“No, it won’t; at least not for me. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You sure as hell didn’t. If anyone is embarrassed it should be him. He’s the one who cheated.”
Monica suddenly got a feeling of déjà vu. Didn’t she and Nia have this same conversation the day she found out about Patrick’s cheating? At the time, she just knew he would come begging on his hands and knees. Instead, he had left with his perfect wife. She wondered if Eli now planned to flaunt his girlfriend in her face the way Patrick had. Monica wasn’t sure she could take it.
“I’ll be there in a few days to give you big hug,” Nia said.
“Thanks. I need it.”
“I’ll talk to you later, honey,” Nia said. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Monica hung up. She listened for more knocks and concluded that Eli had left after fifteen minutes went by without a sound from the other side of the door. She checked her cell phone for any missed messages. There were none.
Well, it didn’t take him very long to give up, did it? He was probably on his way to Miss Legs-As-Tall-As-A-Tree right now.
That was just as well. It was time for her to focus on more important things anyway. Whatever she’d had with Eli—Monica refused to call it a relationship—was starting to get in the way of what she valued most, her job. The little diversion had kept her occupied, but from the moment she handed over her first task for the banquet, Monica should have known something was wrong. She never squelched on her responsibilities, especially those so important to her career. It was probably better things ended when they did.
So why was her heart breaking?
There was another knock at the door. She jumped. “Monica, please just open up so we can talk.”
He was still out there? Are you kidding me? Maybe she should...
Shaking her head, Monica picked up her bowl and brought it to the kitchen. She scraped most of the healthy concoction into the garbage, rinsed the bowl out and stacked it next to the sink with the other dirty dishes. She would do some housecleaning this weekend. For now, it was time to sleep.
Giving the door a passing glance, Monica turned off the kitchen and living room lights and headed for her bedroom.
When she arrived at the hospital the next morning, Monica went straight to Dr. Slessinger’s office, but was informed by his administrative assistant that the chief of staff was in surgery. He would not be out for another three hours, so she made her way to the conference room where the final pre-banquet meeting was being held.
Monica pushed the door open. Eli was the first person she spotted. He sat at the table, engrossed in conversation with Dr. Moore. Monica was momentarily caught off guard by how good he looked. Wearing an unadorned polo shirt and khakis, the man was simply scrumptious. But she could and would ignore him, no matter how delicious he appeared.
She walked over to an empty seat at the table.
“Thank you all for meeting me this morning,” she began. “I promise to keep this short and sweet.” She retrieved a small stack of papers from the canvas bag she had brought in with her. “Dr. Walker could not make the meeting, but sends great news. The banquet is a sellout.” She smiled as applause erupted around the table.
“So, now that we know we’re going to be playing to a full house, let’s talk about where we stand on the rest of the details.”
Monica went down her checklist, receiving confirmation on the status of everything from tent rentals to the food.
“I apologize for not making the meetings with the plantation’s curator and the decorator,” she said after Kenya James relayed the details of both meetings.
Monica refused to look down the table where Eli sat. Her surprise trip to Hattiesburg was the reason she had missed one of the meetings. Just thinking about all they’d done in his hotel room made her temperature rise to astronomical heights. She had to stop thinking about him. She would go crazy if she didn’t.
“That’s about it,” Monica said, blessedly grateful to bring the meeting to a close. The sooner she removed herself from Eli’s presence, the better. “If there is anything that pops up, feel free to call my home or cell number if you’re not able to get a hold of me in the ER.”
“What about the entertainment, Dr. Gardner?” someone asked.
Monica inwardly cringed. She was hoping to get through this meeting without having to address Eli. Taking a steadying breath, Monica trained her gaze on him. He didn’t look at her; instead his eyes focused on his hands, which rested on the table in front of him.
“Dr. Holmes?” Monica said, “You took over the entertainment facet. Is Aria Jordan still scheduled to perform?”
Finally he looked up and nodded. “I’ll confirm with her manager when I see him tonight, but as far as I know, she’s still on tap for Saturday.”
“Thank you for all your hard work,” Monica managed to get out. She needed to leave right now. She was dangerously close to losing it.
“Any more questions,” Monica asked. She made the mistake of looking at Eli. His expression stated more clearly than words that he was full of questions for her, questions that had nothing to do with the banquet.
“If that’s it then I’ll see all of you on Saturday.”
The doctors, nurses, and administrators filed out of the conference room. As she had expected, Eli lingered. Monica tried to leave, but he stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“Dr. Gardner, could you give me a minute please?”
Monica’s eyelids slid shut. Her insides trembled as she waited for the last of the people to make their way out of the room. Shoring herself up, she turned and faced him.
“Yes?” she asked.
He hunched his shoulders and raised his hands, total confusion clouding his handsome face. “What happened?”
As if he didn’t know. “I told you, it wasn’t working for me.”
“That’s bull, Monica. There was nothing wrong with our relationship. Now why in the hell did you leave like that?”
“Your girlfriend showed up,” she bit out.
“My what?” he asked, his eyes widening.
