13. The Magical Season For Love
THE MAGICAL SEASON FOR LOVE
K ayn
The house bustled with activity, laughter, and loud chatter like it once had when I used to live here. I slowly sipped my coffee as I leaned against the counter, watching everyone around me.
“Where’s Kandi?” Myra asked.
“She’s still upstairs getting her beauty sleep in. She’s not an early riser.”
“I noticed that too,” Aunt Frances stated.
“How did you two meet?” Myra asked.
“At work.”
“Oh? I thought she said that she was your life coach. That she was brought in to help you bring order to some things when your business started booming,” Aunt Frances commented.
I felt discomfort weave its way throughout me. I already hated lying to my family, but now this lie was only getting deeper and deeper. I forgot that Kandi had said that, and now, I had no idea what Kandi had told Aunt Frances.
I put my coffee down and cleared my throat. “Uhm, . . . we did. But you know, that was still through work. She was doing her job, I was doing mine, and I needed somebody to help me get shit, . . . uhm, stuff in order.”
Aunt Frances and Myra nodded. Myra snatched a strip of bacon from a pan Aunt Frances had set on the counter.
“Ouch!” She complained when Aunt Frances smacked her hand.
“That’s not for now. Wait until I finish with the breakfast,” Aunt Frances chided.
“So when did you know she was it for you, or was it love at first sight?” Myra asked.
“I mean, I was attracted to her right away.” That much was true. The first day that I saw Kandi several months ago, I thought her ass was fine as hell. But I don’t eat where I shit. “But I like to keep the lines of professional and personal firmly in place and separate, so I didn’t make a move.”
“Well, eventually, you did.”
“That was after she stopped being my life coach. I knew at that point that I never wanted her out of my life.”
“But did she ever really stop though, Emmanuel?” Myra asked.
“Nah, I guess she didn’t,” I replied slowly.
Myra giggled. “It seems like she’s still organizing you and making sure that you’re the best version of yourself. I can’t imagine that you came home on your own, but I’m glad you’re here. If she’s the reason why, then I like her even more.”
Aunt Frances shot a look my way with a smirk dancing around her lips.
“Guilty as charged. I was actually on my way to a business meeting.”
“Does she always accompany you to business meetings?” Myra asked, snatching another piece of bacon as soon as Aunt Frances turned her head.
“No, but this meeting’s in New York. We were stopping in Atlanta for one meeting and then heading to New York for the next. She’s never been to New York before, so I thought it would be the perfect time to take her,” I lied.
I hoped that was true. If she had been to New York and mentioned it, I had just put a nail in my coffin.
“Well, that sounds lovely, as long as you make sure to have fun and let her have some too, Emmanuel,” Aunt Frances warned, shaking a spoon at me.
“I will.”
“Speaking of Kandi, here she is,” Myra announced as Kandi stepped into the kitchen with Byron’s wife, Libby.
“Hey, sleepyheads,” Aunt Frances greeted.
They both laughed, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Kandi.
She looked beautiful this morning in a cream-colored sweater dress that hugged her curves just right.
She wore tan calf-length boots and had her long hair pulled up into a high ponytail.
All of her features were highlighted with that hairstyle, from her almond-shaped brown eyes to her button nose and heart-shaped lips.
Her amber-colored skin glowed, and I wanted to pull her into my arms and kiss her.
A thought tugged my lips up at the corners. She was my wife, wasn’t she?
I stalked toward her, wrapped an arm around her waist, and stared down into her beautiful eyes. “Good morning, gorgeous.”
She smiled up into my face and pressed a hand against my chest. I caught the tiny flicker of surprise in her eyes and the way her eyebrows lifted when she felt just how fast my heart was racing.
“Good morning, handsome.”
I dropped a quick kiss on her lips and heard her surprised gasp. Then I dipped my head, nuzzled her neck, and inhaled her warm amber scent.
“Mm, you smell so delicious. A man could get intoxicated and high off you.”
