Can't Get Enough
Page 24
God, was she sorry she had done this. It had been monumentally stupid. If she could go back in time to before the break-in and that first conversation with Brian Watson at the Holiday Inn she would. She grimaced. She should never have trusted that idiot to pull off the job. If she ever did something like this again, she would make sure she found someone with the smarts to do it right.
But what was done was done. Right now, she had to get this community service behind her. Then she was going to have to figure out how she would support herself. After paying Pearl, she would have several hundred thousand left in the bank, but the way she lived that wouldn’t last much more than a year or two.
She got up, strolled into her walk-in closet, and picked out an off-white St. John pantsuit. Even if she was going to a homeless shelter, Jolene Brown intended to look her best.
BARBARA CLIMBED OUT of her Benz and carried her two Louis Vuitton suitcases to the front of the house in Silver Lake. She unlocked the double doors and stepped in.
Everything was just as it had been when she left five weeks earlier. The marble floor and crystal chandelier in the foyer looked as if they had just been polished, and fresh flowers sat in a crystal vase on the small round table in the center of the foyer. To her left was Bradford’s study and its mahogany bookshelves, to her right, the music room with the handcrafted baby grand piano that no one had ever learned to play. Straight ahead a carpeted staircase led to the balcony on the second floor. All of it was spotlessly clean.
Phyllis appeared from around a corner, and they hugged warmly.
“It’s good to have you back, Mrs. Bentley. How was your stay at the Ritz?” Phyllis sounded as lighthearted as she would have if Barbara had just come back from visiting a spa. The truth was a lot more complicated. After a week of living with Noah, Barbara had spent a few weeks at a local hotel because she needed time to think about whether she wanted to return to her husband. Barbara was certain that Phyllis knew better.
“Thank you, Phyllis. Is Bradford here?”
“Yes, ma’am. He’s waiting for you in the library.”
Barbara nodded as Phyllis reached for the suitcases and walked toward the kitchen and the back stairs to the second floor. She removed her fox coat, draped it over her arm, and headed for Bradford’s study.
She opened the door and looked around. She didn’t see Bradford, but a large elegantly wrapped package with her name on it sat in the center of his desk. She folded her coat across the back of a chair and tore the wrapper off to reveal a box from Bergdorf Goodman. She flipped the top open and looked down to see a dark brown, full-length sable coat.
She lifted the sable coat out of the box and draped it around her shoulders. As she ran her hands across the luxuriously soft fur, she heard a sound in the doorway. She turned to see Bradford standing there looking handsome as always in slacks and a beautiful gray shirt, holding two champagne flutes filled with sparkling water.
She caught her breath at the sight of him. It was amazing that he could still do that to her at times, even after all these years. Of all her possessions, many of them given to her by Bradford, none mattered more to her than the man standing before her. She still loved him dearly. That was why she was back at home.
But if their relationship was to work, things were going to have to change, as she had explained to him when they talked by phone over the past few days during her stay at the Ritz. He was going to have to be mindful of her needs, and they would both have to be open and honest in their dealings with each other. No more lunches with ex-lovers, no more long trips out of town without each other. No more lies, no more secrets. He might wheel and deal in his business but he was going to have to respect his wife at home.
She had also insisted on opening a bank account in her name only and that he keep it generously funded. The first check she wrote was to Noah, giving him the money to make a down payment on his house. Noah would never have accepted a handout directly from Barbara, so she had a cashier’s check hand-delivered to him. When Noah called to ask if she had sent the check, Barbara denied it. Noah still suspected that it was from her, but the anonymity had allowed him to tell himself that it wasn’t and to keep the money.
She hadn’t told Bradford about the check yet. He still blew up whenever she mentioned Noah’s name, and Barbara thought it would be best to give it a few weeks before telling him.
She smiled as Bradford handed her one of the glasses. “The coat is beautiful.”
“And so are you. It’s so good to have you home.” He leaned down to kiss her, but she gently put her hand on his chest and held him back.
