His Love Walk

by Vanessa Miller

  “Okay, you’re right. I’ve got my head back in the game. I want this business to succeed, so I’ve got to put in the work.”

  “That’s right, so let’s get this praise party started and then get to work.” Carmella turned on her radio and danced back to the prep table as Tamela Mann sang, “I Can Only Imagine”.

  The two women were a good match. They both loved to praise the Lord and were both determined to live healthy lives and wanted to empower others to do the same.

  Nia glanced at the time on her cell phone. “I have to pick Jarod up in a couple of hours, but I’m sure we can get enough product in the oven before I need to run out.”

  “How’s Jarod settling in at his new preschool?”

  “Considering that they were about to evict him from his last preschool because I couldn’t afford to pay the bill, he better be loving it. I’m so glad your church owns a preschool; they gave me an awesome rate with a scholarship attached.”

  “I know how it is, honey. I’ve been there. When my first husband left me, I thought I was going to lose my house and my mind. But God saw me, Joy and Dontae through. He even sent a wonderful man who had five other children for me to love.”

  “Weren’t you terrified to love someone again since the first try didn’t go so well?”

  “Oh honey, terrified isn’t even close to the way I felt. I had been hurt once and wasn’t about to let another man bring pain like that into my life again. But Ramsey was patient with me and he loved my fear away.”

  “Aww... that sounds like a fairytale.” Nia sat down, put her elbows on the prep table and put her hands under her chin as she said, “Since Johnny died, I haven’t considered anything about my life to be fairytale like.”

  Carmella waved that comment off. “You’re still young; give God time, child. And you watch what I tell you. He’s going to blow your mind with how much of a fairytale your next love story is going to be.”

  ***

  “I have JT Stevens on the line; he wants to talk to you about that investment opportunity you all spoke about a few weeks ago,” Joyce said.

  Ronny had been packing up, getting ready to leave the office so he could make his flight to Raleigh. Nia and Mama Carmella had been working so hard these last few weeks, putting together a product line; he wanted to treat Nia to dinner and a movie tonight and nothing was going to stop him from making his flight. “Tell him that I’ll call him from my car.”

  He caught the sharp intake of breath from Joyce and added, “I’m running late for my flight.”

  “I’ll tell him.”

  Ronny chuckled as he realized that Joyce sounded shocked. She’d better get used to it, Ronny thought as he slung his laptop bag on his shoulder and lifted his briefcase off the desk. As far as Ronny was concerned, the days of not making time to have a life were over. Walking out of the office at four in the afternoon kind of felt like cheating, but for once in his life, Ronny didn’t care, because he had something new to care about. In the past few weeks Nia and Jarod had stolen his heart, and Ronny wasn’t even thinking about calling the police to report the theft... they could keep it.

  ***

  Nia was in a very good mood when she picked Jarod up from school. She and Carmella had perfected a recipe that they were proud to display at the expo and she had a date with a very handsome man tonight. Nia didn’t know what would become of this budding relationship, because Ronny was so consumed with his work that Nia didn’t see where she and Jarod or even God could truly fit into his life.

  She reminded herself that she and Ronny were just getting to know each other... just having fun. She didn’t need to pick every part of his life apart at this point. Just relax and enjoy the moment. It felt good to tell herself that, because Nia hadn’t been able to just relax and enjoy any moment in a long, long time.

  “How was your day, sweetheart?” she asked as Jarod got in the back and buckled his seat belt.

  “Not so good today,” he said with a longsuffering sigh.

  “What happened?”

  “My owl got moved.” Jarod was frowning as he folded his arms across his chest.

  The preschool had a makeshift tree drawn on the wall, each child had an owl and when they followed the rules, their owl stayed on the tree, but if they talked a little too much or acted out in some way, the owl was moved off the tree. The theory was that the child would want to see his or her owl back on the tree, so they would stop acting out in order to make that happen. Nia didn’t know how that system was working for other kids, but her son didn’t like it one bit.

