As she put her hand on the door, Trinity’s father grabbed the mic and began quieting the group. Theresa wondered what he was about to say, but she couldn’t stay to hear it. She stepped outside and pulled her cell out of her purse. She called Tony’s number but the phone rang once and then went to voicemail. She tried it again, but the same thing happened. Theresa wanted to cry. Why would Tony turn his phone off on New Year’s Eve? Didn’t he want to hear from her?
“What are you doing out here?” Trinity asked as she stepped outside. “My father just called your name. He wanted you to come to the pulpit.”
Theresa shook her head. “If he wasn’t us to sing, I just can’t. Not tonight.”
“Don’t you dare start crying. I want you to put a smile on your face and come back inside with me.”
“But Trinity, I really messed up. Tony was my true love, I knew that and I still let him walk away. And now he’s so disgusted with me that he won’t even answer his phone to wish me a happy New Year.” Theresa threw her phone back in her purse. “Can you please, just take me back to the house?”
“Yes, I can,” Trinity told her. “But we need to go back through the sanctuary to get to my car. I don’t like walk through the grass because it will just mess up my shoes.”
“I’ll meet you around there. I don’t care if my shoes get messed up.”
“No.” Trinity forced the issue. “I’m not taking you back to the house if you can’t at least walk through the sanctuary and wave goodbye to my parents.”
Theresa rolled her eyes, but she put a hand on the doorknob to open it, while complaining, “I don’t know what the big deal is. I’ll see your parents when they get back to the house.”
Trinity glanced at her watch. “Will you hurry up. It’s five minutes ’til midnight.”
“I’m sorry that I’m being a pain. I’m just not good company right now,” Theresa explained.
“And I don’t know why you’re so upset. You prayed and asked God to turn things around for you, and He’s been doing that, right?”
Theresa nodded. Tony might have left her team, but God was with her, Theresa knew that for a fact.
“Then trust Him to complete what he started.” Trinity grabbed Theresa’s hand as they re-entered the church and escorted her towards the front. The people started clapping and blowing their party horns and a knot began to form in Theresa’s stomach that had nothing to do with her pregnancy. “I can’t do this,” Theresa whispered to Trinity.
“You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you,” Trinity shot back.
They had reached the front of the church by the time Theresa finally looked up. Tony was standing in the pulpit, holding TJ with Mikey and Brielle standing next to him. “What’s going on?” Theresa asked Trinity.
“Just get up there and find out,” Trinity told her as she took TJ out of Tony’s hand and then sat down to watch the show.
Theresa rushed up the three small steps that elevated the pulpit. She hugged Mikey and Brielle. “I missed you guys. I just went outside to call.” Then she turned to Tony. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
“I couldn’t be without you. Not on New Year’s Eve,” he told her. Then they hugged and kissed. But Tony knew he had to be quick… needed to get this in before midnight. So, he got down on one knee and pulled a black velvet box out of his jacket. “Baby, we have endured the good and the bad. But through it all, I have never wanted to be anywhere else but with you and our family. If you’ll have me. I would…”
“Yes, yes!” Theresa screamed and held out her finger so he could put a ring on it.
The crowd started chanting, “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!”
“Let’s start fresh, baby. A new year and a new beginning for all of us. How about it?” Tony’s eyes shone with love.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” And as Tony wrapped her in his loving arms, she looked towards heaven, careful not to forget the one who made this magical moment possible. And just like many others who’d received a gift from God, Theresa said, “Thank You!”
The beginning…
Coming in December 2016… The Promise of Christmas
Don’t forget to join my mailing list:
http://vanessamiller.com/events/join-mailing-list/
Join me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/77899021863/
Join me on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/vanessamiller01
Books in the Spirit of Christmas series
The Christmas Wish (Book 1)
The Gift (Book 2)
The Promise of Christmas (Book 3) (rel. Dec. 2016)
Excerpt of
(Book 1 of The Spirit of Christmas Series)
The Christmas Wish
Prologue
“And the Grammy for the Best R & B Performance by a Group goes to…” The announcer took a moment to let the suspense build as she opened the envelope. As a smile crept across her face she shouted, “The Four Ts for their wonderful song, “Peace of My Heart.””
The crowd exploded in thunderous applause for the group as Trinity, Tara, Theresa and Tina strutted down the aisle to collect their award. The girls were all smiles, Tina was even shedding tears. They had been in the music business for ten years, had released five albums with numerous singles, but this was the first time they had won a Grammy.
Trinity Thomas thought for sure they would have won for best song last year, because everyone loved the first single from their latest album. But Tina had gotten herself arrested a month before the Grammys for burning down her boyfriend’s house and one of Theresa’s three baby daddy’s was all over the news for a gun charge. It didn’t help matters that baby daddy number three was a famous rap superstar who was always in some kind of beef with the police. As his name was dragged through the mud, so, too was Theresa’s and just because the media had nothing better to do, they also tried to take the Four Ts down by exposing the fact that Tara had just gotten out of rehab for her cocaine addiction and they all speculated that Trinity had a drinking problem.
Trinity tried to block out all the bad press that swirled around them and just concentrate on the music. The music had always been her salvation. So, she’d kept her head down and went back into the studio. By the time they finished their latest single, “Peace of My Heart,” they all knew that it would be a hit.
Trinity had wrote the song herself. It had been a reflection of a time in her life when things were a lot simpler and when she believed that love could pull at the heart strings and never let go. They stepped onto the stage and one by one each member of the group gave thanks to God and their family, both of whom none of them had relationships with.
When it was Trinity’s turn to recite the prepared speech the PR coordinator asked her to memorize, she grabbed the mike, stepped a little closer to the podium. Or at least, she tried to step closer to the podium. The heel of her pumps got tangled in the hem of her floor length dress and she stumbled across the stage.
Tina grabbed Trinity’s arm, keeping her from falling to the floor. Trinity lifted the microphone and said, “Whoa, I almost took a tumble.” She patted Tina on the arm as if she were her pet. “Thanks, Tina, you always come through for me. Well, except when you’re out burning down houses.”
A loud gasp was heard throughout the audience. Trinity turned to the crowd with an oops expression on her face. “What did I say?” She put a finger to her lips as she shhh’d the audience. “Don’t tell the media.” She lifted the Grammy in her hand. “We might lose this.”
Tara took the microphone out of Trinity’s hand and waved to the crowd. “Thank you all very much.” She put the microphone down on the podium and then proceeded to escort Trinity off the stage.
As they reached the stairs Trinity could be heard asking, “What did I do? Why’d you take the microphone before I gave my speech?”
Before Tara could answer, Trinity put her hands over her mouth as she tried to run down the three steps. “I’m going to be sick,�
� she blurted out as her hand fell away from her mouth and vomit splattered all over the stairs.
The Gift Page 7