by Joy Avery
Vivian fixed her mouth to decline the ride, but reconsidered. “Sure.”
They made small talk as they ventured toward the fifth level of the parking deck. At the speed Ronnie drove, Vivian was sure she could have gotten to her car faster on foot. Finally reaching their destination, she thanked Ronnie for the ride. He sat until she slid safely behind the wheel and cranked the engine.
When she tossed up her hand, he drove away. Instead of backing out of her space, Vivian tore into the envelope she’d been given. Her eyes slowly scanned the document addressed to Raleigh’s Housing and Building Standards, Code Enforcement Division.
Noting the signature scribed at the bottom of the damning letter—Alonso P. Wright—her stomach churned and bile coated the back of her throat. She shook her head in disbelief. “No.” She wanted to believe this was some kind of forgery, but there was no mistaking the distinct mark.
* * *
Alonso downed his third cup of French vanilla–flavored coffee. He wasn’t sure how, but Vivian had converted him into a java drinker. Now he couldn’t get enough of the stuff. To say he was tired would have been an understatement. It’d been eleven when he’d left the hospital the night before and close to midnight before he’d gotten home—courtesy of the sheets of rain and reckless drivers. Then he’d gone over his presentation one last time, because he needed it perfect.
It’d been close to two in the morning before he’d crawled into bed. He rotated his head. If he hadn’t needed the adrenaline rush, he would have skipped the gym and claimed that extra hour of sleep.
The smile he’d witnessed on Vivian’s face made his lack of quality sleep worth it. Damn, he loved that woman and missed her when she wasn’t around. Maybe after his meeting, he’d hightail it across town and slide under the covers with her. What better way to spend a rainy Thursday than falling asleep with the woman he loved snuggled in his arms? Yeah, that sounded like one hell of a good plan.
“Mr. Wright, the mayor has just arrived. I’ve shown him into the conference room.”
Alonso glanced at his watch. The mayor was early. He took that as a good sign that the man was eager to hear his presentation. “Thank you, Jessica. Buzz me when the others arrive.”
“Will d—Whoa.”
Jessica’s words alarmed him. “What’s wrong?”
“Um... Ms. Moore...”
Before Jessica finished the thought, his office door flung open and Vivian stalked in. The hairdo that had been flawless mere hours earlier was now a mop of soggy curls. The purple scrubs he’d wanted so desperately to rip off her were soaked and clung to her body.
He rounded his desk. “Vi, baby—”
With an outstretched arm, she warned him off. He realized the wetness on her face hadn’t come from the rain but from her tears. A feeling of doom consumed him. What the hell was going on?
“On the drive over, I thought about all of the things I would say to you. Tell you how I’d believed you. How I’d trusted you. How I’d allowed myself to love you like I’ve never loved another man.” She shook her head and shrugged. “Standing here, I no longer see the purpose. None of it matters anymore.”
“Vivian, tell me what’s wrong.”
“Mr. Wright?”
“What!” Shit. He hadn’t meant to yell at Jessica. His confusion had him aggravated. Kneading his now throbbing temple, he calmed his tone. “Yes, Jessica?”
“They’re waiting for you in the conference room.”
“Let them know I’ll be there momentarily.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Vivian—”
Vivian slung a folder toward him. “If you want my house that bad...” She removed a key from her ring and hurled that at him, too. “It’s yours.” As she backed away, she said, “Stay away, Alonso. Just...stay away.”
Before he could say another word, she bolted from his office. He tore into the envelope and removed the single page inside. His stomach knotted. Rounding his desk, he yanked open his drawer. Of course the letter he’d written so long ago wasn’t there, because it was in his hand.
He saw red. Balling the paper in a tight fist, he propped himself against his desk. He clenched his teeth so hard it hurt. “Garth,” he said in a growl.
But how in the hell had he gotten the letter out of—He paused, his eyes sliding toward his door. Pressing a button on his phone, he said, “Jessica, may I see you, please?”
Chapter 23
Vivian could feel Tressa’s eyes boring into her when she allowed yet another call from Alonso to go unanswered. She refused to acknowledge her friend because, without asking, she knew what Tressa was thinking. That she was being unfair. Of course Tressa would never tell her that, because the woman was the epitome of support.
Rocking in the chair on Tressa’s porch, Vivian closed her eyes and enjoyed the warm breeze brushing across her face.
“Vi,” Tressa said gently, “you can’t keep ignoring him. You two need to talk. Give him an opportunity to explain. He deserves that much.”
He deserved nothing. And she didn’t want to talk to him. She’d said everything she’d needed to say three days ago in his office. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing else left to talk about or explain. He’d deceived her. How could he explain that away?
Still, the pain she felt was real. He’d lied to her from the beginning. The idea of him being the one responsible for the city coming down on her made the hurt that much worse. She’d spent thousands she didn’t have, because of the man who’d claimed to love her.
Vivian’s eyes opened slowly, a stray tear escaping from the corner. “He looked me dead in my eyes and lied to me, Tressa.”
