by Tina Martin
“Nonsense. A surprise visit from you is never a disturbance,” he said, then smiled. “Come on in.”
“Oh, no. I’m not going to stay long. I just thought I should come by and—”
“Candy, come in,” he said opening the door.
She reluctantly stepped inside and said, “Wow. I see you’ve redecorated the place.”
“Yeah. Thought I’d switch it up a bit.”
“It looks nice.”
“Thank you. Um…can I get you something to drink?”
“No. Like I said, I won’t stay long. I just wanted to apologize.”
“For what?” he asked, walking over to sit on the armrest of a chair in the living room.
She followed, sitting on the couch opposite of him. “Well, I thought about what you told me at the bar and figured I’d ask my brother and he finally told me the truth. All this time I thought you were a jerk, a liar and a cheater and it turns out my brother is the liar. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m sorry about everything. Sorry I didn’t trust you enough to stand up to him.”
“Well, we can’t do anything about that now, can we?”
“Nope. All I can do is offer you my apology.”
Quinton nodded. “That’s too bad, though.”
“What is?”
“This. These circumstances. Things could’ve been so different. Now, you’re married to someone else.”
“And you’re seeing someone too, aren’t you?”
“Yes, seeing someone. I’m not married. I—” he paused. “I hope he’s good to you.”
“He is.”
“Good, then let me offer you a bit of advice.”
“What’s that?”
“Don’t let your brothers ruin that for you.”
Candice smiled. “I won’t. I’ve learned my lesson.” She stood up, extended her hand to him and said, “I wish you nothing but happiness.”
“Same to you,” he said taking her hand, but the handshake wasn’t good enough. He wanted a full hug. Needed to feel her in his arms again. And he did. He wrapped his arms around her. Held her. Squeezed her, embraced her warmly by holding her snug against his chest with his chin resting on her hair.
Feelings she thought she shouldn’t feel crept back into her mind. She was married – happily married – so why was she feeling anything?
“I should go,” she said attempting to break the hug.
“I don’t want to let go of you just yet.” He took a final, farewell squeeze then loosened his grip on her. Without even thinking about it, he leaned down, aiming for her lips.
Candice darted her head away from him and asked, “What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry, I—”
“I gotta go,” she said, nearly tripping over her own feet as she plowed her way to the front door.
“Candy…”
“I said what I had to say, Quinton, but me and you, we could never be. I’m married, and I love my husband. I hope you can move on now and be happy with whoever you’re with. Goodbye Quinton.”
“Goodbye, Candy.”
Chapter 31
Kurt said his goodbyes to the fellas and on the drive home, he called Candice. He wanted to know where she was or where she’d been all night but when she didn’t answer, that only made him anxious. She’d lied to him. That wasn’t like Candice. She wasn’t a liar.
When he pulled up at the apartment, he saw her car in the parking lot. He shut off his engine and walked in the nearly empty living room toward the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body. Upon setting his eyes on her, she looked like she’d been upset about something. Her eyes were puffy which told him something opposite to the smile on her face. Something wasn’t right with her.
“Hey.”
“Hey. How’d it go with my brothers?”
“It was fine. How did it go with the women?”
She smiled and said, “Oh, I never have a problem with the women.”
“I know, but how did it go tonight?”
“Um—” She couldn’t tell him another lie. She shouldn’t have told the first one. So she said, “Um…I didn’t go out with the girls tonight. I’m sure you figured that out.”
“I did. What’s bothering me is, why you felt the need to lie. If you didn’t go out with the girls, where’d you go?”
She sniffled. “I went…um…”
“You went where?” he asked.
“I went to see Quinton.”
Kurt considered himself to be a pretty level-headed person – that is until now. “You—you went to see Quinton?”
“Yes.”
“Went to see him where?”
“I was at his house, but—”
“So, you’re telling me, you went to see your ex-boyfriend at his house tonight.”
“Yes, Kurt, and I know how this looks, but—”
“You know how this looks!” he repeated, fuming. “You know how this looks? Why’d you go see him, Candy? And how long were you there? Were you there all this time? What were you doing over there? Huh?”
“Will you calm down?” she asked. She’d never seen him so amped up. So angry. But until she answered his questions, she knew all he had was assumptions.
“I wasn’t there long and nothing happened, so just relax.”
He stepped out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, pacing the floor saying, “My wife wants me to relax after telling me she spent the evening with her ex.”
“I didn’t spend the evening with him. I just went by there.”
“Why? Why do you feel the need to go by there? And why did you lie and tell me you were going to be with the girls?”
“I went over there to apologize.”
“Apologize for what?”
“For what Bryson did. I apologized for not believing him when I should have. For not—”
“For not what, Candy?”
“For not giving our relationship a chance. For letting my brothers control things.”
“So, you want Quinton? Is that what you’re telling me?”
“No, Kurt, that’s not what I’m saying.”
“Then if you could go back and change things, who would you be with? Me or him?”
