Once Alex was gone, Clinton turned to Nina. “She’s going to find out what’s going on, why didn’t you just tell her?”
“Because Yolanda doesn’t want any of us involved in her drama. Besides, Alex would just try to fix everything and it would just cause more conflict.”
Clinton drew Nina into his arms. “Let’s just focus on us right now and we can worry about everything else later.”
A slow smile spread across Nina’s face. “Remember what we were about to do before Alex knocked on the door?”
He nodded enthusiastically. “Oh yeah.”
“Then, let’s go pick up where we left off,” she whispered naughtily.
Hours later, Nina and Clinton emerged from the room ready for lunch and to start planning their wedding. They were surprised to see Sheldon, Alex, and Yolanda in the dining room.
“It’s about time you two came up for air,” Yolanda said with a wicked grin.
Alex shook her head at her sister. “You’re so crass. Dad is sitting right here.”
Yolanda folded her arms across her chest. “And he has four daughters.”
Sheldon cleared his throat. “Before you all say something that causes me to go get my belt, let’s move on.”
Nina and Clinton sat side by side, not feeling a bit embarrassed about how they spent the morning. He poured Nina a glass of tea and winked at her as she accepted it.
“Alex said you all have set a wedding date,” Sheldon said as the waitstaff served them lunch.
“Yes,” Nina said, a tad bit annoyed that her sister blabbed without giving her a chance to tell her father herself. “We’re going to get married on Christmas Day.”
Yolanda clapped her hands together. “This is going to be so exciting. Burgundy and cream with poinsettias all around and winter roses.”
“Whose wedding is it, mine or yours?” Nina teased, though she knew Yolanda was going to do the majority of the designing for the wedding.
“I was thinking a winter wonderland theme,” Alex said.
Nina threw her hands up. “Do Clinton and I get a say in this at all?” She nudged him and he shook his head.
Yolanda glared at her sister. “If I let you have a say, there’d be footballs hanging everywhere. And I’m going to be the maid of honor, right?”
“No, I’m the oldest and that’s my job,” Alex said. “Right, Nina? Clinton?”
Clinton sipped his tea and laughed. “You’re on your own with this one,” he said to Nina.
“Maybe Robin should be the matron of honor, since she’s the only one of us who’s ever been married,” Nina said.
Yolanda picked up her glass of iced tea and took a long sip. “We see how that worked out for her,” she said. “Has that fool explained himself yet?”
“We’re not going to talk about Logan and Robin while we’re planning my wedding,” Nina said. “We’ll deal with him later.”
Sheldon shook his head. “No one is dealing with anyone. Logan and Robin have to hammer out what’s going on between them without interference from you three.”
The sisters pouted and nodded. “Okay, Daddy,” they said in unison.
“I mean it,” Sheldon said. “Marriage is between a man and a woman and Robin doesn’t need the three of you making things worse for her. Besides, each one of you have your own problems.”
Yolanda looked uncomfortable as she took another sip of tea. Nina wanted to ask her sister about things in Charlotte and those invisible thugs stalking her, but she held her tongue.
All throughout lunch, the family bounced wedding ideas off Clinton and Nina. Sheldon was thrilled that the couple had decided to have their wedding at the bed-and-breakfast. He and Nora had been married there as well.
Alex, ever the businesswoman, wanted the wedding to be elegant and use some of the photos for their holiday promotions. Nina was not having that at all.
Yolanda wanted to pick all of the fashions, and have her boutique provide the wedding gown and bridesmaid dresses. Clinton just wanted to enjoy his shrimp and grits because for all he cared, he and Nina could get married in the middle of the Charleston Harbor wearing wet suits and it would still be the happiest day of his life.
“So,” Sheldon said, interrupting the wedding talk. “Where are you two going to live after the wedding?”
Nina and Clinton exchanged glances. “Summerville.”
