Page 25 of To Have and To Hold

She was slightly taller than the girls at his school and she had a very nice body. A natural beauty who didn’t need makeup, and her dark brown skin glowed. He had only dated the popular white girls in his school before then, but he was also open to dating other ethnicities. There was something about her that drew him in. For the first time, he had felt captured by her dark gaze when their eyes met. She’d paused what she was saying, then returned her attention to the principal, not giving him a second look. He became now more intrigued by her than ever; heknew he was good looking and the girls at the school fawned over him, but he had a feeling she would not be the same.

He planned on introducing himself to her, but a family emergency had pulled him away from school a lot that year and also into the next. His grandmother had fallen ill and passed away at the beginning of his last year in high school, leaving him, Abbott, and Matt playing catch up. When he finally came back and saw her again in the hallway with friends, he knew he needed to talk to her and when he found out she was a tutor, it fit perfectly into his hands. He at first thought it would be a game and an easy conquest to end his high school days with, but she quickly became more to him that just a notch on his belt. She was his best friend, then the most important person in his life as he began to develop real feelings for her. All that came crashing down one night when his father finally came home for a visit.

He heard someone sit down next to him and the light scent of perfume hit his nostrils. He turned to smile at Vye.

Vye was beautiful and he could see why Linnel was besotted with her. She was an amazing and loving mother; smart, witty, and funny; always teasing everyone including her husband; she was generous and intuitive. He could see a lot of Vye in Coco and knew when Coco gave herself to someone she loved, she would guard that love fiercely like Vye and Linnel did.

“How are you liking being in Barbados so far?” Vye set down her bag and took out a little fan, turning it on and giving him her undivided attention.

“This island is beautiful and so are the people. Helpful and welcoming.”

“Also, nosy too.” Vye laughed and so did he because he’d gone to one of the banks in Bridgetown and had stood in line for several hours. When he finally got a teller to take out money,he was engaged in conversation and before he knew it, he knew about the teller’s life and they all about his.

They were at a different beach that day and the ocean seemed calmer. Tomorrow he was going on a drive with her father and some of his friends around the island. He was looking forward to seeing more of Barbados but not too keen on the inquisition he was sure he was going to face.

“And the ride tomorrow with Linnel.” She grinned, knowingly.

He made a grimace. “Yes, that too.”

She laughed and he smiled. “Don’t worry, I think he is coming around and it won’t be too bad. He will bring you back in one piece,” She teased.

Nearby men’s voices raised excitedly and they saw Linnel sit back in his seat happily with the three other men playing dominoes and drinking beer, slamming them down onto the table as he won this round.

He faced forward to see Reena trying to push Coco under the water and he smiled. He liked Reena; she was cute in a studious Bahamian way, and she had her big afro braided, her hair coming down to the middle of her back, wet and weighed down by the water. She’d quizzed him like a drill sergeant before giving him a hug and settling on the couch with a book in her hand and a pad of paper to scribble notes on. Reena was highly intelligent, but she was a slob. Her paper, wrappers, shoes, and socks were all about the house in the short time since she arrived. And when he saw all this, he thought of his brother Matt, who never been the studious type. Matt barely passed high school, then struggled in college but was ironically a clean freak and this mess would have him going ballistic.

A female voice interrupted his musing. “You care about my daughter, don’t you? Falling for her even.”

His attention refocused on Vye. Her gaze searched his, then she nodded and smiled, satisfied with what she saw.

“She won’t make it easy on you, you know. She’s stubborn like her mother. You are going to have to work for her love but when you do, you will be the luckiest man in the world.”

He didn’t know what to say. His emotions were in turmoil. Because he did have strong feelings for her but there was also fear there too. His father had taught all his sons a hard lesson on trust and falling in love, one that wasn’t easy to forget, especially with his younger siblings as a constant reminder.

Vye reached out, as if sensing his turmoil. “Don’t let the past get in the way of you two being together. It happened once, don’t let it again. My daughter deserves so much more, and you know it or else you would not have come back into her life. You need to show her and yourself that you are going nowhere and that this is real for you both.”

His shifted his gaze to Coco, deep in thought, and he smiled when she smiled at something her sister said.

“Oh yeah, you definitely have it bad.”

“Who has it bad?” They turned when Linnel appeared at his wife’s side and bent down to give her a kiss on her mouth.

“Nothing, dear. How is the game going?” Vye said, a smooth distraction.

“I am beating their asses, of course.” He said proudly. The men shouted for him to come and play another game. He gave his wife another quick kiss and grabbed another beer from the cooler. He began to walk away when he rounded on Colin.

“How much do you know about cricket?”

“Not much, why?”

“Oh, because you will be playing at a father-and-son charity match with me on Sunday. We will talk more about it on the ride up tomorrow.” He returned to his friends without any further argument.

His eyebrows rose and he glanced at Vye, who was rolling her eyes. If he was invited to play cricket with Linnel, then the man was starting to like him. Colin felt more optimistic about tomorrow.

“Just make sure not to get yourself injured on the field.”

“Does that happen often?”

“Only if you don’t know what you are doing and the ball hits you.”

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