Chapter 8
“I have a surprise for you,” I told her as we enjoyed breakfast on the patio.
“Oh yeah? Can you give me a hint about what it is?”
“No hints necessary. I finished your patio.”
She gasped. “You finished? When did that happen?”
For the past week, I’d forbidden Skye from entering or even looking at her backyard. Based on her surprise, it seemed she’d actually listened.
“I finished my work on Thursday and had a few people there yesterday and today, adding the finishing touches.”
“Are you serious?”
“I’m very serious. They should be just about done, and we can head over when we finish breakfast.”
“I’m too anxious to see it to eat now. Let’s go.”
I’d intentionally ordered a very light breakfast of avocado toast with cherry tomatoes on top, scrambled egg whites, and orange juice. Skye didn’t like to eat heavy after a workout. Plus, a part of my surprise included a generous amount of food, so I didn’t want either of us to eat too much.
“Okay.”
We cleaned up after our meal, and minutes later, we were in the elevator. On the entire ride to her house, she asked questions about the patio, and I didn’t give her any specific details.
Her excitement was cute, and she was bursting at the seams by the time I turned into her driveway. I was sure she’d notice all the cars parked along the street, but if she did, she didn’t say anything.
She hopped out of my car before I put it in park and went straight to the backyard. I rushed to catch up with her so I could see her reaction.
“Happy birthday!” everyone shouted.
I caught up with her just in time to see her pause in confusion.
“Birthday? What’s going on?” she questioned.
I stepped behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist.
“Your birthday is next week, so I thought the patio reveal and a birthday celebration would be a great surprise,” I told her.
She turned to face me, placing her hands on my chest. “Knox, you did all this for me?” she asked.
“I had some help from your parents, Nyomi, and of course, Stokely.”
“This is the best surprise ever. Thank you.”
“Anything for the woman I love. Happy early birthday.”
“The woman you . . . love?”
“The woman I love.” I kissed her forehead. “Let me show you everything I did and let you greet everyone.”
We shared a quick kiss before she returned her attention to her guests. I didn’t plan to profess my love to Skye today, but it felt right.
“I can’t believe y’all tricked me like this. Thank you all for this wonderful surprise, but I especially want to thank this beautiful man right here.” She turned to face me again. “I appreciate your patience, time, hard work, and love you put into creating this beautiful space for me.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Now I see why you haven’t been calling me as much. Skye’s been keeping you busy,” my mother said.
I chuckled. “Something like that.”
My parents had flown into town for Skye’s birthday celebration, but neither of them knew that the status of my relationship with Skye had changed. The celebration was a few days ago, and I was finally able to get on my parents’ calendar.
Now that they’d purchased a house in Black Elm, they’d also gained quite a few friends, and it was hard getting on their schedule when they were in town. If they weren’t catching up on quality time with Kilan and Nymeer, there was no telling what they were up to.
“You should never be too busy to call your mother, but since Skye and that beautiful patio was your distraction, all is forgiven,” she said.
“She’s going easy on you, Son. She must really like Skye,” my father added.
“Kyle, I told you when we met her that she’d be perfect for Knox.”
“You did, and I’m glad you let it play out instead of trying to play matchmaker,” Pops said.
“I know how to mind my business.”
I chuckled because Mareen St. Patrick was a trip, and she was the last person to mind her business.
“I told you I was seeing someone seriously, but I didn’t tell you it was Skye because we wanted to keep a low profile at first.”
“Keeping a low profile doesn’t mean keeping it from your mother. Do you know how worried I was that you’d let that trifling girl weasel her way back into your life?”
Without the mention of her name, I knew the woman my mother was referring to was my ex-fiancée, Olivia. She was the last woman I’d introduced to my parents, and the only one of my exes my mother called trifling.
I’d only told Skye the abbreviated version of the story because I didn’t want to get into it, although I was sure she had more questions. Thankfully, we were interrupted by Kilo and Nyomi’s visit, and the topic hadn’t come up again.
One day, I came home, and Olivia had packed all her shit.
She told me she loved me but wasn’t in love with me, and she expected me to give her a better lifestyle than what I’d been providing.
I argued that we lived well, but she said she expected more and that she shouldn’t have accepted my proposal.
As I’d told Skye, and my mother on several occasions, I was hurt, but when I took the time to reflect, I realized Olivia’s leaving was for the best. She was an educated, high-maintenance girl from the hood, and because I grew up with a father who played professional football, and I had been coaching at the collegiate level for a while, she expected us to live a certain way.
