“I know. Now, get in here. Everyone’s dining already. Your mother is losing her mind.”
They walked halfway down her white-marble hall and turned right into a large, bright, circular dining room with walls of gold leaf. His mother and cousin were seated at the large, sixteen-seat table that dominated the room.
“This is everyone?” With six kids in the family, Keylan wasn’t used to such a small gathering whenever his mother and aunt required their presences for dinner. “Where is everyone else?”
“This business dinner isn’t for everyone, just you and Travis.”
“Look who finally showed up.” Victoria Kingsley stood and crossed her arms. “Did all your time-keeping mechanisms fail you, son?” she asked, sarcastically glancing at his watch.
“Good to see you, too, Mother.” Keylan kissed her on both cheeks.
Victoria Kingsley, a tall, more slender version of her sister, the powerful matriarch of her family, looked more like someone’s thirty-year-old sister than a fifty-four-year-old mother of four adult men. The no-nonsense businesswoman could even be ruthless at times.
“Enough of the pleasantries, let’s get down to business.” Victoria sat at the table where several documents and a laptop were placed. Elizabeth sat next to her. Keylan sat across from his cousin.
“Victoria, can you at least wait until the dinner is on the table?” Elizabeth pleaded.
Victoria heaved a sigh, reached for the glass of wine in front of her and sat back in her chair. “Thank you. It’ll only take a few more minutes. You flew in here so fast, barking orders, I didn’t get to ask about the highlight of your day.” Elizabeth smiled like an excited child.
“This should be good,” Keylan interjected.
“Man, don’t start,” Travis said, shaking his head.
“Of course, just as long as you stick to the rules.” Elizabeth smiled. “Positives only, please.”
When Victoria and Elizabeth had been forced to raise their children alone and run their growing businesses together, they’d had to make several adjustments to their daily routine and find creative ways to make sure the relatives all remained close as possible. One way they’d done that was by sharing their daily highs and lows over nightly dinner.
Victoria returned her sister’s smile and placed her wineglass on the table. “This is my highlight. Seeing the son and nephew I don’t see nearly enough because they chose not to come work for our family business.” Victoria picked up her glass and raised it in the air as if she had just made a toast.
Elizabeth threw her head back and laughed. “You really can’t help yourself, can you? Well, it seems we share the same highlight, only for different reasons.”
“Surprise...surprise.” Victoria took a drink.
Travis raised his right hand. “I’ll go next. My highlight was seeing Romeo over there—” he pointed to Keylan “—tripping all over himself behind Mia.”
“Mia?” his mother and aunt echoed.
Keylan narrowed his eyes at his cousin before turning his attention back to the choir of two. “I was not tripping over Mia. I’ve never met her before and I think she has a really cool kid, is all.” Keylan picked up a glass of water and drank it down like he was a man just escaping the desert.
Travis smirked. “Yeah, she’s fine as hell, but one hard nut to crack.”
Keylan put down his empty glass a little harder than he intended. “What did you just say?” he demanded, feeling unexpected anger building inside him.
Travis jumped up, started laughing and clapping. “Told you. I told you.”
“Travis, behave yourself and stop teasing your cousin,” Elizabeth ordered, smiling. She’d always felt her and Victoria’s children were more like siblings than cousins.
“I can’t believe you fell for that, son.” Victoria shook her head as she took another sip of her wine.
Linda, Elizabeth’s longtime housekeeper, entered the room, rolling her service cart. She placed a plate with lamb chops, potatoes and greens in front of everyone before making her exit. Everyone bowed their head as Victoria blessed the food. “Now that the dinner has been served, can I please get back to my agenda?” Victoria asked her sister.
“Not yet. We obviously know Travis’s highlight of the day but I don’t know Keylan’s.” Elizabeth smiled.
Victoria sat back in her chair and raised her hands in surrender.
Keylan, who was now cutting his meat, could see the excitement and expectation on his aunt’s face. He could even see the interest in his mother’s eyes that she was trying to hide. He looked over at his cousin, who was waiting to pounce, and placed his knife and fork down.
“Yes, my highlight was meeting a really cool kid and his interesting mother.” Keylan turned to his cousin. “Happy?”
“Yep,” Travis acknowledged, placing a piece of meat in his mouth.
“Now may I continue?” Victoria asked to no one in particular.
“Of course.” Elizabeth began to dig into her food.
“The rest of the family already knows this, but we’re about to go to war with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the IRS!”
Chapter 5
Mia walked into her son’s bedroom and smiled at all the superheroes that greeted her entrance. A poster featuring all his favorite characters had been placed on the right wall where his bed sat. The round rug covered a large portion of the dark hardwood floor and a beanbag chair sat next to the window. Mia walked to the left side of the room and placed Colby’s laundry in his dresser drawers. She crossed the room to turn down the comforter when she heard her son running down the hall.
Colby ran into the room wearing his superhero pj’s and jumped on his bed. “Teeth all clean! See, Mommy?” He opened his mouth wide.
“I see. Good job.”