Annoyance cut through her. “I am so not in the mood for playing the dumb routine. I’ve been through this before, and I have no intentions of going through it again.”
“I don’t have a girlfriend, beside you, that is.”
“You had it right the first time, you don’t have a girlfriend.”
“Dammit, Monica, would you stop talking in riddles!”
“Do not take a tone with me. I don’t owe you anything. I told you I wanted out and that’s the end of it.”
“The hell it is.” He grabbed her by the back of her head and crushed his lips to her. Monica’s entire being melted at the sensation of that decadent mouth her body had been screaming for these past few days. It amazed her how addicted she had become to his kisses. Living without them had been torture.
She opened her mouth and he plunged his tongue inside. He kissed her until her knees were weak. When Eli finally dislodged his mouth from hers, it took all Monica had just to remain standing.
“Now what part of that doesn’t work for you?” he asked.
She could not put herself through this again. Despite how much her body cried out for him, her heart could not bare the pain.
“I can’t do this.” Monica barely choked out the words. “It’s over, Eli.”
The intensity of his stare nearly burned a hole through her. His eyes went cold. With a rigid shrug, he said, “Fine. You want to throw everything we had—everything we could have had—away, that’s up to you.” He moved in closer, his voice a chilling timbre. “Months from now, when you’re thinking about what you gave up, just remember who made this choice.” He straightened his shoulders. “I won’t bother you again.”
As he brushed passed her, Monica’s eyelids dropped along with her head as despair overwhelmed her. She was unable to stop the tears from cascading down her cheeks. Her body shuddered, but she refused
to give way to the sobs she so desperately wanted to let out. She would save them for later, when she was at home. Alone.
Wiping her tears with the sleeve of her white coat, Monica turned, checked her reflection in the door’s slim window, and headed out to face the rest of her day.
She had survived a heart-wrenching breakup before. She would do it again.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Eli mentally prepared for the confrontation that would commence as soon as he stepped into his mother’s house.
He deserved to be shot.
It wasn’t until he’d listened to his voicemail that he realized he’d missed his mother’s birthday dinner. He had seriously considered packing a couple of bags and running away. He could still do it. He could send Mama the deed to his house as a belated birthday present.
Eli parked in front of his mother’s house and got out. At least Mama’s ranting would divert his mind from Monica for a little while. Eli winced as a familiar ache pierced his chest. It had been a constant companion these last few days, brought on simply by thinking about her.
Jazzy came up the driveway, pedaling her new bike. She jumped off, ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his thigh.
“Hey, Uncle Eli.”
“Hey there, Jasmine.” He patted her on the head and extricated her from his leg. “I need to go inside and talk to Grandma.” He continued to the house, using the front door instead of going around the back. He found his mother snapping the tips off of freshly picked green beans.
“Hey, Mama.” He kissed her cheek. “I’m so sorry I missed your birthday.”
His mother used the towel that was draped over her shoulder to wipe her hands. She pushed the bowl of beans toward the center of the table and started peeling the skin from one of the three potatoes that were sitting on top of a brown paper bag.
“I know my sons are grown men,” she stated. “And I know you all have lives of your own. But I don’t think it’s too much to ask to have you call every now and then.”
“I know.”
She put down the knife and potato, concern etched across her face. “It’s not that you missed my birthday, or Sunday dinner, for that matter. But I called and called, Elijah. I worry about all of you. Alexander is not much younger than your father was when he dropped dead of a heart attack. And Chantal? Do you think she expected to run her car into a tree when she left the house that day?”
“I know, Mama.” God, he felt horrible for putting her through all those memories.
“A two-minute call to let me know you’re okay. That’s all I ask for.”
Eli pulled her into a hug. “Mama, I am so sorry. The last thing I meant to do was make you worry.”
She gave him a squeeze and patted him on the back. “It’s over, now, honey.”
Her words caused another bout of hurt to run through him. It’s over. That’s what Monica had said to him.
“Now,” his mother said, patting the chair next to hers. Eli took a seat. “Why don’t you tell me what’s been bothering you?”
He should have expected this. His mother had a sixth sense when it came to her boys. Eli tried to play it off.
“Nothing’s bothering me.”
“Don’t you lie to me, Elijah Marcus. There’s been enough of that, don’t you think?”
Uh oh. She’d used the full name. He’d best just come out with it.
“Monica and I broke it off,” Eli admitted.
Saying the words out loud was more painful than he could have ever imagined. It made it all so real, not like the nightmare he had been hoping to soon wake up from.
“Oh, Elijah. What happened?” Her disappointment was genuine, as he knew it would be. In the short time since he’d first introduced her to his family, Monica had wormed her way into the tightly woven bunch. His mother, brothers, even little Jazz seemed to be charmed by her.
“To tell you the truth, I don’t know, Mama. I’m not sure if Tosha had anything to do with it.”
“Please don’t tell me she’s still upset over Tosha showing up for Sunday dinner that time?”
“No, Ma, I don’t think it’s that.” Eli picked up a green bean and idly started breaking it into pieces. “Things had been wonderful even after that Sunday. But all of a sudden she said it wasn’t working for her. Then the other day she told me my girlfriend showed up.”
