Me: He’s playing and singing So Amazing by Luther.
Gayle: Amazing.
Me: He makes me feel like I don’t have control. I don’t like it.
Gayle: I understand, but you’ll never know love until you let go and surrender to it. Stop being afraid and give that beggin’ man a chance before I kill you!
I giggled inwardly. That was not the response that would help me maintain my resolve and I realized that’s why I texted Gayle. She was the friend who would encourage me to step out of my comfort zone. I turned back around and instead of finding Ethan’s eyes I focused on Janette and Terrance. They were clearly touched by Ethan’s playing. My sister’s eyes were brimming with unshed tears. She and her new husband glided across the floor instep to Ethan’s singing and the guests were just as moved by their dancing as they were by Ethan’s playing. Reverend and Mother Wright never picked their jaws up off the floor the entire time he played. He apparently hadn’t shared his new found talent with them either.
Just as he finished, the D.J. entered the room and set up to take over. The audience gave Janette, Terrance and Ethan a standing ovation. “The Closer I Get to You” piped through the speakers and the floor filled with couples.
Chapter 15
The reception was almost over. The guests were eating cake, gathering favors and taking their last opportunity to chat with the wedding party.
I was making my rounds giving the tip envelopes to the people who served us and the vendors who hadn’t yet received theirs. I’d just come in from talking to the limo driver when I heard Ethan’s laugh come from a room away from the general crowd. I intended to join him, but before I could step in I heard Terrance speak.
“I didn’t mean to be so hard on you. I just had to see where you were coming from. Deniece is a special woman.”
“You’re lucky I let you get away with the black eye.”
Terrance chuckled. “I owed you that from that basketball game last year. You know you threw that elbow on purpose.”
They both laughed. I smiled. It was nice to hear them laughing together.
“Anyway, you know Deniece was my first love. I’m always going to care about her.”
“I hear you, but I have to admit I was kind of concerned about where your head was.” I heard Ethan say.
“I didn’t want her hurt. I didn’t want you to use her and discard her when she was vulnerable.”
“Like you did five years ago?”
“I admit, I should have handled some things better,” Terrance replied. “But it doesn’t matter now, because you are the right Wright for her.”
There was a break in their conversation and then Ethan spoke. “I don’t know. I can’t tell. She keeps running from me.”
Terrance chuckled. “Nectar’s hard to catch. Take it from the man who never caught her, but you should love that about her. It confirms you two are alike. You have big dreams. You both know how to go for it. She needs someone like that.”
Ethan was silent. Terrance continued. “I was attracted to her spirit, but I wasn’t going to sprout wings and fly away with it. I also would have never let her fly.”
There was a beat of silence. I strained to try to hear what they were saying.
“I love you like a little brother, so I’m warning you, don’t mess this up,” Terrance said.
“I’m trying not to,” Ethan replied, “but I don’t know. I’m not even sure if she really wants me.”
Do I want him? I asked myself as I escaped down the hall. I needed privacy, but there was no privacy to be found in this place. The ladies room, living room and the waiting area were full. As I moved from space to space discovering this, people who complimented me on the beautiful decorations and the splendor of the event stopped me. I had requests for my business cards. People had events in their future that they wanted me to plan for them. I handed out cards but I couldn’t digest any of it, because I had to get my head together. The only place I could find was a broom closet. I slipped inside and turned on the dim light.
Did I want him? “God help me, I do, but I’m scared. He’s so perfect. There’s got to be something wrong with him,” I cried. I spotted a stool in the corner of the room. I reasoned it was clean enough and sat. Five minutes and I’d be back out there lending a hand to Sister Marie and the hostesses; ensuring the top layer of Janette’s cake was properly packed and the cards were secured to every wedding present, lest they get separated in travel. Then I’d assist the hostesses in getting a sparkler into the hand of every guest. The finale had the guest lined up between the front steps and the limo framing Terrance and Janette’s exit with a lighted arch. It was spectacular every time I did it. Janette would love it. I had to get out there to do those things. I just needed a minute to stop the tremors in my soul.
I felt nauseous just like I had behind the wheel of a car and on a plane all these years. Just like my car and plane nausea, I was afraid now because I wouldn’t have control. Ethan had helped me with that. Helped me to remember through my faith I had no fear, but now the very person who had encouraged me to not be afraid had me terrified. I didn’t even know what to do with so much man. Fine as Michael Ealy, rich, well traveled, smart, spiritual, and …fine. Way too fine to be corralled by anyone, forget someone like me. No matter how much time I spent in New York City and no matter how high I stood on my designer heels, I was still just a country girl; a country mouse in the big city. I wasn’t sure I had enough of what he needed. I couldn’t bare it if I fell any deeper in love and he dumped me. I squeezed my eyes shut. Just the thought of that kind of heartbreak…
“Has anyone seen Deniece?” I heard Ethan’s voice outside the room. I stood and stepped closer to the door. Someone asked if he’d checked the ladies room and he responded, “I had one of the bridesmaids check in there. I’ve looked everywhere.” He mumbled something I couldn’t hear and then “Someone Please Call 911” rang out from my cell phone.
