Kyle watched her dash up the stairs and he followed her. She was checking out each bedroom with a little smile on her face.
“What are you thinking?” Kyle finally had to smile.
“This house is perfect for Kyle, Nina, Niki, Baby Doll, and Chris. There are two rooms that share a bathroom. We can put Niki and Baby Doll in those. Chris can have the one at the end of the hall, and we’ll take this one with the Jacuzzi tub.”
“What Jacuzzi tub?”
“The one that will be there when I finish decorating. You like?” Nina gave him one of Niki’s favorite expressions and he laughed.
“What about the extra bedroom? Is that for Mama T? Where will we put her when she comes to visit?” Kyle asked.
“We’ll put her on the sofa so she’ll go home. If not the diva will try to take over the house.” Nina laughed.
“It’s going to take time for everyone to heal and merge into one family.” Kyle sighed. “But it’s the best solution.”
“Letting all the kids live together in both of our homes is really going to help. I’ve been around Miss Baby Doll since she was born. Chris is really going to need you, Kyle. He’s becoming quite a young man. And we can still be with Niki, and Topaz can too.”
“What about when the baby comes?”
“What baby?” Nina smiled.
“The one that fifth bedroom is for.” Kyle smiled back.
“Ya think?” Nina teased.
“Definitely.”
The real estate agent found them in the master bedroom. “What do you folks think?”
“We think we like it.” Nina smiled.
Topaz waited in her Range Rover for the kids to come out of school. Baby Doll skipped out first and waved good-bye to all of her little girlfriends. She hopped in the SUV and immediately changed the station on the radio.
“Hi, Mom.” She took out a notebook and began drawing.
“Hi, sweetie.” She kissed Baby Doll and smoothed her hair. “Where are your brother and sister?”
“I don’t know. Is Niki really my sister?”
“Yes, sweetie.”
“Then why isn’t her name Gradney like me and Chris?”
“It will be one day, baby.” She had already discussed changing Niki’s last name, but they had decided to wait until Niki was older and let her make the decision when she would have a better understanding of the situation.
“I miss Daddy, Mom.” Baby Doll looked up from her sketch at her mom.
“I do too, baby. I do too.” There wasn’t a day that went by when thoughts and memories of Germain didn’t overtake her.
“There they are.” Baby Doll pointed to Chris carefully leading Niki by the hand to the car. He helped her inside then got in himself.
Just like his father. Topaz managed a smile.
“We got out late and Niki was waiting on me.” Chris smiled and Topaz did too. It had been a long time since she had seen him smile, and she knew Niki’s small act of kindness had touched his heart.
“I need you guys to help me with a very big project.” Topaz began as she drove away from the school. “I have to sing at the Grammys tomorrow night and you guys have to help me, or else I won’t be able to do it.”
“We get to be on stage?” Baby Doll gave her mother her undivided attention.
“Yes. You just have to sit with me while I sing. We’re on our way to the Staples Center now so we can rehearse.”
“We have to rehearse sitting down?” Baby Doll questioned.
“Everything has to be rehearsed for the Grammys,” Topaz explained.
The Black Friends were in the audience sitting together. Topaz called and personally invited everyone. Nina was backstage as she prepared to go on. Topaz was stunning in all white. The children were wearing white, too.
“Do I look okay, Nina?” Topaz turned and twisted in the mirror.
Nina smiled. “Gorgeous as usual.”
“What about me, Mommy?” Niki tried to sit in Nina’s lap. She’d been with Topaz all day.
“You are the prettiest one in this whole big building,” Nina whispered in her ear.
Nina was seated next to Kyle just as the show began. When the lights came up, Topaz was holding a golden guitar sitting on a cloud in what appeared to be heaven. The stage was lit to an ethereal white. A spotlight held on Topaz as she began to strum her guitar; the chords were strong, certain, and clear when she began to sing.
“Would you know my name if I saw you in heaven? Will it be the same if I saw you in heaven?”