When our modest lifestyle didn’t meet her lavish expectations, she bounced. I couldn’t even be mad, because she saved me from going through a lot of unnecessary drama. I didn’t hate Olivia, but we simply weren’t a good match.
“My son may have gotten his heart broken, but he’s not dumb enough to fall for her again,” my father said, annoyed.
He wasn’t very fond of Olivia either. In fact, he’d warned me about her, but I was too blind to see it and didn’t take heed.
“She didn’t break my heart, and that’s definitely a stretch. Nothing would make me take her back.”
“Good. You know, I heard she got divorced from that man she married.”
I couldn’t lie; hearing that Olivia ran off and got married a few months after we broke up was a blow to my ego, but I got over it quickly. I assumed she married someone who met her financial and materialistic expectations.
“Really? That’s too bad.”
I didn’t bother asking who she’d heard it from for a few reasons, but mainly it was because I didn’t care. I didn’t doubt that it was true, though. My mother had some reliable sources.
“That’s what she gets for breaking my son’s heart. I never did trust her, but I tried to like her for your sake. She’s out here in California somewhere too. That’s why I got a little nervous when you didn’t want to tell me who you were seeing.”
I didn’t know how many times I’d told my mother that Olivia didn’t break my heart, that woman was still hellbent on believing it.
“A man likes a little privacy sometimes, that’s all.”
“Good luck with that,” Pops muttered, gaining the evil eye from my mother.
“I’m just a concerned mother. Anyway, Skye is such a sweetheart, just like Nyomi.
Do you know how lucky I’d be to have her and Nyomi as my daughter-in-laws?
I was talking to Sandra the other day. Do you remember Sandra?
Her son’s wife is the devil, and they don’t get along at all.
She’s not the only one of my friends whose sons married heathens. Do you remember—”
“Ma, chill.”
“Baby, stop gossiping.”
My father and I spoke at the same time, causing my mother to huff and roll her eyes at us. I shook my head, holding back a laugh, because this woman was too much, but I loved her dearly.
“I’m sorry, Son. I’m just excited for you. I can tell you already love her.”
I thought back to the moment I told Skye I loved her. I thought we might discuss it later that night, but the day was long, and we were too exhausted to do anything but sleep. It wasn’t a conversation I wanted to force, so I hadn’t brought it up.
She’d become content with never finding love, never getting married, and not having more children. Although she’d changed her outlook on the future, it was something she was still getting used to, and my professing my love for her might have been overwhelming.
“How can you tell?” I asked.
“Because you are your father’s son, and there is a certain way that St. Patrick men look at, talk to, and treat the women they love. Your father is that way with me, Kilo is that way with Nyomi, and now you are that way with Skye.”
My parents and I continued to enjoy lunch, eventually going our separate ways. They were headed to pick the twins up from the Kurries, and I went back to work.
When I arrived at my office, one of the administrative assistants stopped me.
“Coach Knox. A woman stopped by here to see you, but she didn’t leave her name. I told her she could wait, but she chose not to,” Lanisha said.
Everyone knew Skye, so I didn’t need to ask if it was her.
“Okay. If she comes back, send her back.”
“Will do.”
On my way to my office, I peeked into Kilo’s, but he wasn’t there, so I proceeded to my own. I worked for about an hour before I heard a knock on my door.
“Come in,” I called out, not looking up from the document I was reading.
The door slowly opened, and when I looked up, I thought I was hallucinating. If I wasn’t, this was one hell of a coincidence. I blinked a few times and actually rubbed my eyes before speaking.
“Olivia?”
“Hey, Knox. Long time, no see,” she greeted with a weak smile.
I knew damn well that my mother mentioning Olivia didn’t bring her to my doorstep, so this had to be a joke.
“What are you doing here? How did you find me?”
“It wasn’t hard. You only coach for the national championship-winning Black Elm Eagles.”
“Fair enough, but you only answered one question. What are you doing here?”
“I was in town, and I wanted to see you.”
“Try again,” I said, knowing that was some bullshit.
“We had nowhere else to go.”
“We?”
“Me and . . . my daughter.”
A miniature female version of me appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. She had my whole face, freckles included, but she was Olivia’s skin tone, and I was too stunned to speak.
“What is it that you think I can help you with?” I asked when I remembered how to speak again.
“A lot has happened, and we don’t have anyone or anywhere to go.”
“And you thought I was the person you should come to?”
“I knew you wouldn’t want your daughter on the streets.”
And there it was. The confirmation I was looking for but didn’t need.