There had been a delay in shipping the reception-area furniture, and delivery and installation of the shelving was also pushed back several weeks. The warehouse foreman hadn’t been able to give her a tentative date; he promised to call her the first week in July to give her an update. She’d given up projecting a date when she would open and had resigned herself that it would eventually happen.
Opening one eye, she reached for the phone and tapped the phone app. “Good morning, Langston.”
“It’s afternoon, babe.”
She sat up. “I decided to lie down, but I must have fallen asleep.”
“Are you all right?”
“Yes. Why?”
“What are you doing sleeping in the middle of the afternoon? And, where are you?”
Reaching around her, Georgina adjusted the pillows cradling her shoulders. “I’m home.”
“Why aren’t you at the store?”
“I no longer work at Powell’s because my father fired me yesterday.”
“What!”
Covering her mouth, she smothered a laugh. Georgina was surprised that the news hadn’t gotten out that she no longer worked at the department store. The employees probably thought either she’d taken vacation time or wasn’t feeling well.
“He let me go so that I could concentrate on what I need to do to open my shop.”
“I thought the two of you had a falling out!”
Georgina smiled. “That’s not going to happen. Dad and I don’t agree on everything, but there’s no way he’s going to turn his back on me. Now, sweet prince, why are you calling me in the middle of the day?”
“I have something to tell you, but I’d rather say it in person.”
She paused. There was something in Langston’s voice that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. “Is it something that’s going to upset me?”
“I don’t believe it will.”
“If that’s the case, then why don’t you tell me now?”
“It’s somewhat of a surprise.”
“Can’t you give me a hint, Langston?”
“No, then it wouldn’t be a surprise. Can you come to my place tonight?”
“I suppose I can. What time do you want me to be there?”
“Seven. We can have dinner and then watch a movie.”
Georgina smiled. “I like the sound of that.”
“I’ll see you later.”
She hung up, wondering what sort of surprise Langston was planning. She knew she’d shocked him once she told him she’d been fired. When her father had decided to let her go it was the best thing that could’ve happened to her, because it freed her up to do whatever she wanted and needed to do for the eventual opening of A Stitch at a Time.
She had gone online to order framed prints of anything resembling needlecrafts, and she’d also contacted someone to paint the name of the shop on the plate-glass window. Meanwhile, she’d designed her own logo for letterhead and note pads. It had taken several hours before she’d decided on a square with underground railroad quilt codes. The codes were special for her because she’d inherited a collection of quilts from her third great-grandmother who’d been a conductor in assisting blacks escaping the bonds of slavery to seek freedom in the North and Canada. The logo was the perfect complement for the shop’s name because there was a time when quilts were made a stitch at a time; it was a process she enjoyed more than machine stitching because she’d found it more relaxing.
Georgina decided to stay in bed because she’d been up most of the night printing sticker prices for every item in the inventory. The task was time-consuming and laborious, but when she’d finally finished the sun had come to signal the beginning of a new day. Blurry-eyed and stiff-limbed, she’d managed to shower without falling over from sheer exhaustion and had stumbled to the bed and fallen asleep within seconds of her head touching the pillow. She set the alarm on her phone for five, turned on her side and went back to sleep.
* * *
Langston came down off the porch when Georgina pulled into the driveway and came to a stop alongside his Jeep Wrangler. He opened the driver’s-side door, waited for her to scoop a decorative bag off the console and then helped her down.
He resisted the urge to kiss her when he spied a couple coming out of their house. He waved to them, and both returned his wave. Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Howard sat on their porch every night regardless of the weather, listening to their favorite radio station. His house and the Howards’ were the only two homes in the cul-de-sac. They’d moved to the Falls nearly twenty years ago and normally kept to themselves. The rumors they were in the witness protection program proved unfounded when the truth was revealed that they’d sued a hospital for the wrongful death of Mrs. Howard’s identical twin sister.
“You look incredible.” And she did, in a pair of white cropped slacks, a zebra-striped off-the-shoulder top and black flats. She’d styled her curly hair in a single braid.
Georgina smiled up at him. “Thank you. I brought red and white wine.”
He took the bag from her grasp and led her around to the rear of the house. “Do you mind if we eat outdoors tonight?”
“Of course not. The weather’s perfect for a cookout.”
Langston had made it a practice to cook outdoors during the warmer weather. After his parents installed the outdoor kitchen and gazebo, they’d enclosed the rear of the property with a fence high enough to ensure a degree of privacy from their nearest neighbors. He’d lit a few citronella candles to warn off insects and covered platters with mesh domes to keep them off the food.
He seated Georgina on a cushioned chaise. “I decided to go with seafood tonight after all of the meat we ate the other night.”
“Good, because I’d truly earned my carnivore badge that night.”
Cradling the back of her head, he leaned down and brushed a kiss over her mouth. “I didn’t want to do that with someone eyeballing us.”
* * *
Georgina stared at him, completely confused. “You invite me to your home, and now you’re concerned whether someone will see you kissing me?”
