Her Christmas Wish ; Designed by Love

by Sherelle Green

  They opened the door to the restaurant and were welcomed by her parents and some family friends, who were all eating, drinking and celebrating.

  “Sweetie, you made it,” her mom said, pulling her in for a hug.

  “Hey, Mom. Happy anniversary!”

  “Is that my sweet pea?” her dad asked, pulling her toward him. “I’ve missed seeing you around here. Are you sure you aren’t ready to move back home?”

  “Not yet, Dad,” she said with a laugh. “But I’m sure you already knew that.”

  He shrugged. “It was worth a try.”

  “Your brothers are on the second level,” her mom said, looking from her to Luke. “Luke, honey. Glad you could make it.”

  Luke leaned down to hug Mrs. Reed. “I’m happy to be here. You know, you and Mr. Reed have always been like second parents to me.”

  “And you’re like a son to us,” she said, beaming just as Kyra’s dad pulled Luke into a conversation about real estate.

  “So you and Luke, huh?” her mom asked once her dad was distracted.

  “We traveled here together if that’s what you mean.”

  “That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Mrs. Reed leaned closer to Kyra. “You both seem happier than I’ve ever seen you. Took him long enough to notice how special my baby girl is.”

  Kyra’s eyes widened. “You mean, you suspected something was going on in LA?”

  “Child, please. I’m your mother. You’ve had a crush on that boy since you were a little girl and I suspected the reason you stopped coming around whenever you heard he was at the house visiting was because he didn’t know how to accept his feelings.”

  “I guess it was something like that,” she said. “I don’t think he liked me like that back then, though. His feelings seem more recent.”

  “Sweetie, please tell me you’re not that blind. That man has liked you for far too long and dated many women who weren’t right for him to try and fill the void of the one who was. And I wasn’t the only one who noticed. Your dad and Ajay brought it up to me years ago, especially after Taheim’s wedding, when things seemed awkward between you. We could all tell how you two felt about each other, but it wasn’t our place. Y’all had to get there on your own and judging by the way he keeps smiling over here at you while he talks to your father proves that you both have come a long way.”

  Kyra smiled. “Yeah, things have been pretty great in LA. We’re officially boyfriend and girlfriend now.”

  “Aww, thanks for telling me that, baby,” her mom said, giving her a hug. “Athena called me while you were in St. Lucia and gave me an update, but I told her I’d hoped you would tell me yourself when you’re ready.”

  Kyra rolled her eyes. “I should have known you and Mrs. O’Connor were talking about us. She kept giving me this look while I was there and it made me feel like I was missing something.”

  “You’re our kids. Of course we were talking about you. We knew the two of you would end up together eventually, we just didn’t know it would take so long. Athena is ready for some grandbabies and I’m ready to see my daughter become a mom.”

  Kyra blinked. “Uh, moving a little fast, don’t you think?”

  “Absolutely not. You’ve known each other most your lives. In some situations, I agree, a couple should date first for a good amount of time before moving to the next step. However, in this case, sweetie, you both aren’t getting any younger. You’ve never felt about any man the way you seem to feel about Luke.”

  Kyra sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. He’s always had my heart.”

  “And you’ve always had his. I liked that loud-talking girl he dated—um, what was her name?”

  “Meeka,” Kyra informed her.

  “Right, Meeka. They were good together, but not the way you and Luke are together. I always thought that if they’d ended up together, he always would have wondered ‘what if?’”

  “He said something similar,” Kyra confessed. “Do you think Taheim ever picked up on our feelings for one another?”

  Mrs. Reed waved off her question. “That son of mine was too busy chasing around anything in a skirt to notice that his best friend had feelings for his sister. But now, I think he may suspect something thanks to Winter planting the seed.”

  “Guess that means we should talk to him.”

  “You should,” Mrs. Reed said. “The others are waiting upstairs for the conversation.”

