Page 31 of Only You

I pulled into the lot of the brightly colored building and smiled. This was one of my happy places. I parked in the first available spot and exited the car excitedly. I didn’t even bother to take Bryson’s seat inside; I carried him instead. I knew he wouldn’tremain in it once I got inside anyway. I stopped at the glass door and swiped my fob, eagerly heading through the doors.

As soon as I stepped inside, my phone rang. I looked down to see that it was Devin.

Shit!

“Hello,” I answered as I stood inside the vestibule.

“Tayla, what in the hell are you doing?”

“I’m visiting my babies,” I said flatly. I heard him sigh on the phone. I wasn’t about to leave, so I laid it on thick.

“Look, I was careful and ensured no one was following me. Do you want me to leave?” I said, dropping my voice into a sisterly pout.

“Damnit, Tay, you are definitely a part of the damn family because your ass is hardheaded as hell. I’ll call Steph and have him come over and sit until you leave. As a precaution, I’ll also have him put someone on watch at the center. Take your ass on inside Tay. My mother is the only one who knows what went down. The other staff were told that your appendix ruptured and that you would return after you were fully healed,” he said. I smiled because once again I’d gotten my way with these men.

“Thank you, Devin,” I said. He grunted into the line before hanging up.

Sucker!

I walked through the center, smiling as I approached the little voices that rang throughout the halls. Right on cue, I heard a door slam as it hit the wall. I looked up expecting to find Drue but it was his little bad ass sidekick Dez still running a damn muckthroughout the halls of A Child’s Haven. He ran full speed until he skidded to a stop before me. He gasped when he looked up at the person he had nearly run into.

“Ms. Tay, you’re back!” He yelled. Desmond was Dorien’s almost four-year-old son.

“Hey, Bryson,” he said, playing with his foot. Before I could respond to his first statement, it was like déjà vu: Ms. Denise rounded the corner, looking down at a clipboard.

“Boy, why are you always running your little behind out of class? Between you and your cousin, I swear. I can hear you all over the building. Why are you out here yelling? My gosh, you two are just like your fathers,” she said. When she finally looked up, she sped up her stride. She came to me, and I expectantly thought she would hug me, but instead took Bryson from my arms.

“Hey, Baby, I missed you,” she said as she snuggled into Bryson’s fat cheeks. His giggles echoed through the hall. I stood with my hands crossed, giving Ms. Denise a silent piece of my mind.

“Oh hey, Tay,” she finally said.

“Oh. Hey. Tay,” I repeated back to her. She laughed and finally gave me the warm, motherly embrace I had missed.

“Girl, bye. You know how this goes. Once you give us grandkids, we no longer care about you.”

“Tsk, shame on you. You just saw him the other day. When’s the last time you’ve seen me?”

“No, shame on you. You should have kept your legs closed,” she said and laughed.

“How have you been? Are you ready to come back to work? Lord knows I’m ready for you to come back. Please tell me it’s today,” she continued.

“Naw, Ms. Denise, what happened to all that ‘once you give us grandkids’ mess you were just talking about?” I laughed, and she waved me off.

“Why are you living in the past? I’m talking about the future right now. Come on, walk with me while I do these rounds. Here,” she said as she handed me the clipboard. As we walked around and caught up, I took out my secured line to text Jourdan.

Meet me at Cypress Brew in an hour.

JoJo

Girl, hell no. Stephon owns that, and you saw how he popped up at the diner.

Is there anywhere that we can hide from their ass?

JoJo

Do you really want me to answer that because the answer is no, girl.

Well, let’s meet on the other side of the city then. At least we will have time to talk before either of them can pop up.

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