Grady smiled faintly. “They don’t know, do they?”
“No, they don’t. I don’t regret letting you be a part of my life, Grady. Nor will I ever. You are a very compassionate and giving person.”
“And so are you.” He hesitated briefly before adding, “And I know there is someone out there who will give you the kind of love you deserve, Rae’jean. I wish you all the happiness one person could possibly endure.”
A lump tightened in her throat. “Thanks, Grady.”
“I also hope things work out with your finding your father. I know I had misgivings about your need to locate him, but now, after discovering how delicate and fragile life can be, I think maybe you should look for him.” Grady released a long deep breath. “I think you should do whatever makes you happy.”
Rae’jean couldn’t help wondering if finding her father would make her happy.
Grady rose from his seat. “I better go. I promised Candace I’d be back in an hour or so. Since Lynn is being released from the hospital tomorrow, Candace wants to get her apartment in order.”
Rae’jean nodded as she stood. “Thanks for coming by, Grady. I think the best way to ward off any more gossip is for us to continue to be friends. In time the gossip will die down as long as we don’t give anyone fuel to keep it going.”
“I agree.”
“And I think it would help if I were to drop by to see Lynn before she leaves the hospital. What do you think about that?”
He smiled. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. I know she would love seeing you. I’ve told her everything. She knows you’re the one who forced me to face my true feelings.”
Rae’jean nodded. “Then it’s settled. I’ll make it a point to drop by and see her.”
After Grady left, Rae’jean walked over to the window and looked out. She couldn’t help wondering if perhaps he was right and she should try to locate her father. Like he said, life was too delicate and fragile. Besides, there was a part of her that needed to know more about the man who had fathered her other than the fact that he’d been a door-to-door insurance salesman at one time. What had he done over the past thirty years? Was he married? Did he have any other children? More important, was he even still alive?
Turning, she walked over to the table and picked up the phone book. She decided to make an appointment to see a private investigator, one who specialized in finding missing persons.
Chapter 27
You’re right on time, Taye. I’m glad to see you’re dressed appropriately for what you’ll be doing,” Michael said, grinning, as he stepped aside to let her enter his home.
“Flattery won’t get you anywhere, Michael Bennett. I should have my head examined for letting you talk me into this. Even Kennedy is questioning my sanity. However, I assured her that I could handle you, so don’t think you’ll be working me to death today,” Taye said, smiling. She glanced around Michael’s living room. When she’d driven up, the first thing she’d thought was that the place was huge. You could easily fit two of her homes into this large one. It sat on a hill and had a big, beautiful landscaped yard.
“Nice place you have here, Michael.” It was evident he had hired an interior decorator. Everything looked chic, elegant, and expensive.
“Thanks. Come on; I’ll give you a personal tour.”
The tour started in the living room, and when they ended back there Taye was still in awe. Michael’s house was large and spacious. It was definitely a dream home. She was happy about his success and told him so. He thanked her for it. While in his bedroom she couldn’t help noticing a picture of a woman on his dresser. Since the same picture had been on Kennedy’s dresser as well, Taye could only assume the woman in the picture was his late wife. She had refrained from asking him about it, but from what she saw, Lynda had been a very beautiful woman.
“Come on; let’s go out back to the toolshed, where all my gardening supplies and equipment are located,” Michael said, leading her through his kitchen and onto his back porch.
The backyard, Taye noted, was just as beautifully landscaped as the front. His enclosed pool looked inviting, and she knew that by the time she finished helping him with the yard she would be eager to find out just how inviting it was. After giving her a quick lesson on how to operate the riding mower, Michael placed a pair of work gloves in her hands with strict orders for her to use them. He also handed her a can of mosquito repellent and a big straw hat with orders that she use them as well.
First they started working in the backyard. Michael trimmed the hedges, raked up the leaves, and placed mulch around the flower beds while she mowed the grass. They worked together amicably for an hour or so, then went into the house to drink some iced tea before tackling the front yard.
