Chapter 39
Cori
“I swear, you’re a genius. I have that fool eating out of my hand.” I hold my hand out. Selene slaps it, and we both fall back in the booth and laugh.
“What’s so damn funny?” Eden takes off her coat and sits next to me. “Sorry. We were a bit behind at work. Did you order for me?”
“We did,” Selene confirms.
“What were you talking about?” I look around. Seven Heaven is packed for lunch, but we’re in a secluded booth at the back of the restaurant. I gesture for her to come closer, and I tell her my plan of getting Dax to fall in love with me so I can break his heart.
Her mouth hangs open by the time I finish talking. The server brings our food, and I shove a handful of fries in my mouth.
“You’re doing what?” Eden asks in a horrified whisper.
“You heard me,” I say.
“That asshole is going to be butt-hurt by the time Cori finishes with him. Do you see how he looks at her? All thirsty and shit.”
“I didn’t believe Selene at first. I thought he was just an entitled man who thinks he can have whatever he wants, but this fool actually thought we were on a honeymoon in Chicago.
He was opening doors, taking me to fancy restaurants, sightseeing, and buying me shit.
Holding my hand everywhere.” I roll my eyes and giggle.
“And you don’t mean any of it?”
“Hell no.” I suck my teeth at the very idea.
“It’s cruel,” Eden adds.
“Cruel? You don’t think trapping her into a marriage was cruel?” Selene comes to my defense like a tornado.
“Cori said I do, though.”
“Not willingly. He forced her.”
“Selene, when was the last time a man forced Cori into doing anything? She agreed, and I don’t think you should play with his emotions.
” Eden points her fork at me to make her point.
There’s a small part of me that agrees with her last statement, but I can’t voice that close to Selene.
“He seems to really care about you, Cor. And Selene, I’m shocked that you suggest Cori do this. ”
Selene huffs and rolls her eyes.
“You guys know I don’t play when it comes to either one of you.
He needs to be punished. Where was this concern for Cori?
He just derailed her entire life, and his sorry ass needs to pay.
” Selene opens her mouth to say more but closes it when she notices Preacher being seated at a table a few feet away.
“What is he doing here?” She subtly points in his direction, but he notices and waves at us. “He’s weird.”
“Forget him. Dax is helping me with my business plan,” I whisper.
What I don’t say is that he had good ideas and that he says he’ll invest whatever I want in the business.
He also praised my plan, and since he was the first person I had ever shown it to, I felt a sense of pride, but I stuffed it away.
“He had a surprise for me when we got home last night.”
Everyone stops chewing and waits for me to say more. Instead of telling them, I pull out my phone and order them to swipe through the pictures.
“Is that your own sewing room?”
“It sure is, with three sewing machines. Do you see that wall of material back there? Silks, satins, lace in all shades of white.” I swipe another picture.
“Look at these colors for bridesmaids' dresses. He even had my grandma’s old sewing machine tuned. It purrs like a kitten now. He got me these fancy-ass scissors. It’s like cutting through warm butter. ”
Eden takes the phone and inspects each picture.
“That’s pretty thoughtful, Cor.”
“It is, because I was right.” Selene puffs out her chest. “Men are dumb.”
We hear a loud throat clearing. Preacher looks at us and shakes his head. He jumps out of his seat and slides next to Selene. She moves as far away from him as possible.
“Hey, Selene.”
“What’s up, Preacher boy?” My cousin sips her drink and makes a face at me, causing me to giggle.
He puts his hand on the table, and that cross tattoo stands out. Selene scrunches her nose, and he notices.
“My dad was a minister. I’m a seminary school dropout,” he informs us.
“Leviticus chapter nineteen, verse twenty-eight. You shall not make any cuts on our body for the dead or tattoo yourself.”
Preacher smiles and leans closer. “That’s subject to interpretation. Some biblical scholars believe that—”
“I am not in the mood for a sermon. You are not allowed to say biblical scholars ever again,” I warn Preacher, who puts his fingers to his lips.
“Girl, please.” Eden waves her hand in dismissal at my cousin. “My man’s tatted up, and there is nothing wrong with him. Hush.”
“Selene is just goading you,” I tell Preacher.
He smirks and turns to Selene. “Oh, yeah? I love to be goaded.” He drops his voice into a hushed whisper. “Goad me anytime. I can goad three to four times a day.”
“We were just talking about our periods.” I start to cough at Selene’s lie. “Mine is so heavy, I think I might pass out.”
Preacher raises his hand and gestures for the server. “Can you get this lady some tea?” He turns to Selene. “Ginger should do it.”
Selene’s eyes widen, and I giggle.
“We always get ours at the same time. It’s called menstrual synchrony. It’s quite common with friends.”
