A Love Like This

by Kianna Alexander

  Viola patted her thigh. “At least your conscience is clean. If you say you didn’t contact those people, I believe you. I raised you better than to lie.”

  Hadley blew out a breath, struggling against the emotions roiling around inside her. “In the short time we were together, he did so much for me. I mean, I never would have thought to petition against the Neville South development if he hadn’t encouraged me not to give up.”

  “Wow.” The usually stoic Belinda seemed impressed.

  “Yeah. He pushed me to stand up for my convictions, even when it became hard to do so. Aside from that, he was such a gentleman. He treated me like a queen. Opened doors, pulled out chairs, the whole deal.” She shook her head ruefully. “What am I going to do now that he’s gone?”

  Viola stood then. “I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to stop sitting on the sidelines about this Neville South development.”

  Hadley looked up at her mother. “Mom, I love you so much. But if you’re going to side with Daddy and Savion, you’re welcomed to keep sitting this one out.” She couldn’t take any more bad news right now.

  Viola pursed her lips. “Oh, hush, child. I’m on your side. Truth is, this development is too big for a place as small as Sapphire Shores. I’ve lived here for forty years, and I can see this deal for what it is. The benefits aren’t worth the traffic headaches, litter and increase in property taxes it will also bring.”

  That triggered a small smile for Hadley. “So, if the Monroe men stand their ground on this...”

  Viola clapped her hands together. “Then you and I go into battle together, honey. Your father needs to be contradicted now and then, and he’s about due.”

  Refreshed by her mother’s declaration, Hadley nodded. “I appreciate that, Mom. I really do.” This was the first time she could remember her mother standing firm on something that was in direct opposition to her father. Knowing Carver Monroe, and how stubborn he could be, Hadley assumed it wasn’t easy for her mother to do this. “But what am I going to do about Devon?”

  Belinda piped up. “Now, this is my wheelhouse. As your best friend, I’m gonna advise you to do not one damn thing.”

  Confusion knitting her brow, Hadley said, “Say what?”

  Folding her arms over her chest, Belinda doubled down. “You heard me. You didn’t dime him out, so he’s in the wrong here. So you need to stop calling and texting him, and go on about your business. When he realizes how stupid he’s been, he’ll be back.”

  “I don’t know about that, B. He was pretty angry.”

  “Yep. And he’ll be just as contrite when he comes to his damn senses.” Belinda gave her a curt nod. “Trust me, girl.”

  “Despite your lack of a man?” Hadley knew her skepticism showed in her expression.

  Belinda rolled her eyes. “Yes, because my lack of a man is by choice. It certainly isn’t from a lack of offers.” She flipped her ponytail and winked.

  Snickering despite her mood, Hadley shook her head at her friend’s shenanigans. “Girl, you’re crazy.”

  “That may be so, but I’m right, too.” She rested her back against the armrest, as if indicating that her job was done.

  Viola headed for the kitchen. “Okay, enough of this depressing talk. I say we watch a movie, and I’ll make the popcorn.”

  “Great idea.” Belinda was already shrugging out of her jacket. “Don’t you have Beyond the Lights on DVD?”

  “Yeah.” Knowing that neither of her houseguests was leaving any time soon, Hadley got up and went to her entertainment center.

  Her mother and her best friend were real pieces of work, and she felt fortunate to have them in her life.

  * * *

  Devon stood in his mother’s kitchen Sunday morning, filling his plate with her famous breakfast. Though she’d lived in Los Angeles for more than a decade now, Eva Sykes Granger hadn’t lost her touch for Southern cooking. As he loaded up with cheese-laden eggs, country sausage, seasoned grits and fluffy biscuits running with butter, he smiled for the first time in a few days.