“But what about your writing career?” Alex asked. “Have you talked to any editors here about freelancing and there aren’t any professional teams here—”
“I know and I haven’t talked to any editors yet, but I was thinking about doing some teaching as well. The College of Charleston has some guest teaching positions and I might apply for one,” Nina said.
“Are you sure that’s what you want to do?” Yolanda asked.
Nina nodded. “I never do anything that I don’t want to do.”
“I’m glad you’re coming home,” Sheldon said. “I know I shouldn’t feel this way, but I want to keep my eye on you for a little while after that accident. Having you closer is going to make that a lot easier.”
“Daddy,” Nina murmured.
He reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “Nina, I know you like to think that you don’t need anybody and you’re the most independent woman on the earth. But at the end of the day, you will always be my baby.”
Tears welled up in her eyes as she smiled at her father. “I love you, Daddy.”
Clinton’s heart swelled as he watched Nina and Sheldon.
Nina looked around the table. “Since the accident, I’ve had time to think about what’s really important to me. I don’t have to prove to anyone that I’m good at my job and I can write sports just as well as any of my male colleagues. I don’t have to prove anything to anyone anymore. I can write and I can teach other people to write. This is what I want. Besides, this is a great place to raise a family and if it was good enough for Mom and Dad, then it will be good enough for me and Clinton.”
Sheldon clasped his hands together. “This is a celebration, then. My baby’s coming home.”
Chapter 29
Nina walked out of the dressing room of Yolanda’s Charlotte boutique and her sisters collectively gasped. The formfitting Simone Carvalli wedding gown hugged her curves and gave her caramel skin an ethereal glow.
“This is the one,” Nina said as she spun around.
Alex brought her hands to her mouth. “You look like Mommy.” She pulled her phone out and showed Nina a picture of their parents on their wedding day.
Tears welled up in Nina’s eyes as she looked at her smiling mother. Yolanda rushed over to her. “Nope. No teardrops on the dress. But you do look like Mommy.”
Robin nodded as she downed her champagne. “Beautiful. Just beautiful.”
Nina looked down at the length of the dress. “Yolanda, can you shorten it?”
“Yes. How short?”
Alex shook her head. “Why would you do that, it’s perfect the way it is.”
Robin thumped Alex’s shoulder. “Let her have her dress as short as she wants it. We just have to make sure she doesn’t wear high-top sneakers.”
“It was just a suggestion,” Alex said.
“Knee length, does that meet your approval?” Nina kicked her leg out.
“Yes,” Alex and Yolanda said in concert.
“And,” Nina began. “It’s a winter wedding, I can wear boots.”
“No, you won’t!” Yolanda dashed to the back of the boutique and returned with a shoebox. “These are the shoes for this dress.” She opened the box and handed Nina the silver heels.
“They are gorgeous.” Robin nodded, then got a little misty-eyed. “I’m going to take a walk.”
“Robin,” Alex called out to her sister. Robin threw up her hand.
“I’m fine, just give me a minute.”
When she walked out the door Alex locked eyes with Yolanda. “I swear I want to hurt Logan.”
“So do I, but Daddy said mi
nd our business.”
“I feel bad that I’m getting ready to get married and she’s hurting so much.” Nina sighed and reached to unbutton her dress.
Yolanda and Alex crossed over to her and helped her take the dress off. “She won’t talk to us about what happened when she went home after Thanksgiving.”
“I wish we could find out Logan’s story,” Alex said.
“You just want to punch the man in the face.” Yolanda laughed. Nina walked into the dressing room and put her clothes on.
“We all want to punch him in the face.” Nina crossed over to the counter and reached for a glass of champagne.
“No.” Yolanda moved the champagne out of Nina’s reach. “You have to drive back to your town house.”
Nina rolled her eyes. “And you think one glass of champagne is going to hurt me?”
“Were you drinking the last time you got in an accident?” Alex asked.
“Whatever.” She grabbed a bottle of water. “Happy?”
“Thrilled.” Alex and Yolanda burst out laughing.
