A Miami Affair

by Sherelle Green

  “Unattached because we choose to be.” Becca finished his sentence. Josh high-fived her and when they both turned to Aunt Penny’s confused expression, they both laughed.

  “Do you hear yourselves?” Aunt Penny asked.

  Becca continued to laugh. “Guess you never met two people more imperfect for each other, huh?”

  “My dear, you are so wrong.” Aunt Penny leaned up and placed her hand on Becca’s cheek. “More like I’ve never met two people more on the same page and in denial about it. Don’t you see it?”

  Becca and Josh looked at each other, neither responding to Aunt Penny’s question. Josh didn’t know why Becca wasn’t answering, but he knew why he wasn’t. After last night, Becca had him questioning everything he thought he knew. Since meeting her, he’d begun thinking about things he never had, and until now, he hadn’t given himself the chance to truly think about why he felt so different when he was with Becca or what it meant for them in the long run. All he knew for certain was that when he was with her, it felt right. And when he wasn’t, it felt like something was missing. I wonder if Becca is dealing with the same inner struggle?

  “She is,” Aunt Penny said, breaking into his thoughts. He glanced to her, confused.

  “She is,” Aunt Penny repeated. “The question you’re asking yourself in your mind. The answer is ‘yes, she is.’”

  Josh stared at Aunt Penny, not knowing how to respond. Becca seemed to want to ask more about what they were talking about, but didn’t. How could Aunt Penny know what I’m thinking? There was just no way.

  “I’ve been around a long time,” Aunt Penny said, as if reading his thoughts again. “And when you’ve seen all that I have, there are some things that you just know. You know I’m right.” With that, she closed her eyes, leaving him and Becca to piece together what Aunt Penny had meant.

  Josh smiled to Becca as they waited for Aunt Penny to doze off. “She reminds me of my grandfather.”

  Aunt Penny opened one eye. “Smart man.”

  “He was. He really would have liked you.”

  Aunt Penny opened both eyes then and reached for his hand. He walked over to her. “I’m sure I would have liked him too, sweetie. Especially if he was anything like his grandson.”

  After a few seconds, he released her hand. Be careful, Josh, he warned himself as he took a seat in the corner of the hospital room while Aunt Penny dozed off. A man like you could get used to this. When Becca caught his eye, he took that voice, bottled it up and stored it in the back of his mind. He didn’t know what was going to happen with him and Becca after the gala next month, but for now, he was going to enjoy every moment.

  Chapter 13

  “Earth to Becca?”

  Becca took her feet off her desk, sat up in her seat and motioned for Haley to come into her office.

  “Come on in. What’s up?”

  “We received another donation from someone you met at the movie premiere.” Haley took a seat in the chair across from Becca’s desk. “That makes the twenty-fifth one to date. And of those, at least half want to donate annually. We still have a way to go, but at this rate, we’re on our way to saving the foundation.”

  Becca clasped her hands together. “That’s great news. Everything’s working out.”

  “In more ways than one,” Haley said with a sly smile. “You’ve been out on a date with Josh every night this week.”

  “Not every night,” Becca said. “Two of those nights we just watched Netflix and chilled.”

  Haley crossed her arms over her chest. “And I know exactly what that means you did, but since you’re being difficult, let me rephrase my statement. You’ve seen Josh every day this week. I’m thinking about setting this man up with an office here since any time we’re working late, he’s usually here with us.”

  Becca couldn’t contain the big smile that crossed her face. She never would have thought that she and Josh would be seeing so much of one another.

  “Where did you go last night?”

  “Josh took me to this exclusive rooftop restaurant and we had an entire section to ourselves. After dinner, we went to the downstairs club and danced all night.”

  Haley’s hands flew up. “Wait, you danced? Leanna and I tried to get you to go dancing a couple months ago and you turned us down claiming you’re a bad dancer.”

  “Hales, you know I’m a bad dancer.”

