Preacher's Wifey (13 page)

“No, I never enter the property from the front. But they told me that several trucks were starting to accumulate by the gate. I have the best security team in all of Augusta. There is no way anyone could sneak in. Even if they did, by the time they got to the actual house, someone would have caught in on the camera.”

“Oh, okay. But I meant the media that was flying overhead. A chopper landed out back less than ten minutes ago.”

“No, sweetheart, that was not the media. That was me.”

This man was like the Mega Millions, and I had the winning numbers.

“Why don't you take a shower and change into something else? I have to run downstairs and talk to Nana and brief Melanie on what I need her to take care of for me. I came straight up to make sure you were okay.”

This man knew exactly what to say and when to say it. The fact that he made me his priority after he had one of the worst days of his life was impressive—and heartwarming. I could easily get accustomed to a man treating me like that—especially a rich one.

“I appreciate that so much. However, I am fine. My concern is for you. Why don't you go shower and change? You can tell me what you need Melanie to know, and I'll brief her. As for Nana, I am sure she understands you want to get comfortable before you come down.”

“Where have you been all my life?” he joked.

“Possibly waiting for you,” I joked back. Actually, I was only half joking, because I was half serious.

“Girl, you better stop talking like that. That kind of talk will get you another ring on your finger, and this time it will mean something.”

This man is about to get it
.

“Go on to your room before you start something.” I playfully slapped him on the shoulder. “What about dinner? Have you eaten?”

“I'm not really that hungry. This day has totally drained me. I would be handling it a lot worse if you were not here. Melanie and my entire staff should really thank you for my good mood.”

“I don't think Melanie will be thanking me for anything,” I mumbled.

“What do you mean?”

“She is really concerned about who I am to you, and has made it very clear that she is the queen bee around here and the soon to be Mrs. Carson. I think the only reason she is not more concerned than she is, is the fact that I am married. If it were not for that, I think she would have already found a way to get rid of me by now.”

“Melanie is delusional. She is also very intimidated by any woman I have over for company. I am not a fool—I know she wants me. However, what I feel for her is like what one feels for a little sister. She is good at what she does executively, and that is as far as it will ever go.”

“Speaking of company, why do you have so many female items in this bathroom?”

“To be honest, I bought all these things for the woman I was engaged to. I just never got rid of them because I knew one day the right woman would come along and appreciate my acts of kindness. I got rid of the things that she used and wore, and kept what was untouched.”

“I see. Well, you have splendid taste, sir.”

“I do the best I can.”

“Whatever. You know you are the boss,” I said, flashing my best smile. “So . . . boss, what are your instructions for Melanie? And go ahead and tell me what you want for dinner, because you will be eating something, even if it is just a fruit salad.”

“Yes, ma'am,” he said as he walked out of the bathroom and toward his bedroom. “Tell Melanie to tell Claudia to make me a turkey sandwich on wheat, with lettuce, Swiss cheese, and mustard only. I want orange juice with no pulp and no ice.”

“Got it. That it? No side item?”

“Baked Lay's . . . barbecue.”

“Okay.”

“Also, tell Melanie I need her to set up a press conference. I want no more than five news outlets there. CNN, MSNBC, NBC Twenty-six, WRDW News Twelve, and WJBF News Channel Six. Tell her that I will do it promptly at seven o'clock in the morning. Oh, tell her to make sure she calls Lance. That's my attorney. She should know this, but I do not want to do anything without him being present. Have her alert the police department. I would like someone from the investigative team to be here to answer any questions the reporters may have pertaining to the bombing. Got that?” he asked, stopping abruptly, which almost made me run into the back of him.

“Got it. Anything else?”

“Yeah, but I will wait and tell you that later.”

“Go ahead and tell me now. I can remember.”

“It's not about whether or not you can remember.”

“Oh. Well, okay. I am going to go on down and relay these messages.”