  As he carried his bounty to the table to join his parents, he took in the familiar room, the heart of his parents’ home. He’d purchased the twenty-five-hundred-square-foot Echo Park home for them after the success of Reach for the Sky, his first Western film. And while his mother had initially complained about his “extravagant” gift, declaring the house “too large for folks our age,” she’d soon forgotten her protests and started decorating. The kitchen was painted a dark blue and white, displaying a blueberry motif in honor of Eva’s favorite fruit.

  Sitting down, he grabbed the little ceramic bunch of blueberries that held the black pepper and sprinkled a bit onto his eggs.

  Eva was already eating, her eyes on the pages of Better Homes & Gardens. Her white hair was up in curlers, and she wore a blue T-shirt and a pair of bedazzled blue windbreaker pants. In her hand was her favorite mug, emblazoned with the words 49 and Holding. The cup held her favorite blend of herbal tea, since she didn’t like coffee.

  Across from her, David Granger flipped through that day’s edition of the LA Times. He was bald, having long ago given up the ghost regarding his receding hairline. His thick eyebrows and trimmed mustache were the color of fresh-fallen snow, standing out in contrast to his deep skin tone. As he read, he absently nibbled on a biscuit, the crumbs falling onto his Marine Corps sweatshirt.

  With a contented sigh, Devon dug into his breakfast. This was why he’d come here from the airport instead of going home. It would be several more weeks before he could stand in one spot long enough to cook, so his mother’s cuisine had drawn him. But beyond that, he felt a certain peace in the presence of his parents. They were about as laid-back as parents could be.

  Devon was chewing a forkful of eggs when he heard his father clear his throat.

  “Now, Eva?” David asked the question without looking up from the local section of his newspaper.

  She glanced up from her magazine, looking right at her son. “Yes, David. Now is good.”

  A confused Devon looked back and forth between his parents while tucking a piece of sausage between the split halves of his biscuit. “What’s up?”

  This time David closed his paper and folded it up. Resting his arms on the tabletop, he tented his fingers.

  Uh-oh. Devon’s eyes widened. Nothing good ever came of his father’s finger tenting, at least not where he was concerned. He felt like a wayward teen, staring down the business end of an epic lecture.

  David cleared his throat again. “What’s going on with you, son?”

  He blinked a few times. “Um, nothing.”

  David scoffed. “Something brought you here. And you may as well tell us what it is.”

  “You know we love having you, baby,” Eva added. “And you’re welcome to come and stay with us anytime. But we’re entitled to know what’s going on with you.”

  Feeling out of sorts, he shrugged. “I’m not supposed to be cooking, remember? And where else am I gonna get real Southern food cooked with this much love?” He hoped flattery would distract his mother from this rare quest to find out about his personal life.

  It didn’t. “Nice try, Devon. But I brought you into this world, and I know something’s on your mind.” Eva sipped her tea. “So, spill it.”

  Taken aback, Devon dropped his fork and put his hands up. “Now, wait a minute. What makes y’all so sure there’s something wrong?”

  David fielded that question. “You’ve been moping around this house ever since you got back from the island. Don’t think we haven’t noticed.”

  “Not only that, but you’re been eating everything I cook, as fast as I can make it,” Eva quipped as she flipped the page in her magazine.

  “Sure enough.” David reached out and patted his son’s belly. “Much more of your mama’
s cooking and you gonna pop, son.” He winked. “Why don’t you go on and tell us what the problem is.”

  It had become clear he couldn’t squirrel his way out of this conversation, so Devon acquiesced. “Can I at least finish my breakfast first?”

  “Go ahead.” Eva nodded in his direction. “We’ll wait.”

  Shaking his head, Devon scooped up the last of his grits and eggs, then tucked the last piece of biscuit in his mouth. As he ate, he wondered how to best phrase his “problem,” though he considered it more of a revelation. Washing down the food with a long swig of orange juice, he set the glass down. “My holiday vacation was a little more eventful than I’d hoped.”

  “That’s pretty obvious, from the way you’ve been acting.” David took a draw from his mug of black coffee. “Can you be a little more specific?”