“How are you holding up, kid?” Michael asked her as he stood across from her drinking iced tea.
“So far, so good, but then I had the easy job.”
“Want to swap?”
She looked up at him over the rim of her glass and smiled. “Not on your life. You’ve spoiled me. I may never want to operate a push mower again. I’m going to look into purchasing a riding mower for myself. It even seems safe for the girls to handle.”
Michael returned Taye’s smile. “It is. I let Kennedy drive it sometimes. Like you, she’s soft.”
Taye tried to put a frown on her face but failed when she couldn’t keep from grinning. “Who’s soft? I’d like you to know, Michael Bennett, that I’m made of some pretty sturdy stuff. All Bennetts are.”
Michael shook his head, smiling. “True. Are you ready to tackle the front yard now?”
“Ready when you are. I just need to use the bathroom first.”
After Taye disappeared around the corner where one of his bathrooms was located, Michael leaned against the counter and released a deep sigh. Boy, did she look good. She had shown up wearing a T-shirt, cutoff jeans, and tennis shoes and socks on her feet. Today she looked younger than her thirty years, but her looks weren’t what had held his attention while they worked in the backyard. Taye Bennett was built. She had enough curves to make the Indy Speedway jealous. The cutoffs she wore hugged her behind in a way that made one think the shorts had been designed especially for her backside. When she had gotten off the mower to lean over to move an object out of her way, he’d almost swallowed his tongue when he got a pretty nice view of her curvy bottom. He closed his eyes, forcing his mind not to go there. He had to remind himself what his and Taye’s relationship was. She had a way of making him forget they were family. But then, another part of his brain forced him to accept that they weren’t actually family, at least not blood relatives.
He shook his head. It was hard to believe her daughter’s claim that Taye did not have a boyfriend. Single women who looked like she did had men pursuing them in droves. So whoever the lucky guy was, for some reason she had him tucked away from her daughters if they really thought she wasn’t involved with anyone.
“I’m ready, Michael.”
He glanced up to see her reenter his kitchen. “All right, let’s go. The front yard awaits us.”
After Taye and Michael had spent a couple of hours working in the front yard, Kennedy’s prediction came true. Taye sat on the riding mower and watched as a woman hurriedly crossed the street. Michael, she noted, saw her approach the same time she did, and a grim and annoyed expression appeared on his face. So this was the man-hungry Mrs. Boykins.
“You’re about to have company, Michael,” Taye said, trying to keep a straight face and hide the grin in her voice.
Michael picked up on it anyway. His face spread into a thin-lipped smile. “That’s my neighbor, Marcella Boykins. Sometimes I think she’s on a manhunt for husband number four.” He chuckled. “Maybe if we ignore her she’ll go away.”
Taye doubted it. The woman appeared to have a determined look on her face and walked with a purpose, boppin’ her way toward them. As she came closer, Taye noticed that she appeared to be in her late thirties or possibly her early forti
es. As much as she might try, there were some things a woman just couldn’t hide. Wrinkles were one of them. But then, Taye had to concede, the woman had very few and actually looked good for her age, in both her body and her face. And it was obvious she didn’t mind flaunting that fact. The makeup made her features appear almost flawless, and she was wearing a halter top and a pair of shorts that would make Daisy Duke look tame.
Taye got off the mower and walked over to Michael’s side where he had stopped trimming the hedges. “If the two of you plan on having a private conversation, Michael, I can always go inside the house until she leaves,” Taye whispered, easing a grin up at him.
“Don’t you dare. Keep your butt right here. Just follow my lead. I thought of a way to finally get rid of her once and for all.”
Taye looked up at him. “What way is that?”
“I’m going to pretend you’re my lover. If she thinks I’m involved with someone maybe she’ll back off and go hunting elsewhere.”
Taye nodded, deciding not to tell Michael that Kennedy had come up with the same plan. He might not appreciate the fact that Kennedy had discussed his man-hungry neighbor with her. “Don’t be surprised if it doesn’t work. Some women thrive on competition.”
