Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
Plotting
Benny pulled into the long driveway of his parents’ home. He saw the garage was up when he pulled in, so when he climbed out of the car, he made his way in that direction.
“Hey, old man,” Benny greeted his father. “So, this is what retired men do nowadays?”
He was kneeling on the concrete, sanding an old dresser.
“This was something your mother found and had me pick up.”
Bernard Sr. had enough money to buy Benny’s mother the world. Yet, she still would pick up things on the side of the road if it was vintage. His father had the job of restoring each piece.
“You’re going to get Gavin to help you?”
“I’m just giving it a quick sanding. I’ll do more when we get back, so I don’t need him. Even if I did, that boy in there packing. You know your mother is in there fussing.”
“Don’t tell me y’all got her all riled up. Jo’s attitude was all the attitude I can handle today. I just left her at the coffee shop after checking on distribution. I want to make sure we’re set to be gone for three days with no interruptions.”
Bernard laughed. “Your sister is bringing hell down on everyone’s head. Your mother’s not that upset. She’s just yelling at Gavin.”
“Okay, I guess I can stay a little longer.”
“What brings you by? We’ll be seeing you tomorrow.”
“I just wanted to stop by, make sure everything was good for tomorrow.” That was his excuse, but he really wanted to test the waters with his mother about him and Lorielle.
“Oh, I thought it was some trouble I needed to know about.”
He shook his head. “No, nothing.”
“Good. We all need to be focusing on getting your sister down the aisle.”
“Even if I have to drag her down that aisle she’s marrying Trey.” Though he doubted he was going to have to do that. Jo was a fool for Trey. That was why she was taking his distance so hard.
Benny moved toward the door of the garage that led into the house.
“Where are you going?” his father asked.
Benny looked over his shoulder. “In the house.”
“You’re not going to help me?”
“You said you didn’t need any help! It’s cold out here and then you try to sneak off and leave me with all the work. You’re not getting me today.”
He laughed. “You ain’t shit. I give you a company and this is the thanks I get,” his father mumbled.
Benny used the garage door to enter the house. He moved through the mudroom into the kitchen, where he saw his mother stirring something in a pitcher.
“Hello, my son.” Jolen Collins was a ball of sunshine. She brightened up any room she was in.
“Hey, Ma.” He kissed her cheek. “Homemade lemonade! I’ll have some.”
She giggled. “Get you a cup.”
He returned shortly with a hard plastic green cup he had used since he was a child. He swore it was glass back then. No one could tell him he wasn’t drinking out of a grown up cup.
Jolen laughed when she saw the cup he brought over. She scooped a small amount of ice in his cup then filled it with the delicious liquid.
“Here, my big baby.” She handed him the cup before resting her hip on the counter. “What brings you by today?”
“Just coming to see my favorite girl,” he said as he claimed a seat at the kitchen table.
“I heard that title may be going to someone else.” She smirked.
“Who?” He acted clueless but knew what she was talking about.
“Elle.”
Even if he tried, he couldn’t stop a smile from forming on his face. “Who told you that?”
“Your sister.”
“Of course she did.”
It had been a few days since he had the pleasure of sleeping with Lorielle in his arms and he was still craving her in his arms again. Sadly, he hadn’t seen her since.
She could run, but she couldn’t hide.
Lorielle had made the ultimate slip-up and there was no going back. He was about to apply all the pressure to get what he wanted.
“Did we need to add another platform for you two to get married?” Jolen asked.
He shrugged. “I’m just getting to know her.”
He said that knowing he knew everything he needed to know about Lorielle.
She was kind, confident, God-fearing, educated with a side of nerdy, but he could deal with that.
He actually found it attractive. Other qualities like loyalty, a sense of humor, and romantic were a bonus.
And even though she tried to hide it, she could sit back and let her man take the lead.
Lorielle was his and the sooner she stopped fighting it, the better off they would all be.