  “Dang,” Kyra gasped. “They couldn’t even wait until after your party.”

  “No, they couldn’t. You know your brothers. Besides, your father and I are ready for you to talk to them so that the party can continue without any awkwardness. Your brothers are reasonable. Just talk to them.”

  “Okay,” she said with a sigh. “I’ll tell Luke we have to talk to them now.”

  “Good. And word of advice, please let Luke do most of the talking. Your brothers will want to hear from you, too, but they need to hear from Luke more than they need to hear from you.”

  Kyra nodded. “Understandable. I will.”

  * * *

  “Is it just me or does it feel like we’re walking before a jury ready to defend our relationship?” Luke asked.

  “It does,” Kyra said with a laugh. “But we have to get this over with and my mom told me now was the time.”

  Luke nodded. “I still can’t believe my mom told your mom before we got a chance to.”

  “I’m relieved,” she said. “Your mom told my mom and my mom told my dad, so they were already used to the idea before we got here.

  “Is Nash going to make it to the party?”

  “Not sure,” Luke said. “The plan was for him to come, but we had a big corporate office stop by looking for a property ASAP. So we have a lot of work ahead of us and Nash is leading that charge. He said if he can get away, he may stop by tomorrow for the brunch.”

  Kyra nodded. “Sounds good. I just thought he’d make a good buffer.”

  Luke stopped once they were around the corner from where her brothers were at and pulled her to him. “Maybe this will help ease your tension.” He dropped his lips down to hers, kissing her in a way that he hoped would distract her. He knew she’d rather be doing anything other than talking to her brothers right now, but Luke hoped she knew he would be by her side every step of the way.

  Once he felt some of the tension leave her shoulders, they both took a deep breath and rounded the corner. Luke had figured that his friends would be engrossed in conversation or something, but to his surprise, when he and Kyra walked in on them, everyone glanced at them as if the topic of the hour had finally arrived.

  Luke had expected Taheim, Winter, Ajay and Autumn to be there, but he hadn’t expected to see his other best friend, Jaleen, his wife, Danni, and Winter and Autumn’s sister, Summer, along with her husband, Aiden.

  “Uh, hey, everyone,” Kyra said, seemingly as surprised as Luke was.

  “Hey, sis,” Taheim said, standing from his seat. “Hey, Luke.”

  “Hey, man,” Luke said, prepared for what would come next, but dreading it nonetheless.

  “Care to tell me why you waited so long to tell me you were sleeping with my sister?”

  Winter hit Taheim on the arm. “I told you to ask him if they were dating, not imply they’re sleeping together.”

  Taheim shrugged. “Figured I would skip the obvious since we already know they are dating.”

  “How would you know that?” Kyra asked.

  “Mrs. O’Connor posted a picture of y’all on her Facebook page. Anyone with a set of eyes could tell.”

  Luke shook his head. Note to self: tell my mom she doesn’t need to post everything on Facebook. “I think that’s a private question, but we’ve been officially dating for a couple weeks now. Had I not had my head up my ass, we would have started dating years ago.”

 
“Way to tell him, Luke,” Jaleen said with a laugh. In turn, Danni hit his arm as well. “What did I say?”

  “Let them talk this out,” Danni said. “They don’t need any feedback from the peanut gallery.”

  “Then why are we all in this small-ass room looking like this is a scene from The Godfather?” Jaleen said. “Besides, Luke has had a crush on Kyra for years. I’m shocked he waited this long to get her in his bed.” Danni slapped his arm again and Taheim pinned him with a hard stare.

  “You’re not helping, Jay,” Luke said.

  He shrugged. “My bad, dog. I’ll take my wife’s advice and shut up.”

  “Good idea,” Ajay said, standing from his chair and walking over to them. “Unlike Taheim, I’ve always known how you guys felt about each other, but I think we should talk about this more privately.” Ajay glanced to the group. “Do you all mind if Taheim and I talk to Luke?”