Before Michael could respond, Marcella Boykins walked up to them. “Hi, Michael. I couldn’t help but see you over here working,” the woman said cheerfully to him but cutting her eyes at Taye, giving her a thorough once-over.
“Yes, I am,” Michael said, smiling. Taye could tell it was a supreme effort for him to do so. Any prior thoughts she’d had that he may be interested in the woman got blown out of the water with his forced smile.
Not waiting to be introduced, the woman offered Taye her hand and said, “I’m Marcella Boykins, Michael’s neighbor.”
Taye took the hand obligingly. “I’m Taye Bennett.”
The woman lifted a brow. “Bennett?” She looked from Taye to Michael. “You’re related?”
Michael chuckled, apparently enjoying the woman’s confusion at his and Taye’s same last name. “No, we’re not,” he lied easily.
“But the two of you have the same last names.”
“Purely coincidental,” Michael said quickly, bringing Taye closer to his side and wrapping his arms firmly around her waist. “Taye and I are friends.” He leaned over and began placing kisses on Taye’s throat before adding, “We’re very close friends.”
“Oh, I see,” the woman said in a cutting voice.
Taye lifted a brow and wondered if the woman really did see, and if she did, she hoped Marcella Boykins would go back across the street as soon as possible. Taye was having a hard time standing on both her legs. The feel of Michael’s lips on her throat had her weak in the knees and made the muscles in her thighs vibrate. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the feel of his arms around her waist was sending ripples of pleasure up her spine. “Marcella,” she eased out slowly as she tried to breathe properly. “It’s nice meeting you.”
“Will you be visiting Michael often?” Marcella Boykins asked boldly when Michael leaned over and nuzzled the side of Taye’s neck.
Taye somehow gathered her scattered wits and answered as she tried to ignore the warmth that was working its way through her body. “Mmm, yes. This will probably become my second home, so you can expect me to pop over anytime.”
“How nice,” Marcella replied with a slight chill in her voice.
Taye was tempted to tell the woman she didn’t know the half of it. With the feel of Michael’s hand around her waist, slightly stroking her on the side, she thought that if things got any nicer she would be tempted to stretch out on the grass and pull Michael down with her. She was getting just that turned on from his touch.
“Taye and I need to get back to what we were doing,” Michael said, ignoring Marcella’s frown. “We want to finish up out here so we can enjoy the rest of the afternoon. We’ve made plans for later.”
Marcella nodded. “Where’s Kennedy?”
“She’s visiting friends for the weekend,” Michael answered casually. He smiled. “Why did you ask? Do you need her for something?” He knew that wasn’t the case since the woman wasn’t overly fond of children. Not even her own.
“No, I was just wondering. Well, good-bye, and it was nice meeting you, Taye.”
Michael and Taye watched as Marcella Boykins hurried back across the street.
“Well, hopefully that took care of that,” Michael said as a broad grin split his face. He slowly removed his arms from around Taye’s waist. “Come on; let’s wrap things up so we can take that swim. I think I need it.”
Taye nodded and walked back over to the mower thinking that at the moment she needed a cool dip a lot more than he did.
Taye sipped her ice-cold Pepsi and tried to act nonchalant as Michael removed his shirt and dropped his pants. But the moment he stood before the pool’s edge wearing the sexiest pair of swimming trunks she had ever seen on a man, her breath caught and she thought it would be best to avert her gaze and concentrate on something else. So she studied the patio furniture around the pool and the pretty tile on the floor. It was only after hearing him dive into the water that she returned her attention to him.
“It feels good in here, Taye. When are you coming in?” Michael called out to her.
“In a minute,” she replied, taking another sip of her cold drink. She tried being nonchalant again, but when Michael began doing breaststrokes across the pool, showing strong, muscular shoulders, Taye felt her body heat up just from watching him expertly maneuver through the water. The shimmering coolness of the pool looked extremely inviting. Thinking she should stop being a coward and join him, she stood and removed her top and quickly took off her shorts.
