by Aliyah Burke
“Yeah, Karter is why I came here today,” he told her.
She sat there staring at him, not sure what, or if, she should say anything. Luckily for her he went on before she had to figure it out. “We really appreciate what you did for Karter. You absolutely didn’t have to do that and I would have understood if you didn’t. I believe we have a chance for this to be an extremely teachable moment for Karter. So I was wondering if you would allow my family's construction company to repair your home free of charge, of course, back to the way it was before that terrible night.”
While the offer made sense and normally she wouldn’t hesitate, Kyleigh had looked into the Patton family in the days following the fire and discovered their business was on the verge of bankruptcy. For one, because they weren't big enough to handle the lucrative jobs, and secondly because Cantrell Construction Group had been taking the US by storm for the last three years. She was sure they wouldn’t be able to afford the more than two million dollars in repairs to her home. However, she did understand the lesson Jesse was trying to teach his nephew and thought it was commendable.
“Well, how about this, I will allow your construction company to fix my home, but only if I pay you seventy five percent of what the repair costs would average,” she offered.
Jesse hadn’t expected a negotiation on his family fixing what they had broken. He figured she would have more hesitation about his family than them doing the work for free, especially after the way his father had behaved.
“Ummm… why would you want to do that?” he inquired.
She knew he was going to ask her that. She also knew telling him the truth would be useless because he would fight her tooth and nail.
“Well, as you can see Mr. Patton…” she started.
“Jesse,” he interrupted; his crystal blue eyes all aglow.
“Jesse,” she said softly. He loved the way his name sounded on her lips. It was like a fleeting moment of foreplay. “As you can see, I am a very wealthy woman. Over the years I’ve learned in business, you don’t do anything for free. Discount, maybe, but never free. So, I expect the same from other businesses.”
“But we are the ones that caused the damage,” he quizzed confused.
“Well, the last I heard, there was a freak wiring issue in my workout room and the house just caught on fire. Now I am so grateful you would be willing to give me a discount, considering,” Kyleigh went on playing the witless business woman he was sure a lot of men had underestimated her to be.
“Uhhh… Ok,” he replied hesitantly. “Umm.. When would you like us to start?”
“Well, why don’t we meet at the house tomorrow morning so that you can see the damage? Then we can both get a sense of what this is going to take,” she replied.
“Sounds great!” Jesse replied standing up. He found himself not wanting to leave her company and he wasn’t sure why. Wait, yes he was. The woman was sexy; Victoria Secret sexy but climb between her legs and camp out between her soft thighs and large bosom sexy. She was share a bowl of ice cream with brownie brittle sprinkled on top while watching a movie marathon kind of sexy. It was enough for him to want to get out of there as soon as possible.
Jesse had vowed he wouldn’t get involved with anyone when he came back from Afghanistan. Partly because he wanted to give his nephew his undivided attention, but also because he’d had a relationship he’d thought would be forever go very wrong when he deployed. He’d planned to propose to his high school sweetheart whom he’d known since they were five years old. But three weeks before he’d been set to come back home, a friend of hers had done him the favor of sending him the announcement of her engagement to another man from the local paper.
Besides, he’d never dated a black woman before. Not because he didn’t find them attractive. He had even met a few he thought were amazing. He supposed it was just because it hadn’t happened. He’d always thought with cultures being so different, would he have anything in common with a black woman, or they with him?
But there was just something about Kyleigh that made all these 'what if’s' running through his mind, unimportant.
“Jesse?” she was saying staring at him confused.
“I’m sorry. What was that?” he mumbled.
“I was asking if 7:00 a.m. is ok? I have a meeting at 8:30 in town” she repeated.
“Oh! Yes, yes of course” Jesse stammered. “So I will see you tomorrow.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it,” Kyleigh beamed.
Chapter Four
Kyleigh arrived at her house at 7:00 a.m. on the dot. She stepped out of the car and took Jesse’s breath away. Her black braids fell about her face creating soft shadows under her cheekbones. Other than the brilliant white of her August smile and the nude of her lips, she was a perfect blend of browns from her skin to her silk three-piece suit. She was part of the beauty of this place rather than a thing apart. There is something of her spirit there in the trees and the waterways, as if they are always in communion and so happy together.
“Good Morning!” she said walking up to him with a beaming smile on her face. “I brought you cup of coffee. You look like a black coffee kind of guy.”
To his surprise she was right. Another tick on her good side. “Thanks. You are absolutely right. Are you one of those fru-fru frozen coffee drinkers?” he teased.
Kyleigh laughed at his teasing, “No, actually I’m more of a tea kind of girl myself. But on the days that I need a pick me up, I go straight for the espresso. It’s like coffee bean crack.”
They both laughed and fell into step next to each other walking up to the house. Where one would expect there to be tension and discomfort between them, it was actually comfort and comradery. As they walked the inside and outside of the home with Jesse taking tons of notes and pictures. Kyleigh was explaining the things that had been there, and the things she would take the opportunity to change.
“So what do you think?” she questioned when they were done.
