by Tina Martin
She missed working at E & A. Being a lawyer wasn’t her passion, but she was good at it. It kept her busy – kept her mind off of the problems in her life since she was so busy solving other people’s problems. She could use a distraction as she sat on the bed in her hotel suite with the remote control by her side, staring at the TV.
Bored, she walked over to the windows and took in the beautiful, fall mountain scenery. An orangey sun was slipping past the horizon and she couldn’t help but think about how, a year ago when she’d married Harding, she’d been standing at the window in their honeymoon suite with a glass of champagne when he circled his arms around her. She closed her eyes and remembered:
“Mmm, I love this feeling,” she said. “We’re married!”
“Yes. We’re married. I made a Champion out of you baby.”
She laughed. “I’m glad to be one.”
“Real talk though…you were already a champion even before I married you. You’re smart, sexy and you have an honest heart. I love you, Savannah.”
Savannah turned around, stared into his darkened eyes and saw sparks of passion beaming back at her. “I love you, too, Harding. Always.”
________
She turned away from the view to look back at her ringing cell phone she’d left on the bed next to the TV remote. With a lackadaisical stroll, she walked there to see who the caller was. When she saw it was her mother, she rolled her eyes.
“Hello, Mother.”
“The help, Savannah? You’re pregnant by some wannabe business owner? What’s wrong with you? Why on earth would you be so careless when you had it made? I thought your expectations were higher.”
Savannah’s chest tightened to the point that she placed her right hand there and struggled to breathe properly. “Mother, I love you and I respect you, even though you make both so difficult to do. But I will not let you disrespect me or my husband. He may not be up to par with your insurmountable standards—truth be told, no one is—but he far exceeds mine and I love him. That’s more than what you can say about dad, right?”
“Watch your mouth, girl.”
“You tolerate dad because he’s the fulfiller of your outrageous dreams. Your puppet. He keeps the money rolling in, but tell me this—when was the last time you actually kissed dad or gave him a hug? Better yet, when was the last time you two actually slept in the same bed?”
“Now, you wait a minute lil’ girl…”
“No, you wait! Tell me—do you still love dad? Does he still light your fire because my husband does? It doesn’t matter when we argue or don’t see eye-to-eye. I still love him. I was so afraid to tell you about Harding and looking back, I don’t know why because your marriage seriously sucks. So, you keep pretending, mother. Keep going to your boujee meetings and rubbing shoulders with people who don’t even like you and I’ll resume my life. When you’re ready to have a legit conversation with me that doesn’t involve belittling me or my husband, call me. Until then, I’m cutting you off. Do not call me and do not contact my husband.”
“Savannah—”
“Goodbye, Mother.”
Savannah hung up then dropped the phone on the bed, sat down and buried her face in her hands. When her heart rate slowed, she picked up her phone again and dug around in her purse to find Dante’s business card. She dialed his cell phone number.
“Dante Champion,” he answered.
“Hey, Dante. It’s Savannah. I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.”
“No, you’re good. How can I help you, Savannah?”
“I was calling to talk about your offer.”
“All right. Have you made a decision?”
“Yes. I accept.”
“You do?” Dante asked.
“Yes. Why do you sound surprised?”
“Two reasons. First of all, I didn’t expect you to answer so quickly. Second, I had my doubts that you would want to relocate here.”
“Why? It’s not like I have a wide range of options. There’s no way I’m going back to Charleston and Wilmington isn’t looking too promising.”
“Tell me…what did Harding have to say about your decision?”
“Nothing. I haven’t told him.”
“You haven’t told him?” Dante repeated, not because he hadn’t heard her correctly, but for emphasis. He wanted her to think about what she’d said. It really didn’t matter that they were at odds. She still should’ve told Harding about her decision as far as he was concerned.
“No. I didn’t tell him. We’re not exactly on level ground right now, so—”
“You’re going to move to Asheville and not tell him?”
“I’ll tell him, eventually.”
Dante sighed heavily. “This troubles me.”
“Why? You knew me and Harding weren’t together when you offered me the job, Dante.”
“You’re right. I did.” After a few moments, Dante asked, “How soon can you start?”
“Monday. I want to start working, learning and getting acquainted with everyone as soon as I can.” That way, I can have a distraction from my messed up life.
“Sounds good, and by the way, you’re welcome to stay at my home if you would like. I’ve already cleared it with Emily.”
“I don’t know if you can handle two pregnant women under one roof, Dante, but I appreciate the offer. This hotel I’m staying at is pretty nice. I have a beautiful suite and it’ll do until I find a more permanent place to stay.”
“Well, at least let me cover the charges.”
“That’s okay. I appreciate it, though.”
“Well, if you need anything, let me know. I’ll text you the address to TCC after we hang up.”
“No need. I looked it up on the Internet last night.”
“Did you?”
“Yes. I did my homework.”
