Rita wanted to say, If you walk down the aisle. How do you know he won’t change his mind again? And how could you be with him after how he abandoned you? He cheated on you, for God’s sake. He cheated on his wife. And now here you are giving him the ultimate reward of your love.
But she said none of those things, because she’d said all of those things in the past. Ad nauseam. Until even she couldn’t stand to hear those words come out of her mouth again.
“He’s really been wonderful, sweetheart. If you talk to him, you’ll see.”
“Well, that’s great,” Rita said. But she knew that her tone indicated she felt otherwise. She didn’t want to fake it, and for her mother’s sake, she did hope things worked out.
She just wasn’t banking on it.
* * *
Rita’s eyes flew open. Glancing around, she felt a sense of panic. She was on a sofa she didn’t recognize, and the surroundings were completely unfamiliar.
It took only a few seconds for her to remember where she was. The floral-patterned sofa, the California blinds. The colorful walls and the bright kitchen.
She was in Sheridan Falls.
Rita eased herself up to a sitting position on the sofa. Then she reached for her cell phone on the coffee table in front of her and checked the time. It was 6:28 p.m. Wow, she’d slept for a good couple of hours.
Her stomach grumbled, making it clear that she needed to feed herself. She wandered over to the kitchen table, where Keith had placed the box of her food items. Pancake mix, bread. Peanut butter. A container of almond milk. There was also a box of cereal. If nothing else, she could have cereal and some toast with peanut butter.
But that idea didn’t really appeal to her. She wanted a hot, filling meal. A proper dinner.
It was time to venture into town.
Minutes later, Rita was in her car and driving to the center of town to see what Sheridan Falls had to offer in terms of food. She stayed on the main strip, where she saw a place called Sally’s Soul Food, an Italian restaurant and a burrito joint. When she saw the Chinese restaurant, she knew that’s what she wanted.
She found a parking spot, then went inside. The Asian woman behind the counter greeted her warmly. Rita indicated that she would need a minute, and she began to peruse one of the folded paper menus.
After a few minutes, she went up to the counter to order. “I’ll have some lo mein noodles, sweet-and-sour chicken balls and an order of chicken fried rice.” It was a lot of food, but at least she could keep something for the next night. It was always good to have something on hand to warm up when she didn’t want to cook.
The woman calculated the order and gave Rita the total, which was quite reasonable. Rita reached into her pocket for her cell phone. She opened up her mobile wallet, which allowed her to pay via her phone.
“No, I’m sorry,” the lady began. “We need the card. Or cash.”
“I have my card on my phone,” Rita explained.
“No, that won’t work here.”
“You’re kidding?” Rita said. It had worked at the café earlier.
“I’m sorry. We have an old system. Do you have the card?”
“No. And I don’t have cash.” Rita hadn’t even thought to bring her actual wallet. She was used to using her phone to pay for her items in St. Louis and even carried her driver’s license in there. She didn’t even consider that mobile pay might not be an option here.
“Maybe you can go get some cash and come back?”
Rita made a face. She’d have to head back to the apartment to get her bank card, then venture back out to an ATM. And she was already starving. “You know what, just cancel the order for now. I’ll...come back.”
She left, frustrated, and went back to her car. She didn’t feel like heading back out once she got to the apartment.
Well, peanut butter and bread it would be.
* * *
Putting two slices of bread in the toaster, Rita retrieved her laptop and brought it to the sofa. She opened it up and continued reading the submission for her magazine that she had started before she’d left St. Louis. A harrowing story of a husband’s betrayal.
When I realized that he had drained our bank accounts, I thought my life was over. My husband was gone, my house was foreclosed on and I was about to be thrown into the street.
There was a knock at the door. Rita looked in that direction, startled. Was someone knocking at her unit?
Her eyes ventured back to the laptop screen, and then the knock sounded again. Rita moved her laptop onto the sofa beside her and got up. She padded over to the door and called, “Who is it?”
“It’s Keith.”
Rita reeled backward. Keith! Why was he here?
She ran her hand over her hair, making sure it was presentable, then opened the door. She looked up at Keith with a quizzical expression. “What’s up?”
He raised a white plastic bag, in which she could see a brown paper bag. The smell of food instantly wafted into her nose. It smelled like Chinese food, and her stomach rumbled in anticipation.
“The food you ordered,” he said. “Keith’s Delivery, at your service.”
Chapter 4
Keith grinned down at Rita, whose beautiful bright eyes were wide with confusion. “But I didn’t order food.”
“No, but you were going to.” She blinked, completely perplexed. “I happened to see you when you were in town,” Keith explained. ”You were leaving the Chinese food place just as I was parking. Anyway, when I went in because I was getting some food, Wei—the owner—happened to mention that the previous customer wanted to pay with her phone but couldn’t. I was in the right place at the right time, so I paid for the order for you.”
Rita looked at Keith as though he had grown two heads.
“You did what?”
“I bought the order you had to cancel. And I decided—”
“Why would you do that?” Her tone was accusatory.