Keisha held her breath and prayed she’d make it through the entire song. All of the friends knew she was singing to Germain—the song she couldn’t sing at his memorial service. She had recorded it, and “Tears in Heaven” would be included on the re-release of Superstar.
There was a second guitarist on stage. Eric Clapton joined her on the second verse.
“Would you hold my hand if I saw you in heaven? Would you help me stand if I saw you in heaven?”
Nina had promised herself she wouldn’t cry. She thought she had wiped away a tear on the down low when Keisha handed her a tissue.
“Beyond the door, there’s peace I’m sure, and I know there’ll be no more tears in heaven.”
The camera locked on the children sitting at her feet.
“Look at my baby,” Kyle whispered loudly enough for everyone around them to hear.
“I must be strong and carry on cause I know I don’t belong here in heaven.”
Topaz let out a small sigh of relief when she completed the song. The entire room thundered with applause as everyone rose to their feet and gave her a standing ovation. Topaz bowed humbly as the children gathered around her to exit the stage.
The fifty-story bronze edifice has a mighty presence at the north end of Las Vegas Boulevard. “Wynn” was written in lowercase letters; Steve Wynn’s latest hotel extravaganza is five-star luxury and the location for Sabre’s Bash, an annual fundraising event to raise money in memory of Marisol Cruz, Sabre’s grandmother. The NBA All Star game was also in Las Vegas, making Sabre’s joint at Tryst the hottest party that night during All Star weekend.
Sabre and Sky made several purchases from various designer shops inside the hotels, but Diamond Life was their favorite boutique. The ladies were shopping alone, and although they both had the perfect stylist-selected outfits in their rooms, they wanted to get something new to wear to the party, like they did back in high school.
“We are going to have so much fun. I can’t wait to see who’s coming tonight.” Sky was excited.
“Omarion, Chris Brown, Meagan Good. Girl, all kinds of people,” Sabre rattled off.
“We need some fun around here after you got all weird on me over Dr. Germain. You were in bed for a week, then you just took off for Japan.”
“I was in love with Dr. Germain. He was so sweet.” Sabre smiled. “Did I tell you we had an affair?”
“No way.” Sabre had Sky’s full attention as they headed toward the spa.
“Sure, we did.” Sabre had a faraway look in her eyes.
“You actually had sex with Dr. Germain?”
“Sure did.”
“Where? At your place in Malibu?” Sky demanded with an I-want-details expression.
“It was at the Beverly Hills Hotel,” Sabre whispered.
Sky didn’t know what to think. Sabre could be such a liar at times.
“Girl, he rocked me ever so gently when we made love.” Sabre was definitely in another world.
Sky had never seen her look that way. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I was in love with him and he was in love with me,” Sabre declared smugly.
“Girl, please. Everybody in the industry is talking about how much Dr. Germain loved Topaz. Stop trippin’. She even sang for him at the Grammys with her kids around her. It was so sweet.” Sky relaxed on the massage table; hot almond oil deep-tissue massages followed by brown sugar body scrubs were on the agenda next.
; “I was there.”
“Topaz won like seven Grammys?” Sky asked.
“She only won ’em because everybody felt sorry for her,” Sabre commented.
“Whatever, girl. So was Dr. Germain going to leave ole girl and be your man?” Sky asked.
“He would have…eventually,” Sabre confessed.
“See, I knew you were lying.”
“No, really, he did make love to me.” Sabre smiled until the happiness eased out of her face as she recalled hanging onto his leg, begging him to stay. She knew he was going home to Topaz after Germain admitted to Sabre he would always be in love with his wife.
“I wonder if I’ll ever meet someone like him again.”
“Sabre, please…kill the dramatics.”
“No, really. He was the first man I ever loved that I had sex with.”
“He was the first man you ever liked that you had sex with,” Sky corrected.
“That’s an interesting thought.”
“Maybe you thought you loved him because of the way he made you feel.”