“Story time...” Colby leaped off the bed and went to select a book from the shelf under his window.
“Cat hat book,” he said, climbing back on the bed and handing it to Mia.
“It’s The Cat in the Hat, Colby,” she replied, accepting the book, kissing him on the head. “Under the covers you go.”
“Mommy, Keylan is coming tomorrow,” he said, smiling.
Mia’s heart jumped at the thought of seeing Keylan again. She sat next to her son on the bed. “Is he, now?” she said, opening the book.
“Yep. I can’t wait.”
“That’s great, son. Now, let’s start the story.”
Mia expected she’d have to read the book a few times before Colby fell asleep. He always found reasons to stay up past his bedtime. However, it seemed his excitement to see Keylan outweighed his need to stay awake. She kissed her sleeping son, put the book away and pulled his door closed, leaving it cracked open.
She made her way back to the kitchen, where she pulled out a bottle of Stella Rosa from the refrigerator and poured herself a glass. She took a sip before she started to clean the kitchen.
Mia had just finished loading the dinner dishes into the dishwasher when her cell phone rang. She looked at her phone and smiled. “Aunt Mavis, is everything all right?” Mia, born to a teenage mother who’d decided after few years that parenthood wasn’t for her, had been raised by her mother’s sister and her husband. She often found it ironic that she too had become a single mother; only she couldn’t imagine not raising her son.
“Of course it is. I was just checking in to see how my favorite niece and great-nephew are doing.”
Mia laughed. “We’re fine. Just as fine as we were when you called yesterday.”
“Well, a lot can happen in twenty-four hours,” she said matter-of-factly.
“You’re right. How’s Uncle Rudy?”
“He’s good for a seventy-five-year-old man,” she said, and offered a hearty laugh. “Have you thought about our g
ift?”
Mia heaved a sigh as she turned on the dishwasher. Topping off her wineglass before returning the bottle to the refrigerator, she turned off the lights and headed to her bedroom, making a brief detour to look in on her son.
“Auntie, we discussed this already.” She sat on her bed, took a drink from her glass before setting it on her nightstand. “I really appreciate the offer, but Colby and I won’t be joining you on your cruise.”
“I don’t understand why not. It’s not like you celebrate Christmas in a big fashion, anyway. Why not join us for an adventure on the sea? Lord knows you have the vacation days and you certainly could use an adventure.”
Mia could hear the irritation in her aunt’s voice at her unwillingness to take time off from work and have a little fun as she was always advising her to do. “First, it’s your fiftieth wedding anniversary, and second, it’s your fiftieth wedding anniversary.”
“It’s not like I’m asking you to share our cabin. Like you said, it is our anniversary and we need our privacy.”
“Eww...”
“Eww, child, you better pray you find a man where everything works at seventy-five except his hearing. He don’t have to hear to know what I need,” she said, laughing.
“TMI, Auntie.”
“Speaking of men...”
“We weren’t speaking of men, Auntie.” Mia took a sip of her wine.
“Well, we are now. You remember Curly Ellis, right? Well, he has a son that’s single—”
“Please don’t. I’m not looking—”
“Sometimes you don’t have a choice in the matter. Your heart makes the choice for you.”
“Yeah, we see how well that turned out last time,” she murmured.
“Yes, we do. You got a beautiful and very special son out the deal. It’s not your fault his father didn’t realize what gems he had in you two.”
Mia felt tears fill her eyes because she knew her aunt was right. Her ex, Louis, might have been an ass about the situation, but she had her son and a support system in her aunt and uncle that brought nothing but love and laughter to her life. While she’d often wondered what life would have been like, married to an NBA player and having a partner to help raise her son, she had never once regretted her decision to go it alone.
“You’re so right, Auntie, so why mess with a good thing?”
“Because Colby will grow into an independent young man who won’t want his spinster mother hanging around cramping his style.”
“Ouch...”
“I’m just keeping it real, as you young folks say. Besides, you need someone to love you the way you deserve to be loved, and Colby needs a father. Not a seventy-five-year-old father figure that can’t hear too good.”
“Uncle Rudy is great.” Mia ran her hand through her hair.
“I know he is and he’s mine. You need your own Rudy.”
“There aren’t too many like Uncle Rudy out there—plus, I’m scared of Colby getting hurt.”
“You mean you’re scared to get hurt again. Kids are resilient. Especially Colby. He’s already had to deal with so much in his young life, and he just keeps on keeping on. I just wish he’d come out of his shell more with people other than us.”
“Actually—”
“Actually...what?”
“He’s taken to talking to one of our volunteers.” Mia hoped her aunt would let it go at that but she knew better.
“Oh. Who?”
“Elizabeth Kingsley’s nephew, the NBA star.”
“KJ?” Mavis’s voice escalated.
“You know who he is?”
“Your uncle was a basketball coach with the school system for thirty years, remember?”
“Of course I remember. Well, they seem to have developed some kind of bond.”
“Hmm...”
“Hmm...what?”
“He’s single, right?” Mia could imagine all the thoughts flying through her aunt’s mind.