  “What happened that your owl got moved?”

  “Nothing.”

  “It can’t be nothing, Jarod. They don’t just move an owl for no reason, so tell me what happened.”

  He hesitated, then asked, “Why don’t I have a Daddy?”

  “Honey, you know that your dad is in heaven.”

  “But can’t he come for a visit some of the time?”

  She tightened her grip on the steering wheel as she prepared herself for this overdue conversation. “That’s not how it works. Once we go to heaven we stay there and praise God.”

  “Mom?”

  “Yes, Jarod.”

  “Did God give my daddy any parents?”

  Where was all of this coming from? “Yes, of course, hon. Your daddy did have parents.”

  “Are they in heaven with your parents?”

  Nia didn’t know how much more of this morbid conversation she could take without bursting into tears. “No, they aren’t in heaven.”

  “Then why don’t they come visit me? Tyler’s dad and his grandparents came to school to eat lunch with him today. But my dad and grandparents never visit me.”

  Mystery solved. Jarod must have acted out in school today because he was upset by the absence of his grandparents. Now Nia wanted to act out as well, because she didn’t understand it nor could she explain such a thing to a four year old.

  By the time she pulled up in the Thomas family driveway, Nia was no longer excited about her date. What she really wanted to do was to drive to Durham, NC and tell her ex in-laws exactly what she thought about them. How could they blame Jarod for their son’s death? Yes, the two events did occur on the same day. But Jarod didn’t kill his father. Johnny had type 1 diabetes and was always sneaking into the sugar. He was only injecting his insulin once or twice a day, even though the doctor warned that he might need at least four injections per day.

  Nia had loved her husband. But over the years she had come to realize that he hadn’t been a good steward of his health. She had been determined to do things differently with Jarod, which was the reason she’d become so passionate about finding ways to eat better and live a healthier life. Jarod wasn’t always appreciative of her efforts, but he would thank her as he grew older and had no more health issues, other than the asthma he currently dealt with.

  Nia put a snack of celery, carrots and veggie dip on the table for Jarod and then went upstairs to get ready for her date, but her heart still wasn’t in it.

  By the time she came back downstairs, Ronny and Jarod had super hero capes on their backs and were running around the family room with Spiderman, the Hulk, Iron Man and Superman action figures. “What in the world happened in here?” Nia’s hands went straight to her hips as she demanded an answer from her two boys.

  “Mommy, Mommy, look at my new toys. I’ve got a whole bunch of super heroes.”

  Nia shook her head as she looked to Ronny. “You are spoiling him rotten.” Last week, a pirate ship came to the house on a UPS truck, and now he had brought all these super heroes. “You need to slow down,” she warned Ronny.

  “Why? Jarod and I are having fun. If you’re too old to appreciate these things, that’s your fault.”

  Nia grabbed hold of Ronny’s arm and pulled him to the side. “I don’t think you understand what I’m saying. You’re going to confuse Jarod if you keep doing these things.” She and Ronny weren’t serious... there was no ring on her
finger, so she didn’t want her son getting big ideas, especially now that he was asking questions about other things that she could do nothing about.

  “We’re just having fun, Nia, relax.”

  She wanted to shake Ronny in order to get him to open his eyes and see what was happening, but Jarod tugged at his pant leg and brought Nia’s concerns to life.

  “Yes?” Ronny said as he turned from Nia to Jarod.

  “Can you be my daddy?”

  Coughing and stepping back an inch, Ronny looked to Nia for help.

  But she folded her arms and put an I-told-you-so look on her face.

  “I don’t know,” Ronny finally said. “That would be up to your mommy.”

  Nia clenched her fists wanting to punch something. She had wanted to teach Ronny a lesson by not coming to his rescue, but he had thrown everything back to her anyway.

  As Carmella and Ramsey entered the room, Jarod started jumping up and down. “Ooh Mommy, say yes, so that Mrs. Carmella and Mr. Ramsey can be my grandparents.”