“Maybe that is why I loved him.” Sabre looked thoughtful.
“Girl, you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” Sky was laughing.
Sabre smiled and laughed too.
Whatever Sabre had felt that one night, it was definitely over. She thought about Germain’s memorial service, and it brought tears to her eyes. It made her remember what she never forgot…her grandmother’s funeral. She felt like her heart was ripped out, and now she knew Topaz had to feel that way too. Sabre exhaled a long sigh as she realized a new truth.
Death and life are hard no matter who you are.
For now, Sabre shook the memory from her head.
“Come on, Sky. Let’s rock this damn party.”
“Meet me at the club.” Sky laughed as she and Sabre danced and sang together.
Don’t miss
Saved and Single
by Sheila Copeland
On sale now from Dafina Books
Turn the page for an excerpt from
Saved and Single…
1
Tiffany
“Tiffany! We have a situation!”
“A situation? What is it now?” I practically moaned into my headset.
Myles Adams, Living Word Church’s most eligible bachelor, was finally getting married. He had to be the finest man on the planet. He was gorgeous—chocolaty velvet skin with an after-five shadow trimmed to perfection, full lips just made for kissing, and an infectious smile that could melt butter. That smile, that smile. It could bring sunshine out on a rainy day.
Lord knew I wished it were me he was marrying instead of that tired ole Melody, but she was an actress, and she was beautiful. Men like Myles always seemed to go for that type. It was Myles who’d hired me to be his wedding planner after he’d seen the wedding I’d done for Charity, the daughter of one of our choir members. Talk about cheap and wanting everything for free. But it had gotten me the job with Myles, and that made it all worthwhile.
“Tiffany! Where are you?”
“I’m coming!”
I’d been putting out fires all morning. This was the biggest wedding of my career, and everything had to be absolutely perfect. The drama level had been pretty normal, considering the fact that every wedding had its share of chaos. Compared to most of my others, this wedding was a piece of cake. Myles and Melody weren’t trying to make last-minute substitutions to cut the price by bringing in Boobob to deejay—with sound equipment that didn’t work—or purchase their own alcohol from Junebug—who we all knew would steal everything—or get Aunty Mae, who was a designer, to make these botched and torn-up-looking bridesmaid dresses. Myles and Melody were a dream. They paid for everything on a timely basis and used every vendor I suggested.
However, things had gotten scary when Roxanne, the florist, who’d needed a thousand ecru lilies to execute her vision of heaven—complete with clouds and angels—had gotten into a fight with Carson, my designer, who had told Roxanne she was using way too many flowers. Roxanne always spoke with this New Jersey–meets–Valley Girl accent, but when Carson—a nice, quiet, nerdy-looking white boy I had met online—had had the audacity, as Roxanne said, “to interfere with her sh—,” her accent had gone straight out the window. Roxanne, who was always Miss Sophisticated, had gone straight South Central and threatened to kick Carson’s butt all over Bel Air and Beverly Hills if he didn’t get his skinny white ass out of her face.
In my humble opinion, Carson had only been telling her the truth. He’d said she would destroy the simple elegance of the sanctuary with all those damn flowers, and if she weren’t so ignorant and ghetto, she would have known that. I’d used Roxanne before, but this wedding was totally out of her league.
I had thought they were really going to fight, but after a bunch of name calling, they had finally worked everything out. The excess lilies would be sprinkled down the aisles by the flower girls, and the church decor was absolutely breathtaking. Needless to say, I wouldn’t be using Roxanne again. Now, Carson—that’s my boy. With our creativity combined, I knew the world would see a Tiffany Wedding on the Style Network real soon.
“Tiffany!” My assistant, Destiny, sounded a little frantic.
“What?” I hadn’t meant to snap, but she needed to handle her business. She knew how I liked to fine-tune a wedding site.
“We need you in the bride’s room ASAP!”
“What is it?”
“Just come in here now! Please!”