“It’s good to be here,” she said, “but I meant all of those things I said about us being honest with each other from now on. The furs and jewels are nice, Bradford. But what I want more than anything is attention from you. And no other women.”
“I understand that, Barbara. I really do. And I’ve changed. Sabrina and I had lunch, nothing more.”
“That may be true. But do you understand why I had such a hard time believing it?”
He nodded. “I haven’t been the most faithful husband in the past. I have a lot of making up to do. From now on, I won’t be having lunch with Sabrina or any other woman unless it’s strictly business. I don’t want you doubting me ever again. Or running off with other men because you do. You mean the world to me, and I don’t want to lose you. I’m going to start doing a better job of showing you that.”
Barbara nodded. She didn’t know if Bradford could live up to all of his promises, but they both knew that she now had the strength to leave him if he couldn’t.
She smiled. “That’s what I wanted to hear. You should say things like that to me more often.”
“To us,” he said, lifting his glass.
“And new beginnings,” she added.
They clinked their glasses and sipped. He took her glass and placed both flutes on his desk. Then he gently slipped the sable coat from around Barbara’s shoulders and took her into his arms.
READER’S GROUP GUIDE
Author Connie Briscoe creates a distinct community with PG County and its inhabitants. How does Prince George’s County reflect the current aspirations of African Americans? How does it not?
Economics are often pitched against the moral and ethical values of those living in Silver Lake. How does the importance of money and material things influence Barbara, Jolene, Countess Veronique, and Pearl? Are the moral and ethical cores of these women representative of people we know in our everyday lives? How so? How not?
What is the beating heart of Barbara and Bradford Bentley’s marriage and Pearl Jackson and Patrick Brown’s relationship? How do these relationships stand up in comparison to each other? Looking beyond the book’s ending, can either relationship be declared a success or failure? Why?
What are your views of Barbara moving in with Noah? Was that a true show of strength to break away from an unhappy marriage or a ploy to get attention from Bradford? What would have happened had she stayed with Noah? Do you think they could have been happy together?
Even though Jolene has just about everything, how does her demand for more (money, men, recognition) prove to be her downfall? If you were a good friend of hers what advice would you have given her about her pursuit of Patrick and her hatred of Pearl? Do you think if she were open-minded, that perhaps her relationship with Brian would be different?
Do you find Countess Veronique’s brand of revenge on Bradford satisfying? How would you have handled her situation to save her ex-husband’s business?
Although women are the main characters of the book, what are the strengths and weaknesses of their male counterparts? What distinguishes Bradford from Noah, Patrick from Bradford, and Brian from the other three men? Can any of them be viewed truly and clearly as a hero, zero, or everyday man? How and why?
With his history as a womanizer, why do you think Bradford wanted Barbara back? Are Bradford and Barbara two sides of the same coin?
Do you believe Noah
could have had a long-term relationship with Barbara? What compromises would they have had to make for a lasting relationship?
With Can’t Get Enough do you think Briscoe has tapped into modern relationships between Black men and women? What elements has she incorporated that ring true? Are there any elements that you feel could be explored further or added?
About The Author
CONNIE BRISCOE is the author of the New York Times bestseller Big Girls Don’t Cry, as well as A Long Way from Home, Sisters & Lovers, a Blackboard bestseller, and P.G. County. She lives in Ellicott City, Maryland.
Also by Connie Briscoe
P.G. County
Sisters & Lovers
Big Girls Don’t Cry
A Long Way from Home
Published by Harlem Moon, an imprint of Broadway Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
CAN’T GET ENOUGH.
Copyright © 2005 by Connie Briscoe.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information, address: Broadway Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
Visit our website at www.harlemmoon.com
First Harlem Moon trade paperback edition published 2006.
Briscoe, Connie.
Can’t get enough : a novel / Connie Briscoe.— 1st ed.
p. cm.
Sequel to: P.G. County.
1. Prince George’s County (Md.)—Fiction. 2. African American families—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3552.R4894C36 2005
813’.54—dc22
www.randomhouse.com
eISBN: 978-0-307-41887-6
v3.0