“She’s glad to see you, too,” Omar said.
They both buckled up and Omar put the car in gear, heading for the airport exit.
“Wish you could stay at my place, Ace, but my landlord has restrictions.”
“That’s okay. I have a reservation at the hotel in the city, but we’ll get together.”
“You picked a great time to visit. The next two weeks are school holidays. Couldn’t have planned it better.”
Omar focused on the busy traffic as he drove away from the airport, but he was anxious. My friend has a reason for this unplanned visit, he thought. Eventually I’ll learn what it is. He is not the cheerful, ebullient friend that I remember from years past. Wise in his own way, Omar decided not to question but to wait. But from the outset he knew there was a problem. He hoped he’d be able to help Ace sort it out.
Soon they reached the city of Dualla, and Omar pulled up in front of a small two-story hotel much like the motels found in rural sections of the United States.
Ace was pleased to have been able to get a room, ordinary or not, in this busy city.
“So, what have you planned, Ace? When I got your e-mail I was surprised, couldn’t believe you were coming back.”
“After I sleep off this jetlag, I hope to check some of the bazaars and marketplaces to see what I can pick up for my store.”
“Anything I can help you with, you’ll let me know?”
“Will do.”
* * *
Emerald had not seen Holly Francis for some time and she was pleased when the young student came into the bookstore.
“Hello, how are you, and how’s school?”
“Oh, hello. School is good, getting ready for exams at the end of the semester.”
“In the books, eh?” Emerald smiled. “How can I help?”
Holly’s eyes widened. “Believe it or not, although I’m taking a nursing course, my curriculum also includes a few liberal arts courses like English and music appreciation.” She laughed and shook her head at the idea. “Guess they want us to be well-rounded or something. I’ve got to do a paper, get this, on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.”
“Oh, I can help you with that. Though it was written in Old English, I have a modern version right over here.”
She beckoned Holly to follow her and went to the back of the store to the reference section.
“I know right where it is,” she said. Kneeling down to one of the bottom shelves she found what she was seeking. “Here you are. Anything else I can help you with?”
“I’ll always need all the help I can get, but this is won derful. Thanks so much,” Holly said.
During the sales transaction, Emerald kept hoping that Elyse would get back to the store from her doctor’s appointment. She couldn’t think of a reasonable way to detain Holly. She wanted so much for Elyse to meet the girl, to see if she resembled anyone they both knew.
When Elyse finally returned from her appointment with Doctor Kellogg, Emerald told her, “You just missed her! She left about five minutes ago.”
“Missed who?” Elyse asked.
“You know, the student that reminds me of someone.”
“Oh, her.”
“Yes, her. How was your doctor’s visit?”
“Fine. He said I’m okay and the baby is, too.”
“I know you feel good about that.”
“I do, Em. And guess what, on my next visit he’s scheduled a sonogram. I’m so excited because he said then I will know whether I’m having a son or a daughter! I can hardly wait!”
“Boy, that’s amazing! Leese, I’ve never asked you whether you want a boy or a girl.”
Elyse shook her head. “As long as it’s healthy, that’s all I care about,” she said. Suddenly, a scowl on her face, she asked, “Do you think it makes any difference that Barry’s sperm had been frozen? I’ve wondered about that.”
“Oh, I think the doctor would have told you. From what I read in the material he gave you, the first in vitro fertilization was in England in 1978. And since Louise Brown’s birth, there have been more than 300,000 live births in the United States. I wouldn’t worry, hon. You are one among many.”
“Guess you’re right. I do know one thing, there’s no turning back for me.”
“Right on, Leese! Hey, I was just thinking, we haven’t heard from Ace since you guys went to the museum. What has it been, about two, three weeks?”
“‘Bout that. He’s probably busy working on some new ideas.”
“Maybe,” Emerald conceded, but she was thinking to herself, You, my dear friend, knocked him off his legs with your news. She decided to find out for herself. She’d make a phone call and put her mind at ease. However, it might be prudent to do so when Elyse was not around.
The opportunity came a week or so later when Elyse had to do some banking. Emerald made the call and was surprised when she did not recognize the voice of the man who answered. She questioned, “Is this the African Art Store?”
“It surely is, ma’am. How may I help you?”
“I’m looking for Austin Brimmer . . . Ace. Is he around?”
“No, ma’am, ‘fraid not. He’s out of town at the moment. May I give him a message for you?”
“Perhaps you could tell him that Emerald Stokes, from The Kwanzaa Book and Gift Shop, called. Do you expect him back soon?” Emerald wanted to know.
She almost dropped the phone when the man said his name was Stanley Benjamin and that he was managing the store for Ace, who was in Africa.
After she caught her breath, she asked again if Stanley knew when Ace planned to return.
“I’m not sure, Ms. Stokes, but I expect maybe in a couple of weeks.”
“Thank you very much,” Emerald said, her mind racing with the news she had just received. It told her a great deal about Ace’s response to Elyse’s news.
“I’ll try to reach him later on this month. Our store has some of his work on display and I wanted to speak with him about some new pieces.”
“I see. When he returns, I’m sure he’ll get in touch.”
