“Miss Norma’s virtuous, Christian daughter,” Miss Nancy said, smiling as she got into the car. “Hallelujah!” she shouted and waved as she slammed the car door.
****
Froggie subconsciously chose Geneva’s favorite dish: ackee and salted fish with roasted breadfruit. The ingredients were plentiful in the yard and were easy to prepare. Every time he added seasoning to the pot, he could almost hear her voice saying, Add more pepper, Froggie. For a big man, you are really afraid of pepper!”
He grinned while working and had just sliced up the breadfruit when he heard Miss Nancy’s voice outside. She entered the hall noisily as he placed the food on the dining table.
“My dear,” she said, gesturing to a slim young lady who was in a peach colored hat. "This is my son, Froggie."
The girl came from behind her and smiled shyly at him. She was pretty, in a quiet unassuming sort of way. She demurely held out her hand to him. He cleared his throat and smiled. “My name is actually Winston Reid.” He took her hand in his and felt as her hand trembled in his.
“This is Miss Norma’s girl, Tina,” Miss Nancy said, smiling at him, a pleased look on her face.
Froggie released Tina’s hand and turned to the table. “Lunch is served, ladies.”
“Let us wash up,” Miss Nancy said smugly, looking at him. “The bathroom is through there, Tina.” She pointed to the middle bathroom just off the hall. Tina went through and closed the door.
Miss Nancy piped up quickly. “Froggie, let me tell you, the service was great. The parson told me that the Lord sent me to his district for a reason, and he will explore those reasons with me at prayer meeting Wednesday night. Woi.” She paused for breath. “Did you see how Tina looks interested in you?”
Froggie grunted. “She’s okay.”
“She’s okay,” Miss Nancy snickered. “I can see this will be an uphill battle. As Pastor said today, the Lord ‘elp those who ‘elp themselves. I will help you get over Geneva.”
Froggie shook his head. “You are asking the impossible.”
“Tina will do it for you,” Miss Nancy said, clapping her hands. “Mark my words.”
****
“So, Winston,” Tina said, folding her napkin demurely and placing it on the table. “Who will do the cooking at New Beginnings?”
“I was thinking of a guy named Papa John. He comes highly recommended by your mother and others in the community. He used to have a cook shop near the high school.”
“Yes,” Tina said excitedly. Her brown eyes lit up and Froggie smiled. She wasn't as mousy as his first impressions had suggested. As a matter of fact, she was the opposite. She had gone toe to toe with Miss Nancy during their lunch time discussions and had held her own.
“I love Papa John’s food,” Tina said, licking her lips. “He does the tastiest jerk chicken in Jamaica.”
“I have three assistants lined up for him, and Louisa Jenkins says she will supply us with dessert.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Tina said gaily, “when are you opening?”
“Everything is set for next week Sunday,” Froggie replied. “We are still working on the outside tables and chairs leading to the sea. The inside décor is almost finished.”
“Can I waitress for you?” Tina asked eagerly. “After this summer I'm going to take up a teaching job near here, but I would love to do something over the holidays.”
“Speak to her, she’s in charge of that aspect,” Froggie said, pointing to his mother.
Miss Nancy was busy chewing her breadfruit and was not ready to answer.
Tina turned back to him. “What are you doing tonight? We have a church concert and social to raise funds for a little boy who needs an expensive operation.”
Froggie hesitated. He didn’t have anything to do to tonight except watch television and think of Geneva.
“Please say you’ll come,” Tina said, pushing off her hat. She gave him an impish grin.
“Okay,” Froggie said grudgingly. “I will.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Geneva pulled on a white crocheted dress which stopped at mid-thigh and accessorized with earth tone jewelry.
“White and earth tones,” she whispered to her complexion in the mirror. “You are not looking half bad.” She pouted while applying her deep brown lipstick.
Melody knocked on her door and squealed, “You look hot!”
“Thanks,” Geneva said and smiled.