“What are we going to do about Robin?” Nina asked just as her sister walked in the boutique.
“I hope y’all haven’t been talking about me all this time?” Robin rolled her eyes.
“Things with you and Logan aren’t any better?” Nina asked.
Robin shook her head. “But don’t let me put a damper on your wedding plans. This isn’t about me.”
Yolanda took Robin’s hand in hers. “We really wish that you would let us help you through this.”
Robin raised her eyebrow. “The only thing that’s going to help me through this is for Logan to sign these damned divorce papers. He just won’t let our marriage go.”
“Maybe you two should try to work things out,” Nina said. “I know you still love him.”
“If Clinton ever cheats on you and produces a child, let me know how apt you’ll be to forgive him. He keeps denying that this child is his, but the DNA test didn’t lie. He’s the father.” Robin rose to her feet and stalked over to the window. Silently tears fell from her cheeks. “I wish I didn’t still love him.”
Nina crossed over to her sister. “But you do and I know that love is too important to let go.”
Robin turned around and smiled at her sister. “You’re so happy and so in love. Life isn’t a fairy tale and Logan and I aren’t going to work anything out because I don’t trust him anymore.”
“We’ll see. You’ve always been my role model. I wanted to be like you, with a happy marriage and . . .”
Robin patted Nina on her shoulder. “You can’t believe everything that you see. Obviously, Logan and I weren’t that happy if he could turn to another woman the way he did. I’m heading back to your town house. I think the movers are coming and I feel like I’m bringing the mood down here.” She walked out of the boutique.
“Don’t you think we need to go after her?” Nina asked.
“No,” Yolanda said. “Just give her some time to be alone. You can’t fix our problems by running to Daddy or giving a lovesick speech, Nina.”
Nina turned to Yolanda. “Forgive me for caring about you and Robin.”
“Thanks to you, I have a man shadowing my every move and he is getting on my nerves. I can’t run my business without him hovering over my shoulder. I swear, he watches me when I go to the bathroom.”
“Would you rather be dead?” Nina snapped.
Yolanda rolled her eyes. “Tell me something,” Nina continued. “If the shoe was on the other foot, wouldn’t you have done the same thing?”
Sighing, Yolanda admitted that she would’ve told her father as well. “All right, I get it.”
“What in the hell is going on with you two?” Alex asked. “I know Yolanda is hiding something about why she just moved here from Richmond.”
Yolanda rolled her eyes. “We’ll talk about it after the wedding. We have enough drama as it is.”
Nina folded her arms across her chest. “Alex, will you be my maid of honor?”
Alex smiled. “Yes.” She crossed over to Nina and gave her a tight hug. “I’d be honored. I’m going to check on Robin, she’s had enough time to cry alone and y’all can fix whatever this is between you two.”
Once Yolanda and Nina were alone, Yolanda tossed a cookie at her. “See there. That’s why I didn’t want to get Daddy involved. I have to admit, though, if Charles would take that stick out of his ass, he might be an all-right type of guy. He has the looks and the body, all he needs is a personality.”
“That’s the Yolanda I know and love. You want to bed the bodyguard.”
“Shh, don’t let Alex hear you say that,” Yolanda replied with a wicked glint in her eyes. “But our relationship is strictly professional.”
* * *
Clinton closed his office door and rubbed his temples. The bed-and-breakfast was jumping because of holiday promotions and his upcoming wedding. But Clinton seemed to have a migraine every day. He couldn’t wait to have Nina as his wife, but all of this planning was getting on his last nerve.
Just as he was about to pick up his phone and call Nina, there was a knock at his door.
“Come in.” Clinton was shocked to see his father walk into his office. “Dad, what’s going on?”
“I just came to check on you.” He took a seat across from Clinton’s desk. “Your wedding’s coming up soon.”
The younger man nodded. “Nina’s very excited. Her sisters have turned this into the event of the year.”
“How do you feel?”
