Chapter 22 Paradise
chapter Twenty-two
Paradise
Tiffany
It’s been four days since the private jet landed on the island. Four days of tropical bliss. Most of our days are spent either by the pool or the ocean getting in as much family time as we can.
At night, my time is spent making love to my husband. Nico and I have christened this island with our lovemaking. I’m so glad I got an IUD after I had Noah because had I not, I would definitely be pregnant again by now.
The only things on the private island are the four large homes owned by Nico and his brothers. The only people there are the ones employed by the guys for the upkeep of the property.
Today is the first day we’ve left the island. We’re on the mainland. Nico had to handle business, so he brought my mother and I with him to go shopping. Ms. Rose and Noah stayed back at the house. Neither was interested in shopping.
“Sweetheart, let’s look at this store,” Evelyn says, guiding me to a nice little boutique on the strip.
When Nico dropped us off, he gave me his black card and told us to have fun. My mother has been doing just that. I think she has more bags than I do.
“You think I’ll be able to find Ms. Rose something nice in here?” One of the main reasons I wanted to go shopping today was to buy a birthday gift for Ms. Rose.
The woman has been such a blessing in our lives that I wanted something nice to celebrate her. Her birthday is three weeks from now, so I have time. But she’s going to visit her sons for her birthday for three days, so I want to get something before she leaves.
Evelyn stops at the display of sunglasses.
“I don’t know why you keep catering to that woman.”
Shaking my head, I toss my long braids over my shoulder. The day after we landed on the island, Nico brought an entire team over to cater to me. I got a massage, a facial, and my hair braided in knotless hip-length small braids.
“I happen to like Ms. Rose, and she’s incredible with Noah.” I peruse the rack of colorful dresses.
Evelyn walks over to the same rack as me. “Mmmhmm,” she hums in disapproval. “We will see how incredible she is when you come home early one day and find her climbing out of bed with your husband.”
I turn to my mother, my jaw nearly unhinged.
“Don’t look at me like that. You think because she’s older she wouldn’t do it. Older women enjoy sex too, dear. I would know.”
“Ew, Mom,” I chuckle while shaking my head.
Evelyn stops scanning the racks of clothes to look at me. Her expression is hard to read. She looks shocked yet pleased.
“Wow.” She pushes her hair behind her ear. “You’ve never called me Mom before.”
Damn, she’s right. I didn’t even realize the word had come out of my mouth. I guess, Evelyn and I have grown closer in the month she’s been here. She’s mom of the year or anything, but having her here with me hasn’t been all bad. Plus, she’s helped me navigate this new life I’m in.
I know nothing about being the wife to a billionaire. Moving through this world is daunting. Having her here has helped a little.
“Well,” I say, focusing on the clothes again. “I never had a reason to before. But now I do.” I glance over at her and find her smiling.
She nods her head, not making a big deal out of what I said. We go back to perusing the racks of clothes.
Evelyn’s gasp draws my attention. “Oh, Tiffany, you have to get this bathing suit.”
I walked around the rack of clothes I was perusing to the side she was on.
She’s standing in front of one of those half-body mannequins.
On display is a burnt orange colored bathing suit.
It’s made to look like a one piece but with all the cutouts and ties, it would be considered a two-piece.
The front of the bathing suit would wrap around my neck like a halter.
The bra part cradles the cleavage in two triangular slingshots.
All down the center are crisscross straps that tie on the side.
The bottoms connect to the top, but with one pull of a string they would fall away. The thing is sexy, I won’t lie.
“This is stunning,” I say in awe of the bathing suit.
“Yes, and it would look superb on you.”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. With the way this thing is cut, it will be hard to hide my baby weight.”
After having Noah, my body shifted a little. I wasn’t the size five I was before I had him. I’m closer to an eight now. My hips and ass alone would rip the stitches out of a size five dress.
“Darling, real men prefer curves. Especially ones he helped you gain.” She winks at me as she bumps her shoulder against mine.
Not once since I had my son had Nico complained about the little weight. The man has kissed, sucked and licked every inch of my new body. But there is always that little doubt in my mind that I’m not the woman he fell in love with.
