“Devin!” She strolled up to him, tossing her hair behind her shoulder and offering him a flirtatious smile.
Devin bit down a grimace, sighed and strolled toward her. “Hello, Mariah. Nice to see you again.”
“You too, handsome! I wanted to drop by and see a practice. You look so sexy when you coach.”
Devin was careful to keep his face neutral. A few of the boys were still in the gym packing up their gear and changing shoes. He ran a hand over his face, suppressing a sigh. “Thanks. Listen, I’ve gotta go –”
“You want to grab some coffee with me? Like right now? I know a sort of quaint coffee shop in town. Carynne’s? Have you heard of it? It’s not that great, really, but that’s what you get in these tiny little towns!”
“Look,” he stated, trying to sound apologetic. “That’s really nice of you, but I’ve actually got to get to...” Where? Where did he need to go? He shuffled through his mind for a lie. Nothing came.
“Please? 15 minutes? For me?” She threw another smile at him and trailed a polished finger down his arm.
Devin checked his watch. Fifteen minutes wouldn’t hurt. Besides, it would give him the opportunity to mention that he was dating someone, tell her it was serious and let her down easy.
Resigned, he gave a defeated nod. “Sure.”
The coffee shop was teeming with weekend customers. Tables inside and out were filled with patrons, and those that couldn’t sit were standing near walls, charging their phones, engaged in casual conversation. Devin stood in line, hands in pockets, and peered up at the menu. Next to him, Mariah chattered mindlessly about a salon she’d been to recently. Devin listened enough to mumble agreeably when necessary, but he couldn’t help counting the minutes until he could duck out.
He stepped to the counter. A curly-haired teenager was scribbling onto the side of a paper cup. “What can I get ya?” She asked without looking up.
“An Americano for me,” he said, and paused for Mariah to place an order.
“And I’ll have a caramel latte, extra foam, with very light drizzle on top? With almond milk? Actually, no drizzle. And light on the caramel syrup.” She angled her head toward Devin, smiling demurely. “He likes a tight figure.”
The teenager looked up, temporarily freezing when she saw Devin. Slowly, she narrowed her eyes. He wondered if he’d seen her somewhere before. She’d looked startled when she’d first seen him, but now she just looked angry. “We don’t have almond milk here.” She replied coolly, looking toward Mariah. “Only whole, skim, and soy.”
“Fine. Soy will do.” Mariah tossed her hair and rolled her eyes. “What kind of decent coffee place doesn’t have almond milk?” She asked Devin a tad too loudly.
“Name?” the teen asked. As teenagers go, this one was especially attitudinal.
“I’m sorry?” Devin asked.
“Name?! So I can write it on the cups?!” She looked at him as if he’d just landed here from a distant planet.
“Oh. Um, Devin.”
The teen yelled the order to a barista behind her and scribbled on two cups before moving to the next customer. Every few seconds, she’d cut her eyes towards Devin, further confusing him. Maybe she dated one of the kids on the basketball team and was pissed about the long practices. He decided to ignore her.
When they got their orders, they moved to a newly empty table near the register to sit. After what couldn’t have been more than a minute, Carynne magically appeared at their tiny table, her hand on her hip with the slightest bit of ire in her gaze. She affixed a concrete smile to her face.
“Hi, Devin. Good to see you.”
Ah. The angry teen was starting to make sense. “You, too. Carynne, this is Mariah. She’s a…” He paused, looking towards Mariah. “An acquaintance.” He looked back at Carynne intently, his brows raised. Just an acquaintance, he thought, and that was already an overstatement.
“An acquaintance.” Carynne repeated. “An acquaintance in my coffee shop.” She stared at him briefly, smile still affixed, before dusting her hands on her apron and turning to Mariah. “Hi, Mariah. I’m Carynne, the owner-slash-manager.” She held a hand out.
Mariah took it weakly. “Mmhmm. So, Devin, how do you know Karen?”
“Carynne.” She corrected, though she knew the mispronunciation was intentional. “He’s dating my best friend. Isn’t that right, Devin?”