“Did you hear that?” Ethan asked. “Where did that come from?”
I reached into my skirt for the phone and it rang louder. I’d forgotten I turned the volume up when I was waiting to hear from the D.J.
There was a light rap on the door and then Ethan’s voice. “Deniece?”
The door opened. Ethan blocked the light that flooded the small room. I could see the group he had been talking to standing behind him. He turned to them. “I found her. Apparently she does floors too.” They laughed. He stepped in the room and closed the door.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Joining you. Why are you in here? You couldn’t be planning to mop.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m getting a moment to myself, so would you please go back out.”
“By myself?”
“Yes.”
Ethan chuckled. “No way, baby. People are not going to say I came out of the closet at Terrance’s wedding.”
I got the joke.
He continued, “Word will be all over Garrison before they got the communion crackers out. Chile, Ethan came out at the wedding.” He laughed. “No ma’am. Either we go out together or we stay in here together.”
I shook my head. “You’re so silly.” I wanted to say, I love that about you.
“So, now that we’ve established I’m not leaving, tell me, why do you need a moment to yourself?”
“I’m thinking?”
“About?” he asked and then he seemed to realize something. A slight smile touched his strong mouth as he crossed his arms over his crisp white shirt. “Are you thinking about me?”
“Why would you assume that?”
“I don’t know. I’m confident.”
I smirked. “Overconfident.”
“Yesterday you said I was making you crazy. You’re in a broom closet at your sister’s wedding. That’s pretty crazy behavior.”
I shook my head. “I should go. I have work to do.”
Ethan stepped back. He wasn’t letting me pass. “No, we talk, now, because you’re making us both crazy.” He
reached for my arm and pulled me to him. I collided with his chest like I was bumping into a brick wall. I liked that feeling, a lot. “I love you,” he said.
I shook my head. Shock paralyzed me. “Love me?”
“Everything about you.” He dropped a kiss on the top of my head.
I melted. “How do you know?”
He used a finger to lift my chin so my eyes met his. “Remember, I told you, men always know.”
My heart knocked against my chest. I took a deep breath. I wanted to step back, but there was no place to go. There was nowhere to run in this tiny space.
“I know it seems like it’s only been twelve days, but it hasn’t. I’ve loved you since you had pigtails.”
Smiling, I rested my head against his chest. His heart was pounding just as wildly as mine. I wasn’t the only one who was scared. Why did I think that I was?
“And you,” he continued, raising my chin again. “You love me too.” He swept a finger across my lips. “You don’t have to say it right now if you don’t want to. I can tell.”
I nodded. I did have to say it. I owed him that, because even though he’d given me an out, his spirit was begging me to speak my truth. “I do love you.” I released the breath I’d been holding. “I can’t imagine going back to my life without you in it.”
The corners of his lips went up. Satisfied he said, “Then don’t be scared. Do what you did when you picked up and moved to New York. Take a risk.”
“I, I can’t,” I cried, moving out of his grasp. “I don’t know how to be with someone who spends most of his time overseas. I’m not that secure.”
“That doesn’t have to be my life anymore. I already told you that. As a matter of fact, the first kid’s fitness center is going to be in New York.”
I avoided his eyes by locking my gaze at the center of his chest. “When did you decide that?”
He moved a tendril of hair from my face and raised my chin so our eyes met again. “That first night I found you crying on the side of the road.”
The air left my lungs. I barely recognized my own voice. “You can’t mean that.”
“I do.” He kissed my forehead.
“Ethan.”
“I’m not letting you out of this closet until you agree to be my woman.”
He squeezed my hands. Time was frozen as we stood there facing each other, our hands clasped; him willing me to say yes and me fighting to say no.
“It’s warm in here,” Ethan said. “I’m going to have to strip and if someone opens the door and I’m missing clothes...”
I chuckled. “It won’t be as bad as it would be if you came out of the closet.”
He leaned down and kissed me; nearly lifted me off my feet when he pulled his lips away.
I heard Ribbon in the Sky pipe through the speakers in the background.
“They’re playing our song,” he whispered.
I smiled and tried to look away. He wouldn’t let me. He began to sing. “Oh so long for this night I prayed.” I met his eyes. He took my free hand and put it on his shoulder. He led as our bodies moved together. I let my head rest on his shoulder. I pushed out all the negative thoughts in my mind about his age, my age, his wanderlust spirit, the fact that he was practically my exes’ brother. I pushed them all aside, pulled my head back to catch his eyes and said, “You told me you make a good boyfriend. I’m holding you to that.”
Ethan yelled and picked me up in the air.
“That’s the Deniece Malcolm I know.” He brought me down low enough for my lips to land on his.
The door to the closet opened. I heard voices, but I didn’t care. I was breaking another one of my rules; kissing in public.
“Open your mouth,” I whispered. Ethan chuckled and then took great pleasure in complying.
Epilogue
Six months later …
The long black limousine came to a stop. He stepped out and held his hand for me. I exited in a strapless silk tulle fairytale ball gown with a crystal encrusted bodice. It was the dress I’d dreamed of wearing every time I planned a wedding for another bride. My groom had to be the most handsome man on the planet. The moonlight danced off his vest and the metallic thread shimmered against his thick, tight abs. Lord have mercy. He was all mine.