“Never been so looking forward to the day after Christmas,” Clinton said with a smile.
“Yeah, I remember those days before your mother and I got married.”
Clinton folded his arms across his chest. Though he and his father had made some headway with their relationship, he still wasn’t sure he could take hearing stories about his mother from him. Part of him didn’t want to make things easy for his father, because it wasn’t as if it was easy for him growing up with Clinton Sr. constantly putting him down. But holding on to old bitterness wouldn’t be fair to Nina and their union. He had to make more of an effort to make things right for their future.
“You know,” Clinton Sr. said. “There’s something I need to tell you that I should’ve told you a long time ago.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m proud of the man that you are. Your mother made you a good man because I was too stupid to do it.”
“Thanks.”
The elder man rose to his feet. “I mean it. For so many years, I let my failures dictate how I treated you. That’s not right and I can clearly see how wrong I was.”
“Why now? Are you dying?” Clinton asked, though he didn’t mean for his words to come out so coldly.
“Guess I deserve that. I want to be a part of your life, Son. I want to have a chance to know my grandchildren.”
“Grandchildren? You’re looking into the future now? Or do you know something I don’t?”
Clinton Sr. chuckled. “You mean to tell me that you and that pretty little girl don’t plan to have a bushel of children?”
Clinton shrugged. “We haven’t discussed that, but I’m sure we will have at least one child in the future.”
“And I know you will be a better father than I ever was. I hate what I did to us. I can’t blame anyone but myself for the strain on our relationship. It’s understandable why you don’t want anything to do with me.”
“It’s going to take a long time to undo the years of damage between us,” Clinton said.
“I’m willing to work at it.”
“So am I. I’m looking forward to seeing you at the wedding.”
“Of course. She’s a lucky woman because you’re a good man.”
Clinton didn’t know if he should’ve hugged his father or shaken his hand. The two men stood in the middle of the office, looking at each other awkwardly. “Thanks, Dad.”
The older man nodded and walked out the door. They’d
start healing and have a better relationship one day. But today, Clinton was just happy his father didn’t feel like his enemy.
Christmas Day
The grand ballroom of the bed-and-breakfast had been transformed into a winter wonderland. Crystals hung from the ceiling, glistening like frozen raindrops. Red roses decorated the altar where Clinton stood waiting impatiently for Nina to walk into his arms.
He wasn’t surprised that this wedding wasn’t the most traditional. There weren’t a hundred guests in the room. Just close friends of the Richardsons and Clinton’s father and fraternity brothers. Sheldon’s barbershop crew had taken Clinton to the side to share scotch and a warning. “Nina is all of our baby,” Leroy Foxx said as he poured Clinton a glass of scotch. “See, you’re going to have to take care of her.”
“Oh, I plan to do just that.”
“And we’re going to be watching you, youngblood,” Harry Jones said. “That girl has a place in our heart like she’s our own daughter.” Harry downed his drink. “You better treat her right.”
“The last thing you have to worry about is me not loving and cherishing this woman for the rest of her life.” Clinton held up his glass and nodded at the men.
Leroy clapped his hands. “Then let’s toast to Clinton and Nina. May God bless your union.”
Now he was waiting for his future to walk down the aisle. As the chords of the wedding march began to play, the small crowd rose to their feet. Clinton smiled when he saw Nina being led down the aisle by her father and her sisters. When he locked eyes with his bride, it felt as if time stood still. She looked like an angel in her knee-length gown and her hair was wavy, just the way he loved it because it made you take notice of her beautiful eyes. His gaze dipped to the heart-shaped neckline of her dress. There was just enough cleavage showing to make him wish they could skip straight to the “I now pronounce you husband and wife” part.
She winked at him and Clinton licked his lips. Alex nudged Nina, then smiled. “Y’all are too much.”
“Hush,” Yolanda said. The music stopped and Clinton reached out for Nina’s hand as she approached the altar. When their fingers touched, she felt a jolt of electricity.
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