Granted, they had been nothing more than strangers at the time she’d confronted him about the letter from the city she’d received. Now they were so much more. She scolded herself. How had she allowed herself to fall in love with a man capable of being so devious?
“I blame myself. I should have known he was lying. He’s a man and his lips were moving. Why would I believe anything he had to say now? How could he do this to me, Tressa? I... I thought he loved me,” she said in a whisper.
“Vivian, he didn’t know you then. Not like he knows you now. Several months ago you were just business. Now you’re everything to him. Anyone can see that. Just observing the way he looks at you melts my heart. He does love you, Vi. Deep down you know this.”
All she knew was that she was angry as hell. At herself. At Alonso. At love in general. “He’s had hundreds of opportunities to come clean, but he chose not to.”
“And if he had? What would you have done?”
Vivian blew a heavy breath. She didn’t know. But if he’d just been honest with her, maybe she could have forgiven him. Instead, he’d continued to perpetrate the lie. Every moment she’d spent with him had been based on a lie.
“He was afraid of losing you, Vi. In his shoes, I might have done the same thing.” Her voice lowered. “Hell, I am doing the same thing.”
Vivian knew Tressa was referring to her not telling her fiancé about kissing Roth.
Tressa continued, “You might have done the same thing. No one wants to lose the person they love. Have you even considered why someone would deliver you a copy of that letter? It’s obvious they wanted to sabotage your relationship.”
Yes, she had. But why? Why would anyone want—A face appeared in her head.
“Vi? What’s wrong?”
“The last time we were at The Underground, Alonso introduced me to someone he used to do business with. It was obvious there was some tension between the two of them. He’d given me a bad feeling.”
“Would he have had access to the letter?”
Vivian shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess. I don’t know.” Vivian massaged her throbbing temple. “It doesn’t matter how the lette
r got to me. It got to me. And it was Alonso’s signature on it. No one else’s.”
Tressa sat forward in her chair. “I’m just going to say it, Vi. That stupid letter is irrelevant. You have doubt. Understandable. And if that doubt is stronger than your love for Alonso, then hell, maybe you should move on. But I know you love him, too. And I also think you’re overreacting.”
Vivian’s lips parted to say something, but she reconsidered her words. Instead, she reclined her head back again and closed her eyes. She didn’t have enough energy for another battle in her life. No one could tell her how she should react because no one knew the courage it had taken for her to love Alonso.
* * *
Alonso tried to tune out the chatter going on around him inside Hamilton’s place. He didn’t give a damn what Roth or Hamilton had to say, he was mad as hell. And he had the right to be. For days, he’d tried to plead his case to Vivian, but she’d shut him out of her life as if he hadn’t meant shit to her.
He sprang forward, resting his elbows on his legs. Damn right he was pissed. And if she no longer wanted anything to do with him, that was fine and all right with him. A minute later, he slumped back into the sofa cushion. Who the hell was he kidding? He was miserable without her.
“You should try calling her again,” Roth said.
“No.”
Roth made a disapproving sound. “So that’s it? You’re just going to let her slip away?”
“Yep.”
Hamilton placed what looked like spinach artichoke dip on the table in front of them. “You gon’ let that damn stubbornness make you lose the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”
Alonso groaned and allowed his head to fall back against the cushion. “Are we here to celebrate or discuss my messed-up love life?”
Though he had gone into the meeting with the city officials half off his game, he’d been able to convince everyone in the room that supporting his project was a win-win for them all and especially for the community. And when he’d tossed in the publicity angle, they’d supported his initiative wholeheartedly.
The win should have made him extremely happy, but he didn’t have the woman he loved to share the triumph with. Plus, she’d been the driving factor behind the project.
“You know I love you, man, but I gotta put this out there. You’re a damn idiot.” Roth half laughed, half sighed. “Do you know how blessed you are? You’ve found the woman of your dreams—your words, not mine—and you’re not going to fight for her?”
“Y’all are making me out to be the bad guy here. Are you forgetting that she claimed to love me yet believed I was capable of sending that letter?”
“Ta-hee-hee. Boy, are you forgetting that you were capable of sending it? Didn’t you tell us you wrote the letter?”
Yeah, he had. Alonso hung his head, a wave of brutal shame washing over him. “That was the old me. The new me would never hurt anyone like that. Especially her.”
Roth clapped Alonso on the shoulder. “That’s the Alonso she needs to see. The one who would never hurt her. That’s the one she fell in love with.”
“Yeah, well, how do I show her that man when I can’t even get her to look at me?”
Hamilton laughed. “Ta-hee-hee. I think I can help with that.”
Chapter 24
Vivian was a mess. She wasn’t sure how she’d managed to hold it together, but she had. Maybe because she’d immersed herself in work. Staying busy was supposed to keep her mind off Alonso. Much good it did.
Even though it’d been a week since the last time he’d reached out to her, she thought about him every waking moment and dreamed about him every sleeping one. That, of course, was when she slept.
She slammed her hand against the cold metal of her locker, tears clouding her eyes. All she wanted to do was forget him. Why couldn’t she forget him? Forget him as swiftly as he’d shattered her heart.