“In that case, I’m going to have Tennyson give you a pop quiz come Monday morning.”
Savannah giggled. “Who’s Tennyson?”
“He’s the only attorney we have working in legal at the moment. You’ll be sitting with him for training. I’ll introduce you two on Monday.”
“Okay,” Savannah said. “I’ll see you bright and early.”
“All right. Take care.”
* * *
When Dante ended the call with Savannah, he called Desmond and said, “Savannah took the job.”
“She did?”
“Yeah. Now, we need to get Harding to agree to the freelance offer you gave him.”
“He seemed interested, but you have to remember, he has obligations with his business in Wilmington,” Desmond said.
“Then maybe he can shift some things around. We need to find a way to get him here and ready to upgrade our security systems by Monday morning.”
“Savannah’s starting on Monday, huh?” Desmond asked.
“Yes.” Dante grinned. “Bright and early.”
“All right. I’ll give Harding a call. Any special perks you want to offer him?”
“Just make him an offer he can’t refuse.”
Desmond chuckled. “Okay, Godfather.”
Dante laughed, too. “Seriously, though. I don’t care how generous it is. We have to get him here with Savannah so these two can see how much they still love each other. If she’s relocating here, chances are he will, too.”
“Right. Okay. I’ll come up with something.”
“All right, Des. Keep me posted.”
Chapter 34
“What’s going on, caveman?” Mordecai quipped, stepping into Harding’s house.
“What are you doing here, Mordecai? Don’t you have some jumping jacks to do?”
“Ha, ha, ha. Funny.” Mordecai sat on the couch. “My five o’clock canceled, so I figured I’d come over here and shoot the breeze.”
“And why are you calling me a caveman?”
“Because it’s Thursday, and this is the first time I’ve seen you since we got back from Asheville.”
“I do have a business to r
un, remember? I had to play catch-up the last few days. And then there’s the business with Savannah and all. Zoe’s pissed at me, but she did call to inform me that Savannah took a position at The Champion Corporation in their legal department.”
“Savannah’s still in Asheville?” Mordecai asked with his eyebrows raised.
“Yes, and from the looks of things, she’s not coming back.” Harding stretched out his legs and closed his eyes.
“Now what?” Mordecai asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I know you’re not going to leave it off like that.”
“I can’t leave it like that. Besides the fact that I love her, she’s pregnant with my child.”
“Savannah’s pregnant!” Mordecai said with wide eyes.
“Yes. I thought you knew by now.”
“How would I know?”
“Because Zoe knows.”
“Well, she didn’t say anything to me. Wow! Congratulations, man. You’re going to be a dad!”
A small smile shaped his lips. “Yes. I’m going to be a father, but first, I have to get my girl back.”
“How do you plan on doing that? I mean, if she’s actually moving to Asheville, would you walk away from the life you’ve built here to move there?”
Harding thought for a moment about the freedom that came with owning his own business. He’d never been good at working for anyone. He enjoyed being his own boss. He could set his own hours, do his own thing, run his company the way he wanted to run it. Did he really want to give that up, start over in a new city after he’d already built up a clientele here in Wilmington? Or maybe he could convince Savannah to come back to Wilmington. But what if she already had her mind made up? Even worse, what if she’d made her mind up about them? That it was over. That he didn’t get a second chance.
“Harding?”
Harding glanced up at Mordecai. “I—I don’t know what I’m going to do at the moment.”
Just then, his phone rang. Harding didn’t recognize the number, but he did recognize the Asheville area code.
“Hello?” he answered.
“Hey, what’s up, Harding? It’s Desmond.”
“Oh, what’s up, Desmond?”
“Nothing much…just thought I’d give you a follow-up call regarding the freelance, contract position we discussed. Have you given it any consideration?”
“I’m going to be honest with you, man. I haven’t had time to think about it with everything going on and all.”
“Well, I don’t know if you heard, but Savannah signed on to be one of the attorneys in our legal department.”
“Yes, I heard.”
“Coming here and working for a couple of weeks would give you the opportunity to talk to her.”
Yes, it would, he thought. “But my business is here. I can’t drop everything for two weeks to come there and do a freelance job.”
“What if I made it worth your while?”
“Meaning what exactly?”
“I’ll be willing to pay you to make up for your missed work and compensate you generously for two weeks worth of work. Eighty grand for the whole project with all of your expenses—food, lodging, transportation—paid for.”
“Eighty grand? You’re going to pay me eighty thousand dollars for two weeks worth of work.”
“Yes.”
“That’s insane. It takes me a full year to make that kind of money with my company.”
“Well, here’s your opportunity to find out how it feels to make that kind of money in two weeks.”
“Why? Why would you do that? You guys work with big names, sign mega deals—and the guy you want to upgrade your systems is me?”
“Yes.”