He sat back in his chair, simultaneously enjoying and fearing the volley. “Yes, that’s right.”
Mariah blinked. “Oh!” She furrowed her brow, as if calculating, and then a flash of a grin appeared on her face before she replaced it with a look of curiosity. “Dating, Devin? That woman that owns the new store? I thought you said she was casual.” She batted her eyes at him.
Devin balked, his objection catching in his throat. He had never, ever said anything like that to anyone, let alone this woman he barely spoke to. He opened his mouth to speak, but Carynne was quicker.
“Casual, huh? Well, that’s good to know.” Carynne smiled at the both of them. “Enjoy your coffee, folks!” She turned and whipped away to the kitchen.
Devin, wide-eyed, found his words. “Mariah, what the hell? I never said that.”
“I’m just clearing the way for us to have something special, honey.” Mariah laid a hand over his. “You deserve better.” She began to stoke his hand. “You deserve me.”
Devin snatched his hand back, “Jesus. Listen, Mariah, we’re never going to be anything.” He took a steadying breath. “You’re not my type, and trust me, I’m really not yours.”
She opened her mouth to speak, a well-practiced pout forming on her face, but he got ahead of her. “And I’m dating someone. I’m dating Melody.” He stood up, the chair scraping behind him as he pushed away from the table. “I have to go talk to Carynne. You should go. Nice seeing you again.”
Turning away from her, he approached the counter again, cutting ahead of the line. He leaned across the counter to see the name tag of the barista who had helped him.
“Dominique. Hi. Where’s Carynne?”
Dominique spared him a glance before returning to her work at the blender. “Kitchen.”
He glanced at the swinging door to the left of the counter. “Can you get her?”
Dominque sighed heavily, dramatically. “Yeah, hold on.” She went to the door, leaned in and said something. After a few seconds, Carynne came through the door and approached the counter opposite Devin, both hands on her hips this time.
“Yes?”
“Carynne.” His words rushed out. “I don’t know what that was. I never told that woman anything. I’m into your friend. I’m in love with your friend.”
Carynne’s eyes widened, a slow smirk forming on your face. “You’re in what, now?”
He hadn’t meant to say that. He hadn’t even meant to think it, but what the hell. It was out there. “You heard me. I’m in love with her. I wouldn’t, I couldn’t, do anything to hurt her.”
Carynne blew out a long breath, her hands dropping from her hips. “You sure? Are you sure you love her? And you never said anything about being casual?”
“Yes. Carynne, believe me.”
She waited, searching his face, and rolled her eyes before she spoke. “I believe you. That woman seems a little psycho.”
He heaved a sigh of relief, followed closely by a soft laugh. “Yeah, I get that sense, too. And thank you.”
“You bet.” She waited, debating what to say next. “Devin, Mel’s had some rough stuff happen to her, so she’s got issues trusting people. Don’t make those issues worse.”
He nodded. “I know. I won’t make them worse, I promise.”
“Good. And I know you’re wondering, so no, I won’t tell her about this, or about… anything.” She said. “She really cares about you.”
He smiled. “I really care about h
er, too.”
“Good. Now, if you’re done bringing drama into my establishment, I’m going to go do my job. Try to keep your fan club out of my place of business.” She quirked a brow up and aimed another smirk in his direction before pivoting and returning to the kitchen.
* * *
On a sunny, slow Friday afternoon, Melody stood at the counter of her store and scrolled through pictures of available wholesale shoes on her laptop. She didn’t have much space for more stock as it was, but she’d underestimated how well shoes would sell, so she planned to maximize customer interest by ordering a couple new fabulous styles.
When the door chimed, she looked up to see Mariah breeze into the store, oversized brown shades covering her eyes. She whipped them off as she approached Melody, casually sliding her gaze over her before she spoke.
“I thought I’d give you the opportunity to back off my man before I do something you really won’t like. I saw Devin first, and I want him. He’s mine.”