“Nice bathing suit, Taye.”
She glanced up and saw Michael had stopped swimming and was studying her two-piece bathing suit. “Thanks.” After removing her sandals she walked over the pool and said, “Ready or not, here I come. Catch me if you can.” She then dived into the pool with him.
Michael caught her in his arms, laughing. “Nice catch,” he said, slowly releasing her. “Come on; let’s do a couple of breaststrokes. I want to see if you remember what I taught you.”
Taye grinned. “That’s right. You’re the one who taught me, Alexia, and Rae’jean how to swim, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, so let’s see if those lessons paid off.”
Together they swam several lazy laps before deciding to test their skill in the water by racing from one side of the pool to the other. Of course Michael won the races, since he was an expert swimmer and she barely found time to get in a pool these days.
“So, how did I do with the breaststrokes?” she asked him later, after they had moved to stand in the shallow end.
“Not bad, but you need to relax more. Your shoulders were kind of tense.”
Taye was tempted to tell him that wasn’t all about her that was tense. Before she realized what he had planned to do, Michael had turned her around and had moved behind her. He placed his hands on her shoulders, gently rubbing them. The sensation of his touch almost shot her out of the water.
“Relax, Taye,” he leaned over and whispered close to her ear as he continued to rub her shoulders. He pressed himself closer to her back as he tried stroking away the tightness in her shoulders.
Taye forced herself to relax, but it wasn’t easy. He was standing so close she could feel the front of his legs touch the back of hers. So close she could feel the hardness of his body touch hers. The feel of his hands on her shoulders was incredibly soft and gentle, she thought. As well as mind-blowingly erotic.
“Are your shoulders feeling better?” he asked softly near her ear.
“Mmmm,” she said, unable to say anything else.
He took that for a yes. “Good. Tonight, before you go to bed, you may want to rub your body down with some type of liniment. It endured a lot of physical exertion today.”
Not as much as I wished it could have, Taye thought
and then was surprised she had thought such a thing. In the last ten years she had seldom given thought to making out with a man. But Michael’s touch was making it hard for her not to think about it.
“Come on,” Michael said, lifting her into his arms and sitting her on the side of the pool. “I think we’ve played in the water enough for now. It’s time to feed you. You must be starving.”
Taye nodded. She was tempted to tell him that she was starving all right, but food wasn’t what she needed to appease the gnawing hunger embedded deep within her body.
Taye pushed back her plate. “That sandwich was good, Michael. It was so good it makes you want to reach out and slap somebody.”
Michael laughed. “Sounds like you’ve been hanging around your teenage daughter too long.”
Taye smiled, shaking her head. “Yes, I guess I have. Where these kids come up with this stuff I’ll never know.”
“Probably the same place we came up with it. We had some pretty crazy sayings ourselves.”
Taye nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we did, didn’t we?” She took a sip of her iced tea as she watched Michael over the rim of her glass. They were sitting on the patio near the pool. He had fixed sandwiches, cooked French fries, and made more iced tea. “You’re an efficient father, Michael. At least I don’t have to worry about Kennedy starving.”
He chuckled. “I make do.” The amusement suddenly left his face. “After Lynda died I had to. Kennedy was mine and Lynda had left her in my care. She was the only thing of her mother I had left. That’s probably why I’m so protective with her.”
Taye reached out and touched his arm. “That’s understandable, Michael.” She had heard so much love in his voice when he spoke of his wife. She’d also heard his pain. “Tell me about her,” she said, removing her hand from his arm and sitting back in her chair.
Michael lifted his gaze to hers. “About Lynda?”
“Yes. I never got the chance to meet her. None of us did. I know Alexia and Rae’jean went to the funeral, but I couldn’t make it at the time. Both Monica and Sebrina had come down with the chicken pox.”
A Family Reunion Page 22