“Where are you going this time?” Melody asked.
“Port Royal.”
“Ooh,” Melody said dramatically. “He is going to take you to a romantic dinner for two with the sea beating rhythmically in background.”
“We are taking it one step at a time.”
Melody nodded seriously. “I'm happy you are getting out again. Your three weeks of exile scared me a bit.”
“I thought you were so caught up in your online romance you didn’t notice.”
“Pish posh,” Melody said. “I was worried about you, but decided to give you space.”
“Thanks, sis,” Geneva replied and hugged her sister.
“Miss Geneva, your ride is here,” Marcia said from the bottom of the stairs.
“Go have fun,” Melody said, pushing her out the door.
Justin was standing beside his late model BMW when she went outside. He stared at her, as if paralyzed, for a full second. “Wow! You look amazing.”
Geneva grinned. “You too.” Justin was in a long-sleeved blue shirt and dress pants sans tie. Two top buttons on his shirt were open, giving her a glimpse of his chest.
He opened the passenger door and made sure she was seated correctly, placing the seat belt around her and brushing her breasts in the process.
“You are so obvious,” Geneva said and then gasped as he gave her an open-mouthed and wet kiss that had her yearning for more when he was finished.
“Your lips taste like vanilla,” he whispered.
“But now all my lipstick is gone,” Geneva whispered back.
“Just the way I like it. Naked red lips,” he groaned. “I have to move now and go to the driver’s seat, but I don’t want to.” He reluctantly closed the car door and went to his side.
They ate by candlelight with violin music floating in the background. In the half dark, Geneva seemed even more exotic to Justin, and he felt very close to declaring his love for her. She was animatedly telling him about her last driving lesson with her chauffeur.
“Can you believe he actually yanked the steering wheel from my hands and almost sat on top of me in his panic?” She laughed and Justin grinned. It warmed his heart to see her so lively after what seemed like an endlessly long mourning for Froggie.
“I have something for you,” he said, putting a jewelry box on the table.
Geneva’s eyes lit up. It was a long box, so she could rule out rings. That would make the evening uncomfortable. She opened it and there was a golden pen.
“Oh, Justin,” she whispered as tears pricked her eyes. “How thoughtful.”
“Not that I think you will use it much because most assignments are turned in via the Internet, and anything written has to be typed,” Justin replied with a smirk.
“I know,” Geneva said. “But it will do well when I am scribbling notes or doodling in class.”
“What’s your major?” Justin asked.
“Business administration,” Geneva replied eagerly. “I wanted to do accounts, but I changed my mind. Actually, Pamela had a fit and said I could always hire accountants, so why not do something more broad-based.”
“I did accounts but I am starting my MBA in January.”
“Well, there you go. If I had known you did accounts I could have used you as an example, but I think I'm happy with the final decision.”
Justin nodded. “You are going to have to beat off the guys on campus with a stick.”
Geneva groaned. “Not another back-handed compliment again.”
“It’s true,” Justin said earne
stly. “You are smart and beautiful and intelligent and kind. That’s why I think you should commit to me so I don’t have to be at the university every day fighting for your honor.”
“You have to work,” Geneva said, laughing.
“Ah,” Justin said thoughtfully. “But I am the boss’ son; I can get time off.”
“I thought we agreed to take this slow.”
Justin held up his hand. “We didn’t agree that I couldn’t badger you though.”
“Okay,” Geneva said and smiled.
“I was thinking I could pick you up and drop you off at school until you get your license.”
“I have a chauffeur,” Geneva said coquettishly, “or are you offering that I fire Phinx and give you the job.”
“I would do any job for you, Geneva,” Justin said huskily.
The air became charged with tension with his statement and Geneva swallowed.
“All right, pick me up tomorrow at eight then.”
