Teach Me Tonight
Page 17
“I can tell you right now that she is going to be thrilled. I have a feeling she’s going to want you on the cover, too. We need to do this before our relationship is public record though,” Tamara stated.
“I was thinking along those same lines,” Micah said.
“I’ll send Samantha an e-mail later on tonight. I won’t let you down, Micah. And you won’t ever have to worry about me discussing our relationship with anyone in the media.”
Micah laughed. “Worrying about you keeping secrets is not an issue for me. I already know that you are skilled in keeping your mouth shut.”
Tamara elbowed him in the arm. “I deserved it, but you do know that you’re wrong for that, don’t you?”
They laughed as they made their way across the stadium parking lot.
Tamara and Micah were in the car driving back to his house when she asked, “Do you mind if we make a quick stop before we go back to your place? It’s not too far from here. It’s the—”
“The cemetery where your grandmother’s buried,” Micah interjected. “Today is the eleventh anniversary of her death.”
She could not contain her surprise. “Micah, I can’t believe you actually remembered the day my grandmother died. Wow.”
“I remember it because we were supposed to hang out together homecoming weekend, but instead we were with your family,” Micah explained. “You kept trying to get me to leave but I couldn’t—you were devastated by your grandmother’s passing.”
“I didn’t want to ruin homecoming for you.”
He said, “It wouldn’t have been the same without you. In truth, I think that is why I didn’t bother coming all these years. I enjoyed spending those times with you.”
They stopped at a florist shop so that Tamara could purchase flowers to put on her grandmother’s grave.
A few minutes later, they were on their way. Micah drove through the entrance and pulled into an empty space near the road that led up to where Mrs. Davis was buried.
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“I can do this,” Tamara stated. “For a long time, I couldn’t come out here, but I need to do this today.”
She got out of the car and headed down the path to her grandmother’s gravesite, the roses in her hand.
Tamara easily located the grave.
“Grandmother, I miss you so much,” she stated. “A lot has happened since I was here the last time. I’m in love, and I’m going to have a baby. You met Micah when we were in college. He was that cute lil’ tutor—that’s what you used to call him. Well we’re together now, and I want you to know that he makes me feel safe and loved. He treats me like a queen.”
“Mrs. Davis, I just wanted to tell you how much I love your granddaughter,” Micah said from behind her. “She means more than anything else in this world. Tamara is the love of my life.”
He dropped down beside her. “I promise to keep her and my baby safe. I told you a long time ago that I would marry Tamara, and I fully intend to keep that promise. I would’ve proposed already, but your granddaughter is the one holding things up.”
Stunned, Tamara glanced over at him.
“You told my grandmother that you wanted to marry me?” she asked after a moment.
He nodded. “I think she knew that I was in love with you long before I knew it myself.”
Tamara grinned. “That was Grandmother. She suspected things weren’t right at home for me, but I would never open up to her. Maybe if I had, things would’ve turned out differently. For so long, I felt dirty and ashamed, but my grandmother—she would always make sure I understood that I had done nothing wrong. That it wasn’t my fault.”
“Mrs. Davis was a wonderful lady, and I enjoyed talking to her.”
“When did you and Grandmother have these discussions?” Tamara asked out of curiosity. “I was always around you two.”
“Not always,” Micah told her. “I would call her from time to time to see if she was okay or if she needed anything.”
Tamara stared at him in amazement. “I never knew. Grandmother didn’t tell me anything.”
“It was our secret.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “So you were keeping some secrets, too. I didn’t think it was possible, but now I love you even more.”
“Are you ready to go home?” Micah asked.
“Yes,” she responded. “That’s what being with you feels like to me. Home.”
Micah helped Tamara to her feet.
“Rest in peace, Grandmother,” she whispered before leaving. “You don’t have to worry about me anymore. I have Micah, and he’s very protective. He’s going to take good care of me and the baby.”
Later at home, Tamara and Micah discussed the events of homecoming while they settled in for the evening.
At one point, there was a break in their conversation. Tamara stared off into space, lost in thought.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
Tamara turned to face him. “I was just thinking how you changed my life the day that you came to tutor me. I don’t know if I ever told you that you were a great teacher.”
Micah reached for Tamara. “Now it’s your turn to teach me tonight.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-4116-3
TEACH ME TONIGHT
Copyright © 2009 by Harlequin Books S.A.
All rights reserved. The reproduction, transmission or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without written permission. For permission please contact Kimani Press, Editorial Office, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
® and TM are trademarks. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and/or other countries.
www.kimanipress.com