18. Dove
SIX WEEKS LATER
“Oh my God, this has been so much fun! Girl, I could quit my job and live out here forever. These islands have the finest men,” Myracle declared, lowering her sunglasses to look at a couple of men who were walking by.
They were gawking at us as much as she was gawking at them.
I had returned home to Cherokee Springs a week after Reighvyn left.
It was difficult remaining in the cottage without him.
I never expected to miss him so much, but it was like going off to college all over again.
At least at home, I could busy myself with my flower shop and my family, to try to tame my thoughts about him.
I had come back to Sorrel Island this weekend to unwind after being home for five weeks. The girls had agreed to come with me. I had spoken with Reighvyn a few times the first week after he left, but then he ghosted me. It was hard to imagine that he hadn’t forgotten about me.
Sometimes the seashell necklace worked wonders on my aching heart, and at other times, it didn’t.
I fought off the negative memories of when Neal would disappear on me, as they attempted to cloud my mind and replace Reighvyn’s reassurances.
I knew that Reighvyn wasn’t married, because Paloma would have told me, but I wondered what his silence meant.
“Girl, pull your sunglasses up and act like you have some dignity about yourself,” Kandi Grace demanded.
“Listen, just because your boring ass doesn’t want to do anything but crunch numbers all day doesn’t mean I have to live like a nun. I’m single, and I need some good, hard dick to lay me down for the weekend,” Myracle argued.
“Knowing your whorish ass, you’ll have two or three,” Kandi Grace countered with a snicker.
Myracle bobbed her head with a big cheesy smile. “You’re right. One for each of my holes.”
Kandi Grace’s light golden-brown skin turned a shade of red that had nothing to do with the sun. “Girl, I don’t know why you still surprise me. You’ve been the biggest ho I’ve known since sixth grade when you first lost your virginity. Such a ho.”
“Ya mama,” Myracle replied.
I shook my head at the two of them. I loved them both dearly, but it had been this way since elementary school. Usually, it fell on me to be the peacemaker between them. As much as they argued, though, they loved each other.
“All right, ladies, chill out. KG, she deserves to have a good dick in her life every now and then. Myr, KG gets good dick, but she’s more of the settled down with one man type. It doesn’t make her boring.”
“Hmph. Girl, that man she’s with is boring, okay? She needs to get someone with some life in him who knows how to blow her back out and break a headboard or two.”
I roared with laughter because Kandi Grace was dating a guy that kind of reminded us of Steve Urkel.
It was unfortunate because, unlike Steve, he wouldn’t be Stefan if he cleaned up.
Kandi Grace was a beautiful girl, and the beauty of her was that she saw people’s hearts.
She didn’t judge them by their looks, and her boyfriend was definitely a sweetheart.
“You don’t know what goes on in their bedroom. Patrick might have broken a headboard or two,” I pointed out.
“Or had me at the chiropractor for six weeks straight,” Kandi Grace mumbled shyly, looking away and digging her toes in the sand.
“Whoop!” Myracle and I shouted after our jaws dropped and our eyes widened. Myracle hooted with laughter and slapped me a high five.
“Girl, let me find out Pat laying pipe like that!” Myracle screamed.
Kandi Grace pulled her compact from her little beach bag and applied another coat of lip gloss. “You’ll never know,” she muttered.
“Well, what I do know is that I might find a way to do that damn man who rented the Jet Skis to us. Did y’all see how he was looking at my ass?” Myracle asked.
“He had no choice. That’s all that he could see. That big ass with a string disappearing between those cheeks,” Kandi Grace retorted.
“Girl, now I know you ain’t jealous of this big donk, I know. ’Cause you got a nice fat one too.”
“Chile, please. With all of them dimples? I’m good with my toned ass,” Kandi Grace replied.
“No. No. No. I didn’t bring y’all out here to argue the entire weekend. I’m sick of that shit. Y’all heffas could’ve kept y’all complaining asses back in Cherokee Springs,” I declared.
“Whatever, Dove. What were you gonna do out here by yourself?” Myracle asked.
“Yeah, because even though we thought you were coming back outside again, ever since your boo has been gone, you’ve gone back in hiding. I don’t know how to feel about that,” Kandi Grace declared.
“Let’s take this conversation back to the house. I need a damn drink,” I mumbled, standing and grabbing my beach towel.
“Ohhh. It’s time for one of those?” Kandi Grace asked, jumping up.
“Oh shit, teatime with besties! My favorite time!” Myracle exclaimed. She grabbed her things and stuffed them in her beach bag as quickly as possible.
After my little fiasco with Neal, and since Myracle’s ghetto ass was on the city council, we had made a pact not to discuss our business in public. We didn’t want anything we did to get back to others.
As we made our way back up the beach to the cottage, we talked about the clothes we had bought since we had been on the island this week, the food we would eat tonight, and Kandi Grace’s falling in love with Patrick.
We had been at the beach all day long, swimming, riding Jet Skis, and sitting out in the sun. It was time to return to the cottage for the evening anyway.
