“It’s me, Shawnie,” she insisted, touching her hand to her chest.
A talking ghost or spirit?
Deshawn stared at the apparition, unable to grasp how alive she appeared. Nothing at all like a ghost or a spirit. Then again, how would he know? He’d never actually seen either before.
“I haven’t much time, so please listen up,” she said, her voice firm.
She’s even bossy from heaven.
“I’ll always be the boss . . . and don’t you forget it,” she told him, reading his thoughts easily, before giving him “the look”.
“Anika’s coming to Holtsville in two weeks to be with Chloe when Nia comes. This is your chance to make it up to her for being a jackass up that road.”
Who in the blue blazes is Nia?
“Chloe and Vonnie’s daughter.” Lil sighed impatiently. “Pay attention, Shawnie. Anika is your destiny. Take it from me. I have it on good authority that you two will marry in that same backyard outside next year and have two beautiful sons, twins in fact. Tyson and Tyree,” she continued, talking almost in a rush as if she were on a pay phone and the operator had come on the line to say she had thirty seconds left.
He felt goose bumps race over his body.
“You’ve run through all the women you could. It’s time to settle down, Shawnie, and you know you want to. Anika’s the one for you. Just like your grandfather is the one for me. I wouldn’t lie to you, baby. Fight for her. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it in the end.” With one last smile she was gone and he was left with her words and the faint scent of lilacs.
Deshawn shot up in the bed, his heart racing as sleep left him in a rush. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head as if to clear it. The dream was so genuine. Nana Lil seemed so real. But that’s all it was, just a dream.
As he snuggled back under the covers and his eyes became heavy with sleep again, Deshawn had to admit that he wasn’t quite sure.
Chapter 10
All That I Can Say
Two weeks later
Anika’s last full day of work at The Haven had been so totally hectic that she was actually looking forward to the break. It had been a mad rush to catch up on paperwork, reassign her caseload, rearrange appointments, and advise her assistant of her duties in her absence.
Sighing, Anika lifted her arms high above her head as she stretched her back in the chair behind her now clutter-free desk. The digital clock on the wall read 8:07 p.m.
Definitely a late night for her. Looking out the large window, its entire space filled with the ebony night, Anika felt fatigued. She rose from her chair, smoothing the wool of her tailored Anne Taylor pencil skirt over her shapely hips.
“Plane tickets, boarding pass, traveler’s checks ...” she said aloud, going over the items she needed to travel.
Anika closed her Gucci purse, secure that she hadn’t left anything behind. She was leaving straight for the airport to catch her 10:00 p.m. flight from Newark International Airport. She had a layover in Atlanta and then an early morning flight into Charleston.
“Okay, Mama will check on my house, and Malcolm’s going to pick up my car from the airport and drive it back to the house . . . God, help me,” she mused, saying a quick prayer that she didn’t crash it. “Suitcases are in the trunk. I’m ’bout ready to ride.”
Anika looked around her office again, double-checked her briefcase, and semi-shrugged. “I’m all set.”
Her assistant Monique knocked twice before opening Anika’s office door. “Won’t be the same around here without you, chief,” she teased, her petite slender frame dwarfed in her usual garb of jeans and an oversized T-shirt with an imprinted message. Tonight the front read Fight the Power in bold red, black, and green letters against the white backdrop.
“It’s good to know I can stay as long as I need without worrying about this place going to pot.” Anika patted her shoulder as she walked past her, glancing down at her gold Movado watch. “I better be going.”
The two women said their good-byes in the foyer of the office building. Anika walked the short distance around the structure to the parking lot, her heels clicking against the concrete.
The fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and Anika felt like she was being watched. Turning around suddenly, she looked about with alert eyes across the street, down the street, and by the side of her building. Her body tensed.
She didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. The street was empty. Relax, girl, your mind’s playing tricks on you.