It had to be Melody, the bride-to-be who was a diva, a major drama queen, and a royal pain in the butt. She had probably broken a nail or wanted more Perrier for her entourage and was insisting that I handle it personally. Melody, a famous actress, was also a wannabe singer and was very beautiful. She didn’t even attend Living Word, where Myles played keyboards for the music ministry. Our church had the best band in the city because of him. What he saw in her I’d never understand. I wasn’t the kind of girl who was into hating, but Melody didn’t even go to church. She’d told me she didn’t care if Myles was into Jesus, but that was his thing, not hers. Why would a God-fearing brother like Myles date a sistah who couldn’t even pray for him? My little sister, Shay, had said when it was all said and done, all men really wanted is a sistah who looked classy but was a freak in bed. I guessed Melody must have really put something down on Myles. She’d made the man forget all about his religion.
Myles had toured with Levert before Myles was saved. They had all grown up together in Cleveland, but Myles had relocated to Los Angeles. He had also played for Mary J. Blige, Boyz II Men, and Destiny’s Child. His latest gig was playing in the band for Don’t Forget the Lyrics, one of those TV shows in which contestants won money for singing the correct lyrics to all types of songs. Most of our wedding meetings were held at the studio where the show was taped.
Myles could really be a trip. Sometimes I had to listen while he called Melody, who was at another studio filming a movie, and listen to him say, “I love you, baby,” for most of the conversation when he was supposed to be asking her opinion on some aspect of their pending nuptials. Afterward I’d go see Melody on her set where she had a really nice trailer all to herself. During her break she’d curl up on a leopard-print chaise like the Queen of Sheba for the duration of our meeting while she sipped Perrier out of a martini glass. She always made me explain everything twice and asked so many dumb questions I knew she had to be sipping something stronger than Perrier.
That was Ms. Melody. I had to smile as I paused to take one last look around the sanctuary before I went to see what was up with the pampered princess.
Outside, the sun resembled a rose-colored ball of fire against the fading blue sky as dusk settled upon the City of Angels. Inside, candles lit up the aisles like airport runways, and a harpist played softly as praise dancers, adorned in white, glided down the aisles to the front of the church. It was so romantic. Talk about a platinum wedding. I should have submitted this
wedding for television; Myles and Melody would have been the perfect fairy-tale couple for one of those shows.
I sighed sadly as the harpist began another selection. It seemed I was always planning the wedding I wanted for someone else. This was the location I had chosen for my wedding, if I ever had a wedding; I was thirty-two, and I wasn’t even in a serious relationship. All I wanted was a man who really loved the Lord and wanted to live his life by God’s Word—a man who loved me the way I needed to be loved, someone with whom I had things in common, someone with whom I could laugh and have fun. He didn’t have to be rich or the finest man in the world—just someone for me. I didn’t know what was so hard about that—it seemed impossible. But the God I served loved doing the impossible. I had written it all down in a list, and I prayed about him constantly, so I knew he’d find me eventually. Meanwhile I kept planning weddings, which I loved to do.
Even though this church was my special place, I had suggested it to Myles anyway because he was still special, even if he was marrying Melody.
My feet were killing me after walking around all day in high heels, which were something I never wore, but my sister had made me wear them. I had to admit I was too cute in my new dress, a Marc Jacobs I had found marked way down at Bloomingdale’s. But sometimes I wondered what the point was. I never seemed to meet anyone nice, but I had faith. I believed God would come through for me, too, in my season.
Walking out of the santuary, I saw a really nice-looking brother checking me out, but I didn’t make eye contact. I couldn’t have any unnecessary distractions. It was crunch time, and the wedding of the century was just about ready to begin.
As I entered the hallway leading to the bride’s room, I heard desperation in Destiny’s voice as she called out, “Tiffany, where are you?” I wondered why she was tripping so hard.
“I’m right here,” I replied as I entered the room.
Diamond Revelation Page 29