  He sighed. “Y’all remember Hadley Monroe, right?”

  Eva’s face brightened at the mention of her name. “I sure do remember little Hadley. Those rambunctious brothers of hers kept her running all the time when you all were younger. How is she doing?”

  Devon slanted his eyes in his mother’s direction. “First, she’s not so little anymore. She’s twenty-eight. And...she and I started dating while I was in Sapphire Shores.”

  David grinned, slapping his open palm on the table. “Well, hot damn. Never would have thought of you two as a match.”

  “She’s a real sweet girl, so you’ve got my approval.” Eva closed her magazine. “But I know that’s not why you’re sitting around my house looking like a little lost puppy.”

  He gave his mother a wry smile. “Actually, it is. Hadley and I already broke up.”

  David’s brow crinkled. “Well, that was short-lived, then.”

  “Yeah, it was.” And it’s a damn shame. “For a while there, I thought she was the one.”

  Eva exchanged a look with her husband. “And what changed that?”

  “She showed me who she really is.” Draining the last of his orange juice, Devon stood and took his dishes to the sink. “She can’t be trusted.”

  Quiet settled over the room for a moment, making the sound of the china dishes landing in the stainless-steel sink seem much louder. Walking back to the table, he sat down.

  Both of his parents eyed him expectantly—waiting for him to elaborate, he assumed. So he told them about the night at Oceanview Grill when the paparazzi had shown up, seemingly out of nowhere. “In all the years I’ve been vacationing back home, this has never happened before.”

  Eva frowned. “How does that make it Hadley’s fault?”

  “I wouldn’t even have considered that angle, Mama, until one of the photographers looked right at Hadley and called her by name. Asked her why she’d tipped them off if she didn’t want to be photographed.” He scoffed. “I guess he was surprised that we went out of our way to avoid him and his ilk.”

  David shook his head. “Did you ever ask her if she contacted them, Devon?”

  He thought about it for a moment. As he recalled, he hadn’t so much asked her as he had accused her. “I asked her why she did it.”

  Rolling his eyes, David got up from the table. “Eva, you take this one. This boy is obviously out of his mind.” Tucking his folded newspaper under his arm, he shuffled out of the room.

  Eva fixed her son with a hard glare. “I know you’re not going to sit here at my table and tell me you accused that girl of betraying you without even giving her a chance to tell her side.”

  Singed by his mother’s fiery gaze, he looked away. “Mama, all she had to say was that she didn’t do it. She never even admitted—”

  “Hush up.” She sat her mug down. “Son, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. I’ve never known Hadley to be dishonest, have you?”

  Unable to think of such an occasion, he shook his head.

  “I can’t believe you. You were probably so busy yelling at her that you missed the whole point of what she was telling you.” Folding her arms over her chest, she continued. “Have you even considered that she’s telling the truth? That she wasn’t the one who called those people?”

  Inhaling deeply, he realized his mother was right, as usual. He hadn’t stopped to think about how vehemently Hadley had denied having a part in this debacle. “How did they get her name, then?”

  Eva shrugged. “I don’t know. That’s for you to investigate if you want. But I tell you what.” She stood, gathering her dishes and her husband’s. “You’re not going to sit in my house with your face all screwed up. You messed up, now do something about it.” With a huff, she walked away with the armload of china and silverware.

  Devon sat at the table alone for a few minutes, thinking over what had just happened. If his parents had noticed his foul mood and been concerned enough to bring it up—in direct contrast to how they usually operated—that meant something. It was quite a wake-up call.

  He’d been missing Hadley fiercely—her smile, her touch, the sound of her voice. Even his anger did little to temper his longing for her. Taking his phone out, he dialed Mimi. He had arrangements to make.

  Mama’s right. It’s time to fix this.