“Are you doing this because I’m your half-brother, because if so—”
“Let me stop you right there,” Desmond said. “We can hire anyone we want. That much is true. But we didn’t take this decision lightly, Harding. When it comes to TCC, we never make spur-of-the-moment decisions. I personally checked your portfolio—all the clients you had listed on your website, we checked with them—every single one. Even the ones you didn’t have listed—Coastal Retreats, Maggie’s Pies, Eastern NC Home Repair and Bay’s Book Nook just to name a few—our legal department checked into them. Those businesses all had nothing but good things to say about you, your work and your work ethic.”
“You really checked with them?” Harding asked skeptically.
“Of course, so if you think we want to hire you simply because you’re related to us, you’re mistaken. We want to hire you because you’re the best at what you do, just like Savannah is at the top of her field. When we see talent, we grab it. Savannah’s starting Monday morning. I’m hoping you will be, too.”
Not accepting the offer would mean a huge missed opportunity to see Savannah and resolve their issues. He could not care less about the money. He just wanted to see her. But first, he had to check his calendar, go through his appointments and reschedule two weeks worth of work. That was a daunting task within itself.
“Uh…give me a few days to think about it,” he responded.
“Okay. Just try to get me an answer by Saturday night.”
“Will do. Later.”
As soon as Harding ended the call, Mordecai said, “What was that about?”
“That was Desmond. Apparently, they were serious about the two-week contract position they mentioned to me when we were there last weekend.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. They want me to start Monday morning.”
“Bam! This is the answer to your problem. Five minutes ago, you had no idea what you would do to get Savannah back. Now, look at this—if you take the gig, you’ll be there with Savannah and maybe you two can finally talk.”
“Maybe.”
“What do you mean, maybe? Man, you better pack your bags and go get your woman.”
Harding smirked. “I better, huh?”
“You doggone right!”
“I haven’t quite figured out what to say to her.”
“Say all the things you said to get her in the first place—all that mushy stuff. And don’t be afraid to tell her you’re sorry. Those two little words can do so much good, yet they’re the hardest to say.”
“Thanks, Mordecai. I appreciate your advice, bruh. If I would’ve listened to you in the first place, I might not be in this mess.”
“What do you mean?”
“Remember when you suggested I take it upon myself to tell her parents about us?”
“Yeah.”
“Turns out, you were right. Had I met with them back then, me and Savannah would be together right now. I went to see her father yesterday. I told him that Savannah was my wife. Dude, the old man looked like he was going to have a nervous breakdown. He proceeds to tell me how I wasn’t good enough for her—how I couldn’t offer her a glamorous life—nonsense like that. Then he said he could ruin me.”
Mordecai’s face balled up. “Ruin you? Is that a threat?”
“If it was, it’s one I’m not concerned with. I just wish I would’ve done things differently. Savannah was right. Her parents are downright controlling of her and she was trying to tell me, but I didn’t listen. I was furious with her when I should’ve been helping her.”
Harding blew a breath and scrubbed his hands down his face.
“I say go to Asheville for the two weeks. Do the job, and talk to Savannah.”
“I think I will take your advice this time.”
Chapter 35
Savannah was happy that Emily had invited her over. The men were playing pool while she, Emily, Sherita and Melanie talked and watched the kids in the family room.
“They’re close, I see,” Savannah said.
“Are you talking about the kids?” Emily asked, glancing down at the floor watching Grace, Ezra, Celeste and Nolan tumbling around. The twins entertained each other while Grace and Ezra played with their toys.
Smiling, Savannah said, “Actually, I was
talking about Dante, Desmond and Dimitrius.”
“Oh, girl, yes. They are extremely close,” Sherita said. “It’s crazy because they’re very dominant, independent, strong-minded men, but when they get together, it’s like an overwhelming powerhouse of testosterone taking over any situation, any deal, any…whatever.” She laughed.
Savannah smiled.
“You are so right,” Emily said crunching on baby carrots. She’d been craving them, and cucumbers, since being pregnant. “And Dante…” she shook her head, blushing. “He’s the bossiest of them all. Being the oldest, they look up to him and he knows that, but there’s something uniquely different about Dante. He loves his family dearly. You know how people say they’ll go to the ends of the earth for you.”
“Yeah, and they don’t really mean it,” Melanie quipped.
“Right,” Emily said. “Well, Dante really means it, especially when his family is concerned.”
“I know,” Savannah said. “He opened my eyes a bit with his summation of my issues with Harding.”
“Did he, now?” Emily asked.
“He did. He told me flat-out that my problems with Harding directly affected him. I was like, okay, Dante. I see your point.”
The women laughed.
“There’s something different about all of them, though,” Melanie said. “They have their own little quirks, but that’s what makes them special.”
“Yeah,” Sherita said, thinking about Desmond. “Special.”
Emily grinned and then said, “I remember when Dante first tried to get my attention. Girl, he came into my store at closing, looking fly and handsome, then bought all of my necklaces.”