“Mm hmm.” His mother grabbed the pitcher of lemonade and put it in the fridge. “I would like to have my grandbaby named after me.”
He chuckled. “You already have Jo.”
“What did I say, Bernard Devin Collins?”
“We’re nowhere near babies yet, but I hear you.”
“As long as you hear me.”
“So, you’re cool with it?” Benny asked.
Not that he needed her approval. He wanted to see where her head was.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You don’t think it’s too soon after Tara?”
She gave him a knowing look. “Baby, I know you thought you loved Tara, but she wasn’t right from the start, and she definitely didn’t stand a chance the second time around. I know you. Hell, I raised you. I never played that cheating stuff. If you need to cheat, what do you need me for?”
He nodded, understanding and agreeing with every word that left his mother’s mouth.
Man, he had tried, but he couldn’t get past her infidelity. His mother was right. She had raised them better than that. He vowed he would never cheat on his woman, and he expected the same from her. She had shown she couldn’t be trusted, and if they didn’t have trust, they had nothing.
“That may be true, but how do you know I’m ready to take it there with Lorielle?”
Yes, he talked a good game, but he couldn’t deny there was a bit of fear. She had already turned him down once. If he put on a full pursuit, showing her he was her ideal man and she still denied him, he wasn’t sure that was something he could bounce back from.
“Sunshine, the way your eyes lit up when you first saw her…You didn’t even know her name and was captivated. She had your attention that whole night.”
Benny was fresh from college and ready to take over the company.
It didn’t work like that. His father had a lot to show him, and Bernard Sr. wasn’t bowing out until he knew the company was in capable hands.
That day, he had been in the kitchen bitching to his mother about how hard his father was being on him when Jo came in with Lorielle.
When Benny saw her, he had a hard time keeping his mouth off the floor.
Later that night, he got a chance to talk to her.
He picked her brain about the tech industry when, in actuality, he just wanted a chance to be in her presence without others.
Benny swore he had fallen in love that night.
He promised the next time he saw her, he would take a chance.
However, he was tragically shot down. Lorielle explained she had just gotten her freedom back and wasn’t ready to give it up.
“Look at you!” his mother exclaimed. “That was the same look. Just thinking about her brings a smile to your face. That’s the woman you’re supposed to be with, the one you’re supposed to marry.”
“What if…” He couldn’t fathom her rejecting him again.
His mother joined him at the table. “What’s on your mind?”
“I don’t know if I can deal with another rejection from her.” Rejection from anyone else he could handle, but not her.
“It’s about time you really stake your claim.
You’ve learned and grown into an exceptional man that I, for one, am proud of.
” She patted his hand before standing from the table and moving to the counter to clean up.
“You just have to make her a lifelong offer she can’t resist.” His mother looked at him with a teasing smile.
Or make a promise they had to keep.
Feeling the odds were in his favor, Benny dialed his sister’s number, praying he could put his plan in motion tonight.
“What?” Jo answered with an attitude.
He shook his head, steering his car down the busy street. Tomorrow can’t get here soon enough. Her bobble head ass is going to pay me back for all this disrespect.
“You with Lorielle?” He knew she was. He checked his sister’s location before calling and saw she was at Lorielle’s house.
“Yeah. Why?”
He ignored her question. “Let me speak to her.”
“Why?” she pressed.
He sighed, getting irritated. “Because I want to talk to her.”
“That means you need to talk to me first. I told you I wanted to talk to you about the two of you hooking up. I don’t want to see either of you hurt, but you more than her. She doesn’t play games.”
“Is she around you while you’re talking like I’m some scrub?”
“No, Benny, and I’m not talking like you’re a scrub. I’m just keeping it real. I was there for it the other day, but as I started thinking about it more… and with this shit between me and Trey, it’s just opening my eyes to a lot of things.”
“So, it’s not about me and Elle? You’re putting your relationship problems on us before we even get together.”
Jo was going to kill him before tomorrow. This entire conversation had him ready to tell her about the surprise so he could make her see clearly, but he wouldn’t do that.