  “Can I stay?” Kyra asked.

  Ajay shook his head. “Nah, sis. We need to talk without. But give us ten minutes and everyone can come back in so we can enjoy the rest of the night.”

  Everyone began filing out of the room. “You got us kicked out,” Aiden whispered to Jaleen on the way out. “This was the most entertainment I’ve had in months.”

  Once the room emptied, Luke remained standing and faced Taheim and Ajay. “It was never my intention to keep you both in the dark for long,” he said. “Kyra and I just needed to do this without the input of the people who mean the most to us.”

  Ajay nodded. “You and I have had this conversation before. I’ve always known how you felt about her, so I get it.”

  Taheim looked to Ajay. “I didn’t have a clue. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because you still look at Kyra like she’s a little girl instead of a thirty-one-year-old woman,” Ajay answered. “When I talked to Luke, he was still in denial about how he really felt, so I didn’t think I needed to tell you anything.”

  “I was in denial for years,” Luke said. “At first, I blamed it on my relationship with the both of you. Then I convinced myself our age difference had more to do with it. But to be honest, I never thought I was good enough for Kyra. Not after I found out how much my dad was cheating on my mom and how much his dad had cheated on my grandmother. He said it was in our blood to suck at marriage and somewhere along the line, I started believing him.”

  “You were always a better man than your father was,” Taheim said. “And any man who will walk out of his son’s life after breaking apart his family isn’t a man at all. I agree, you’re not good enough for Kyra, but that’s only because I feel like no man is good enough for my sister.”

  Luke nodded. “Fair enough. I’d be the same way if I had a sister.”

  “You’re a good guy,” Ajay added. “But I’m sure you already know how much Kyra means to us. We’d kill for her and hurt anyone who would dare hurt her. You may be fam by choice, but we wouldn’t hesitate to put you in your place if you ever did anything to hurt her.”

  “I understand,” Luke said. “I wouldn’t expect anything less and I’d never do anything to purposely hurt her.”

  “So it is serious then?” Taheim asked. “You aren’t just dating her just because?”

  “It’s very serious,” Luke exclaimed. “She’s it for me, fellas. I know it’s too soon to start talking to her about marriage, but I’m dating her now with the goal of marriage in mind. I think it’s never worked out with those other women because I was always meant to be with Kyra. She makes me want to be a better man and my only regret is that it took me so long to get to where I’m at with her today.”

  Taheim looked at Ajay, the two of them sharing a smile. “In that case, we give you our blessing to date our sister.”

  Luke nodded his head. “I appreciate it, man, and I’m sure Kyra will, too.”

  “She never needed our blessing, but we figured you would want it,” Ajay said. “Kyra’s gonna do what Kyra’s gonna do despite how we may feel about it.”

  Luke laughed, his heart full now that he’d spoken with his friends. “Ain’t that the truth.” The three of them caught up some more before the others began coming back into the room. Luke was glad the conversation had taken place when they arrived because now he could focus on having fun and enjoying himself. However, while he enjoyed catching up on everyone’s lives, he was even more grateful that he’d kept his downtown condo because he’d always imagined having Kyra up there with him, seeing the sunrise over the lake from his bedroom balcony. There was nothing like a St. Lucia sunrise and sunset, but he’d like to think his little Chicago haven was a close second.

  Chapter 16

  “Okay, sis, spill the details,” Winter said, taking a sip of her mimosa. “We wanted to ask last night, but the group never parted long enough for us to get the inside scoop.”

  Kyra laughed as she looked at Winter, Autumn, Summer and Danni, who were all looking at her expectantly. Unfortunately, Nash hadn’t been able to fly to Chicago, so Kyra and Luke still had no one they could redirect the attention to.

  At the start of brunch, Kyra had assumed everyone would be talking about her parents’ party last night, but instead, everyone was spread out at different tables and her sisters-in-law and friends had managed to corner her in a separate section.