Still, the feeling of not being alone was there. The streetlights reflected the doubt and caution in the depths of her eyes. Reaching into her purse, she removed her keys with nervous, trembling fingers as she turned and continued to her car. She suddenly wished she had asked their security guard to escort her to her vehicle. She didn’t want to get mugged, that was for sure.
When she turned the corner, Anika paused and she distinctively heard the sound of footsteps running up the street. Someone’s chasing me. Gasping with fear, her heart pounding at the thought of being part of the morning news, she ran past the few cars in the lot to her own. Using the remote she unlocked the driver car door, glad that she didn’t have to use an actual key the way her hands were shaking so badly.
This reminded her of her dreams. All these years she thought she was haunted by her past when maybe she was foreseeing her future of being chased down and killed. Not hesitating, she slid into the car, immediately closing and locking the door. Anika threw her purse and briefcase on the passenger seat. Seconds later she was reversing out of the spot, forcing her brain to focus before she crashed.
Like a pro race car driver, her tires squealed against asphalt as she quickly threw the car into drive and sped out of the parking garage. I'll run that bastard over if I have to.
But she found the street was empty when she frantically glanced around.
Anika made a left and sped up the street, her hands gripping the wheel as she navigated the black ribbon of street ahead of her. Her eyes checked the rearview mirror
Nothing.
She forced herself to relax, taking deep calming breaths, easing her foot from the accelerator some, and loosening her death grip on the steering wheel. Her imagination was running wild. “No more Lifetime movies,” she told herself, hitting play on the CD player so that Mary’s voice filled the car.
So what if she made a fool out of herself? She was living proof that it was always best to be safe than sorry.
∞
On the plane Anika felt nothing but dread about her visit to Holtsville. Her stomach was filled with nervous anxiety and she wanted nothing more than to back out of going. Only Chloe would be worth this, she thought, as she kicked her crossed leg and flipped through a glossy fashion magazine. She nodded in approval at the latest ad Chloe had done for the hair care line for Ashanti, trying hard not to remember where she was going and who would be there.
As the pilot made his announcement and the plane began its descent into Charleston, Anika tried to calm herself. “Don’t let a country boy run you,” she said aloud to herself. “You are in control of the situation, girl. Total control.”
Her bravado was fabulous as she strutted from the plane like a star in her form-fitting brown leather jumpsuit, matching heeled boots, and short fur. She looked good, she felt good, and nothing was going to stop her. This was her world. Screw Deshawn Jamison.
You did that already and look where it got you.
All of her bravado shriveled to nothing when she left the gate and her eyes immediately fell on him. All of her senses honed, everything surrounding him blurred. He, of course, remained in clear focus. The faint scent of his Pleasure cologne wafted to her. Or was it her imagination?
Shaking it off, Anika immediately froze her face into a deliberate mask of distaste, even as she admitted to herself that he was looking far too fine in an oversized smoky gray Sean John sweatsuit. He was leaning against a column, looking out the large window with a serious expression on his face.<
br />
He didn’t notice her at first and Anika couldn’t help but wonder what was on his mind. For one precious moment, she let her eyes caress his handsome profile, absorbing his beauty, his physique, his aura.
All of it came back to her in a rush. His smile, his dimpled left cheek, the sleek restrained strength of his body, the way he bit his bottom lip and played with the spare change in his pocket when he was talking to someone, the laugh lines around his eyes, his scent, his touch. Those eyes. Twin pools that held her spellbound.
Damn him!
Suddenly he turned his head, a smile immediately filling his handsome face as he caught sight of her. He pushed off the column and moved toward where she stood. His eyes held an obvious question. He didn’t know how she was going to react.
Good!
∞
Deshawn was floored by his very first sight of her. He let himself drink of her ethereal features: the round face with her stubborn chin, the luminous eyes that sparkled with life and clouded to mahogany in desire, and a full, shapely mouth that was quick to smile in pleasure or gape open in arousal. He devoured her with his eyes, feeding a need she had created in him eight months ago.
Deshawn’s loins tightened with a heated rush, and he felt as if he were in eighth grade again with an embarrassing erection. She aroused him without even trying. She tempted him with her very presence.