Kyleigh stared him slyly hoping she was slick enough to get away with it the more time she spent with this rugged Grizzly Adams type of guy. No one feature makes Jesse so handsome, though his eyes come close. People often speak of the color of eyes, as if that were of importance, yet his would be beautiful in any shade. From them comes an intensity, an honesty, a gentleness. Perhaps this is what is meant by a gentleman, not one of weakness or trite politeness, but one of great spirit and noble ways. What he is, what is beautiful about him comes from deep within; it made her want to feel how his lips move in a kiss, how his hands would follow the curves of her body. She could tell Jesse would be one of those lucky people that aged gracefully. As each year passes, the lines would deepen upon his face and he would be more handsome still, as if his soul shines through his skin.
Taking a deep but somewhat defeated breath, Jesse answered her.
“I’m not going to lie. This is a $2 to $4 million dollar project just to get these four rooms back to the way they were.”
“Do you think you guys can get it done?” she further goaded him.
“Well yeah, but… I guess….I’m just… I want to apologize for my entire family,” he finally got out.
Kyleigh thought for a moment. She understood what he was saying. Kyleigh had lived all over the world and had experienced different cultures, customs, people. It wasn’t hard for her to understand differences. But she also knew this was Small Town America. Ninety percent of the town had never left this state and the rest had probably never left the small town they felt safe in. While she understood the reason for the ignorance, that didn’t excuse it or his family. However, she was more concerned showing Karson that adults that could be a good example to him of what you were supposed to do, not what was easy to do. She’d been wondering about his mother for weeks.
“Can I ask you a question?” she finally asked looking down at the track she was making with her climbing boots.
“Sure! I mean who can resist a woman in a $3,000 business suit with wo
rk books and a pink hard hat on?” Jesse joked. The moment she’d popped her trunk to reveal her change of shoes and hat, he knew Kyleigh was his kind of girl.
“Look at you knowing your fashion and stuff,” she joked hitting his arm. “I know your brother passed away serving his country. Does Karson have a relationship with his mother?” She felt guilty asking the question but it had been nagging her since she heard the family's terrible story.
“Unfortunately, no, he doesn’t. She plopped him out and got on the first bus out of town with a fresh score of meth to hold her over. Tony was nineteen years old when Karson came along. The hospital just called him up one day, said she’d given birth, listed him as the dad and abandoned him. They wanted to know if he wanted to sign over his parental rights so they could get him adopted or take him in. He was living with my mom and dad going to junior college, but he didn’t hesitate. He took the paternity test, found out Karson was his and became a dad. My brother never needed her help to raise his son and neither do we.”
“Oh… my…. I’m so, I’m sorry if this is painful.” Kyleigh felt like such an ass asking him about anything having to do with losing his little brother. She couldn’t imagine what that must be like. “I’ve seen some pictures of him in the trophy case over at the high school. Karson looks exactly like him.”
Jesse smiled, kicking the leaves around. The air is so cold yet the trees are on fire. Jesse loved the fall in Greensboro. He smiled up at the inferno above his head. Scarlet and gold licked at the blue sky; no rain clouds today. The chill in the post-dawn air is the first hint that winter isn't far behind. Then the trees would stand naked, bereft of their color. But for now they line the avenue of downtown Greensboro and a walk to anywhere in town is more vibrant than any carnival parade. Jesse had always been torn between keeping his eyes high to watch for the falling leaves dancing their way to the carpeted ground, or looking down to spy the crunchy ones. He loved to step on them.
“I guess I’m still a big kid at heart. One of the main reasons I decided to make Greensboro my home was the fall season. If you weren’t standing here, I would jump in that pile of leaves and start throwing them around,” Kyleigh cooed.
“Well, don’t let me stop you,” Jesse replied picking up a handful of leaves and throwing them at her.
She stood there with her mouth open for a moment before smiling. “Ohh… it's on now!” she chuckled before picking up some leaves and throwing them at him.
They played in the leaves for a while. Kyleigh played like a kid on the playground; not a woman in a very expensive designer suit.
“Ok, Ok, I give! I give! You win,” Jesse chuckled when he tripped and fell. Kyleigh started to really pile the leaves on.
“I win!” she shouted jumping up with her hands in the air making the sound of a cheering crowd.
“You know there is such thing as a poor winner,” he mumbled as he was shaking the leaves off.
“Yeah, but the only people that complain about them are loooosers!” Kyleigh joked.
Jesse couldn’t help but laugh. Kyleigh was nothing like the women in Greensboro; hell, anywhere for that matter. She was like a curvy sexy friend you wanted to have sex with.
“Hey! Do you think I will be able to live in the house while you guys are working?” she asked him as they walked back toward the front of the house.
“Uhhhh… I think you should. I mean the noise might be annoying, but I think I can set the crews schedule from nine to five, so you have some peace in the evening.”
“Well then, Mr. Patton, I think we have a deal,” she smiled up at him with her hand extended and a sudden desire to kiss those luscious lips came over him.
Instead, he shook her hand and quickly walked toward his truck.
*******
It’d been three weeks since Patton Construction had started working on repairing her house.
The town had warmed up to Kyleigh a lot since hearing what she’d done for Karter. Olivia had finally gotten moved into the new home she’d had built there in Greensboro so that she could be close to Kyleigh. She wasn’t as comfortable with the “warm welcome” they were getting from the towns people.