“Because you were in a bind. You didn’t have cash. I know you had a long drive here—”
“How was I to know that places in this town would not accept mobile wallet payments?”
“However it played out, I happened to be there. So I bought the food for you. I knew where you were staying, so it was no problem for me to deliver it. Then I decided to head across the street and pick up some soul food for variety.” He held up another bag. “That way you can sample a couple of the options here in Sheridan Falls.” He shrugged. “I thought maybe we could eat together?”
“You make a habit of getting people out of financial binds?”
The question sounded like an allegation of a criminal offense. Had no one ever done anything nice for her before?
“Like I said, I happened to know who you were and where you were staying. And this is the kind of town where we believe in doing favors.”
Rita crossed her arms over her chest, but she didn’t look happy. Wow, she had a lot of pent-up anger. Was she always like this, or was she offended by his presence?
He hoped it was the stress over her mother’s wedding that she clearly wasn’t in favor of. In which case, she should want a friend, shouldn’t she?
Keith offered her his most charming smile. “Well, are you going to make me eat my food out here? Or are you going to invite me in?”
* * *
Rita looked up into Keith’s eyes, which held a hint of humor as he smiled down at her. She glanced at the bags he was carrying, and her stomach rumbled.
Why was she standing here frowning at him when he’d done her a favor? He’d done a nice thing, hadn’t he? Why was she so on edge about it?
Because she knew men like Keith. Men who thought a charming smile would get them everything they wanted.
“Listen, if this is some misguided attempt to...”
“To what?” Keith asked. “Mak
e sure my tenant has a decent meal?”
“I’ll pay you back. When I get cash. Or I can do an email transfer.”
“Just pay it forward. If someone else needs a favor, help them out.”
The food smelled good. Lord, did it ever. And she was beyond hungry at this point. Was there a logical reason for her to be refusing this kind gesture? “Are you sure?”
“You know how you can pay me back?” Keith asked. Rita’s stomach fluttered. She waited for the inevitable come-on. “You can sit down and have a meal with me. I work a lot, so I typically grab food on the go. Most times when I make a meal, I have only my goldfish for company. So...consider yourself as the one doing me the favor.”
The last of her resistance ebbed away. Why was she even giving Keith a hard time? Because he’d bailed her out of a situation? The truth was, she was thrilled that she could actually have that dinner she’d planned.
She stepped backward, smiling awkwardly. “Come in.” Keith stepped into the apartment. In addition to the smell of the food, the scent of his cologne flirted with her nostrils.
Apparently it didn’t matter what this man was wearing. Because right now, dressed in black jeans and a baby blue shirt that had the two top buttons undone, he looked as good as he had in his business suit.
“By the way,” Rita began, “just thinking about it, will my app for food delivery work here?”
Keith chuckled warmly. “We’re not that sophisticated. Not enough people in this town to make that kind of thing worthwhile. Besides, folks like to head out, pick things up personally. I don’t think they’d trust an app.”
Somehow, Rita couldn’t quite see Keith being at home as a small town guy. He had a sense of sophistication about him that made her think he would thrive on the excitement and challenges in a big city.
She walked into the small dining area and pulled out a chair for him. “I’m sorry. I don’t have anything to drink. Except water.”
“I’ve got it covered,” he told her. He placed a six-pack of vodka coolers on the table. Rita hadn’t even noticed that he’d been carrying them. “I’ve got this. If you prefer, I also have some beer in the car.”
“The vodka cooler is perfect.” She frowned. “Are there plates? Cutlery?”
“That’s all there,” Keith said, pointing in the direction of the kitchen cupboards, as he took out the bags of food and placed them on the table.
Rita went into the kitchen and opened a cupboard. She found the plates and took two down. Then she opened a drawer in search of cutlery, but it only contained a variety of oversized knives and spoons. By the time she was reaching for the next drawer, Keith’s fingers were brushing against hers.
“Sorry,” he said, as her eyes flew to his. “This is where the cutlery is.”
Keith took a step backward, and Rita proceeded to take out two forks and two knives.
“The coolers are already cold, but do you want yours in a glass with ice?” Keith asked. He was already opening the freezer.
“Sure, why not?”
Minutes later, the table was arranged with plates, glasses, cutlery and open cartons of food. Keith twisted off a cap from a cooler and poured it into an ice-filled glass for Rita. Then he poured himself one.
“I’m not even sure I said thank you. I do appreciate you bringing me food. It looks and smells delicious.”
Of the containers with the soul food, there was fried chicken and collard greens and seasoned potato wedges. And of course, there were the sweet-and-sour chicken balls, fried rice and stir-fried noodles Rita had originally tried to order. There was enough food for a number of people.
“Let’s dig in,” Rita said. “Can you pass me the noodles?”
“Here you go.” Keith passed her the container, and Rita used her fork to scoop some onto her plate. Then she took some of the sweet-and-sour chicken balls and a piece of the fried chicken.
“If this is how you treat people who bump into your car, what would you do if someone really smashed it?” Rita asked, smiling lightheartedly.