Once we were back at the cottage, and our beach bags were unpacked, we headed into the living room with all the items we needed for a pedicure. We were armed with chips, dip, cookies, popcorn, margaritas, and ice cream, and then we commenced the conversation I started earlier.
“So, what’s the problem, babe?” Myracle asked.
“The problem is that I haven’t heard from him in five weeks. He told me that there might be times where we wouldn’t talk, but after that first week, he quit answering his phone altogether. I don’t know if he wants me or if he changed his mind.”
“Well, if that’s the case, Dove, the least he could do is tell you.
Hell, all this good dick going to waste out here.
You need to have your pussy stretched, and if he’s not willing to do it, there’s a lot of niggas on this beach who is willing to.
Or hell, white men, Asian men, and Hispanic men for that matter,” Myracle declared.
I wrinkled my nose. “First, I’m not turning my coochie into a swamp fest; I’ll leave that to you. Second, I’m not interested in nobody but a brotha.”
“I think you need to be patient. You have no idea what it’s like to be in a relationship with a man of his stature.
He’s not the regular Joe down the street.
Besides, you mentioned his mom coming back on the scene.
I know you haven’t forgotten what that was like for him.
I remember how he used to shut down,” Kandi Grace stated, twisting the cap off a bottle of jade green nail polish.
“She’s right.” Myracle nodded, bobbing her head as she munched on a cookie.
“But he is a regular Joe. He literally lived across the street from me for a while, and we’re adults now. He can talk to me,” I argued.
“The heart of him may still be the same, but the world’s expectations of him aren’t. I am sure that he has a reason for his absence and not contacting you,” Kandi Grace declared.
Whenever they visited their mama when we were kids, he would always come back sullen and in a space that he couldn’t be reached. It would take hours for me to get through to him and days for the others to reach him.
I couldn’t lose him when I’d just found him again.
“Don’t be trying to turn my friend into an old maid like you. Reighvyn did have his issues, but she shouldn’t be punished for them,” Myracle countered with twisted lips as she stuffed ice cream into her mouth.
“I’m not surprised that you two ended up together. You were always close, and I swear y’all had moon eyes for each other,” Kandi Grace stated.
Myracle pointed her spoon at Kandi Grace. “That—we can agree on that.”
I smacked my lips and waved my hand at them. “Whatever.”
“Girl, you were in love with that man forever, and he felt the same about you. You two were the only ones in denial,” Myracle declared.
“I called Neal’s wife,” I confessed.
“You did what?” Myracle balked as Kandi Grace shook her head.
“Why would you do that?” Kandi Grace asked.
“I felt that I needed to apologize to her and bring some closure to the situation overall. I never meant to hurt her. It brought peace and healing to me,” I explained.
“But did it bring peace and healing to her, or hurt her more?”
“I don’t think it did, Myr.”
“That’s cool, friend. I’m happy for you,” Kandi Grace stated.
“Reighvyn was a crucial part of my healing during the little time we were together,” I shared.
“Then you should try to reach out to him again, friend. I know that I said before that you need to keep moving, but I must admit he was good peeps back in the day,” Myracle reassured me.
“I just hope he isn’t having second thoughts about me.”
“Honey, you need to change that mindset,” Kandi Grace stated.
“You want me to call that man up and ask him why he ain’t been in touch with my friend?” Myracle asked.
“No!” Kandi Grace and I shouted simultaneously.
We doubled over with laughter, but I did pray that he would reach out to me soon. The doorbell rang, forcing me to jump to my feet to answer it.
“Garrett, the delivery guy is at the door,” I announced loudly for Myracle’s benefit when I peered out the window.
She jumped up and ran to the door with her toes spread wide. She had a crush on Garrett that could not be tamed. Of all the men she flirted with, if she had her pick, he would be number one. I believed she felt that way because he didn’t seem to return the interest.
“Hi, Garrett. How are you today? Can we get you something to drink? You look like you’ve been out in the hot sun far too long with the way your muscles are glistening with all that sweat,” she declared, laughing and patting his arm.
I rolled my eyes from where I stood behind her and looked at Kandi Grace over my shoulder. She stuck her finger in her mouth and pretended to vomit.
Myracle chatted a little while longer before Garrett asked me to sign for a package. I did so and thanked him before I stepped back inside, leaving him with a flirty Myracle.
“What’s that?” Kandi Grace asked as my stomach fluttered.
I opened the package, not bothering to answer her question.
My mouth dropped when I saw three airline tickets to Las Vegas along with three tickets to the bout that featured Reighvyn as the main event.
Inside were more details, including the information about the hotel stay, travel arrangements, and meals.
“Girls!” I squealed, jumping up and down.
“What?” Myracle asked, frowning as she closed the door.
“Next weekend, we’re heading to Vegas.”
“What for?” Kandi Grace asked.
“An all-expense paid trip so that we can go see my man battle!” I squealed.
Joy was back in my heart, and my girls danced and celebrated with me. He hadn’t forgotten about me after all, and for him to know that I would want my girls with me meant that he remembered how I always surrounded myself with them when I was sad. He probably knew that I was with them now.