Melody folded her arms and tilted her head as if considering the woman in front of her. “I’m so sorry, who are you again?” She had a hunch that pretending not to know Mariah would really light her up. She wasn’t disappointed.
Mariah’s eyes narrowed, her nostrils flared. “You know very fucking well who I am.”
“Sorry. Can’t say that I do.” She returned her gaze to her laptop, casually clicking her mouse. After a beat, she looked up again. “Oh! You’re still here. Anything else?”
“I’m serious.”
Resigned, Melody sighed. “Listen, I don’t know what your deal is, but Devin and I are together. I’m sorry you feel some sort of way about that, and I don’t know what your obsession with him is about, but I think you might want to talk to someone about it.” She gave her a pitying look. “You’re making yourself look really silly.”
Mariah’s face contorted with rage. “I don’t need to talk to anyone about anything, you bitch. And how dare you pity me. I’m better than you are. It’s a shame Devin can’t see that yet, but trust me, he will.”
Melody shrugged. “If you say so.”
“And I’ll tell you what else. You may have him now, but you won’t keep him. Besides,” she raised a brow. “If you’re anything like your mama, he’s going to cheat on you with me anyway.”
Melody slowly, gently closed her laptop before moving around the counter to stand face to face with Mariah. Deciding to use her height to her advantage, she stepped close enough to literally look down her nose at her. “Now, see, I have a rule that I don’t fight over men, but you’re making it so easy for me to justify kicking your simple little ass.” She waited for a word, a move, anything that would justify what her blood was boiling to do. Nothing came. “Get the fuck out of my store.”
Mariah took a small step backwards and placed her sunglasses back on her face. “You’ll pay for this.” She turned and walked the few short steps to the door, flinging it open and flouncing away, her hair whipping behind her.
After a slow, cleansing breath, Melody looked toward the picture on the wall, the small smile on the face of her great-grandmother. “Oh, stop.” She said, smirking at it. “You’d have done the same thing.”
Chapter 15
The next twelve weeks of Melody’s life flew by in blur of incandescent glee. Her business was holding steady, her employees were happy, and although it would be at least a year before she broke even on the new location, she wasn’t worried. Her morning workouts now included Devin, and one-on-one was so much more enjoyable bookended by wall-climbing, house-shaking sex. But better than that was that being with him was so easy, the causal moments between them so perfect.
One night at Devin’s place, after sex and pizza, she laid with him on his couch watching Golden State slaughter Utah. He was holding her hand, the warmth of him encircling her as she lay almost naked next to him. He kissed the top of her head and said, “We should meet each other’s parents,” as casually as if he were saying they should get more beer. She looked up at him, his eyes half lidded, the day’s shadow of a beard clouding his chin, and she knew that if she didn’t love him yet, she was about to.
“Okay, sure.”
“Cool.” He pulled her closer, mumbled several expletives about Kevin Durant’s recent uselessness, and turned up the volume.
Two weeks later, Melody invited him to dinner at her mother’s. Bethany pulled out all her Sunday stops, serving pork chops soaked in gravy, rice, black eyed peas, cornbread, and a sweet potato pie. Devin fielded all of Bethany’s questions with ease; divulging his past, his work, and his flaws, endlessly managing to crack jokes that had Bethany throwing her head back in laughter. They’d talked for hours, the three of them, and when Melody stepped out to take a call from the shop, she’d returned to her mother hugging Devin. Neither one of them would tell Mel what they discussed while she was gone, but they both seemed to really like each other.
On a Thursday night, Devin invited Melody to his parents’ house for dinner. She’d been incredibly nervous. The sheer amount of people in his family was one thing, but the memory of their boisterousness at the festival had made her wonder if she would be enough for them. She wore a demure sundress with a light denim jacket and had baked such a terribly burnt pie to bring to the dinner that she’d opted to bring her favorite bottle of wine instead.