But the feelings that clutched at his heart the moment his eyes lighted upon her had nothing at all to do with her wild, explosive sex. No, it was definitely something more permanent. More powerful. And it shook him, literally, as the truth of his emotions slid home.
It wasn’t a feeling that was familiar to him, but he was no fool. He had all the necessary signs: troubled sleep, odd dreams of expressive mocha eyes, regrets of foolish things he said and did, longing for her, and most importantly, his desire for other women had waned.
Deshawn knew at that moment that he loved her. Fear and pleasure filled him all at once.
∞
“What the hell are you doing here?” she snapped, her eyes blazing as he reached her.
Anika strode past him, following the overhead signs to the baggage claim area. She knew what she just did was rude, even as her long strides carried her away from him, but who cared? She considered her body precious and she did not give of herself sexually to just anyone. By his deceit Anika now felt like she had had a one-night stand, her first and her last.
“Which bags are yours?” a voice, his voice, asked from behind her.
Ignoring him, Anika moved to take one of her three matching suitcases from the conveyor belt. She watched in stoic silence as Devon easily grabbed the other two. “Show-off,” she muttered, striding ahead of him out of the automatic doors leading to the outdoor parking lot of the small airport. Realizing that she had no idea where she was going, she stood and waited for him to stroll through the same doors.
“It really is good to see you, Anika. I missed you.”
Anika looked at him in derision.
∞
Deshawn just shook his head at her stubbornness, walking ahead of Anika down the short flight of stairs to reach his pickup. He loaded her luggage onto the flat bed, using the straps to secure them, while Anika slid into the passenger seat.
Any attempts he made at conversation were pointedly ignored. He kept trying because he wanted her sultry voice to caress his ears. His eyes shifted back and forth from the road to her profile, soaking up her beauty. “You’re beautiful as ever,” he told her. I love this woman.
Anika cut him an evil eye, before looking pointedly at the road, swallowing the ball of hurt that threatened to strangle her.
“I’ve missed you, Anika,” Deshawn told her with honesty.
She rolled her eyes at that one and then pointedly looked out the window, not really seeing the beauty of the sweeping southern landscape at all.
“I’m sorry, Anika. Talk to me; tell me what’s going on. After what we shared—”
“Don’t,” Anika warned, holding up her hand.
“I thought we were going to work on—” he tried to continue.
“Well, you thought wrong,” she told him sarcastically.
Deshawn released a heavy sigh and focused on the road ahead of him. His thoughts were filled with ways to win her. He knew she was upset with him, but he never guessed she was going to be this hostile. He could tell from the look on her face that nothing he said to her would seep through her angry shield.
∞
Anika was looking for any diversion to help her succeed in ignoring Deshawn, so she made herself focus on her surroundings. Never had she seen so many trees. There were more woods than houses, more wildflowers than manicured gardens. She had to admit it was serene and beautiful.
Country living definitely would take Anika some time to get used to. Of course there was always the charm of a small-town setting, but on the other hand, would she have to go to another city just to find a mall, a movie theater, or a day spa.
As they passed the small two-pump gas station just off the major highway, Anika pressed the button to lower the power window. “Hi, boyfriend,” she playfully yelled to the grizzly old man sweeping in front of the storefront, teasing him as she always did since their first meeting at Chloe’s wedding.
Cyrus Dobbs lifted his silver head to squint at Deshawn’s truck. His graying eyes filled with warmth and pleasure at the sight of Anika. He used one of his gnarled hands to blow her a kiss, his smile broad on his wizened face as his false teeth gleamed against his bronze skin. “Now, dat’s one pretty gal,” he said, having found a soft spot for the woman.
Deshawn blew his horn twice in greeting to the owner of the gas station, but his eyes were on Anika. He felt a jealous twinge at the open pleasure on her face as she blew a kiss back at Cyrus. She used to look at me like that, he thought, realizing what he lost.
Almost lost, he corrected himself, determined to win back her love.