The server brings Preacher his coffee. He moves closer to Selene, who is now against the wall.
“Yeah, that’s been debunked. There’s no science behind it. It’s been reduced to nothing more than a coincidence.”
Selene makes a face. If there’s one thing she does not like, it’s men talking about women’s issues.
“Stay out of our bodies. Gross.” She tosses her hair and turns away from him.
“So, you want to go see a movie or something, Selene?”
“I have a boyfriend.” Preacher snorts. “And you’re not my type.” She gestures at his tattoo.
“That little bitch dentist?”
Eden’s lips twitch, but she hides it behind her mug.
“Where is he? Fixing a thirteen-year-old’s broken bracket?” He rolls his eyes.
“You mean earning an honest living?” Preacher scoffs. “No offense, you guys.”
“Why would we be offended?” Eden asks, and Selene purses her lips shut.
“Oh, I quit my job. I sent Armstrong a one-line email saying I won’t be returning. I didn’t even thank him for the opportunity.” I high-five my friends. “An honest living is for the birds.” I wave my hand around.
The server brings Preacher’s food and Selene’s tea, which she sips.
“He’s sitting over there.” Selene points to the empty table.
“I think I’ll stay here.” Selene eyes the tattoo. “I got that after I dropped out of seminary school.”
“Why did you drop out?” Eden asks.
“I lost my faith,” is all he says. “It was a bunch of things, but this tattoo is a reminder of that time, that I got through it.”
The table remains quiet until Selene speaks up. “Well, that was heavy. Thanks for crashing our table to talk about that morbid shit.” Her phone dings, and she picks it up. “Ooh, there’s a new cat video.”
As expected, Selene shoves her phone in my face while she laughs uncontrollably. Eden rolls her eyes.
“Let me see.” Preacher gestures for her phone. “I love a pretty pussy.”
“Preacher boy!” Selene snorts and bursts into laughter.
The house is quiet, even though people are working here.
I check the refrigerator, and everything I had on the list is there.
I leave the kitchen and go upstairs to our bedroom.
The bed, which was a mess of sheets and pillows this morning, is back to order.
I stumbled out of bed after a night and morning of being ravaged by my husband.
He didn’t want to let me go, but he had a meeting he couldn’t miss.
After changing into comfortable clothes, I go into my sewing room and work on my sketches. A few hours later, I return to the kitchen. The only thing Dax does for himself is cook, so since I also enjoy cooking, I figure I'll do it tonight as part of my plan.
Men love shit like that. Daddy always praises Mom’s cooking, and one of the few times I see Ripley smile is when Eden cooks for him.
Dax comes in while I’m tossing a salad. He wraps his strong arms around me, and I instinctively lean into his muscled chest. He plants loud kisses on my neck, and I close my eyes and enjoy it.
I’ve convinced myself it’s okay to enjoy his embrace.
It will make this connection feel deeper on his part.
At least I enjoy his hard body against mine until the dog barks, and I gasp in shock.
Finch walks toward us, and my instinct is to run, but Dax holds me in place. The dog rubs her head on my legs.
“Sit, girl.” The beast obeys. “How was your day?”
“Great. I talked to Mom, and she’s doing well.
She might be home as early as next week.
” One downside of coming home yesterday was flying back with Devin.
He sat Ruby next to Dax and slept through the two-hour flight home.
It took all my willpower not to kick him in the face.
“Mom said she stood up for a couple of minutes today.”
He squeezes me and kisses my neck. He lets me go and sets the table, then he takes Finch outside.
I make the table romantic. I light candles, pour wine, and dim the lights. I play soft music, and when he returns, he pulls me into his arms, and we dance slowly in the kitchen. He spins me around and plants a kiss on me before he pulls my chair out.
“Delicious,” he says of my meal. It’s nothing fancy, just a quick pasta with chicken sausage.
“I think in a few months, I’m going to look for a seamstress or two.
Someone who can sew my designs. Can I train her here until I get the shop?
” It almost kills me to ask his permission.
I take a big swig of wine to avoid choking, but this fool loves to feel in control, so I’ll let him think he is.
It will be that much sweeter when I pull the rug out from under him.
“Whatever you want, sweetheart. You must ensure that you vet them. It’s important to find the right person to work with. That can make or break your business. I want to help you. Give you some pointers on what to look for.”
I nod at him. We probably won’t be together by the time I open the business, but by then, I should have taken enough money from him to do whatever I want. And there’s always the divorce settlement. I’ll have to find a lawyer who can get me half of everything he owns.
I give this whole thing a year, and since I’ll have to leave Shadow Cove, I’ll need to find a place in the city that still has a small-town feel.
“What are you thinking about?” His voice has an air of mistrust, but I smile at him, and the fool relaxes. This is going to be like stealing candy from a big, stupid baby.