“Which one?”
Eli’s head popped up. “What do you mean ‘which one?’ It’s not as if I have a trail of women lined up. I have no idea who she’s talking about.”
“Well, talk to her.”
“I’ve tried. She won’t listen. She says it’s over.” Eli shrugged. “What more can I do but accept her decision. I can’t force her to continue dating me.”
“Dammit, Elijah, I liked her.”
His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at his mother’s language.
“Had you already started picking out the wedding China?” he asked, forcing a grin.
“Almost,” she grunted.
“We hadn’t been seeing each other that long, Mama.”
“But the two of you were so perfect together.”
That they were.
Eli struggled to stave off the agonizing pain that came with the thought of just how good things were with Monica. Although his mind hadn’t gone down the marriage path yet, he had seen the road in the distance. If things had continued the way they were, who knows where the two of them would have been a year from now.
It was over. Monica could not have been clearer if she had painted a sign and knocked him over the head with it. All he needed to do was get through the damn banquet and then stay as far away from her as he possibly could.
If God was merciful, Monica and her ex would get back together and she would move back to St. Louis.
A sharp ache shot through his chest. He didn’t want her back with her ex. He didn’t want her with anyone other than himself. Eli wasn’t sure he would be able to handle the first time he saw her with another man. Surely life wouldn’t be that cruel.
“I guess this means all three of my sons will be going stag to Kathleen’s wedding.”
“Maybe not. Toby may take Aria Jordan.”
“Hmmm...I don’t know about her. She has a nice voice and all, but she’s seems a little flighty, don’t you think?”
“This from a woman who thought Tosha Culpepper was a good catch.”
“Well,” his mother sighed. “Looks like I’ll have to wait until Jazzy gets a little older. Maybe then I’ll get a great-grandchild. It doesn’t look as if I’ll be getting another grandbaby courtesy of any of my sons.”
“If Alex has anything to say about it, you won’t have any great-grandchildren either.”
She leaned over and took Eli’s chin in her hand. “What am I going to do with my boys?”
“Feed us.”
They both turned as Toby walked through the kitchen door, followed by Alex.
“What happened to you Saturday night?” Alex asked. He deposited two plastic grocery bags on the table.
“Eli was needed at the hospital, so he had to miss my birthday dinner,” Mama quickly interjected.
Could he love this woman more?
“What’s up with you two?” Eli asked.
“Nothing much,” Toby answered.
“That’s not true,” Alex countered. “I got that contract with the city.”
Eli rose from the table to give his brother a well-deserved pat on the back. “Congratulations, man.”
“Oh, Alexander, that’s wonderful,” his mother said, jumping from her seat and wrapping her arms around Alex. “This is the really big one, isn’t it?”
“Yep. We’re in for three of the new magnet schools, and rebuilding nearly twenty of the schools damaged during Katrina.”
Eli clamped his hand on his brother’s back. Alex needed this. In fact, the news couldn’t have come at a better time. What would have been his and Chantal’s sixth wedding anniversary was next week.
; “To celebrate, I’m treating everybody to dinner tonight.”
Oh, no. He wasn’t up for this. Tonight, Eli wanted to do nothing more than stretch out on his sofa with a movie on the flat screen and a bottle of Heineken in his hand.
“Thanks for the invite, man, but I really need to head home. I’m beat.”
“Yeah, right.” Toby said in a staged whisper that was loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear.
“Are you sure?” his mother asked.
“Yes, Mama.” Eli sent her a silent look, pleading with his eyes that what they talked about remain between the two of them. She returned a nearly imperceptible nod.
“We’re still on for golf tomorrow, right?” Alex asked.
“Of course,” Eli answered. Whenever the three of them were together, the Holmes brothers had to spend at least one afternoon on the golf course. “I owe this boy over here a butt whipping.”
“Whatever,” Toby said.
“Bye, Mama.” Placing a perfunctory kiss on her cheek, Eli grabbed the Tupperware container of leftover red beans his mother had given him for his dinner and headed out of the house.
As he drove home in silence, Eli reconsidered going out with the family. He really didn’t want to be alone tonight. If he were at home, he would think about her.
Of course, if he were not home he would still think about her. There had not been a single minute these last few days when his mind had not drifted to Monica. Eli had the sinking feeling he would be thinking about her every day for the rest of his life.
Amanda stared at the baby in her arms. Her precious, completely healthy baby.
“Mrs. Daniels, I’ll need to borrow her for a little while.” Looking down at her, the nurse said, “I understand why you don’t want to let her go. She’s an angel.”
“My little angel,” Amanda said softly, finally relinquishing hold of Madelyn. They’d decided to name her after her grandmother. “Bring her back soon. I missed the first few days of her life. I don’t want to waste a moment more.”
“I’ll have her back for her two o’clock feeding.”
“Thank you,” Amanda said. “See you, baby girl.” She waved as the nurse exited the room. A few minutes later, the door opened and Jeffrey walked in.
Deliver Me Page 27
