Page 37 of Give Me More
Major sat up in the chair then, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “Yeah, I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that Mom dated Tobias first.”
RJ agreed with his brothers; that part of the story had been a shock to his system and had also taught him one of the most important lessons of his life—to fight for love, no matter the circumstances. “I’m glad she told us,” he said, even though a part of him wished Marva and Ron had told them the full story a long time ago. Preferably before he blew up at Grace about it.
“And I don’t blame Tobias for being pissed,” RJ continued. “If I were in his position I would’ve been angry enough to quit as well.”
“Yeah,” Maurice agreed. “Me, too. If Major had dated Desta after me and then ended up marrying her, I’d be ready to strangle him.”
Major smirked. “I beat your fiancée at poker last week and you were ready to bite my head off, so believe me, man, I know.”
The brothers shared a laugh at the memory of their monthly poker game. Desta was still the only woman who attended and she routinely beat the brakes off each of them, so Major had really celebrated his win last week. Until Maurice had threatened to stuff him in the closet if he didn’t pipe down. RJ had enjoyed seeing his family happy.
Riley and Chaz had bought another house, this one in the country as a getaway for when they wanted to leave all the hustle and bustle of the city. Maurice and Desta were now planning their upcoming winter wedding at the ski resort where they’d learned they’d been email pen pals. Major and Nina were over the moon with excitement in anticipation of their son, who was expected in December. And RJ, well, he was doing just fine, too, despite what his brothers thought.
“We should get downstairs. The party’s about to start and you know how Mom is about being late.” RJ walked toward the door and Major stood from his chair to follow him.
“You really aren’t going to go after her, man? You two are meant to be together,” Major said when the three Gold brothers walked out of the suite.
They each wore RGold black tuxedos with gold satin vests and ties. Tonight, Ron and Marva were celebrating their thirty-sixth wedding anniversary and the announcement of Ron’s retirement at a lavish gold-and-white-themed party.
“I know Grace and I are meant to be together,” RJ said when they were finally in the elevator.
Maurice punched him in the shoulder. “Then why isn’t she here? Why hasn’t she moved back into your penthouse so the two of you can start making wedding plans?”
RJ laughed. “You just want to share the misery you’re going through with Desta, her mother, her grandmother and Mom planning your big day.”
Major chuckled. “Yeah, he is.”
The brothers stepped off the elevator and walked down the white marble hallway toward the ballroom. Guests had already begun to arrive, and music from the band hired to play for the first half of the event flowed out into the hallway. After dinner and the big announcement, the DJ would facilitate his parents’ plan to dance the night away.
RJ hoped his intentions for this evening would go off without a hitch as well.
Grace traced the embossed gold letters on the white invitation, reading the words one more time.You are cordially invited to share in the celebration of thirty-six years of love between Ronald Gold Jr. and Marva Westing Gold.
“He’s gonna die when he sees you in that dress,” Hope said from her perch on Grace’s bed. She’d been sitting there, with her legs crossed at the ankle and pillows propped at her back, for the last hour watching Grace get ready.
“It’s just a dress,” Grace replied. She stood in front of the full-length mirror on the inside of her closet door surveying the final product.
She’d lied. The rose-gold-sequined two-piece gown was stunning. The halter-style top hugged her bodice before stopping to leave her midriff bare, and the skirt fit her tightly from her waist to mid-thigh on the right where it opened into a split. The soft and elegant material fell to the floor with a short train behind her. She’d worked on her hair all day and was now thoroughly pleased with the shorter length and bouncy spiral curls that rested on her shoulders.
“Are you sure you’re supposed to be eating like that?” Grace asked her older sister when Hope put yet another chocolate frosted doughnut hole into her mouth. Grace bought those especially for when she wasn’t able to get to a bakery to buy her favorite whole doughnut.
Hope was seven months pregnant, hence the reason she’d wanted a very quick fall wedding. The nuptials were scheduled to take place next weekend at their parents’ house, and Hope seemed to be eating away all her nerves.
“This may be the only time I can eat guilt-free, and I plan to take full advantage of it.” Hope grinned after she finished chewing. “And don’t get off topic. You and RJ have been writing letters and having long phone conversations like teenagers for the past four months. I sure hope tonight he’s gonna put a ring on it.”
Grace’s stomach churned at the thought.
“Oh, and I hope you keep the ring on it this time,” her sister added.
“We really don’t have to talk about this again.” She moved from the mirror and grabbed her purse.
After her return from Saint Lucia, Grace had gone directly to her parents’ house in need of a safe haven. Of course, she hadn’t found it there. Videtta had been beside herself once Grace explained that she and RJ had rekindled and then snuffed out their chances at love during the trip. Her sisters had come to her rescue, taking her on a girls’ trip where they let her confess about all the competitiveness and validation issues she’d harbored all her life. And then they’d promptly read her the riot act for assuming she was less than anything but brilliant and competent just like they were.
With her new job at the paper and a newfound bond between her and her sisters, Grace had begun to feel better about herself and in doing so, she’d been better able to deal with RJ. Which turned out to be a good thing because when she returned to her apartment after the girls’ trip it was to find two letters from him. She’d read each letter a dozen times before deciding to respond, and since then they’d been communicating either by old-school snail mail or telephone calls at least four times a week. She’d made the mistake of sharing all those details with her sisters.
“I’m just sayin’, you’ve had the great sex and now you’ve done the—what did Grandma used to call it—the ‘courtin’ thing’? So there’s only one obvious next step,” Hope said.
“Well, that might be obvious for some people, but for others, it might take a while to get to that point.” Grace left her sister in her apartment then. Hope had a key since she was the only relative of Grace’s who lived in the city. When her sister was done eating she’d let herself out.