Anika raised her window as Cyrus and the store fell out of sight. Her face closed as well. Her mouth thinned and her luminous eyes dulled as she put her chin up.
Deshawn felt the freezing chill of her cold shoulder.
Anika continued to look out the window at the frost clinging to the sunburnt grass and tall, towering trees. Later, the fall sun would melt away the frost on the leaves, drawing children out of their homes to play in the large uninhabited fields after school. Women were inside their homes fixing hot meals for hardworking men and children: soups, stews, smothered meats, and warm breads. Houses were decorated for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday with fall foliage, pumpkins, and cornucopias. Every home spoke of warmth and welcome.
Southern charm.
Anika stiffened. It was the facade of Deshawn’s southern charm that had drawn her heart.
“What are you going to do, Anika, pretend I don’t exist? Ignore what we shared in New York?” Deshawn asked, his gaze sketching her face as he turned his truck into Chloe and Devon’s yard.
Anika immediately freed herself from the close confines of the cab. “As far as I’m concerned you don’t exist,” she told him ominously, before slamming the truck door in his handsome face.
As soon as Anika stepped onto the porch, the front door was flung open wide and she was engulfed in Chloe’s hug, her firm and round belly pressing into her friend’s stomach. “Look at you, you’re just as pretty as you want to be,” Anika said.
Chloe stood back to look down at her own stomach. “Chile, please. I feel like a sausage about to pop.”
But that was far from true. The healthy glow of her complexion and her long, flowing hair gave Chloe the greatest beauty ever as she nurtured and carried her child. She was completely radiant.
Anika hugged her again, glad to see her best friend. “How’s the nursery?” she asked, as they walked into the house together, moving to the living room.
“Beautiful. Now that you’re here we can finish it together.” Chloe turned around suddenly. “Where’s Desha
wn?”
Anika just shrugged dismissively.
Deshawn walked in behind them, his arms laden with Anika’s luggage. “Which room, Chloe?” he asked from the foyer.
“Second on the right.”
The ladies settled themselves on the sofa as Anika filled her in on her flight.
Chloe grabbed Anika’s hand and placed it on her belly. “She’s kicking.”
“She?” Anika asked.
Chloe smiled. ‘Just a gut feeling I have.”
They both tensed, waiting to feel the life within her move, but nothing happened.
“She must’ve been stretching before she went back to sleep,” Chloe said, rubbing her belly. “I’m just glad there’s no twins in here. I couldn’t handle it.”
“I know that’s right,” Anika agreed, crossing her shapely legs, after she removed her coat. “Picture me pushing out two at one time. No, thank you, I’ll pass.”
“And what’s wrong with twins?” Deshawn asked suddenly from behind them. Both women turned to find him standing in the door frame, his broad shoulder braced against the wall, with his arms crossed over his strong chest.
Chloe smiled at him with loving eyes. “Deshawn, will you tell Dev to call me when you get back to the site? I’ve been trying to reach him on the Nextel but it’s out of range again.”
“Can do,” he said, his eyes on Anika, clearly aware that she was continuing to ignore him. Deshawn cleared his throat and pushed off the wall. “Anika, I’ll see you later.”
Her body stiffened, distaste clouding her pretty face. “Don’t bet on it,” she muttered under her breath.
He chuckled lightly before leaving the room.
Chloe looked at Anika with all-too-observant eyes. “What happened with you two in New York?” she asked mysteriously, picking up on a definite undercurrent between them. “I thought you two were cool then.”
Anika immediately turned her frown upside down as she looked at Chloe. “Nothing happened. Nothing worth speaking of, that’s for sure.”
∞
Deshawn’s thoughts were jumbled. He was beginning not to know when fact ended and fiction began. In an effort to sort out everything, he didn’t head straight for the work site but instead drove out to the cemetery where their ancestors were buried. The half-acre of land held four generations of Jamisons. Each plot housed a Jamison with an intriguing tale of survival and self-determination, strength, and resilience.
Heavenly Match Page 12