  Chapter 19

  As Hadley looked through the papers she’d brought, she realized how unusually quiet the interior of Della’s was. It was Monday, just after two. The morning New Year’s Eve service crowd had already hit the deli, seeking to fill their grumbling stomachs after sitting through the sermon. She surmised that some of the other folks who usually stopped in had kicked off their New Year’s celebrations early.

  She sipped her iced tea, observing the gray day outside before returning her attention to her papers. One sheet among the stack was much larger than the others and occupied most of the square table, which was meant to seat four people. She’d taken it over when she came in, since no one had been sitting there, and she needed the space.

  Della appeared behind the counter then. The older woman saw Hadley, waved and took a moment to slip her checked apron up over her head. Hanging the apron on a wall hook, she used a few pumps of hand sanitizer and made her way over to the table.

  “Hi, Della. You ready?”

  Sitting down, she grinned and clapped her hands together. “I sure am. I’m so excited about this.”

  Hadley returned the smile, looked around a bit. “Is Ralph going to sit in on this?”

  Della shook her head. “You know how he is. He told me to look things over and decide, since this is my place.”

  “Okay, then.” She spread out the large sheet. “I’m not an artist, but I brought over this diagram of MHI’s last land plot. As you can see, I drew out the basic shape and location right here.” She gestured to the rectangular object she’d added to the diagram with the tip of her pencil. “I think it’s the perfect spot for the new Della’s.”

  Eyes wide, Della looked over the image. “Are these dimensions in square feet?”

  Hadley nodded.

  “Wow. This is really a big building you’re talking about.” Della inhaled. “A big undertaking, too.”

  “I know. But you do good business here. Everybody agrees you’re the best deli in town, way better than those two chain places.” She tapped the rectangle for emphasis. “Having a space like this means you’ll be able to accommodate everybody who wants to get into your place during the lunch rush.”

  Della sat back in her chair, as if thinking it over. “I can see the benefit of that. Let me see what else you brought.”

  “Glad you asked.” Opening a manila folder, Hadley pulled out the cost estimates and timelines. “I’ve got a friend who’s an architect and another who’s a contractor. Benefits of working in real estate. Here are the numbers they mocked up for you.” She slid the small stack of papers across the table.

  “There’s a lot of information here.”

  �
�I know. Take your time going over it.” Hadley got up and crossed the dining area with her frosted glass in hand. She stopped by the dispenser to refill her iced tea, then started back toward the table.

  The bell over the entrance rang as the door swung open.

  Hadley turned toward the sound and saw Savion standing there. She was still a little annoyed at the way he’d acted with Devon, but she supposed it didn’t matter much now. “Hey, Savion.”

  “Hey, sis.” He walked farther into the deli as she passed him, returning to the table with Della. Watching them, he asked, “Can a brother get some service?”

  Della chuckled, “Boy, if you don’t go on to the counter and order. Don’t you see Marcelle standing there?” She gestured to the counter, where the young woman at the sandwich station waved.

  “Okay, but I’ll be back after I order.” He went to the counter.

  Della turned to Hadley. “That brother of yours is something else.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Trust me, I know.”

  “Handsome as all get-out, though.” Della looked his way as she made the remark. “When the right woman comes along to tame him, he’ll make a fine husband.”

  “Well, let’s both pray for the day when that woman comes and takes him off my hands.” Hadley giggled at the thought of her staid older brother strung out over this nameless, faceless woman. It was almost too much to hope for, but she had to admit she’d love to meet the lady who could capture his heart.

  They chatted until Savion interrupted them, taking a seat at the next table with his sandwich and chips.

  Sipping his drink, he asked, “What are you two doing?”

  Hadley answered the question. “Well, Della is considering ways to expand her business. As for me, I’m taking the sage advice of my best friend by getting on with my life.” She didn’t want to think about Devon, so she pushed the thoughts away.

  “You miss him, don’t you?” Savion’s eyes held hers, and he looked almost sympathetic.

  “I thought you’d be happy about it.” The words came out a bit snippier than she’d intended, but she couldn’t take them back once she’d said them.