“Done,” Justin said in relief. He wanted people to see him dropping her off and picking her up and jump to the conclusion that he was her boyfriend. He was going to replace Froggie in her heart, even if it killed him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The church was at the top of a steep hill overlooking the town of St. Ann’s Bay. The taxi had dropped Froggie off at the gate, and he used his cane to hobble into the yard. The church people had set up different booths and were displaying various items. To the left of the tent was the food section, and there he spotted Miss Nancy in a broad red hat and a filmy, long, pastel-colored dress. He almost did a double take.
She had managed to shock him twice in the same day. He hadn’t seen her when she left with Tina to help with the preparations, and now he was staring at the woman that resembled his mother, but somehow didn’t.
“I knew you would come,” Tina said beside him dreamily. He spun around and almost lost his balance—he had been so busy staring at the transformation of Miss Nancy.
“Oh, yeah,” Froggie said, clearing his throat. “I seem to be early too. It’s not as packed as I thought it would be,” he added, looking around.
“Oh, I kind of told you to come an hour earlier,” Tina said bashfully, “to give us some time to get better acquainted.”
Froggie’s brow furrowed. Was she coming on to him? Did his mother put her up to it?
“Well… I'm not really in the market for a girlfriend,” he said, looking seriously at Tina.
“Neither am I,” Tina said playfully. “Let’s go and say hi to your mother, and I will introduce you around.”
He hobbled after Tina in the direction of Miss Nancy, who was talking to a tall gentleman with a thick mustache, a narrow face, and a chipped front tooth. His smile invited you to smile back with him, and Froggie instantly felt comfortable when he beamed at him and Tina as they stopped in front of him and Miss Nancy.
“Ooh, Parson,” Miss Nancy said, in a voice mimicking refinement. “Meet my son, Winston Reid.”
“Howdy, Winston,” the pastor said and shook his hand. “I am Pastor Milton. Your mother said you would be at church on Wednesday night and that you have a great bass voice. I am looking forward to hearing it on the choir. There is always space for a great bass.”
Froggie looked murderously at his mother and smiled at the pastor. “I am just hearing about these plans, sir.”
“Ah, motherly intervention,” the pastor chuckled. “I guess it is also motherly intervention that our lovely Miss Tina is escorting you around.”
Tina grinned and Miss Nancy smiled sweetly.
Froggie shook his head in defeat. Miss Nancy had the light of battle in her eyes and her predatory gaze on him did not affect her smiling lips when she gazed at the pastor.
“Parson, my Winston is a wonderful young man,” she said breathily. “Very ambitious and enterprising, and I suggested to him, sometime ago, that since the Lord saved him from a bullet, he should give his life to Jesus.”
Froggie rolled his eyes. It was prudent to stay quiet; church-going people will preach to you at the drop of a hat, and it seemed as if Miss Nancy was turning into one.
“I agree Brother Winston,” the pastor said to him earnestly. “He saved your life for a purpose.”
“Amen,” Tina whispered beside him and held on to his elbow tightly.
She wasn’t thinking that she was the reason God saved him, was she? Froggie thought, panicking. She was a nice girl, sweet to look at, especially in her elegant green dress and her French braided hair. But the way he felt about Geneva was not going to go away anytime soon, and all he needed from a woman now was no-strings sex, and this innocent church sister wasn't going to fulfill his cravings.
“Sister Tina will help to bring him to the fold, Parson,” Miss Nancy was saying when he tuned back into the conversation. “You know what they say: a good woman can help a man find his way, especially if that man has a mission or a ministry; she can hold his hands up when he is tired, just like how some woman held up Joshua’s hand during that battle in the Bible story.”
The Pastor frowned. He was sure she got the story wrong, but since Miss Nancy seemed like a Bible-reading Christian he did not correct her. He cleared his throat. “You are so right, Sister Nancy.”
“Especially if that woman can cook.” Miss Nancy was on a roll, and the spellbound Pastor was all but ignoring Froggie and Tina. “And bake.” Miss Nancy’s voice was now husky and seductive. “Do you want to taste my sweet potato pudding, Parson? It has hallelujah on the top. A very Christian pudding it is.”
