Club Princess - Nicole James Page 0,58
honey. Said if the bears didn’t get me, the bees would,” Memphis says, grinning.
I smile; glad my brother recovered from the gunshot and that my father had the good sense to bring along the club’s doctor, who’d treated him onsite. The doctor had also seen to it Trez entered into a reputable drug treatment facility, and he’s been doing well. As part of that treatment, he and my father have gone into therapy over my mother’s death, and things are improving. I’m so happy to have my family healing.
Memphis studies me.
“What?” I ask, frowning.
He shakes his head as if to dismiss it, and then says, “Just that I like the way your face softens when you smile.”
“Hmm, compliments, tell me more.” The coffee is too hot to drink, so I set my mug on the mantle and hold my hands out to the fire’s warmth.
I feel his gaze move over me. “You look sexy as hell in that off the shoulder sweater and those worn, faded Levi’s. And you’ve got a phenomenal ass, babe.”
I lift my brow. “You’re not so bad yourself, husband.”
He grins, but it fades as he watches me intently. “You know I want you to be happy, don’t you?”
I turn back to the fire and nod.
“What is it you want in life, Lola?”
I grow thoughtful at his question, pulling my hands back and shoving them into my hip pockets while I stare into the crackling flames. “I don’t need much, Memphis. Just lots of moments like this one.”
“Sweetheart, I’ll give you as many as I can. But surely, that’s not all you want.”
I turn my head to look at him. “What more can I want than what I’ve got right now? What’s better than this? You, a warm fire, our future ahead of us, my family back together, and a baby on the way.”
His lips part at my last words.
Moving slowly, Memphis set his coffee cup on the mantel next to mine, his gaze never leaving my face.
He murmurs, “Lola,” in a smooth, stroking voice and curves his hand to the back of my head, holding it gently, then his eyes drop to my still-flat belly. “A baby, are you sure?”
I nod, smiling and lift my head that last inch to meet his mouth, swaying into him, while his enfolding arms gather me in.
He’s solid and strong, and the scent of him soothes me.
“I love you, Lola,” he murmurs into the hair at my temple.
I close my eyes and listen to his heartbeat, soaking this moment in and wondering how I could ever be happier than I am right now.
His phone goes off, but he hesitates moving, then finally releases me to pull it from his back pocket, and stare down at the screen. His thumb hovers over the connect button.
I watch him wrestle with the decision on whether to open himself to his past and all its wounds again. Finally, he hits connect, and the other two significant women in his life appear on the screen.
I step back, giving him time and space to make the most important connection he’ll ever make, to a mother he barely remembers.
They talk and cry, she explains that she was young, alone and broke, and she begs his forgiveness. Memphis, with his heart full from our wedding, and the news I just gave him, gives that forgiveness, and informs his mother and sister of our coming child.
I smile, my eyes filling with tears, and my heart full. Life has ups and down, but today is a good day, a very good day, and there’ll never be a day I take for granted. I know how precious life is.
Leaves patters against the windowpanes, calling me, and I move to look out the steamed glass, parting the curtain, and see the lake in the distance, its surface as smooth as glass. I stare up at the inky dark sky; a million stars like diamonds tossed on velvet sparkle back.
“Thank you for sending him to me, Mama,” I see a shooting star, and smile, remembering what I’d been told that day at Ms. Mirvana’s. Look around you; the signs that I am with you are everywhere. I stare up, and whisper, “I’m going to have a baby, Mama, but I think you already know that. Perhaps you sent the child to me, too. I’ll love them both with all my heart, I promise.”
And in that moment I know a contentment I’ll carry all through my life, and it will see me through whatever