  “Of course I know that. The point is, you’re a bad dancer, but you danced with Josh?”

  “I know. I can barely believe it myself. Guaranteed, he spent most of the night secretly laughing at my hideous moves. You know, men who I’ve dated in the past have asked me to refrain from dancing in public because of how bad I am. But Josh couldn’t care less. In fact, he even made a fool of himself too just so that I wouldn’t feel alone.”

  She thought about some of the outrageous things he’d done to take the spotlight off her. He was amazing. He was more than amazing.

  A noise in the hallway got Becca’s and Haley’s attention.

  “Come on in, Stacy,” Becca called when she saw the tip of her shoe in the doorway.

  “Sorry,” the teen said, stepping into the room. “I was just bringing you this.” Stacy handed Becca a stack of new student profiles she’d entered into the intranet.

  “Thank you,” Becca said. “You’ve been doing great these past couple weeks. Haley and I are really proud of you.”

  “Thanks,” Stacy said with a big smile before she went back to the reception desk.

  “Unbelievable,” Haley said when she was out of earshot. “We couldn’t get Stacy to work hard enough when she first got here. Then you start dating Joshua DeLong and suddenly she’s giving us her A game—as long as you keep her updated on your dates and don’t call her out for eavesdropping.”

  Becca laughed. “He certainly has the ability to captivate women no matter what age they are. You should have seen how Aunt Penny was eating out of the palm of his hand.”

  “I hate that I missed it.” Haley snapped her fingers. “Where is your boyfriend taking you tonight?”

  “He’s not my boyfriend.” Becca played with the pen on her desk. “We’ve just been going out on a few dates. That’s all.”

  “Whatever you say.” Haley didn’t look convinced. “So where is he taking you?”

  “Usually his mother has him and his brothers over for dinner on Sunday, so he invited me to join him before we head someplace that he refuses to tell me about. He just mentioned that I should wear a nice dress.”

  “Hold on! You’re meeting his mom tonight?”

  “Yeah.” Becca looked at the clock on her wall. “He’s picking me up from my place in two hours.”

  “Then why are you still here?” Haley asked. “Meeting his mom is a big deal. I never would have asked you to work today had I known. Work can wait until tomorrow.”

  “It’s no big deal,” Becca said, brushing her off. “He mentioned that his mom was impressed by the foundation when he told her about it. I’m sure she just wants to chat with me.”

  “Oh, Becca.” Haley shook her head. “Has it been that long since you’ve met parents of a man you’re dating? Josh wouldn’t ask you to meet his mom if it wasn’t getting serious between you two.”

  “Haley, you’re going to freak me out. I really don’t think it’s that big of a deal.”

  “Yes, it is,” Stacy said, peeking her head into Becca’s office. “For what it’s worth, I agree with Haley. You should go home and prepare to meet your future mother-in-law.”

  “Guys, you’re nuts.” Becca laughed nervously. “True, Josh and I have gotten closer over the past couple weeks, but it isn’t that serious. We talk about his family a lot, so it’s perfectly normal for him to want me to meet his mother.”

  * * *

 
Two hours later, Becca’s stomach was in a ball of knots. This isn’t normal. This isn’t normal at all. Why did I agree to this?

  “Are you okay?” Josh asked.

  Becca stopped fidgeting in the passenger seat. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Just a wild guess, but I assumed you were nervous about meeting my mom and brothers.”

  “Me? No way.” She tossed her hand in the air and shook her head. “I’m meeting your mom and brothers. No big deal, right? Nothing too serious. You want me to meet them because we’re always talking about them. It’s completely natural for us to meet. Right? Friends get introduced to parents all the time and we’re friends, right?” Stop rambling!

  “Right,” Josh said with a laugh.

  “Right to which part?”

  “All of it. It’s no big deal. It’s natural for you to meet them. And we are friends.”

  “Right.”

  Josh looked at her. “Right.”