When she arrived, the house was in what could only be described as familial chaos. Toys were strewn about the living room floor. Deep, male voices bounced off the walls, raucous feminine laughter floated from the kitchen. Kyle tore from one room to the next, laughing as he ran with a model fighter jet. Mel had supposed this many people could exist in one house, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen anything like it. Devin had walked her through the home, showed her his childhood room, brought her to greet everyone, and then, he bailed on her.
“I’m going to hang with the guys,” Devin had said, scooping his nephew from the floor and giving Mel a quick peck on the lips. “Game’s on. You can come with me, or if you want, my mom and my sister are in the kitchen.”
Elise, hurried and breathless, was rushing around the kitchen, putting the final touches on the meal as Toni perched comfortably on the kitchen counter. “Hey girl,” Toni said from behind her glass of wine. “Join the party.”
When dinner was ready, they sat around the long, polished pine table, the sounds of jokes and dishes and baby babble jarring themselves together into a harmony of family noise. Mel did her best to relax. She sat next to Devin and tried to focus on any one of the conversations flying across the table. She picked up on one between Toni and her father, a companionable argument about whether or not Kyle should play sports. She offered input where she felt she could, laughed at jokes, and generally enjoyed blending into the fray. When there was a lull in chatter, Elise spoke brightly to Mel.
“So, honey, you’re from around here, aren’t you?” She spoke again, not waiting for Mel to answer. “Toni and I just adore your store. Your mother must be so proud.” She tilted her head to the watch baby in her lap, Kyle, grasp for the food on his small plastic spoon. After he’d successfully captured a mouthful, she looked up at Mel once more. “Do you think you’ll be sticking around, or will you open another store in another town soon?”
“Mom, please.” Devin said, reaching below the table to grab Melody’s hand.
“Oh, I don’t mean anything by it baby, I just want to know! She should stick around here, she’s so lovely!” Elise smiled warmly at Mel.
“Yes, she is,” Devin said. “He picked up her hand and kissed the back of it.” Melody felt a warm pressure in her chest.
“I told you we were a lot,” Toni said, forking pasta from her oldest brother’s plate. Pryce raised an irritated eyebrow at his sister but let her take what she wanted.
“Well she might as well know us, Antonia,” Elise smiled as she sat back. “It’s not as if Devin bri
ngs many women around here.”
Melody felt her face warm. “I’m really happy to be here, Mrs. Parker.”
“Oh, honey my name is Elise! Mrs. Parker was that horrible woman that gave birth to my husband.”
Melody glanced at Malcolm. He chuckled as he reached for his glass.
Just then, Kyle torpedoed a spoonful of his Jell-O dessert across the table, hitting Devin in the left pocket of his shirt.
“That’s it, little man.” He rose from the table, extending his arms like a monster as he stalked towards Kyle. “Nobody hits Uncle Devin with Jell-O!”
He picked up his nephew and began to tickle him mercilessly. Mel felt her heart swell. It would appear, after just a few short months, that she was in love.
* * *
After dinner, Devin found his father out on the newly lacquered patio nursing a beer. He dropped down next to him on the steps.
They said nothing for a while. Devin knew their quiet communication, or lack thereof, defined their relationship. Pryce wouldn’t speak at all, and Toni would essentially talk his ear off. But Devin and Malcolm were kindred spirits, saying only what needed to be said, nothing more and nothing less.
“She’s very pretty, son.” He said, still looking out towards the backyard.
“Yeah. Beautiful.” Devin said, twisting the top off of a beer of his own.
“If you wanted to ask us for your grandmother’s ring, we’d be willing to part with it.”
Devin stayed silent, listening to the subtle chirp of crickets in the distance, their song signaling the coming dusk, the gentle breeze of the night’s air.
“Or,” Malcolm spoke again. “If it’s just attraction, maybe not.”
Devin looked at his father. The man he’d so badly wanted to grow up to be. He thought of Melody, of what she went through, and knew instantly the impact of the commitment Malcolm had made to Elise.
“It’s attraction, too,” Devin said, taking a slow sip of his beer and gazing towards the horizon. “But it’s mostly love.”
Mostly Love Page 10