“That would be fine,” Emerald said. She said her goodbye and hung up the phone.
She sat for a few minutes, her mind focused on the news she had just received. What will this mean to Elyse?
* * *
“I have no problem dropping you off at The Kwanzaa Book Shop,” Branch said to Holly. “My barber shop is a few doors down. I can stop in for a trim while you’re in there. Take all the time you need. The folks that run that store have been mighty nice to you.”
“They have, Branch, especially Ms. Stokes. She always seems to be able to find what I need whenever I go there. She helped me so much on that Chaucer project. I’m going to show her . . .”
“Goin’ brag about that ‘A’, right?”
“You better believe it!” Holly exulted.
Branch was extremely pleased with the change in Holly. She was no longer the frustrated, depressed Holly that he had loved for so long. Now her increasing self-esteem, her confidence, made him happy and increasingly hopeful that they would have a future life together.
* * *
“I’ve got news,” Emerald announced when Elyse returned from her banking errand. She went on without Elyse asking what her “news” was about.
“Ace is in Africa.”
Elyse responded with a wide-eyed, shocked stare. “What? How did you find that out?”
“I called his store,” Emerald said calmly, knowing from the look on Elyse’s face that she was stunned by the information. She continued, “A man, said his name was Stanley Benjamin, told me. Said he’s been away for two weeks, but that he expects him to be back in another two weeks.”
“I can’t believe it. He really went to Africa.”
“Honey, you know you knocked him right off his feet with your news.”
Elyse sat down at her desk, shook her head in disbelief. Emerald sensed her consternation.
“Want something to drink?”
&
nbsp; “Thanks. If I weren’t pregnant, I’d say bring me something strong, but being as I am, a Coke will do. I still can’t believe it.” She rubbed her eyes with both hands and sighed deeply. Emerald left to get their drinks.
Elyse sat quietly, thinking about the Ace Brimmer she knew. She had found him to be a good friend. He had been so supportive in helping her, not only with Barry’s death, but with the store. His artwork attracted clientele to her store. But she was sure she had not encouraged him to view her in a romantic way. He knew how devoted she was to Barry and his memory. She felt no guilt in any way toward Ace. On his return from Africa, how should she react? Will he try to pursue a relationship with her, a pregnant woman?
Emerald came back with a tray on which were two glasses of Coke and a plate of cookies.
“Here’s your drink, Leese, and I made the molasses cookies. The iron in the molasses is good for you.”
“Thanks, Em. You know this news about Ace is upsetting to me. I’ve never thought of him except as a friend.”
“Except that you did walk into his arms the first day you met him.”
“Well,” Elyse bristled, “anyone could see that was my overwhelming grief I was feeling. I was missing the physical touch of my husband. Even you should understand that, Em!”
She reached for a cookie, bit into it and chewed slowly, her gaze fixed on her friend. She sipped her drink before she spoke again.
“Let me tell you this, Em. Right now my whole attention, my whole being is set on my baby.”
“That’s fine for now,” Emerald interrupted, “but you have to consider this. Your child will have a life of its own, one that you and Barry have made possible. It will not, will not, I repeat, be your life, and you will have to allow that to happen. Which means you must live your own life, which might mean, someday down the road, another man in your life. It may not be Ace Brimmer, but . . .”
She raised her own glass to Elyse and took a long swallow. She continued with her advice.
“You should think about what I’m saying. Your future will include your child, but after awhile, as life moves on, that child will become an adult with his or her own future goals. It’s the way life goes, Elyse.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Elyse bristled. “But right now, all I can think of is the baby, Barry’s and mine!”
“Fine,” Emerald warned, “But don’t close the door on the possibility of a warm loving relationship with someone like Ace Brimmer.”
* * *
That night when Elyse got back to her condo, she greeted Sebastian, who, purring loudly, met her at the front door.
Still smarting from Emerald’s strong admonitions, she leaned over to pet the cat. “It’ll be you and me and the baby, Seb. We won’t need anyone else, right?”
The cat stared up at her, then moved into the kitchen to stand over his empty food bowl on the floor.
“You’re just like all men, aren’t you . . . want to be stroked and fed.”
She reached into the cabinet for a can of tuna. As she went over to the wall-mounted can opener, she felt a sudden fluttering sensation in her abdomen. She dropped the can and her hand flew to her round belly. The baby! It had moved! She sat down at the kitchen table with both hands pressed against her abdomen, but felt nothing more. She wondered if it would happen again. She remembered reading in the obstetric book Dr. Kellogg had suggested that she should expect this sensation from the baby.
Dr. Kellogg was not surprised at her news when she kept her next appointment with him.
“I expected that to happen,” he reassured her. “You’re right on time. Let’s get you ready for your sonogram.”
The technician prepared her for the procedure, helped her onto the examination table and applied the sonogram gel to her abdomen.
“This feels cold at first,” she said, “but you’ll get used to it. Watch the monitor to your right.”
It looked like a television screen to Elyse, a totally black screen. At that moment the doctor came in. The lights were dimmed and he took the probe, began to press down on Elyse’s now distended belly.
