Chapter 3
L ayla was so deep in her thoughts she didn’t realize her ice cream cone was melting down her hand until she felt it being licked.
Looking down, the sight of the Husky licking her hand and ice cream caught her so off guard she yelped and jumped on top of the bench before toppling over it and falling onto her back.
Groaning, she jumped again when the dog followed behind her, hopping over the bench.
She cowered in a fetal position but relaxed the moment the dog began to sniff her and whine.
“Tiny!” a man yelled.
Still whining, the dog began to lick her.
Layla’s rattled nerves began to calm when she realized he was a friendly dog.
Sitting up, she chuckled and began to pat his head as her back throbbed.
“Tin—what the he—I’m so sorry.” Quickly, large hands wrapped around the dog’s neck.
“I’m so sorry,” he repeated, wrapping the dog’s leash around the small leg of the bench.
“I put his leash under my foot to put my phone and wallet up to grab his ice cream and he got away from me.”
His hand extended in her direction, and Layla put hers inside so he could help her stand.
“It’s fine. That explains why he was eating my ice cream.”
“He what!”
The sight of his wide eyes and wrinkled brows caused Layla to chuckle.
“It’s cool. I was so deep in thought it was melting down my hand. I didn’t even realize it until he started licking it. I wouldn’t have been able to eat it anyway.”
“Still, I apologize. He’s usually chill but ice cream makes him unruly. I guess I was taking too long, so he decided to find his own.”
They shared a soft laugh before he began to remove leaves from the back of her shirt.
“I’m not usually scared of dogs. More than anything, I think I was just startled because I didn’t see him approach. It’s fine though. He’s a sweetheart.”
The stranger ran his hand down his face and sighed.
“I’m glad you’re cool with it ’cause I damn near had a heart attack.”
“I could tell.” Layla giggled softly.
“What’s his name?”
They both looked down at the husky as he whined and tried to free himself from the confines of the bench.
“Tiny.”
“Oh yeah.” She chuckled.
“There’s nothing tiny about Tiny.”
He laughed.
“Right. My mother named him. He’s her and my dad’s dog. I’m just walking him for them.”
Layla nodded.
“Do you have any pets of your own?”
“Nah. They have two huskies and want to start breeding soon, so I might get a puppy from them.” He licked his lips.
“Can I buy you a new ice cream cone?”
Though she appreciated the gesture, Layla was prepared to decline.
She’d come to the park thirty minutes earlier than the time Carlos asked to meet to get her thoughts together.
They hadn’t spoken to each other in three days, and she had no idea what he was meeting her to say.
What else was there to add?
“That’s not necessary. I don’t really have an appetite anyway.”
“Are you sure? Can I pay for a massage or something? I didn’t see you fall, but I’m sure you have to be in some kind of pain.”
His concern was refreshing.
Layla squeezed the back of her neck, feeling her body warm the longer his dark, round eyes bore into hers.
He had the longest, curliest lashes she’d ever seen on a man in person.
Like Tupac’s.
They were beautiful.
“I’m good. I promise. It’s cool.”
His head shook.
“I have to do something.”
The sincerity in his tone made her heart skip a beat.
“If you want to do something, just get Tiny his ice cream. ASAP.”
He smiled, drawing her attention to his diamond shaped, blunt brown lips.
And his pretty, straight, white teeth.
“I can do that.” He licked his lips again and casually scanned the length of her frame before adding, “You have a good day. And whatever you’re overthinking, trust that it’ll work itself out in time. It won’t be as bad as you think it will be either. We need you focused on your surroundings, aight?”
His kind words had her eyes watering, but she gritted her teeth, swallowed, and blinked rapidly to dry her eyes.
After releasing a shaky breath, she smiled.
“I will. Thank you and have a good day.”
“You too.”
Layla watched as he unwrapped the leash and Tiny wasted no time leading him back toward the ice cream cart in the middle of the park.
She smiled, and it turned into a chuckle when Tiny charged toward the cart as they got closer to it.
“Yeah, I see why he only walks one dog at a time,” she mumbled before chuckling again.
At the feel of her phone vibrating in her jeans, Layla pulled it out and sighed at the sight of Carlos’s name.
