jonathon and Jacob Rose. As they received their degrees and accolades, they also received their playboy reputations. But for Phoebe, it was almost as if Eden had forgotten that she was in strong like with Quentin’s best friend.
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