“That’s not a fair question.”
“Oh, it’s not, because if you ask me that question about any of my exes, the answer is you. I’ll choose you every time, but you can’t choose me because you still want your ex. After all these years…”
“That’s not true!”
“If it’s not true, then speak your truth!” he yelled. “Tell me what the truth is.”
“The truth is, we, Quinton and I—never got the chance to find out what we could’ve been and that’s my fault.”
He was still fuming when he asked, “And you’d like that chance, right so go take it, Candy. I’m out.”
“No,” she said running up to him. “Kurt, I don’t want him. I want you.”
“You want me?”
“Yes.”
“Then why when I got here, you looked like you’d been crying? What happened over at his house, huh?”
“Nothing happened.”
“Something happened. What was it? You two had a good ol’ time reminiscing about the past? Huh? Did you sleep with him?”
“No!”
“Then what happened?” he pressed.
“He tried to kiss me, but I pushed him away.”
Kurt shook his head and peeled her hands off of him before walking out the front door.
Chapter 32
Ashamed. Embarrassed. That’s how she felt walking up to Bryson and Kalina’s house a few days later, hoping to talk to her sister-in-law about what she’d done and seeking to rectify it. Bryson opened the door and invited her in.
“What’s wrong, Candy?”
“Nothing. Where’s Kalina?” she asked, not answering his question. This wasn’t the kind of discussion a girl was supposed to have with her brother.
“She’s upstairs.” He called for her then asked Candice fo
r a second time, “Are you sure nothing’s wrong?”
“I didn’t say anything wasn’t wrong, Bryson. It’s a girl thing. I need to talk to Kalina about it.”
“Hey, Candy. What’s up?” Kalina said coming downstairs.
“Hey, I need to talk to you for a minute.”
“Oh, okay. Sure. Come on upstairs.”
Candice went up and when she stepped into Kalina’s bedroom, she said, “I messed up big time.”
“What happened?”
“I told you I was going to see Quinton and I should’ve listened to you when you told me not to. Anyway, he tried to kiss me.”
“You kissed him!”
“Shh…keep your voice down. I don’t want Bryson to overhear this.”
“You kissed him, Candy?” she asked softer.
“No. He tried to kiss me and I got out of there. I told Kurt everything, but he was furious because I lied and told him I was going to be hanging out with you and the girls but I was at Quinton’s house.”
Kalina’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head when she said, “You went to his house!”
Candice could only drop her head.
“If you put yourself in Kurt’s position, you’d be furious, too!”
“I would, definitely. So how do I fix this?”
“First you need to ask yourself who you want?”
Candice frowned. “You know who I want.”
“Yes, I know who you want, but there was something about Quinton that made you lie to your husband and sneak around behind his back.”
“I thought I could handle being alone with him and I felt the need to apologize—”
“Apologize for what? I told you before you went you had nothing to apologize for. I think you wanted to go over there because you wanted to and honestly, if you still have feelings for him, Candy—”
“I don’t. It’s not feelings. It’s more like I’m at a loss because I’ll never know how good me and Quinton could’ve been together. Just because I have those feelings doesn’t mean I don’t love Kurt.”
“No, but it does mean you’re getting dangerously close to ruining your marriage.”
“What should I do now? I think I really hurt him, Kalina. Kurt didn’t deserve that.”
“He needs to know that you love him. That you’ll choose him over all the others. That he doesn’t have to worry about anyone stepping in between you two and causing a disruption.”
Candice nodded. “You’re right. Now, I need to figure out a way to do that.”
Chapter 33
Candice went back to her empty apartment and walked in circles, strategizing. She wanted to make sure she was as clear, concise and as upfront as she could be before she called Kurt. She needed to have her story together. Needed for him to hear the sincerity in her words when she told him there was no other man for her.
Of all the drama that had encircled them in the last few weeks, it was her own actions that ultimately drove him away. That told her something – that it didn’t matter who didn’t like who or what anybody else thought about their marriage. The determination for how well their marriage would work was based on the way they treated each other. Trusted and loved each other. Everything else was futile.
Leaning up on the sink in the kitchen, she dialed his number and as the phone rang, she heard keys at the front door. She watched the knob twist and open. She slowly lowered the phone when Kurt stepped around the door, then closed it.
Candice swallowed the lump in her throat that had almost restricted her breathing. She forced out, “I was just trying to call you.”
He didn’t respond. He walked in and leaned against the counter opposite of her.
“Kurt, I’m sorry.”
“Do you love him?” he asked.
“No.”
“Are you in love with him?”
“No,” she said shaking her head, feeling awful that he felt the need to ask her the questions.
“Do you want to be with him?”
“No.”
“Do you love me?” he asked.
Tears came to Candice’s eyes. After everything he endured with her family – her parents, her brothers, their company disputes – he had to ask her if she loved him. “Yes, I love you.”
He frowned, took a few steps closer to her and said, “Then if you love me, no man, and I mean no man touches these lips.” He brushed his thumb across them as he spoke.