“Hello?” she answered.
“I’m here. Where you at?”
“In the middle of the park… by the ice cream cart.”
“Aight. I’m on my way.”
Since Layla wasn’t sure what Carlos wanted to talk to her about, she’d asked the only friend she had, Brittany, to watch Dior for a few minutes.
Really, she couldn’t even call Brittany her friend.
They were in the same support group and often watched each other’s kids for brief moments when something pressing came up.
Unfortunately, Layla’s marriage wasn’t the only thing that suffered when she became a mother; her friendships did too.
She was obsessed with Dior and didn’t give a damn about anything else.
Now that so many years had passed without school, work, or activities, Layla had no earthly idea how to make friends as an adult.
How the hell was she going to teach Dior to?
Layla’s eyes landed on Carlos.
When she looked at him, he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his slacks and twisted his mouth to the side.
She looked away, wondering if Tiny and his human were still in view, but they weren’t.
“Hey,” Carlos greeted when he made his way in front of her.
“Hey. What’s up?”
“I wanted to get some kind of arrangement in place.” She nodded.
“Since I’ll be staying with Jasmine, I’m going to start paying her rent. She’s going to take care of everything else, though. With that being said, I need you to start looking for a job. I’m still going to pay all the major bills at the house, but you can start taking care of the smaller ones, food, and your personal shit.”
Layla’s head shook as she chuckled.
“I can’t work, Carlos. Dior is my main responsibility. Just because she’s not yours doesn’t mean that’s changed for me.”
“I understand that, but you can’t expect me to take care of you while I’m with someone else.”
“Nigga!” she roared while pounding her fist against her palm, unable to maintain her calm.
“I don’t give a fuck about you being with someone else! I’m your wife and that’s your child. You promised to take care of everything financially so I could care for our child. Just because you’re laying up with her doesn’t mean your responsibility to us has changed! Until our divorce is finalized, that still needs to be your main priority. If you can’t afford to take care of home and her spot, she’s the one you need to cut off— not us.”
“Look, you can have until Dior starts back to school. By then, you need to have a job. You can work from home or work while she’s at school and have your evenings off so you can be with her.”
“So you expect me to work an actual job and then be present for Dior? I’m barely functioning as it is.”
“I’ve told you several times to let our families help with Dior or hire help. She’s thirteen now and fully capable of doing things by herself. Hell, she’s almost always in her damn room anyway. You can spend that time resting or doing whatever else you want to do. Either way, my fiancée isn’t comfortable with me…”
“Wait.” Layla lifted her hands in surrender.
Her eyes squeezed shut as she released a quick bark of laughter.
“I know you did not just say your fiancée.”
“Yes. I proposed Saturday.”
Nibbling her bottom lip, Layla crossed her arms over her chest and rested the bulk of her weight on her right side.
“The day after you left home?”
Carlos nodded.
“Yeah. Jasmine doesn’t want me taking care of you. She knows I’m going to provide for my daughter, but that’s it. I won’t go public with our engagement until after our divorce has been finalized…”
“But you said our agreement was still intact until Dior graduated. Surely you don’t expect me to believe Jasmine is going to wait four years to marry you?”
“I wanted to talk to you about that too. We talked about it and I decided I want the separation to remain in place just for her first year of high school. Once she’s adjusted, we can finalize the divorce. I’ve already scheduled a meeting with my lawyer to have everything written out and approved by Judge Harris. I don’t want any type of waiting period when we start up with the new proceedings. So are you going to make this easy for the both of us and not contest the divorce?”
“As far as I’m concerned, when I’m sure Dior can handle the adjustment, you can have a divorce and sign over your rights to her. That way, you won’t have to fake the funk and make it seem like you even give a damn about being in her life. Start fresh with Jasmine. I don’t give a fuck.”
Pushing past him, Layla headed toward her car as her anger continued to rise.
Just when guilt had her feeling bad and wondering if there was anything she could do to make up for not being the wife Carlos needed, he dropped two bombs on her that made her want to remove him from her life for good.
But as always, Layla moved with Dior’s best interests in mind.
Unfortunately, those interests would force her to play nice…
for now.