  Five minutes later, they pulled into the driveway of his mom’s home in a predominantly African American lower-middle-class neighborhood. Becca had been to the neighborhood before. A lot of her students were from there.

  “You look amazing,” Josh said as he helped her out of his French blue Bugatti.

  “Thank you.” She’d chosen to wear a deep green strapless dress that hugged her figure in the same way that the dress she wore for the movie premiere did. When she’d picked out the dress during her shopping trip with Haley, the associate had told her that this particular green really made her light brown eyes pop. Josh was staring intently into them, so she mentally high-fived the associate.

  She wouldn’t have thought it was possible, but Josh looked even more handsome than he normally did. Tonight he was wearing a sleek black brocade jacket, matching black slacks and a light gray shirt underneath. Black-and-gray Stacy Adams shoes topped off his classic ensemble.

  “Don’t be nervous,” he said, leading her up the porch stairs.

  Easier said than done.

  Josh waved at a few neighbors who called out his name before pulling out his keys and opening the front door. It was so quiet when they entered, Becca thought no one was home.

  “Is anyone here?” she asked him.

  “They’re here. You’ll see soon.” Within seconds of him making the statement, cheers and hollers erupted from down the hall.

  “Come on, I’ll introduce you to the rest of my brothers.”

  Becca nodded, but internally she was still trying to calm her nerves. They rounded the corner to the living room where three men just as tall as Josh were standing in front of a large television that almost took up an entire wall.

  “Fellas, we made it.” At the sound of Josh’s voice, each man turned to face them. Oh my. Becca felt frozen in place as she stared into the faces of men who were almost as attractive as Josh. In her personal opinion, Josh was a lot sexier, but his brothers were definitely the type of men that would stop women in their tracks. She was proof.

  “Becca, I’d like for you to meet Sebastian and Ryan, and you’ve already met Logan.”

  “Well, hello again,” Logan said, coming up to hug her.

  “Hey, Logan.” Becca returned his hug. “Did you ever figure out the name of that woman you were with?”

  “Yeah.” Logan sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “It was Rita.”

  “Rita?” Becca laughed. “You weren’t even close. By the time we left, you hadn’t even made it to the R’s yet.”

  “She didn’t let me. When I hit the M’s, she took pity and decided that I was more skillful in other extracurricular activities.” Logan raised both his eyebrows.

  “I’m sure she did,” Becca said with a laugh. She turned to his other brothers. “Nice to meet you both.”

  “It’s nice to meet the woman who has my brother’s nose wide-open,” Sebastian said, pulling her in for a hug. Josh cleared his throat, but Sebastian shrugged it off. Ryan hugged her next.

  Becca glanced at the television. “We didn’t mean to interrupt the baseball game.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Ryan said. “Meeting you is much more interesting. You look beautiful.” Ryan gave her an appreciative glance.

  “Keep your eyes in your head.” Becca looked over her shoulder when Josh spoke. The protectiveness she heard in his voice was undeniable.

  “You better listen to him, Ryan,” Logan said. “I kissed the back of Becca’s hand and Josh was ready to punch me for getting too close to his woman.”

  Becca waited for Josh to deny what Logan was saying, but he stayed quiet. Josh’s brothers exchanged a knowing look. Becca seemed to be the only one out of the loop.

  “Is that my oldest son who just walked through the door?”

  All five of them turned at the sound of Josh’s mom in the living room doorway. Becca glanced from Josh to his mom. They looked so much alike, she had to do a double take.

  “Hi, Mom.” Josh hugged her, but his mother’s eyes stayed on Becca.

  “Hi, son. Is this Becca?”

  “Hi, Mrs. DeLong. It’s very nice to meet you.”

  “Oh, please, dear, call me Cindy.” Cindy pulled Becca in for a hug. “I’ve been waiting to meet you for weeks.”

  “You have?”

  “Of course I have. For the past two Sundays my son has been grinning from ear to ear. I knew it had to be a woman, so we cajoled the information out of him.” Cindy glanced from her to Josh. “And he was right about your beauty.”

