Chapter 10
Xiah
“These are so good, sweetheart.”
“Thank you.”
I spiraled my fork into the one-pan tomato spinach pasta my mother prepared for lunch and grinned before I enjoyed it. Tomatoes, red onions, spinach, garlic, and heavy cream for the sauce. I had no idea what seasoning she used, but it was so damn good, I was on my second bowl.
“It’s like… creamy but fluffy and the orange flavor adds to it. You’ve got something with this, Xi.”
My mother lifted another of my cheesecake cookies that I’d brought over for her to try since she invited me for lunch.
My parents and I were close. At least twice a month we did family dinners.
I spent holidays with them and we did an annual family trip.
I also dropped by often just to enjoy homemade lunch, like the pasta I was overdosing on while chatting up with the parental units.
“I think so too. I’m going to try them again, maybe with a caramel drizzle. That would add a little something.”
“Oh, yes, definitely caramel. Make sure you bring me the first batch.”
“I will.”
“Bring you what?” my father chimed in after he entered the kitchen, reached around my mother, and lifted one of my cookies. He kissed her cheek and took a bite while I watched, waiting for his reaction.
“What do you think?” my mother asked and he nodded, taking another bite, this one larger than the first.
“I approve. You’re really good at this, Xiah. I don’t know why you won’t do something with this.”
“That’s what I said, and to answer your question, she wants to add a caramel drizzle to these.”
“Okay, okay.” He nodded, finishing the one he was working on and lifting another. “I’m heading out. You want me to pick up dinner on my way home?”
“Where you going?” I asked, finishing the last of my pasta. I leaned back and rubbed my stomach, hating that I had one last viewing today because a nap would be lovely. I could already envision myself curled up on my parents’ sofa for a few hours before heading home.
“Golf with Ronald.”
“Golf?” I questioned with a raised brow and smug grin.
My father retired from the city a few months ago and had been driving my mother crazy.
She kept encouraging him to try new things to get him out of her hair for a few hours.
I assumed golf was the latest. My father’s only interest was sports, which he watched year round.
Didn’t matter what kind, he loved the competition. So when his favorites, basketball and football, ended their seasons, he moved on to whatever he could find: bowling, tennis, cornhole, hell, even pickleball. As long as he could pick a side and yell at the TV, he was down.
That meant him being around the house all day and in my mother’s space. As much as they loved each other, she needed her sanctuary back, which meant sending my father out into the world with his other retired friends to give their wives a break.
“Your mother gifted me a set of clubs with my credit card and signed me up for lessons. If I didn’t know how much she loved me, I’d swear she was having an affair by the way she’s trying to keep me out the house.”
He winked at her and she rolled her eyes. I grinned when he hugged her from behind and kissed her cheek. “I’ll be home before six.”
“Burgers,” she said, turning to peck his lips before he pulled away.
“Got it.” He turned to me. “You hanging around?”
I sighed. “No, I have one last viewing today. A townhouse in Crescent Pointe then I’m heading home.”
“You should be more excited about that, Xiah.”
“I am but after two bowls of that…” I pointed to the pan of pasta sitting on the stove. “All I want right now is a nap.”
He chuckled. “Your mother set you up.”
“She did.” I narrowed my eyes and she shrugged.
“Self-inflicted,” my mother said, grabbing my bowl, which she took to the sink.
After my father was gone, I turned to my mother. “Golf?”
“What? He loves sports.”
“He loves sports from the sofa when he can yell at the TV and drink beer. Golf is too quiet and requires physical activity.”
My dad was pretty fit but from normal daily activity. He had been an athlete in high school and college, having played baseball, but never considered for professional level. The most active thing he did now was fixing stuff around the house and maintaining the lawn.
“Well, I need less of him yelling at the TV while I’m doing my yoga, meditation, and book of the month reading. He’s disrupting my Zen. I’ll keep trying things until he finds one that sticks. All I need is him out of the house a couple times a week so I can have my alone time.”
“Does he know that?”
“Yes, he does, and he loves me enough to play along. Marriage is compromise. Speaking of, how are things going with that?”
“They’re not. He’s still hiding and I don’t know what else to do. He doesn’t want to be married so I don’t understand why he won’t just sign the divorce papers.”