Langston hunkered down in front of her. “I don’t have a problem with folks seeing you here, but what I’m not comfortable with is public displays of affection. I know what it is to be the object of gossip because my ex flaunted her affair for the world to see. I refuse to put you in a category where folks talk about my putting you in a compromising position. In other words, what goes on behind the doors and fence of the Cooper house, stays here.”
Cradling his face between her hands, Georgina leaned closer and pressed her mouth to his. “Thank you.”
He smiled. “There’s no need to thank me, Georgi. There’s only one thing I want from you.”
She felt her heart stop and then start up again in a rapid beating that made her feel slightly light-headed. “What is it?” The query had come out in a breathless whisper.
“Please don’t change.”
Georgina was certain Langston had registered her exhalation of relief. She didn’t know why, but she’d expected him to ask her to sleep with him. It’s not that she didn’t want to share his bed, but it had to be by mutual agreement.
“I won’t because I can’t. What you see is what you get.”
“I happen to like what I see, babe.”
“Ditto,” she countered.
There wasn’t anything about Langston Cooper that she did not like. Aside from his overall masculine attractiveness, he was intelligent, artistic and modest. He’d won awards as a war correspondent, become a New York Times bestselling author, survived long, grueling sessions when appearing before a congressional committee and had managed to put to rest the gossip surrounding his failed marriage once he refused to vilify his estranged wife for her infidelity.
“I’m going to feed you first before I let you in on my secret.
”
“Do you need help?”
Langston ran a finger down the length of her nose before standing straight. “No. Just sit and relax. I’ve prepped everything. The only thing that’s left is heating up the grill.”
Georgina stared at his retreating back as he walked to the six-burner grill. The Coopers, like so many in their enclave with their homes set on quarter-acre lots, had installed outdoor kitchens. Cooking outside offset heating up their homes during the summer months and provided space to entertain friends and family. There had been a time when her mother had become the consummate socialite when she hosted meet-and-greets for candidates running for public office, or for a contingent of women’s groups seeking for more representation in local government. Everyone waited for her period of mourning to end where she would emerge once again as the Falls’ social doyenne, but they gave up once one year stretched into two and beyond, and Georgina doubted if Evelyn would return to the life before losing Kevin, because she seemed very content working in the store where she greeted customers and employees alike with a kind word and friendly smile. Bruce had gotten his wife back, and she had gotten her mother back.
Smiling, she closed her eyes and let her senses take over. Georgina found the scent of citronella mingling with those of newly opened blood-red roses intoxicating. The distinctive hoot of an owl could be heard over the twittering of birds hopping nimbly from branch to branch. It was dusk, her favorite time of the day, when everything appeared to slow down in preparation for nightfall and sleep. In-ground solar lights came on, illuminating the area in a soft golden glow.
Her thoughts drifted off when she tried to imagine what it would feel like if she and Langston were married and they ended their day together relaxing outdoors. And starting a family would not negatively affect her business, because she would set up a nursery in an area of the shop’s storeroom with a monitor to keep an eye on her son or daughter.
“Georgi, it’s time to eat.”
She opened her eyes and placed her hand on Langston’s outstretched palm. Pinpoints of heat stung her cheeks when she realized where her thoughts had gone. She’d fantasized being married to Langston and having his child when they’d admitted to liking each other. And liking was a far cry from love or even falling in love. But then she had to ask herself if she was falling in love with him and she had to admit she was.
Georgina had believed herself in love with Sean yet when she compared her feelings for him to Langston, they did not come close. It wasn’t until she walked away from him that she was forced to acknowledge that their relationship was wholly physical. He was the first man with whom she’d slept and had confused sex for love.
“Something smells wonderful.”
“I hope you’ll like what I made.”
Resting a hand at her waist, Langston directed her to the gazebo where he’d set a table for two, along with a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket and a couple of flutes. A trio of lights hung from the ceiling. Mouth-watering aromas wafted from a large platter with grilled fish and vegetables.
Smiling, she sat on a cushioned bench seat. “You’re incredible. I think I’m going to keep you.” He’d grilled shrimp, lobster tails, scallops and pinwheels of sole stuffed with crabmeat.
Langston sat opposite her, filled the flutes with champagne and handed one to her. “It’s not going to be that easy to get rid of me.”
She took the flute. “What are we celebrating?”
He stared at her over the rim of his glass. “The possibility of you becoming a professional illustrator.”
Georgina looked at him as if he had taken leave of his senses. “What are you talking about?” She listened in complete shock when he revealed he’d sent her sketches to his sister, who’d given up teaching to become a children’s book writer.
“Jackie wrote a picture book based on some of your sketches and sold it to her publisher. What she needs is your approval to publish the book with your illustrations. She publishes under a pseudonym as Laila Lucien.”
Georgina hadn’t realized her hands were shaking when she put the flute to her mouth and drained it. She was familiar with the pseudonym because the author’s books had won several awards, and it was obvious Langston wasn’t the only award-winning writer in his family.