“Thank you, Allyson,” he said, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me into him. “I know you are not my lady, but it sure does feel like it. Your outstanding support today has made me believe that love is attainable for me again. It has made me realize just how much I am missing in my life. Of all the things I have accomplished and attained, I have no one special to share them with. I hope to change that really soon.”

I practically melted into his body as he kissed me on the cheek. The touch of his lips always set me ablaze. I pulled myself away, turned, and pressed the button for the elevator. I stepped inside, and as the door closed, he just stood there . . . intensely watching me. This man was all that and a bag of Ranch Doritos.

When the elevator opened on the first floor, all eyes were on me.

“Finally, someone emerges from the third floor. Allyson, darling, you look washed out. Are you feeling well? Did something happen up there?” Melanie asked.

“I feel perfectly fine,” I said, waving off her insinuation. “I do have some messages for you from Seth.” I took a seat in the chair I'd occupied before.

“Messages? For me? From Seth?” Melanie asked, dumbfounded.

“Yes, yes, and yes. He decided to stay upstairs and change into something more comfortable, so I offered to relay any messages he had for you. I am assuming he wants you to get working on these things immediately.”

She cleared her throat. “I am . . . I'm surprised he gave you a message for me. Seth knows I take orders only from him—directly from him.”

“It don't matter how they come to you, chile. Just get the work done,” Ms. Todd said, sounding clearly agitated. I think she had had enough of Melanie and her childish temper tantrums for the evening.

Hesitantly, Melanie responded, “Okay, I guess Mama Todd is right. What are the messages?”

She retrieved a pen and a pad from the drawer of the sofa table that was directly behind the couch. I gave her all of Seth's instructions, and she wrote them down. When I had concluded relaying his message, she disappeared into another room.

“How is my grandson?” Ms. Todd asked me.

“Surprisingly, he is handling this better than I ever could. Honestly, I think once he stops and settles down, the reality of what has happened will set in on him.”

“If that be the case, I am glad you are here.”

“Really?”

“Yes. My main and only concern is him. However he achieves happiness is all right with me. And when he breezed by us earlier to get upstairs to you, I could see happiness all over him. I have not seen that sparkle in his eyes in a long time. You gave him that sparkle back, baby. I thank you for it.”

Wow.
Without even trying, I had won over his grandmother. That was usually not something that was easy to do. I was still trying to get Byran's mother to like me. I had not even started on his grandmother yet.

“Thank you, Ms. Todd.”

“Call me Nana.”

Whoa.
She wanted me to address her as if she was my grandmother too?

“Okay, I will call you by whatever name you prefer.”

“So does my grandson know you are married?”

“Yes, ma'am, he does.”

She nodded her head. “Knowing him like I know him, he probably doesn't care. I mean he does, but when he sets his mind to get something, he usually doesn't stop until he gets it. You hear what I'm saying, baby?”

“I hear you, Nana.”

“So if you don't want him in your life, you need to find a way to get him out of it right now, because I don't think he's planning on going anywhere.”

“To be honest, Nana, I don't think I want him to go anywhere.”

Suddenly I felt the need to be transparent. One thing about talking to older people, they always seemed to make you feel comfortable with telling them all your business, and they always had a way of helping you navigate through the murkiest waters.

“That's 'cause you ain't happily married. I told you I'm an old lady. I done been around for a minute, and I know a woman in love when I see one, and you ain't no kinda ways in love with your husband. Am I right?”

“I do love him, but in love . . . I don't think so.”

“If you don't know so, then you ain't.”

She was right.

“I'm not. I thought I was falling in love with him, but our situation is so complicated. He makes it difficult for me to love him. No matter how hard I try—or tried—he pushed me away. But our marriage wasn't built on anything in the first place. It literally is nothing more than a piece of paper.”

