Deniece Malcolm is shocked and heartbroken when she finds
out her baby sister, Janette, is marrying Terrance Wright, because she was the
one who was supposed to marry him! Everybody knows there’s a rule about dating
exes. Janette is pregnant and not only is this wedding happening, but Deniece
has to arrange the festivities.
Deniece’s feelings and pride are hurt, but surprisingly,
Terrance’s younger, sexier, cousin, Ethan Wright, is there to provide a
listening ear and a strong bicep to cry on. Ethan’s interested in Deniece, but
she has a rule about dating younger men. Despite her resistance, things heat up
between them and Deniece begins to wonder if it’s time to break a few rules of
her own.
The First Chapter -
I know I hadn't
heard this heifer correctly. Her statement almost made me drop my brand new
seven hundred dollar phone in the toilet. I pulled it away from my ear, set it
on the knee wall next to me and pushed the speaker button.
“I know you’re
probably shocked, but I’m so happy I could cry!”
I closed my eyes
to the sound of her voice. She hadn't said what I thought she’d said. She
hadn’t said she was marrying Terrance Wright. She couldn’t have said that.
“Deniece, I know
you’re still there. I can hear those stupid wind chimes in your bathroom
window.”
I peeked over my
shoulder at the noisy ornament that had betrayed me and smirked. Even though
she knew I was present, I considered pushing the end button and pretending the
call had dropped. But I knew there was no point in doing that. My pesky sister
would only call back until I answered.
I swallowed, lowered
the toilet seat lid and plopped my “needed to lose twenty pounds” behind down. “I’m
here,” I croaked like I’d sucked in a room full of dry air.
“I know you’re
surprised and all, because who would have thought I’d be interested in your
leftovers, but it’s a long story how we got to know each other and although I
feel kind of bad that he’s kinda ex-ish for you, I can’t help but be happy
because I’ve found the man I want to spend the rest of my life with.”
I shook my head.
This was crazy. Way out there for a pre-coffee conversation. Kind of ex-ish?
Had my sister lost her mind?
“He proposed last
night. I was going to call you when I got home but it was close to midnight and
I can never remember if you’re in a different time zone.”
I rolled my eyes. “New
York is on the east coast just like you are, Janette, but I was asleep at
midnight so I appreciate you holding off on your news,” I refused to say good,
“until this morning.”
“I have so much to
do. I need your help like yesterday. Do you think we could talk about some
wedding stuff?”
I stared at the
phone, tempted once again to push the end button and disconnect the call. “No,
boo. I’m not even dressed and I have an
appointment to get to, so I most definitely can’t talk about this right now. I’ll
call you later.”
“Wait!” Janette
shrieked. “There’s one more thing. I need a favor.”
My baby sister was
and had always been oblivious to my feelings. It would never occur to her to
ask, “Are you okay with me marrying the
only guy you have ever loved?”
I swallowed again.
This lump went down harder than the last one, because it was a knot full of
regrets. My sister didn’t really know how I felt about Terrance. I’d done much
too good of job denying and disguising that fact all those years ago to really
hold her accountable for my heartache, but still, the backstabber knew there
was a rule that all black women held fast to…never date your girl’s exes.
Surely, she knew the rule applied to sisters as well.
“What’s the favor?”
I asked, rolling off a few sheets of toilet paper. I wanted to cry, but I
didn’t dare ruin my makeup. I had to be out of the door at a meeting with a new
client in fifteen minutes.
“I need you to
come home as soon as possible and pull the wedding together for me.”
I popped to my
feet like someone had sprung me from a Jack-in-the-box. “Janette Malcolm,” I
said, using the sir name we shared. “I know you aren’t asking me to plan a wedding
for you and my ex-boyfriend.”
Janette’s spoiled
attitude came through on the phone. “Why not? You’re a wedding planner. That’s
what you do for a living and besides it’s not like he’s a new ex. There’s a
string of exes between him and you.”
I kept my mouth shut,
because my temper was rising. My sister continued. “The favor is for me not him.
I’m the one who needs the help. All Terrance will do is get a tux and show up.”
Terrance in a tux,
the image took me back to high school. Specifically, to prom night which was
the last time I’d seen Terrance in a tuxedo. He’d been wearing it for me,
because he was my date. How crazy that the next time I’d see him in one he’d
have my sister on his arm. That wasn’t right. In fact, it was all kinds of
wrong.
I picked up the
phone, walked into my closet and removed the dress I planning to wear. “I’m really
booked out right now. There’s no way I can fit an out of state wedding in my
schedule. Hire a local wedding planner.”
“I don’t have
money for a wedding planner,” Janette protested, “and the only one who is the
least bit reasonable is booked up for our date.”
