Page 9 of Love Me Carefully
“Oh, his name’s Donald?”
“Terrell, I asked you a question.” Rosie’s patience was wearing thin. She’d known that Terrell wasn’t going to be pleased with her announcement but, by God, he would respect her and her wishes. She would accept nothing less.
“I don’t know. I guess this weekend is as good as any,” he sighed. He didn’t have any other plans this weekend, since he was now unattached. “Or is that too soon for you and Donald?”
“That’s cutting it close, but I’m sure we could throw together a nice little gathering.”
“Fine. I’ll come by the house Friday evening.”
“Thank you, baby.” Rosie’s heart ached for her child. He sounded so distant, so lonely. She wanted so much for him. Not just happiness, ’cause, Lord knows, happiness depended on things happening and could last just for the moment. She was happy the moment she married Paul. She was happy the moment she found out she was pregnant with Terrell. But the day that police officer knocked on her door and told her that her husband had been killed, her happiness disappeared.
For days she’d wondered how she’d make it without Paul. But she had Terrell, and she knew she had to get it together for her child. And as the years had gone on, she’d found happiness at other times. When Terrell graduated from high school with honors. When Terrell was accepted at Howard. These things had made her happy. But then Terrell had left for college and she’d been alone. And happiness was gone again.
She didn’t want that for Terrell, happiness that would come and go as it pleased. She wanted her son to be complete. She wanted him to love and to be loved. He was a successful computer programmer; he made good money, and he had a lot of nice things. But he didn’t have anyone to love, anyone to take care of him when he got sick. That’s what she wanted for him. But she didn’t know how to show him that’s what he needed.
“Mama loves you, Terrell,” she said to him finally. Because in the end, that was all she could say.
“I love you too, Mama.”
* * *
Donald slammed his thick hand against the steering wheel. “Your boys are bringing too much heat around my shop, Cable.” His voice echoed through the interior of his truck.
The man sitting in the seat beside him shook his head. “Man, I don’t know what’s going on with them. It’s some territory war going on down there. I can’t seem to get a handle on it.”
“Well, you’d better get a handle on it, and quick. This thing’s winding down and I don’t need any screw-ups. And we definitely don’t need those dumb ass city cops on our tail.” At the mention of the police, Donald searched his surroundings. They were parked in a crowded underground lot at one of the downtown Baltimore office buildings. That was the last place he expected any officers to be, but with his luck he couldn’t be sure.
“If this deal goes bad, it’s going to ruin a lot of lives, Cable. We can’t mess this up,” Donald said seriously.
“Nothing’s going to go bad. I’ve got everything under control.”
Donald looked at his companion again and decided he had no choice but to believe him. But he had a lot riding on this deal—his future literally depended on it.
* * *
Leah was having a difficult morning. The Ortega wedding was scheduled for the next Saturday. The caterer had changed the menu and the bride’s veil had been ripped. She spent her first two hours in the office attempting to calm down Maria, her client and her mother who were ready to go down to the cleaners and beat Ms. Janie, the owner, senseless for tearing the two-hundred-dollar veil.
Then she spent forty-five minutes on the phone with the caterer, informing him of his contractual obligations and that any changes were in direct violation of the agreement. This was the first quiet moment she’d had all morning, and she wanted to savor it. Leaning back in her chair, she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands.
Melinda, her assistant, peeped her head into the office. “Your hair appointment is at eleven, Leah.”
“Oh Lord, please give me strength,” Leah sighed. She needed her hair done badly. Her new growth was showing and her split ends were driving her mad. And just yesterday she’d broken a nail while making the favors for next week’s wedding. “I need to go somewhere and get a massage.” Rising from the chair Leah began putting papers she’d scattered across her desk back into the Ortega file.
“I know what you mean. But look at the bright side, we don’t have another wedding for almost two months.” Melinda crossed over to Leah’s desk and picked up her calendar.
“Are you sure?” Leah shuffled papers around, looking for her keys. She always misplaced her keys. It was a terrible habit of hers. Though she could remain organized and on point with all her clients, when it came to her own keys, she could never seem to remember where she put them.
“Yup, April first, Blake wedding. Invitations went out on Friday, hall is paid in full, photographer is booked and florist has been commissioned. April twenty-ninth, Avarez wedding. Guest list is finalized, invitations are addressed and in the file cabinet waiting to be mailed. Hall’s not paid for, but her uncle owns it, so that shouldn’t be an issue.”
“Yeah, right. Family’s who you’ve got to worry the most about. Call Maria on Monday and ask her what’s going on. I want that paid in full before the first of March. She’s got the money, and I don’t want any last-minute changes in location because she spent the weekend at the casino instead of paying off the hall.” Pulling open her desk drawers, she continued the search.
“Alrighty.” Melinda closed the book and wrote herself a note on a sticky pad.
Leah glanced about the room in search of some clue as to where her keys had gone.
“Ah, Leah?” Melinda called her.
Leah turned to look at her receptionist and followed her gaze. There were her keys, crunched in the folds of the chair Leah had been sitting in.