Every time I admitted to the stupidity of my situation, another part of me died to it. Meeting Seth had jump-started my thinking on an entirely different level. For the first time, I had a glimpse of hope that you could have a future with a man who was rich and who actually cared. All the other guys I had dated who were rich had given to me because of what I had given to them. Never had any of them given to me expecting nothing in return. Until Seth. And Seth had not really given me anything but his time, his undivided attention, and a portion of himself. He had not taken me on a shopping spree, which in times past would have been enough for me to be head over heels in love with a man. He had not wined and dined me, neither had he given me or my girlfriends all-expense paid trips to private islands—something else I was accustomed to and that would have had me doing anything a man wanted me to do. I had no access to his American Express card or his bank account. Yet I was intrigued. I was smitten. He had given me simple things. And never in my life had simple things mattered until now.

“I don't ever tell anybody to leave a happy home or a home that is built on a solid foundation,” Ms. Todd revealed. “Because even if the storm comes, a home that is built on a solid foundation will survive whatever comes its way. That's why it's so important to have the kinda love that will last a lifetime.”

“Does that even exist?”

“Oh, it exists, baby. I had it with Seth's grandfather. He was taken from me early, but we had that kind of love that would still be going right now if he were here.”

“If you don't mind me asking . . . what happened to him?”

“He went up North to do some work back in the sixties, and he never came back. He got into it with one of his friends, it got out of control, and that man killed my husband. I still remember like it was yesterday, the day I got the news. I could hardly believe it. But one thing that helped me get through his death was knowing he died loving me. I would be willing to bet I was the last person he thought about when he took his last breath.”

She paused and stared into the abyss as the expression on her face told a story of its own. Even after all the years that had gone by, it was evident she still loved him to this day. “So you need to find that type of love. The type of love that will take a beating and get stronger and not weaker. The type of love that could be on its last breath and you beat the other person trying to bring it back to life. That is the type of love you need in a marriage. If you don't have that, you ain't got yourself nothing.”

“Well, I ain't got myself nothing,” I said, laughing. The Ebonics of older people was amusing.

“You need to find yourself something. Or perhaps you need to realize that something, or someone, is staring you right in the face.”

“What's staring who in the face?” Melanie asked as she walked back in the room.

“Did you get everything done?” Ms. Todd asked, completely ignoring her question.

“Yes, I did. Mama Todd, I wanted to ask, are you ready for Claudia to make you something to eat?”

“As a matter of fact, I am. I will have exactly what Seth is having.” She turned to me. “Allyson, you must be starving. Do you care for anything to eat?”

“No, I think I am good.”

Ms. Todd shook her head. “No, you're not. Your arms and legs are too skinny and poor. You need a little meat on your bones.”

I could not help but laugh. Ms. Todd was hilarious, and she was definitely from the old school. Old people believed in you getting enough to eat.

“I surrender,” I said, holding my hands up, feigning defeat. “I will take a turkey sandwich as well. But I would like lettuce, cheese, mayonnaise, and pickles, if it isn't too much trouble.”

“It won't be no trouble at all, will it, Melanie?”

“Not at all. I will go let Claudia know now.”

Melanie scurried away like a dog that had gotten into a fight and lost.

“I don't like that girl,” Ms. Todd whispered.

“Who? Melanie?”

“Yeah. There is something about her that doesn't sit well with me. I have been trying to put my finger on it, but I never can.”

“What do you think it is?”

“Other than wanting my grandson to be her husband . . . I'm not quite sure yet. One thing I hate is leaving him here with her when I have to go home. She tries to pretend she likes me, but I ain't nobody's fool. That chile don't like me one bit. But the feeling is mutual, because I can't stand her, either. She ain't fooling me. She good at what she do, but I bet we would all see a different side of her if she thought Seth had someone special in his life.”

“You think?”

“Oh, honey, I don't think it. I know it. That child's screws ain't all the way in. All her scruples ain't there. Seth doesn't ever want to hear me talk about her, because she's so good at what she does, but I have a bad feeling about Li'l Miss Melanie. I think before it's over, we are going to all hate the day we met her.”