“Just buy it,” my mother says, handing it to me. “And if you don’t like it, you can always bring it back.”
She was lying. She knows good and well that if I bought this bathing suit, I wouldn’t be bringing it back. However, her trick worked. I scan the racks for my size in the bathing suit and take it and the shawl I found for Ms. Rose up to the register.
Mother and I spent most of the day together. We shopped a little more and then went to have lunch at a beautiful seafood spot. Now we were heading back down the strip, wasting time.
“Have you talked to James since you left?”
I still couldn’t get over him putting his hands on my mother.
James was such a nice guy. He went out of his way to make Noah and I feel welcome the entire time we were there.
And he seemed to love my mother. I guess you really can’t always trust people.
He put on quite a show for me. He’s called me a few times since she got here, but I haven’t answered.
Mother sips from her pina colada. “Of course not. He and I have nothing to talk about.”
I guess I could understand her point of view. I’m more intrigued by how easily she moves on to the next. I wasn’t a fan of Marcus, but even seeing him get killed on camera was hard to grasp. Even knowing he was trying to sell me off again.
“Can I ask you a personal question?”
She looks over at me. “Should I be worried?”
I chuckle. “You don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to.”
She stares for a moment before nodding her head for me to go on with my question.
“Have you ever been in love?”
I knew most of my mother’s marriages were based on the man’s bank account. But I do wonder if at any point she loved any of her husbands.
She takes a last sip of her drink and then tosses it into one of the trash cans on the side of the street. After dusting off her hands with a napkin, she glances at me.
“Yes. I was in love once.”
I’ve never had more than a brief conversation with Evelyn. We usually argue whenever we talk. This time with her has shown me that we can get along.
“Who?”
She cuts her eyes at me and playfully rolls them. “Your father.”
Even though I had no idea what she would say, this was definitely not what I expected. She left the man twenty-four years ago and never looked back. Never even called after she left. From my understanding, she left a note on the kitchen table and took me to the neighbor’s house.
“I can tell by the look on your face you don’t believe me,” she chuckles. “But it’s true. Your father is still the only man I’ve ever loved.”
“Okay, so then you know what my next question is going to be.”
We separate when a guy walks between us. Coming back together, I wait for her to answer.
“I grew up poor,” she says. “I’m not talking about not being able to buy new clothes when I wanted or eating ramen every night.
I’m talking dirt poor. We lived in a one-room shack, and if a strong wind blew, it would’ve knocked the house over.
We had no lights, and if not for the well, we wouldn’t have even had clean water.
I went to bed many nights with a grumbling stomach.
My father couldn’t hold a job or his liquor.
And my mother was so uneducated and weak, she could only get a job as a wash lady for rich families. ”
Daddy didn’t like to talk much about my mother while I was growing up. I think for a long time she was a touchy subject for him, but he told me once she’d had a really rough upbringing. I always thought it was just another excuse he’d used to explain her leaving.
“When I met your father, I was smitten. I fell so hard and so fast for that man.”
The grin on her face is authentic. It was easy to tell she had really loved him at one time.
“He was tall, handsome, and an athlete. You kids call it swagger now, but the way that man carried himself.” She hums. “You just knew he was working with a big d….”
“Whoa. Whoa.” I say, waving my hands.
She laughs. Even Jake, who is walking behind us, chuckles.
“Sorry,” she says, blushing. “Your father and I were two lovesick teens. When he went off to state to play basketball, he took me with him. We would sit up late at night in his little apartment talking about all our dreams once he went pro. We were so sure he was going.”
My father was an incredible basketball player. His stats at State University are still unmatched. I had no doubt that had he not gotten injured, he would’ve gone to the league.
My mother looks off into the distance as if she’s thinking about her past.
“When he graduated, he wanted to keep the dream alive,” she goes on to say.
“He had a great job, making an acceptable amount of money. Then you came along.” She glances at me with a weak smile.
“I was a young mother with fears of ending up like my own mother. I don’t think I ever saw my mother laugh.
She just worked, cooked, cleaned, and slept. ”