“Ms. Moore.”
Vivian jerked at the sound of Ms. Kasetta’s arid tone and swiped at her eyes. All she needed was for the woman to think she couldn’t perform her job effectively, which at the moment might have been true. Without making eye contact, she said, “Morning, Ms. Kasetta.” She shifted the opposite direction and moved toward the exit with her head low.
“You’re a rare breed, Ms. Moore.”
Vivian stopped shy of the door. What did that mean?
“I see you. Doing things others won’t do. Volunteering before even being asked. Eagerly assisting your coworkers. Treating patients like family.”
Vivian slowly rotated toward her. As always, the woman stood straight as a brick wall, stone-faced, her hands cupped behind her back. Vivian had no idea how to respond, because she had no idea where the conversation was headed. “Thank you.” I think.
“I see a lot. Which is how I know something is off with you.”
Obviously Vivian hadn’t done as good of a job as she’d thought of keeping her personal and professional lives separate. Who was she kidding? Of course she hadn’t. She was in the damn lounge crying over a man.
Ms. Kasetta continued, “I don’t know what is going on—”
“I’m just—”
“—and I’m not sure I need to know.”
Vivian clammed up like a child who’d just been given “that look” by a parent. She imagined the proverbial look Ms. Kasetta had given her translated to: get it together. When Ms. Kasetta ambled past her and out the room, Vivian released the breath she’d been strangling.
When her cell phone rang inside her locker, she jolted. She’d meant to put it on vibrate, but just like everything else lately, she’d dropped the ball on that, too. By the time she’d gotten to the device, she’d missed the call. Checking the caller ID revealed it’d been Hamilton.
Despite what had happen between her and Alonso, she liked Hamilton a lot and would continue to do anything she could to help him. Pressing the callback button, she waited for Hamilton’s jolly voice to dance over the line.
“Hello?”
“Hamilton? It’s Vivian. I just missed your call. Is everything okay?”
“Ta-hee-hee. Everything’s fine, pretty lady. Just can’t get this darn machine to come on. I know how important you said it is to check my numbers, but this doggone contraption won’t strike a lick. I know you’re busy and all, but I was sho’ hoping you could swing by and take a look at it sometime.”
Vivian laughed to herself. The last time Hamilton couldn’t get his glucose meter to work, the drum of test strips had been empty. The next time, he’d put the batteries in backward. She wondered what would be the issue this go-round. “Anything for you. I can be there around seven this evening. Is that okay?”
“Fine. Just fine. I sho’ do appreciate you and I’ll see you at seven.”
Ending the call with Hamilton, Vivian took a deep breath. It was time she got her head back in the game and forced Alonso Wright out of her system.
* * *
Alonso didn’t like the idea of ambushing Vivian, despite how badly he wanted to see her. When she got to Hamilton’s place tonight and saw him there, he was sure she would go ballistic. If she’d wanted to see him, she would have taken one of his numerous calls.
Hamilton’s words rang in his ears: sometimes we need to be pushed in the right direction. Alonso was sure Vivian wouldn’t think moving toward him was the right direction. She seemed determined to get as far away from him as she could.
He just needed her to listen. A courtesy she’d denied him. After tonight, if she still wanted nothing to do with him, he would respect that. As difficult as it would be, he would let her go.
The thought knotted his stomach. He lifted the picture of her from his desk and stared at it. If he could only go back in time. Her absence had been pure hell. He hadn’t been able to manage a week without her. How in t
he hell would he manage forever?
“You changed me, woman,” he said, then returned the frame back to his desk.
Changed him for the better, which was why he hadn’t retaliated against Garth. He’d been poised to ruin the man. And he could have with one call. But Vivian’s sweet voice had floated into his head: we were put here to help people, not hurt them. Garth would never know this, but he owed Vivian...everything.
Two hours later, he stood face-to-face with a confused Vivian in Hamilton’s living room. He’d expected her to turn on her heels and flee once she saw him, but so far, that hadn’t happened. He took it as a good sign.
His lips parted, but no words escaped. The only thing he could process was how beautiful she was and how much he’d missed her. Obviously she’d come there straight from work because she was still wearing hot-pink scrubs.
The tips of his fingers tingled. All he wanted to do was reach out and touch her. Twirl one of her bouncy curls around his finger like he did when she was snuggled in his arms. So many beautiful moments flooded him that his chest tightened as if he were drowning in the memories.
“Where’s Hamilton?” she asked.
Vivian’s words pulled him back to reality. “Ah, he’s not here.” Instantly, her demeanor shifted. Alonso assumed it’d dawned on her that she’d been set up. “Don’t blame Ham.”
“I don’t.” She turned to leave.
“Take a ride with me.” His words clearly stunned Vivian, because she stopped so abruptly he thought she’d topple over.
Facing him, she said, “Why would I do that?”
“Please, Vivian.” Her expression softened a hint and it gave him minimal hope. “Please.”
Vivian rolled her eyes away. “Where?”
“I can’t tell you.”
Her eyes darted back to him. “Why?”