“One thing you’ll learn about the folks in Sheridan Falls, we try our best to focus on the good things. Unless something is majorly wrong, we don’t dwell on it. Life is short. Why sweat the small stuff?”
Rita narrowed her eyes as she regarded him. “You don’t really strike me as a small town boy with a small town mentality.”
“No?”
“Not really, no. I don’t mean that in a negative way.”
“I haven’t always been,” Keith admitted. “I grew up here, but by age nineteen I was itching to get out. Everybody knows you. You can’t do anything without people saying something. You hit a point where you want to spread your wings beyond this small town. I wanted to experience something bigger and better.”
Rita lifted the chicken thigh. “Did you?” she asked, then took a bite. Her eyes rolled heavenward. “The crispiness. The spices. Oh, my goodness, this is to die for.”
“Southern fried chicken is Sally’s specialty. Sally’s Soul Food is the name of her restaurant.”
“I’ll have to check it out.”
“Like me, Sally grew up here, and had roots in the South.” Keith picked up a thigh. “She lived in Louisiana for a while and perfected the cooking. Her restaurant is now one of the most popular ones in town.”
“I can see why.” Rita took another bite, her stomach doing gymnastics of joy. She hadn’t realized she was this hungry. “Anyway, you were saying that you wanted to escape the small town life?”
Keith chewed his morsel of chicken, nodding. “The walls started to close in on me. I think it’s tough enough being anonymous in a small town, but that’s all but impossible if you have a bit of celebrity.”
“Oh?”
“I grew up the son of a fairly famous football player. At least in Sheridan Falls.”
“Really?”
“Cyrus Burke, NFL star. He played for a number of years.”
“That had to be exciting.”
“It had its perks, for sure. But for us, it has always been about family, not fame.”
Rita swallowed her mouthful of smoky collard greens before asking, “Big family then?”
“Three brothers. I used to be the baby of us four until my sister, Chantelle, came along when I was nine.”
“An oops baby,” Rita said, grinning, “or was she planned?”
Keith’s expression grew serious, and Rita wondered if she’d said the wrong thing. “Was that insensitive? I didn’t mean—”
“She passed away.”
“Oh, no.” Rita saw a flash of pain cross his face. “I’m so sorry.”
“She drowned when she was five,” Keith explained. “In the family pool.”
Rita placed a hand on her heart. She couldn’t even imagine the pain. “Oh, Keith. That must have been horrible for you.”
“It was.” He exhaled harshly, then scooped out some of the collard greens and a bit of the fried rice. But instead of eating, he set his fork down and met her gaze as he continued talking. “It was very hard for all of us. The worst thing that’s ever happened to our family. Honestly, it’s a reminder that no matter how much money you have, it can’t buy the things that matter most.”
Rita couldn’t imagine losing someone to a tragedy like that. The thought of anything happening to her mother gave her anxiety.
“What about you?” he asked. “Big family?”
Rita shook her head. “I’m an only child. It was always just me and my mom. I have some cousins, but they live in Chicago, and I didn’t see much of them.”
“And your mother’s living here now?” Keith asked.
“Well...for the time being.” Rita pushed the rice around with her fork. “Who knows what the future holds. But tell me more about you and what it’s like to grow up in a small town.”
Keith took a swig of h
is cooler. “It’s hard to find your own uniqueness, let’s say, when you have three brothers and a famous father. Everyone pretty much looks at you as one entity. So I needed to forge my own way. Like my dad, I was good at sports. I ended up playing semipro football. I didn’t really make it anywhere, but it was fun. Got me out of Sheridan Falls, allowed me to travel over much of the states. I’ve been to the best cities, like Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles. And you know what? After a while, you kind of end up missing home.”
Rita lowered the morsel of chicken, which she’d pretty much devoured. “Really? You seem like the kind a guy who would love the fast-paced life.”
“I did,” he said. “Until I was no longer playing football and I realized that some of the people I thought were my friends passed me over for others. It hurt, but I’d much rather know that someone is my real friend than hanging on for whatever breadcrumbs they think they might be able to gather.”
“That had to be tough, though.”
“It was. And after a friend of mine who’d played semipro ball with me, Richard Dawson, was killed in a car crash, big city life didn’t have that much appeal for me anymore. I missed the comfort of home, the familiar faces, the people I knew loved me. Not the gawkers in the media.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss.”
Keith chewed and swallowed some rice. “Thank you.”
There was more to him than she had thought. Weird, she’d seen his handsome face and flashy car and thought only of his sex appeal and charm. She hadn’t thought about him as a person who’d had his share of trials and tribulations in life.
That’s because she hadn’t been trying to think about him, period.
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?” Keith said. “That’s what they say.”
“I guess it depends on what it is.”
“People can go through the worst things. Absolutely devastating stuff. But isn’t it your perspective on what’s happened that determines how it affects you?”
What are you getting from holding on to anger toward your father? Until you learn to forgive, you’re just hurting yourself.
The CEO's Dilemma ; Undeniable Passion Page 20