She giggled just as my aunt called out, “Okay, you two lovebirds. Won’t you let her get something to eat first, Emmanuel? And you need to eat something too.”
“He’s probably full. I’m sure he’s already had his fill of her this morning,” Chauncey announced.
I pressed a soft kiss against Kandi’s neck because I couldn’t resist the temptation, and then I released her. Her eyes were lit with desire.
I turned to Chauncey, mugged the shit out of that little nigga, and barked a command. “Mind ya manners, boy. ”
There was no love lost between my cousin and me. I didn’t wish him any harm, but he knew I wasn’t playing with his ass either.
“Just noticing that she’s a beautiful lady, that’s all,” Chauncey replied with his hands held up.
“Don’t notice.”
“Aye, Ma. What’s for breakfast?” Byron asked loudly, stepping into the kitchen from the living room where he and Uncle JR had been.
I was sure that he heard that little exchange between his brother and me and knew there was some tension there.
Byron had always been the peacekeeper between the two of us since I’d come to stay with them.
“Baby, come over here and fix you and Kayn some breakfast,” Aunt Frances commanded Kandi before she turned to Byron to answer his question.
“Kayn, can you go bring some wood in?” Uncle JR called out from the dining room.
“Sure.”
I headed outside and walked to where Uncle JR kept the wood for the fireplace. Knowing that we would need a little more, I grabbed the ax and went to the wood pile to grab some of the bigger pieces. I started chopping them up. It wasn’t long before I heard someone come out of the back door.
When I looked up, I spotted Byron wandering my way.
“Aye, wassup?”
“Nothing much. You good? You seem extremely tense lately.”
“About?”
“Your wife. Y’all are good together, but when she’s around Chauncey, you watch her like a hawk, and you seem tense even when she’s not. You watch her like you don’t trust her.”
I shook my head. “It’s not that.”
“Emmanuel, it’s me. We’ve always been good, boy. Wassup?”
I inhaled deeply and recalled how I had always been able to tell him everything.
“Byron, she’s not my wife.”
“The fuck?”
I told him the whole story and why I had gone the route that I did.
“I can’t tell, man. Y’all either good ass actors, or you’re feeling the fuck outta each other.”
“I don’t know how she feels, but I know how I feel.”
“Then act on that shit, man. Make it real. You deserve to have one good love in your life ’cause ya ass definitely didn’t get that love in the parent department.”
“You know? Think that’s why I’m so fucked up the way I am now.”
“Let that shit go. Forgive your parents, man. They are who they are, and they’ll never change, and you can’t change them. But that ain’t no reason for you to be miserable as fuck and deny yourself of a good woman because they couldn’t get their shit right.”
“You know I don’t trust women, man. Not after that shit that Dom pulled with Chauncey all those years ago, and then my mom did me the way she did, and other women. I mean, if I couldn’t trust the one who gave birth to me, how the hell I’ma trust anyone else? They ain’t to be trusted.”
“That’s not true with all women. Consider Aunt Frances. She’s always had your back and put your interests ahead of her own. I’ve got a good-ass woman too. I ain’t gon’ lie. Just tell her how you feel, man.”
“She’s my employee. It’ll be fucked up and tense. Besides, I kissed her ass last night, and if it wasn’t for Aunt Frances and them damn s’mores, I’m certain I would’ve been all up in her guts.”
He chuckled and patted my shoulder. “Boy, you wild. Man, make that shit right. It’s Christmas time. The magical season for love, or so they say.”
“Yeah, and you know how I feel about that shit.”
“There’s always a first time for everything, and a leopard can change his spots.
It’ll be a win for you to have good health, extreme wealth, and the love of a lifetime on your arm.
You deserve it. Lord knows you’ve been through your share of getting shitted on in this lifetime.
Anyway, I came out to tell you that your plate is ready. ”
I watched as he headed back inside, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he was right. The thought of trying a different approach to relationships and love scared the hell out of me though.