“While I appreciate that everyone is in love with the new kids on the block, if one more old white woman hands me a green bean casserole, I’m gonna cut somebody,” Oliva said.
“Liv, it’s nice. You know old people; they like to cook to make you feel good,” Paityn laughed taking a bite of her food.
“And I appreciate it, but I don’t like green beans, not with potatoes, not in a casserole….” Olivia started.
“Not in a train, not in a plane, not up a tree, not with a bee, I do not like green beans please let me be,” Kyleigh interrupted doing the Cat In The Hat story to tease her.
“HA!” Paityn shouted slapping her hand over her mouth laughing.
“Liv, you have to relax, and don’t be so hard on them. I’m just glad everyone has stopped staring at me every time I’m in town,” Kyleigh went on.
“OH! Really!” Olivia mocked “Ok, Ms. We Are The World. I take it then that you’ve heard about and are ok with the ladies of the quilting bee trying to get you and Mr. Jesse Patton Jr. together.”
“WHAT?” Kyleigh blurted choking on her tea. She was choking trying to catch her breath.
“What’s a quilting bee?” Paityn inquired confused and spacing.
“HEFFA! Pat her on the back! She’s over there choking to death on all of her understanding,” Oliva mocked. “Arms above your head, shuga. I hear that’s the best way to take a white man's dong.”
“OLIVIA!” Paityn yelled trying hard to control her laughter and help Kyleigh.
“Fuck you, Liv,” Kyleigh said clearing her throat. “Who, what and what the hell are you talking about?”
“You said 'what' twice,” Paityn corrected.
“That’s because I really mean WHAT?” Kyleigh demanded.
“Mrs. Bitterman, the lady that owns the bakery, which is where I spend the majority of my time coincidentally.”
“That would explain that coincidental jelly donut stain on your blouse,” Kyleigh interrupted.
“Touché, bitch, touché,” Olivia snapped back, snapping her finger. “As I was saying, Mrs. Bitterman and the women she makes quilts with for the mentally impaired all think you and Jesse should get together. They’re also almost positive that Jesse wants to ask you out but he is worried you won’t say 'yes'.”
“Ooo.. Inquiring minds want to know,” Paityn chimed in.
Kyleigh looked around the restaurant expecting everyone to be staring at them. The restaurant was full with busy tables; an old couple eating side by side, one glass of wine each, studiously bent over their meals; a group of young women in their twenties collapsing with helpless giggles as a stern woman dining alone nearby looked on and frowned; businessmen in their gray suits lighting up cigars; American tourists trying to decipher the menu; a family and their teenage children. The noise level was high as was the smoke level.
Her girls were waiting patiently for her response like she was the best candidate at a presidential debate.
“I mean we have a lot in common. He’s definitely handsome. But, I mean, I can't even believe I’m thinking like this, but I’ve never gone out with a white guy before.”
“Well, I think he’s cute. You should go for it,” Paityn replied.
“You would?” Olivia gibed. “I don’t think this is a good idea, Ky. I mean the man’s nephew tried to set your house on fire and instead of his grandparents being ashamed, they wanted to know what you did. That kind of stupid is inbred. You can’t out run that. It just hasn’t shown up in him yet.”
Olivia was skeptical of everything and everyone. It was something Kyleigh had gotten used to over the years, but there were times she felt sad for her friend that she had no hope that mankind could be any better than her lowest opinion.
She had to admit Jesse had been on her mind and in her house, literally, a lot lately.
He’d
told her the best place to get Southern-style ribs in Greensboro and she was glad he had. She had damn near eaten her own tongue, they were so good. He demanded Karter be at the work site every day, even though he wasn’t well enough to do any real work. He sent him on his bike to get food and drinks for him and the workmen. Watching him with his nephew had made her wonder why he wasn’t married with a ton of kids. He was stern but gentle, chastising the boy when he did something foolish and getting the entire crew to sing his praises when he did the littlest thing right.
It wasn't just her that had a high opinion of him. The entire town did. He never expected more of anyone than he gave of himself, and he expected the world from himself. He demanded every ounce of his workers being and then a little bit more. But what he gave in return was almost superhuman, hard to describe really. But he was more than a father figure to Karson; he was a hero. Even though she hadn’t known him, she had a feeling his men would have followed him anywhere, into any battle, no hesitation. He was a leader of the likes she didn’t think she’d seen in a man these days.
But then there was what had happened with his family. She’d seen Jesse Sr. a number of times at the site, keeping an eye on things, he’d said. Not once had he even said 'hello' to her standing on her property, let alone apologize for the way he’d behaved when they first met.
If there was anything she’d learned from both of her parents it was that family was everything. The ugly things she was sure Jesse had learned from his father were there. They just hadn’t reared their ugly little head yet.
“No. I wouldn’t go out with him,” she finally said, not knowing what her decision was until she said it. Some things you couldn’t change.
“That’s my girl,” Olivia cheered.
“Well, I think you may be missing out on something, if my opinion matters at all,” Paityn chimed in.
