Page 31 of Beck & Coll
“Perkins is minding my business… as usual. Who was that man?”
“Collins met a man in the wilderness,” Perkins said loudly. “Is he white? I could definitely see her with a white man. Doing one of those videos where she talks about leveling him up.”
“Well, if he was white, you yelling about me leveling him up would be super cringey,” I said.
Beckham sat down beside me on the sofa and moved his face so that it was in the camera. Then he dropped a quick kiss on my cheek.
“Mom, this is Beckham… a Black man.” I tacked on, which caused Beckham to snicker.
“Hey, Ms. Kingsley. I look forward to meeting you in person,” he said.
“Are you moving there?” Perkins asked from the background.
“I am not,” I assured her before launching into my plan for our mom to join me for the fall festival. “I’m sending your ticket confirmation as we speak, Ma.”
“I can’t believe that you’re bringing me there to seeLondynville Steelein person. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been to a concert. I know it was before the pandemic.”
Beckham dropped another kiss on my cheek before standing from the sofa. “I have a tour group in twenty minutes. I’ll see you later.”
“See you.” I watched him leave the suite before turning my attention back to my phone.
“And you say that’s your friend?” she probed.
“Yeah. He owns the wilderness adventure company that’s attached to the lodge. His parents actually own the lodge.”
Her eyes ballooned. “Okay. So, he comes from a legacy of entrepreneurship. He’s a good catch, Coll. And it was written all over his face that he really likes you.”
“I really like him, too,” I admitted.
“Enough to relocate to see if you could make something happen with him?”
“Ma, my life is in Chicago. You’re in Chicago. My sisters are there. My house is there. If I ever rebuildPosh Moments, it’ll be there.” I took a deep breath. “I can’t see myself living that far away from you, Ma. You’re my mom.”
“That’s true, but I’m also just a human, baby. Don’t use me as an excuse not to live. This is your life, not mine. I’ve lived mine and made my mistakes. I took chances that I shouldn’t have and stayed in places and with people longer than I should’ve. And believe me when I tell you that I have the regrets to show for all of it.”
“Mom…”
“Don’t ‘Mom’ me, Collins. I’m telling you what I know. If I had the chance to do it all over again, I would do it differently. I wouldn’t be scared to make big changes. I wouldn’t cling so hard to what was familiar.”
“The Kingsley women don’t have a lot of luck with men, Ma. I think that’s my biggest fear,” I confessed. “I don’t want to give up everything for him, only to end up back at home, heartbroken and shattered.”
“My life isn’t your life.”
“But your life has had the same outcome as Grandma’s. Why should I think mine would turn out any better?”
“Because. Nothing your grandmother ever did made me end up with four beautiful daughters by four unworthy men. Those weremychoices. Life doesn’t just happen to us; we make choices. Even not making a choice is a choice. Don’t base your future happiness on me. I’m living my life. You get to live yours, and you don’t have to live it for me.”
I spent Wednesday and Thursday doing hair. Mrs. Strong told me that she was going to set up a little lottery for the resort guests. She was going to put names in a drawing, and whoever was selected would get their hair done by me. Initially, I agreed to taking one client a day. The response to the lottery was so great that I decided to take four clients on Wednesday and five on Thursday. By the time I finished up with the last client on Thursday, I was dead on my feet.
Beckham invited me to his house for dinner. Of course, I took him up on the offer. Because who felt like cooking after being on their feet for almost ten hours? And he was the most thoughtful man alive. As soon as I walked into his place, he ushered me into his well-appointed, spa-like master bathroom. He had run a bath for me with the high-end products that were sold at the lodge. He’d even placed rose petals all along the edge of the tub.
I sunk down into the warm water and took a sip from the glass of sparkling wine he’d poured me. I moaned as I swallowed.
“You good?” he asked, from his perch on the edge of the tub.
I grinned at him. “I’m great, Beck. Thank you for this. One thing I can definitely say is that it’s nice to have somebody do this for me. I’ve always come home to an empty house, never to one with somebody waiting to do something so sweet for me.”
“I like taking care of you.”