  “Hold on.” Ronny put a hand up. “I thought this was about me being your dad. But really, you just want them.” Ronny pointed an accusatory finger towards his parents.

  Jarod ran over and hugged them. As they bent down to take in his hug, Jarod told them, “Ronny’s going to be my daddy so that you can be my grandparents.”

  Nia couldn’t take it anymore. She grabbed her son and escaped with what little dignity she had left.

  Chapter 9

  “What just happened?” Ronny asked his parents as they all looked confused.

  “I’m not sure, but maybe you should go see how they are doing.” Carmella suggested.

  Ronny could handle business and board meetings with the best of them. But he was like a deer caught in highlights when it came to figuring out a woman. He’d rather face down a lion or a bear than deal with an emotional woman. But he headed up those stairs and knocked on Nia’s bedroom door anyway.

  “Now is not a good time,” she said after his second knock.

  “Look Nia, I know you’re upset. If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. I just came up here to see if you and Jarod wanted to hang out and watch a movie or something tonight.”

  There was silence behind the door for a long moment, then the door opened. Nia leaned against it, looking at him with sorrowful eyes. “You didn’t fly over here just to sit and watch a movie with me and Jarod.”

  “I really don’t care what we do, Nia. I just want to be with you. And if you’re not up for a night on the town, then I’m okay with hanging out here. We can do whatever you want. Let’s just do it together, okay?”

  Her eyes softened as a bit of the sadness left her eyes and joy crept its way into her heart. “Honestly, I feel like throwing on some sweats and hanging around the house tonight, but you didn’t fly all the way over here for this.” Taking a deep breath as if settling a matter within herself she added, “Give me thirty minutes with Jarod and then I’ll be ready to go.”

  The wheels started turning in Ronny’s head, he smiled at her. “Okay, meet me downstairs when you’re ready.”

  Ronny rushed back downstairs to find Carmella. When he reached her he said, “I need your help, I want to surprise Nia.”

  “Sure, what do you need me to do?”

  “Do you think you can make a nice meal in thirty minutes and have the table set as if we’re at a 5-star restaurant?”

  Putting her hands on her hips, Carmella said, “Boy, who do you think you’re talking to? You know I can make that happen.”

  Kissing her on the cheek, Ronny said, “I had no doubt. I’ll be right back.” Ronny jumped in his car and made it to the mall in seven minutes flat. This was supposed to be a quick trip to Raleigh and then he planned to be back home, back to business, so he hadn’t brought any of his workout or casual clothes with him. But if lounging around in sweats would make Nia feel better, then he was all about it.

  Running into a sporting goods store he found a clerk and told him that he was looking for his and hers matching jogging suits. The clerk came back with a nice blue, green and white jogging suit that Ronny thought would look good on him and Nia. He purchased those, but then had a thought that caused him to purchase one more item. Ronny changed into his jogging suit before leaving the store and then raced back to his parents’ house.

  The table was set when he returned. Grilled salmon was on top of a bed of spinach with a sweet potato casserole highlighting the plate. “Now I know you didn’t make all of this in,” he glanced at his watch, “twenty-seven minutes.”

  “The sweet potato casserole is from last night’s dinner, but everything else is freshly made.” Carmella then gave him a quizzical look. “I thought you wanted the table set like a 5-star restaurant. Why’d you put on a jogging suit?”

  Before he could answer, Nia entered the room dressed in a beautiful creamy colored dress than made her carmel skin tone sparkle. He admired her for a moment, but then handed her the bag and said, “You’re overdressed. Please go change.”

  “What’s all this?” she asked as she looked into the bag and at the kitchen table.

  “You said you felt like lounging around in sweats and just watching a movie.” He pointed towards his outfit and the table. “Your wish is my command.”

  “So you don’t care if we just stay here and watch a movie?” Nia couldn’t believe what she was seeing or hearing.