“He didn’t—”
“I’m just letting you know. No man touches you, period. Do you understand me?”
“Yes. I understand. I’m sorry. It will never happen again, Kurt. Please forgive me.”
“I’ve already forgiven you,” he said, attacking her lips with a kiss that made her gasp for air. “That’s why I came back. Why I’m here. I love you.”
“I love you too, Kurt,” she replied, a tear sliding down her face. “I’m so sorry.”
He scooped her up, took her to the bedroom and stripped her naked in seconds before flattening her to the mattress with his body. He parted her legs and entered her, feeling pure satisfaction when he settled inside of her. He groaned, savored the feeling before delivering potent stroke after potent stroke, listening and enjoying her moans and screams. She was his. She’d always be his. Nothing or no one would ever take her away or disturb that.
He took her mouth while buried to her depths, grinding, stroking and making love to her the only way he knew how – with a passionate fervor that let her know, without any doubts that he loved her. This was real. No man would love her this way. No man could have her this way. And then she screamed, belted out his name while he owned her quivering body even more. While he told her she was his. While he claimed her. Loved her. Stroked her.
And he screamed – screamed for the way she clenched him and took all he had to give. Screamed for all the love he felt for this woman. For the fight in him to keep what they had together. Screamed for her to realize that this love was real. There was nothing better for her out there, nor would there ever be. He was it. By the way she was panting, he was sure she got the message.
“Did I make myself clear?” he asked, staring down at her, kissing her lips again before she had a chance to answer him.
“Yes.”
“I love you, Candice.”
“I love you, Kurt,” she said, steadily panting. “I’m so sorry,” she cried.
He disconnected his body from hers and pulled her into his arms. “Don’t cry. Everything’s okay. We’re back on track. Everything’s going to be okay. Do you believe that?”
“Yes.” She sniffled.
“Good. Now, stop crying, baby. Tomorrow, we’re going home.”
“Okay.”
“And we finally get to live our lives the way we want to with no interference,” he said, rubbing her back, but deep down he knew how much she needed her family.
Epilogue
A Month Later
Candice smiled as she stood at the door, watching Bryson, Kalina and her parents get out of the car. This was the first time her family came to visit – the first time she’d seen any of them since moving to Asheville to begin her new life with Kurt. She’d settled in comfortably in her new role as wife, taking care of the house while Kurt worked. She was a natural at it, found her new life rewarding and exciting, but she missed her family.
Now, they were here. Well, some of them…
She couldn’t wait for them to walk up to the house. She pushed open the storm door and ran out to the driveway, hugging her parents in a full I-miss-you embrace. She wrapped her arms around Kalina, then hugged Bryson.
“I’m so glad y’all made it,” she said as she held on to them.
“Yes, we made it, now let me go so I can breathe, girl,” Bryson said.
Her parents chuckled.
“Come on in, y’all. We almost have dinner ready.”
“We?” Theodore asked.
“Yes. Kurt can cook. It’s one of his many talents.”
“Alright,”
Elowyn said. “I’m looking forward to this.”
“Me, too,” Theodore said.
When they stepped inside, Elowyn looked around and said, “Isn’t this nice?”
Kurt came out of the kitchen wearing an apron and said, “Welcome family.”
“Good to see you again, man,” Bryson said slapping hands with him.
“Same here. Hi, Kalina. Mr. and Mrs. Blackstone. I’m glad you were able to make it.”
“We wouldn’t have missed it,” Elowyn said. “You have a lovely home.”
“Thank you. Your daughter made it a home,” Kurt said then smiled at Candice.
She smiled back.
“Anyway, get comfortable,” Kurt said. “Our home is your home.”
“Yes, get comfortable, guys,” Candice said. “I’ll get you something to drink.”
Candice walked to the kitchen while the family sat in the living room. She walked up to Kurt, embraced him and said, “This is going to be nice. I’m so happy.”
“I love seeing you happy,” he told her.
“Yeah, I just wish everyone could’ve made it.”
“Do you?” All that time you spent complaining about your brothers and now you want them here, huh?”
“I know. They get on my nerves but I still love them. And I haven’t seen Lil’ Gary or my sweet little Bella.”
“They’ll make it here next time.”
“Or maybe we’ll make it here this time,” Calista said, making a surprise entrance in the kitchen.
Candice turned around in disbelief.
“Calista, Barry—what are y’all doing here!” she asked, beyond excited.
“Well, your husband called and told us how much you wanted us to be here so we’re here, sis,” Barringer said. He hugged his sister tight and left a kiss on her temple.
Tears glistened in Candice’s eyes as she embraced Calista and then she took baby Bella, held her in her arms and stared. “I’m so glad y’all are here.”
“Me, too,” Calista said. “Barringer did ninety miles an hour all the way here. I think he misses you, but he’ll never say it.”
“Oh, definitely not,” Candice said smiling.