  “We’ve heard some of the story from Nicole and Aaliyah,” Danni said. “They called to check on us and couldn’t stop gushing about how cute you and Luke were.”

  “She’s right,” Summer confirmed. “Then we got here and realized that Winter and Autumn hadn’t gotten to talk to you yet.”

  Kyra shook her head. It seemed even if she and Luke had thought they could still keep their relationship a secret, it wouldn’t have worked. They were the talk of their group. “Well, since it seems to be common knowledge, I’ve had a crush on Luke for years. But on my twenty-first birthday, when I’d finally gotten enough courage to tell him how I feel, he rejected me in the worst way he could have.” She shivered even still thinking about it.

  “Men are dense sometimes,” Winter said. “It’s obvious that he felt the same way and couldn’t handle it.”

  “It’s obvious now,” Kyra stated. “Back then, it really wasn’t.”

  “He’s clearly trying to make up for lost time,” Autumn said. “He hasn’t stopped looking this way since we all sat down.”

  Kyra glanced toward Luke, who smiled back at her. Not that she could have stopped it, but her heartbeat quickened at the sight of him.

  “Y’all are too cute,” Summer said. “I understand what it’s like to have feelings for someone and it feel like it takes you forever to get to where you are today. It was like that with me and Aiden, too. My advice is to make the most of it now. Don’t focus on the time lost, but rather, the time you have now. Together.”

  Kyra swallowed back some emotion. “I’ve been telling myself that every day, but it helps to hear a reminder. I guess a part of me is also nervous because the man I’m started to get real feelings for is the same man who broke my heart all those years ago.” Kyra looked back to the women. “I won’t drag out the details, but he said words to me that night that I have never forgotten. In a way, those words molded how I handled the men that came after him.”

  “That’s a tough pill to swallow,” Winter said. “Have you told Luke how much he hurt you?”

  “Sort of, but I’m not sure. I wanted to spend time making him pay for what he did while he helped me find a condo and a space for the new shop. I wanted him to feel that pain I’d felt back then.”

  “Guess that didn’t work out,” Autumn said. “Or did it?”

  Kyra shook her head. “I failed miserably because instead of spending time with him to make him sweat it out, it just reminded me of all the reasons I fell for him in the first place.”

  “Ain’t that how it always goes,” Danni said with a sigh. “Men walk o
ut of our lives, drive us crazy in the process, then walk back in and all you’re thinking about is how much you will make him pay, but instead, you end up falling further in love.”

  “Cupid is cruel,” Summer added. “But now is the time for you and Luke to work through all those feelings you have. Men think that they can just proclaim their love while all we’re doing is waiting for them to do so when that’s not the case at all. Just like he needed time to figure out how he felt about you, you should be given that same courtesy to work through your feelings about him now.”

  “We all know Luke’s a good man,” Winter said. “But, sis, he’s talking to the guys about spending forever with you. To him, he’s acknowledged how he feels and he’s ready to go out and buy a ring. And as sweet as that is that he finally caught a clue, you have to be okay with knowing that you are allowed to take the time you need to figure things out.”

  “You don’t work on his time schedule,” Autumn stated. “You work on yours and you don’t want to go into a marriage with resentment for things that happened a decade ago, when maybe all it takes is a conversation to work it out.”

  “But what if he thinks we’ve already worked through it?” Kyra asked. “In St. Lucia, we had a conversation about that and he apologized. Honestly, ladies, he’s apologized for it so many times throughout the years, that I’m starting to wonder if something is wrong with me because I can’t seem to shake how I feel. I accept his apology, but a part of me is still upset for what he did and I know it makes me so spoiled for saying that.”

  “It doesn’t make you spoiled,” Summer said. “You are allowed to still be upset over something that changed who you are as a person. You don’t have to apologize for needing time to figure you out. Too many times, women apologize for having too many emotions about a situation when we are rightfully allowed to feel whatever we want, whenever we want.”