“Why, Langston? Why did you do it?”
“I’m surprised you’ve asked me that. Don’t you know I’m falling in love with you, and I would do whatever I can to make you happy?”
She held out her flute for him to refill it. Everything was coming at her so fast that she found it hard to process any of it. Langston had just admitted to being in love with her while his sister wanted her as an illustrator for one of her books.
A weak smile trembled over her lips and she forced herself not to break down completely as twin emotions of shock and wonder eddied through her. “I don’t know what to say. I... I had no idea you loved me.”
“Remember when I asked you if you believed you were unworthy for a man to care about you and you said of course not? Which is it, Georgi?”
She lowered her eyes. “I am worthy.”
“Yes, you are. And one of these days I’m going to prove to you just how worthy you are.”
“I have a confession to make,” Georgina said after a pregnant pause."
Langston gave her a lengthy stare. “What is it?”
“I love you, too.” Admitting to him what lay in her heart felt as if a weight had been lifted, that what she’d been fighting for weeks had ended in a glorious victory.
Rising, Langston rounded the table and kissed her, this kiss so different from the others they’d exchanged. It was as gentle as a caress, and she was overcome with emotion she felt like crying tears of joy. He ended the kiss and retook his seat, smiling.
“To be continued,” he promised. “After we eat, I’m going to call my sister because she wants to talk to you.”
Georgina picked up a pair of tongs to serve herself, eating but not really tasting any of the deliciously prepared fish and vegetables, but found herself drinking more wine than she normally would under another set of circumstances.
Everything was falling into place and all was right in her world. She had always wanted to become a professional illustrator and that could possibly happen if she agreed to the terms in a publishing contract, and she’d fallen in love with a man who hadn’t asked anything from her, unlike other men she’d met or known.
“What are you thinking about?” Langston asked, when the corners of her mouth lifted in a smile.
“I do love you, Langston. You’re so different from other men I’ve known that there are times when I’m just waiting for the other proverbial shoe to drop where I’ll stop trusting you.”
Langston speared a shrimp but halted putting it into his mouth. “I will never cheat on you.”
Georgina doubted whether he would cheat on her because of what he’d gone through with his ex-wife. “I’m not referring to infidelity.”
A slight frown furrowed his smooth forehead. “If it’s not infidelity, then what is it?”
“Money.”
Langston gave her a look mirroring his disbelief. “Money?”
“Yes.”
He listened, appearing stunned by her revelation that boys wanted to date her because they saw her as a good catch, and her last serious boyfriend had asked her for money to cover his gambling debts. “I don’t need your money, Georgi. Not today, tomorrow or fifty years from now.”
A beat passed as they stared at each other, and then she said, “I believe you.”
Langston smiled. “Now that we’ve settled that, I’m going to call my sister so we can FaceTime her.” He came around to sit next to Georgina. Picking up his phone, he tapped Jacklyn’s number. “Hey, Jackie. I’m here with Georgina,” he said when her face appeared on the screen.
“Hi, Georgi. Long time no see.”
“I could say the same about you. Your brother told me that you’re now an award-winning children’s book writer.” She had to admit time had been more than kind to the woman with whom she’d shared several classes in high school. Jacklyn had left the Falls to attend Howard University while she had stayed behind in their hometown. Shoulder-length twists framed a dark brown complexion that glowed with good health.
“That’s something I don’t advertise as Jacklyn Lindemann. As the wife of an FBI special agent I like to keep a low profile.”
Georgina nodded. “I understand. It appears as if your brother went behind my back to send you some of my sketches.”
Jacklyn laughed. “That he did. If he’d told you in advance what he was going to do would you have agreed to it?”
Her question gave Georgina pause. “I doubt it,” she said truthfully. “I’d given up the dream of becoming a professional illustrator a long time ago.”
“Well, get ready for your dream to become a reality because I love your sketches and I’d like for you to come to Alexandria whenever you have time to meet with me and my agent to go over some legal work.”
“Can’t it be done with a conference call?”
“No, because my agent is paranoid about talking on the phone. She once represented a client whose phone was bugged by the government because he apparently was involved with some shady business, and that meant they were taping her conversations with him, as well. When they gathered enough evidence he was charged with trafficking in illegal substances.”
Suddenly, Georgina felt as if she was caught in the crosshairs of a situation with people who used fake names and were suspicious of conducting business on the telephone. “How long do you think it will take?” Although Alexandria, a suburb of Washington, DC, wasn’t far from Wickham Falls, Georgina did not want to be away that long because she wanted to be available once she got the call confirming the furniture delivery.
“Probably no more than a day. Why don’t you and Lang come during the July Fourth holiday weekend? Amelia can take the train down from New York and stay over, and that way we can discuss business without y’all having to rush back.”
Starting Over In Wickham Falls (Wickham Falls Weddings Book 9) Page 16