“I guess, if you mean he’s not married. Men like him are rarely single.”
“There you go again, generalizing.” It was a criticism Mavis had often leveled at Mia. “Not all professional athletes are butts like Louis. He just might prove you wrong. After all, you’ll be spending time with him—”
“Auntie, I told you—”
“And I told you.” The phone fell silent for several moments. “You like him.”
Mia pushed out a breath. “He’s all right.”
“I knew it.” Mia heard her aunt clapping. “Looks like your heart beat me to the punch.”
“Wait a minute. Yes, I think he’s attractive, but I also think he’s an arrogant playboy who dates leggy models and would have no interest in a package deal.”
“You’ll never know unless you ask.”
“No, thank you. Now, I’m going to go get ready for tomorrow. Thanks again for the vacation offer, but we’ll be just fine spending Christmas at home.”
“You’ll at least attend church, right?” Her aunt’s voice was stern.
“Just like always.”
“Okay, I’ll drop it...for now. Good night, beautiful one.”
“Back at you, Auntie.”
* * *
“What? We just got through dealing with the EPA,” Keylan proclaimed.
“I realize that, son,” Victoria replied, her irritation coming through loud and clear. “However, OSHA will soon be sending someone to investigate claims of worksite violations, and the IRS is moving up our annual audit.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Travis snarled.
“Be that as it may, we need to be prepared for another onset of bad press heading our way—and we don’t need any more,” she declared, leveling her attention on her son.
“What?” Keylan replied.
“You know what, Mr. Headline Grabber.” Victoria reached for her wineglass and took a sip.
“It’s not Keylan’s fault that the press likes to pick on him.” Elizabeth defended him.
Victoria looked at her sister and scrunched up her face.
“Thank you, Aunt Elizabeth.” Keylan smiled and winked at her while Travis rolled his eyes at the exchange.
“Oh, please, sis, stop coddling the boy—excuse me, the man.” Victoria turned her attention back to her son. “Don’t give the press anything else to write about. Between your suspension and now these new claims, we have enough to deal with.”
“What?” Elizabeth frowned and placed both hands over her heart. “Keylan, you were suspended?”
“Yes. Me and this other player were both playing pretty aggressively all night when we collided in the air when we were both going for the rebound. I landed pretty hard on top of him.”
“Well, accidents happen.” Elizabeth frowned.
“I know, Aunt Elizabeth, but according to the league, they thought I purposely came down hard on him.”
“It was a BS charge, too,” Travis offered.
“Thanks, cousin.”
“Victoria...” Elizabeth glared at her sister.
Keylan knew his aunt would expect his mother to fix his situation. She thought her sister could do anything and, usually, she could. However, not even the great Victoria Kingsley could make this go away.
“Don’t ‘Victoria’ me—talk to your favorite nephew.”
Keylan smiled, because no matter how much she loved all her nephews or how hard she tried to deny it, he knew his aunt had taken a special liking to him. “Don’t worry about it, Aunt Elizabeth. It’s only three games after I’m released to play again and eighty hours of community service. Everything will be fine. Don’t worry about it.”
“Now, back to the subject at hand. I need everyone on their best behavior,” Victoria stated.
“That includes you, to
o, son.” Elizabeth smirked.
“Mom, you know I stay as far away from the media as I can get.”
“Yes, you do, but that won’t stop them from coming for you, so just be alert and stay careful.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Travis said.
“Keylan, darling, I’m going to be helping out at the office a little more, so I need for you to pick up the slack at the foundation. You’re going to be there anyway. Might as well make yourself useful.” Victoria’s eyes lased in on her sister.
“Well, I—”
“You what, son?” Her eyes bored into him. “Elizabeth’s right. You will be spending a great deal of time at our foundation, and I’m sure you have a few ideas about how we can expand the services we provide. Aren’t you the one always telling us we should do this and that to make the foundation better? Well, now’s your chance. Be the change you seek. Anyway, you’ll have Mia there to help you.”
“I’m sure she’ll be very helpful,” he declared sarcastically, trying to ignore the instant and relentless attraction he was feeling toward her.
Chapter 6
Mia pulled her gray Range Rover Sport, a splurge she’d allowed herself to take with her last holiday bonus, into her assigned parking spot of the Kingsley Foundation building. Parked in the executive space was a black Porsche; Mia knew who it had to belong to and her heart skipped several beats.
“Oh, no...”
“What’s wrong, Mommy?” Colby asked, frowning.
“Nothing, honey. Get your backpack. You don’t want to be late.”
“I’m not late. I’m going to see Keylan.”
I know. Mia exited the car and helped Colby out. She ran her hand through his curly hair to clear his eyes. “You need a haircut.”
“No, Mommy.”
“Yes, son. Now tuck in your shirt.”
Colby tucked his white foundation shirt into his dark khaki shorts, put on his backpack and, with his head down, made his way up the walkway toward the door. “Slow down, Colby, and watch where you’re going.”
An Unexpected Holiday Gift Page 4