At first she saw only a blur on the dark screen. Then Dr. Kellogg pointed out to her the baby’s head, arms and legs.
“What is it?” Elyse gasped.
“It’s, it’s, one moment, I want to make sure.” He continued to move the probe around. “You are having a daughter,” he said.
“Really?” Elyse’s voice quavered with disbelief. “Really, it’s a girl. Are you happy about that?”
“Oh, yes, doctor, I am. As long as she’s healthy.”
“I’ll have a copy printed out for you. Your baby’s first picture.”
* * *
As soon as she left the doctor’s office and got into her car, the sonogram picture in her handbag, she called her father on her cell phone.
“Dad! I just found out! You’re going to have a granddaughter!”
“Ah, babe, wonderful! Wonderful! You just found out?”
“Right, and I have a picture to prove it! It’s hard for me to see, but the doctor says it’s a little girl.”
“Wait ‘til I tell your mother. She’ll be shopping like crazy, count on it!”
Chapter 19
Omar and Ace met for dinner the night before Ace was due to return to Boston. They had not been able to spend as much time together as they had hoped, mainly because Ace was shopping, particularly in areas outside the city. He had been seeking unusual artifacts crafted by natives. He had already shipped several cartons of his purchases to Boston and had more to ship.
“Omar, would you be able to forward a few crates of goods for me?” he asked as they waited for the waiter to return with their meals.
“Be happy to take care of that, Ace. You know that. How has your shopping gone thus far?”
“Better than I expected. Got some great stuff. Picked up some very handsome paintings, sculptures, native drums, cloth, a whole bunch of stuff.”
“So, you’re satisfied, not disappointed?”
“Not a bit. And I do think this trip was what I needed, in more ways than one.”
Omar looked up from his meal. Each had ordered braised chicken with gravy, peas, rice, and candied yams. Each man had a tall glass of local beer as well. They ate silently, then Omar spoke.
“So now, my good friend, you will tell me what really brought you here. I know it was more than a shopping trip.”
Ace shrugged his shoulders, picked up his glass of beer and took a swallow. He pushed his empty dinner plate to one side. Rubbing his forehead as if his fingers could soothe away the anxiety he was feeling, he explained his dilemma.
“Omar,” he began slowly, “I’ve been through a rough time these past few weeks. I just had to get away from Boston.”
“I had a feeling that something or someone had upset you. You were not the Ace Brimmer that I knew. Anything I can help you with?”
“A friendly ear and a non-judgmental attitude would be good right about now.”
“Let’s hear it, see if we can sort it out,” Omar encouraged. “To begin with, I fell in love with the most beautiful, smartest, most unusual woman . . .”
“Congrats!”
“No, congratulations are not in order.”
“No? Why not?”
“She won’t have me.”
“Because?” Omar’s eyebrows were raised in twin question marks as he stared at his friend.
“Because she has been married before. Her husband was killed in Iraq.”
“Oh, that’s very sad. Awful, really.”
Ace agreed, saying, “It is, but, and this you won’t believe, before he left for the war, he deposited sperm to be frozen. Six months after his death, their lawyer, under the husband’s wishes, gave her the information . . . a letter her husband left for her.”
His voice faltered then.
“So now she expects to have the baby in the spring,” he continued in a sober tone of voice.
Omar’s eyes widened in disbeli
ef.
Finally, after an awful, numbing silence, Omar responded, thunderstruck by what Ace had just said. “Wow! No wonder you were floored.”
“Omar, how do I compete with something like this?”
“You do, that’s all! If you love this woman, then you do everything in your power to win her love. It’s as simple as that. There’s nothing else you can do but woo her with tenderness and love.”
“But . . .” Ace started to say.
“No buts. Her husband is dead. You are not. You are a real man, flesh and blood, that she can see and touch. Don’t let a past situation stop you from getting what you want. Think realistically, face what is real, tangible.”
“Man, you’re right, of course. Why didn’t I think . . .”
“Because you were not prepared for it,” Omar continued. “Now you go back to the States. I’ll take care of shipping your goods to you, and in return the next thing you can do for me is to send me an invitation to your wedding!”
* * *
The next day on his flight home, Omar’s words echoed in Ace’s mind. He had pointed out that Elyse’s husband was dead. And that it was very likely that as she reared their child, memories of him would fade among the activities of daily living. She could very well turn to him, Ace, a real person, for comfort and support. A memory was just that, something that had occurred in the past. Life was meant to be lived, not remembered.
“Can you see what I mean, Ace?” Omar had asked.
Ace had agreed with him, adding, “There must have been something that made me need to distance myself from the situation and seek advice from someone like you, Omar.”
* * *
“Everything went fine,” Stanley Benjamin told Ace the first morning after Ace’s return. “Did you have a good trip? You look rested.”
“I did have a good trip, Stan. Have lots of stuff I’ve brought back. I think you’ll be pleased when you see what I bought. My friend Omar is shipping even more art pieces that I was able to buy. It was a nice change of pace for me, and I’m pleased with the trip all around.”
He thought about his tenuous relationship with Elyse and how he needed to form a plan of action.
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