We walked into the ballroom under the announcement. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Ethan Augustus Wright. Our guest applauded. Ethan squeezed my hand and raised it to his lips. We joined the bridal party and greeted our guests as they came through the reception line. There were friends and family from Garrison, Atlanta, New York City and even France, Spain and Africa. It was a highly televised event that ex-pro soccer player, humanitarian and successful businessman, Ethan Wright was getting married in Atlanta this weekend to what was said to be an ex-girlfriend from high school. Cameras from every major entertainment, sports magazine and newspaper flashed.
We completed the reception line and a band began to play. Early in our planning, Ethan had been assigned the task of taking care of the music for the reception. He assured me that every song would be a sweet surprise for me. Four vocalists stepped on the stage and our coordinator announced, “And now, we will have the Wright’s first dance.”
The women began to sing: Here we are together. In a place, in a space surrounded by love.
My heart filled up so much that I closed my eyes to suppress the tears of joy that wanted to flow. How did he know? How could he know that of all the wedding songs I’d heard in my life that this was my very favorite? I opened my eyes and took a step towards my groom. He pulled me into his arms and our guests gushed “Oohs and aahs.”
Ethan sang with the women, “You make me so happy. Happy forever.” Their voices faded into the background and we danced. “You like?” he asked.
I nodded. “I can’t believe you picked that song. How did you know?”
“I know you, baby. You best believe that.” He smiled and pulled me closer.
I smiled with him. “I should have known you’d be unpredictable, but you couldn’t have told me that we wouldn’t be dancing to Ribbon in the Sky.”
“I thought I’d save that one for later tonight. I’m planning to sing it until the sun comes up.” His dark eyes became devilishly darker.
A rush of heat swept over me. I twisted my lips into a smile and repeated his words. “Until the sun comes up.”
“I never did tell you my number one favorite thing to do.” He smiled and kissed my chin.
I could hardly wait for the reception to end. I was probably more excited about the honeymoon than he was, but since we were here, I enjoyed it.
When the dance was over, Janette and Terrance joined us on the floor. With tears in her eyes Janette said, “Sis, this is the most beautiful wedding you never planned.”
We laughed. “I know. I’m going to have to take lessons from my own wedding planner.”
Both our men spun us around and we changed partners. As Janette took Ethan’s hand she whispered over her shoulder. “By the way, I just found out I’m pregnant again.”
I frowned and stopped moving. “Already? I thought you had to wait a certain amount of time in between pregnancies.”
Janette shrugged. Ethan guided her back into Terrance’s arms and took my hand. He pulled me into motion and said, “Now, come on, babe, everybody knows the Malcolm sisters don’t follow the rules.”
I laughed and closed his teasing lips with a kiss.
The End
Coming Soon from Rhonda McKnight…
UnBreak My Heart
December 2013
Jacob Gray believed he’d spend the rest of his life loving his wife, Cameron Scott, that is until he discovered he was not the father of their six-week old child. Jacob tried to put Cameron out of his mind and heart, but seven years have passed and he still loves her. He inserts himself back in her life and discovers she still loves him too, but can they forgive the pain of the past and allow each other to heal their broken hearts?
; About the Author
Rhonda McKnight is the author of the Black Expressions Top 20 bestseller, A Woman’s Revenge (Mar 2013), What Kind of Fool (Feb 2012), An Inconvenient Friend (Aug 2010) and Secrets and Lies (Dec 2009). She was a 2010 nominee for the African-American Literary Award in the categories of Best Christian Fiction Novel and Best Anthology. She was the winner of the 2010 Emma Award for Favorite Debut Author and the 2009 Shades of Romance Award for Best Christian Fiction Novel. Originally from a small, coastal town in New Jersey, she’s called Atlanta, Georgia home for fifteen years. Visit her at www.rhondamcknight.net and www.facebook.com/booksbyrhonda and join her Facebook reading group for discussions about her books at https://www.facebook.com/groups/rhondamcknight/
Books by Rhonda McKnight
What Kind of Fool
Feb 2012
The Wife, Her Husband. Their faith. . . . Will it save them before it’s too late, or will an enemy from their past destroy their marriage forever?
Angelina Preston tunes out the voice of God when she decides to divorce her husband, Greg. She’s forgiven him for his affair, but she won’t forget, even though her heart is telling her to. Shortly after she files divorce papers, she finds out her non-profit organization is being investigated by the IRS for money laundering. In the midst of the very public scandal, Angelina becomes ill. Through financial and physical trials, she learns that faith and forgiveness may really be the cure for all that ails her, but can she forgive the people who hurt her most?
Sexy, successful Dr. Gregory Preston didn’t appreciate his wife when he had her. His affair with a devious man-stealer has him put out of his home and put off with women who continue to throw themselves at him. Greg wants his wife back, but he’ll have to do some fancy operating to get her. When the secrets and lies from his past continue to mess up his future, Greg finds himself looking to the God he abandoned long ago for a miracle only faith can provide.
Breaking All The Rules (Book 1 - Second Chances Series) Page 14