“Oh, yes,” the pastor said then swallowed. He turned dismissively to a dumbfounded Froggie. “See you on Wednesday, Brother Winston, Sister Tina.”
Miss Nancy led him off to her sweet potato pudding.
Froggie started to shake, covering his mouth before he bellowed loudly. His mother was good, really good.
Tina looked up at him smiling. “She works fast. She just came to one service this morning, and yet she is now in the good graces of the matrons of the church and has the church’s most eligible bachelor seeing stars.”
Froggie grinned. “I told her if she married him I would no longer be called Froggie, and by God, it seems that she is working on it.”
Tina put her hand in his and said. “Let us go meet some other people. By the way, I will be reporting to work next Monday as a waitress.”
Froggie grunted. “That’s fine.” He only hoped she wasn’t thinking that he was on the menu.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“I got it! I got it!” Geneva sing-songed to Pamela and Melody. They were seated around the breakfast table. Melody looked especially nice; rarely did she make an effort to dress up so early in the morning.
“Got what?” Pamela snapped, looking up from her morning paper.
“My license,” Geneva gushed.
Pamela gave her a half-smile. “Well, good. Remember not to touch my car. There are three other cars in the garage.”
“Okay, Ma’am,” Geneva said politely.
“You did the test yesterday?” Melody asked, frowning. “I completely forgot. I rarely see you anymore, with Justin monopolizing all your time.”
Geneva nodded cheekily. “He took me to Lime Cay after school on Wednesday, and I went to his brother’s birthday bash at the Pegasus the evening after. Yesterday I had the driving test.”
Melody nodded. “I have to impose on you two today.”
“Why?” Geneva asked, buttering her toast.
“I have a date, but I want company when I meet him.”
“Don’t tell me you are going to meet with that BlackSexy person you have been corresponding with on the computer?” Pamela asked waspishly.
“Oh, yes,” Melody said dreamily, “His name is Daren. We moved from computers to phone texting to phone calling, and now we want to meet.”
“Daren from where?” Pamela asked coldly.
“Daren from Barbados. He is actually going to a university here. At first I thought it was
our university but it’s not. So we arranged to meet at Sovereign today at four.”
“I’ll have him investigated,” Pamela snorted. “We have businesses in Barbados. I will just make a call.”
“Okay,” Melody shrugged. “But don’t waste your time. If I come back not liking him, that will be it.”
“I think not,” Geneva said, “you have been so obsessed with this Daren guy that I think you would be devastated if he turned out to be a fake.”
“That may be true,” Melody said thoughtfully. “But I think he is legit. His father is a teacher and his mother a nurse, and they both value education, so he is doing engineering here at UTech.”
“We’ll see about that,” Pamela said. “Well, as for me, I'm not doing anything as risqué as you are. Today I'm going to go through your father’s personal things in the library. Throw out what needs to be thrown and probably renovate it a bit so that it looks more like a woman’s domain. Maybe I’ll find something about your mother in there, Geneva.”
Geneva nodded. “I would really love to know more about her. Since I started school I have been so overwhelmed with work that I haven’t given her much thought.”
“Well, I must admit that I'm just as curious,” Pamela said heavily. “These past few weeks have got me thinking about Stanley and his secrets. I feel as if I need to clear them up and move on with my life.”
Melody looked at her, shocked. “That’s the first honest reaction to this whole business that I have heard from you.”
Pamela looked at her sternly. “I will not discuss my relationship with your father with you, but not everything you see between couples is to be taken at face value.”
Geneva stared at them. “Are we having an honest to goodness family moment here?”
Pamela snorted and stood. “Don’t count on it, Ghetto Queen. You are no family of mine.”
Geneva smiled. “The dragon is back. I was worried for a minute there.”
“Oh, Ronald will be here on August 1 to celebrate Emancipation with us,” Pamela said, ignoring Geneva. “I expect you both to be available for dinner.”
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