“Because he’s a selfish dick.” My mother’s tone was harsh which brought a smile to my face.
“He is definitely a selfish dick,” I repeated with a frown.
“I just don’t know how we all missed it. That man had us all fooled.”
My stomach tensed with the reminders of my happily ever after that never happened. “Yeah…”
My mother’s eyes were on me and her expression softened as she walked toward me, placing a hand on my face.
“Oh sweetheart, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to ruin your mood.
I just truly hate this so much. I want you to be able to move on with your life and find a man who truly appreciates and loves you the way you deserve.
And I hope you know that you do deserve to be loved and appreciated. ”
I smiled and nodded, covering her hand with mine. “I know but I think maybe I missed my chance. I wanted what you and Dad have.”
My parents dated in high school. They separated, going to different colleges, but always kept in touch. Senior year for both, they crossed paths coming home for the holidays and realized they still had feelings for each other and began dating again.
Once they graduated, they married, had me, and the rest as history.
Thirty-four years of marriage. It wasn’t perfect, they had their rough patches but they loved each other enough to work through them.
I had seen and experienced what true love looked like and hoped my marriage with Kaden would have been just as fruitful.
The problem was, he never loved me the way my father loved my mother. Kaden loved the idea of having a beautiful woman on his arm that adored him while he did whatever the hell he wanted to do. It took me so long to realize I was happily married to him while he was posing with me.
“You’re going to be cherished by a man who sees how beautiful you are inside and out, Xiah. I believe that this experience, no matter how devastating, was to prepare you for all the good things owed to you. They’re coming. I need you to trust that.”
I nodded and swiped a tear. I was emotional because failing at marriage made me feel like I failed myself, my parents, and everyone who invested in us. It hurt but I also knew I had done my part; so this wasn’t on me.
“I know. It just really sucks that I have to suffer to soar.”
She kissed my cheek. “It does, but as long as you know you’re going to soar, then that’s all that matters.”
“I have to go.” I lifted from my seat and brushed my hands down the front of my pants.
“Are you okay?”
I forced a smile. “I am.”
“Are you sure?” I hated the concern etched on her face.
“I’m sure.” After a quick but meaningful hug, she walked me to the door. We made promises for dinner later in the week before I was on my way to Crescent Pointe, optimistic about making my next sale because clinging to the little things was what kept me in a happy state of mind.
I arrived ten minutes early and let myself in. I moved through the house, turning on all the lights and unlocking doors to ensure the tour through the home was seamless, a trick I picked up when shadowing Kinsley at a couple showings when I first started with her company.
Familiarize yourself with the property so you don’t fumble through the discovery of amenities and ruin the experience for the buyer.
If you know the home, you can better help the buyer visualize themselves owning the property.
You can’t rightly use heated floors and overhead lighting as a selling point if you don’t know they exist or the convenience of how they operate,” she’d said.
By three fifteen, I was beginning to worry that my client wasn’t going to show because they were fifteen minutes late. I made my way to the front of the townhouse and almost collided with the door when it opened at the same time that I reached for the handle.
I plastered on a smile, prepared to greet the new owner of this house because I was claiming the sale, only to feel instant annoyance when I recognized the face and body of the person who almost knocked me on my ass as my irritation heightened.
“What are you doing here?” I blurted.
“Yeah, you damn sure aren’t good at this shit if that’s how you greet your clients.”
“You’re not my client.” I frowned and processed the name. Yoel Vaughn. Vaughn. Shit.
“Whose name did you use when you booked this viewing? Because I really don’t want to believe your parents hated you enough to name you Yaakov Yoel Vaughn.”
He smiled sexily. “Nah, I don’t have a middle name, but if I did, that damn sure would be fucked up. Yoel is my brother.”
I frowned hard. “Is he buying a townhouse?”
“Nah…”
“Then you’re wasting my time.”
“I’m not wasting your time.”
I dropped my hands to my hips and glared at him. “Then who’s buying this townhouse? Because you just said your brother wasn’t.”
“Me, now can I get a tour or you saying fuck me and this sale?”
“I just sold you a house.”
Kove moved closer and dropped his chin, smiling sexily at me. He smelled so damn good and looked like my favorite bad habit to indulge in.
“Sell me another one.”
“Why?”