  Becca’s face flushed. “Thank you so much, Cindy. He was right about yours, too.”

  “Aren’t you the sweetest. Now, I hope my son hasn’t been working you too hard for the gala. He tends to take his position at Prescott George very seriously.”

  “Oh no, ma’am. Josh has been great. The Aunt Penny Foundation has been receiving numerous donations ever since we started working together. You raised an amazingly talented son.” Becca stole a glance at Josh only to find him already staring at her intently. He’d been doing that a lot lately. Most of the time, she could feel his eyes on her. Other times—like now—his penetrating stare caught her off guard. How am I supposed to think straight when he looks at me like that? She was so wrapped up in his eyes she forgot that they had an audience.

  Becca turned back to Cindy. “I know you’ve probably already been cooking most of the day, but is there anything I can help you with?”

  Cindy looked down at Becca’s dress. “Sweetie, you aren’t exactly dressed for cooking in the kitchen.”

  “That’s your son’s fault,” Becca said with a laugh. “He told me to dress nice, but he won’t tell me where we’re going after dinner. But I don’t mind helping out in this dress. Especially if you need help.” To further prove her point, Becca pulled her hair tie out of her clutch and pulled her curls up into a high ponytail.

  Cindy looked at her sons, then Josh. “Oh, she’s a keeper.” Cindy tapped Becca’s arms. “Well, first let me give you a tour of the house since my son forgot his manners.”

  “Sorry, Mom,” Josh yelled after them.

  Becca followed Cindy through the immaculate house, then stepped into the dining room. Once there, Cindy set the table and Becca helped her.

  “So, let’s chat. You have to excuse my excitement, but I’m surrounded by men most of the time.”

  Becca smiled. “No worries. I think your sons wanted me to get out of their hair anyway so that they could finish watching the game.”

  “I know at least one of my sons didn’t want to let you out of his sight.”

  “We’ve been together a lot lately, so he probably wants to watch the game, too.” As soon as the comment left her mouth, she realized she’d said too much. Cindy was looking at her with a knowing look similar to the one Aunt Penny had worn when they’d visited her in
the hospital.

  Becca followed Cindy to the kitchen. Once they were there, Cindy gave Becca all the ingredients to toss a salad while she finished making the macaroni and cheese.

  “Has Josh told you anything about his father?”

  Becca looked up from the salad. “Yes. He mentioned what an amazing and hardworking man he was.”

  “He was.” Cindy smiled. “He was one of the hardest-working men I’ve ever known. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss that man. Sometimes—when the house is quiet and the boys aren’t here visiting—I can hear my husband’s voice drift through the house as if he never left. I know it might sound crazy, but I almost feel like he’s here with me sometimes.”

  “That’s understandable,” Becca said. “He was your husband. The father of your children. You loved him. It’s natural that it would seem as if he still exists somehow.”

  Becca tried not to get nervous since she could feel Cindy observing her. “Becca, he was more than my husband and the father of my children. He was my one true love and the man who I vowed in front of family, friends and God to love and honor with all my heart. Have you ever been in love before?”

  Becca shook her head. “No, ma’am. I thought I was, but what I had wasn’t true love.”

  They were silent for a couple minutes before Cindy started talking again. “You know, when my husband and I moved into this house, we didn’t even have enough money to pinch together to buy food. We didn’t mind at the time. We were just happy to own our own home. Then one day I found out I was pregnant. When we had Josh, we knew we couldn’t live off scraps, and although my husband was doing well as a mechanic, we needed more to raise a baby.

  “So there were times when we had to steal food to make sure we didn’t starve. We weren’t proud of those times and I know that my husband hated to stoop to stealing, but we did what we had to do to survive.”

  Becca let Cindy’s words marinate in her mind before responding. “Sometimes I think it’s harder to make a difficult decision and execute that choice than it is to do the right thing, because the right thing is not always necessarily right for you.”