“I’m sorry, Jo. I know you’re going through a lot right now, but I promise everything is going to work out for you. You know one thing about me: I keep my promises. As for this between me and Elle, I got me, and I got her. No one is going to get hurt.”
“Alright.” The screen display on his car showed he had a message on his phone. He picked it up from the cupholder to take a quick peek to see Jo had texted him Lorielle’s number.
“Thank you, sis.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Here I am, hooking up my brother and best friend when my own relationship is on the rocks.” He heard her mumble before hanging up.
When he called Jo, he assumed she would just pass Elle the phone, but having her number was even better. He dialed it and waited for her to pick up.
“Hello?” Her light raspy voice came over the line.
“Ready for tomorrow?”
He thought that would be a good place to start, since he really didn’t have a reason for his call other than to hear her voice. Tomorrow was just too far away for him to wait.
If he was lucky and played this right, he would see her tonight. Confidence had him already headed in her direction.
“I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life. Hold on.” He could hear a door close before she came back over the line. “Okay, I’m back. I’m in the office finishing up some stuff real quick. She’s in the living room, sulking. Your sister is miserable, and it’s making me more miserable.”
He chuckled. “You made it, though. That’s all that matters. Just hold on a few more hours, baby.”
“I guess so. We’re probably going to drink, watch some movies, eat some food, then call it a night.”
“That sounds good. Jo’s really lucky to have you.”
“Jo has been there for me during worse times, so it’s the least I could do and hey, what are friends for if you can’t lean on them from time to time?”
“That’s true. You know you can lean on me.”
She giggled. “Are you saying you want to be my friend?”
“Your friend, your lover, your forever.”
“Benny…” He could hear the warning in her tone but ignored it.
“I’ve been thinking about you, Lorielle. Tell me you’ve been thinking about me.”
“Benny!”
“Yes or no, Lorielle?”
She released a frustrated sigh. “Yes, but not because I want to.”
“What does that mean?”
“I can’t get you off my mind,” she confessed with more ease than he thought she possessed when it came to her feelings.
“And that’s a bad thing?” he asked.
“You know it is.”
“I don’t know shit about that, Elle. All I know is fucking with me will be the best decision you’ve ever made.”
“Benny, I’m rarely scared, but this scares the fuck out of me. There’s so much to lose if this goes sour. I don’t want to lose the family I found in your family. It’s more important to me than this attraction between us.”
“You’ll never lose us.”
“You say that until shit goes down. People will switch up on you and turn their back on you like they never knew you.”
He knew she was talking about her ex-husband and his family. He heard the story. They acted as if they were there for her, but when things got tough and shit hit the fan, they showed their true colors.
Elle knew his family wouldn’t switch up like those people. Like she said, she was scared. Rightfully so, but she had to have a little faith in him. He was all that she needed.
“You know me, Elle. You know I’ll take care of you.”
“I take care of myself.”
“I promise I’ll take care of you better.”
“And just fuck Tara, huh?”
He chuckled as he said, “You still on that?”
“It’s not funny, Benny! You know what? Forget I even asked.”
“Yes, forget Tara. She ain’t in the picture anymore.”
“I hear you.”
Now she had an attitude. “I want to see you. I’m about to pull up. Come outside.” He was riding down her street. He would pull into her driveway in seconds.
“What?”
“You heard me. I’m outside,” he said as he backed into her driveway behind her car. Jo’s car was parked on the side of hers.
“Why won’t you come in?” she asked.
“Jo and I need a little separation.”
“Why?”
He could hear the panic in her voice.
“Chill, it’s not about us. She’s just not feeling any man right now. Trust me, I’ve spent most of my day with her. We need a break from each other.”
She laughed. “I get it.”
“You coming out?”
“Yeah, I’ll be out in a minute.”
Benny couldn’t help the goofy grin that covered his face. That had gone a lot better than he thought it would have. Now all he had to do was wait for her to appear.