  “Can I watch a movie, too?” Jarod asked as he came up behind his mother.

  “Of course you can, buddy, but you’ve got to change into your sweatsuit first.”

  “But I don’t have any sweatsuits.” He turned to Nia and asked, “What’s a sweatsuit?”

  “You do now, your sweats are in the bag that your mother is holding,” Ronnie told him. “You two go and get changed and I’ll set an extra plate on the table.”

  Smiling like she knew a secret that no one else had figured out yet, Carmella said, “Ramsey and I have decided to go out for that dinner and movie that you and Nia are passing on. So, don’t wait up for us.”

  “You ain’t slick,” Ronny told her. But then gave her a hug. “But I do appreciate what you’re doing.”

  “Enjoy yourself, but not too much. This is still my house and not yours.”

  “I gotcha, Mama-Carmella.” Ronny sat down at the table and waited.

  When Nia and Jarod came back into the kitchen, she pointed at him and started laughing. “We look like triplets. You do know that no one does this kind of thing anymore.”

  “You do realize that you’re laughing and smiling again, right? So, I don’t care what anyone else does, if having the three of us dress alike puts a smile like that on your face, then we’re doing this every day.”

  “I doubt if I’d be smiling if you made me dress like you and Jarod every day. So, let’s just have fun with this tonight and then we can all be our original selves by morning.”

  “I don’t see what’s so bad about dressing like me and Jarod. But if you’ve got issues with it, then I guess it’s your loss. Right, Jarod?”

  “Right,” Jarod said as he sat down next to Ronny.

  After dinner Ronny popped some popcorn and the three of them went to the family room and put on a movie. First up was Veggie Tales. Halfway through the movie Jarod fell asleep. Ronny picked him up and took him upstairs to his room. When he came back Nia had already changed the movie to a romantic comedy. He sat down next to her and pulled her close, kissing her on the neck he asked, “Feeling better?”

  “Much. I’m sorry for what happened earlier. I overreacted.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Aren’t you tired of me burdening you with my problems yet?”

  “Never,” he said as he puffed out his chest. “I can handle anything you throw at me.”

  “I wish I didn’t have to throw so much.” Nia sighed with the heaviness of the situation, then said, “Jarod has never seen his grandparents. My parents died before he was born
and Johnny’s parents blame Jarod for their son’s death, so they have refused to be a part of his life.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Ronny had never heard of anything so absurd.

  “I wish I was. But they think that Johnny wouldn’t have had a heart attack if he hadn’t been rushing to the hospital because I was in labor. But the truth of the matter is that Johnny was a type 1 diabetic who refused to take care of his health. His doctors warned that he needed three or four injections of insulin per day, but he would only do one or two. He ate whatever he felt like eating and his blood sugar levels were high most days.”

  “Is this why eating healthy and teaching others to do the same is so important to you? You’re doing this for Johnny?” Ronny felt a tinge of jealousy as he asked the question. He wanted to kick himself for being jealous of a dead man, but he couldn’t help the way he was feeling.

  Nia shook her head. “It’s too late for Johnny. I’m doing this for Jarod. I want him to learn early on how good healthy food can be so he won’t feel the need to load up on things that will just end up sending him to an early grave.”

  “He doesn’t have type 1 does he?”

  “Thankfully, no. And my prayer is that it stays that way. He has enough to deal with from inheriting asthma from my side of the family.”

  Ronny put his hands in Nia’s and began rubbing her palms with his thumbs. “It’s a shame that so many awful diseases and health problems plague the world. I wish for a world where there is truly no more sorrow.”

  Nia took one of her hands away from Ronny’s and pointed upward. “Those days are promised to the believer. Once we are in heaven, we won’t have to deal with the cares of this world ever again.”

  Smiling, Ronny pulled Nia into his arms. “I feel at home when I’m with you. You’re the first woman that has ever made me want to just sit and do nothing but gaze into your eyes for hours on end.”