“Choose another
date. I mean, it’s not like you guys can’t move it. He just asked you to marry
him last night.”
“We can’t move the
date.” Janette hesitated. There was a nervous pause in the air and then she
continued, “The wedding is in a month.”
“A month?” I
dropped my dress. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck. “Why the rush?”
“We need to have it
really soon. Remember, I said I had two things to tell you?” Janette paused
again. “I’m six months pregnant.”
* * *
Gayle Lincoln, my assistant and best friend hovered over my desk. “Are you going to do
it?”
I took a deep breath. “I don’t think I have a
choice.”
Gayle crossed her
arms in front of her chest. “Of course you do. We all have choices.”
“She’s my sister.”
I dropped my eyes to the paperwork in front of me. I could sense Gayle rolling
hers above me.
“She’s being
unfair.” Gayle tapped the end of her pen on the desk as if to get my attention.
“If she’s going to marry him, which I suppose she nearly has to at this point,
she should at least have the decency to do it in Vegas or something.”
I had considered
suggesting that or even a wedding honeymoon combination on a tropical island or
cruise ship, but Janette was too pregnant for that kind of travel. Even if she
wasn’t she wouldn’t do it. I raised my eyes to meet Gayle’s. “You don’t know
Janette. She’s dreamed of having a big wedding her entire life. Every year when
we were children she’d get a wedding dress for her Barbie doll. She’s been
watching those wedding and Bridezilla shows for years.”
“So,” Gayle said,
“I repeat. She should plan something small if she can’t hire someone to handle
it.”
I tightened my
grip on the arms of my chair. “I know I sound crazy, but at the end of the day,
after the weddings done and even after she has the baby, she’s going to be my
sister. That’s never going to change. I don’t have much family. I can’t cut her
off over a man, even if he was mine.” I rolled my eyes.
Gayle grunted like
she always did when she was frustrated with me. “I’m not saying cut her off.
I’m saying tell her off. Be angry. Let her know how you feel.”
“What’s getting
all worked up on the phone going to solve?”
“You’ll be able to
check it off the to-do list before you get to Garrison. You don’t want to blow
up there. You’ll be in the same house.”
I picked up my
cell phone and push the gallery icon for the picture Janette had sent to me
just this morning. It was a sideways view of her belly. The corners of my mouth
turned up. I shook my head. “Fighting isn’t good for pregnant women.”
“Puleeze, pregnant
women don’t get a pass on everything.”
I sighed and threw
up my hands. “You’ve met her. She’s fragile.”
Gayle pinned me
with a look.
I smirked. “Okay,
she’s manipulative, but that’s not changing.”
“And you’re
allowing yourself to be manipulated which apparently isn’t changing either.”
Gayle took a seat. “What’s up with this Terrance anyway? You’ve never really
talked about him before this. How do you feel about him?”
I let out a long
breath and closed my eyes. “I don’t know.” I shook my head. “I haven’t really seen
him in a few years. The last time I was home he was dating some woman from Atlanta, but that didn’t
work out.”
“So, you keep up
with his comings and goings.”
“No, my sister
gossips about everybody in Garrison. I listen.”
“How do you feel
when she talks about him?”
I shrugged. “Ambivalent.
It’s like I want him to move on, but I don’t.”
Gayle nodded. “I’m
not trying to be a shrink here, but have you ever thought about why?”
I dropped my head
to the side like Gayle had asked me a stupid question. “Because he’s the only
man who has ever asked me to marry him. That’s a big deal. I want to keep him
on a shelf for that.”
Gayle looked
confused. “I never wanted to keep anyone on a shelf because they proposed to me.”
I smirked again.
“Gayle, you’re gorgeous. You get a marriage proposal every day on the subway.”
“From crazy men,”
she retorted.
“Well you had four
from men who weren’t crazy before you finally accepted the fifth. Women like me
don’t have men falling all over us.”
Gayle narrowed her
glare. “What do you mean women like you?”
I wasn’t sure what
I meant. I let my words swirl around in my head before I responded. “Look, I
know I’m pretty,” I started. That was true, I wasn’t as skinny as I wanted to
be, but my smooth mocha brown skin and large dark eyes had always been assets
men complimented me on. I was also a little on the tall side, five seven to be
exact. My legs went on forever in the four inch heels I hiked around in
everyday. Men couldn’t seem to get enough of those either, but that had been in
my twenties and early thirties. The cat calls were less frequent now and seemed
to come from the mouths of drunks rather than good looking men who were
actually trying to holler. The ones who weren’t drunk were five foot five and
balding. I sighed and waved my hand. “Let’s move on.”
Gayle slid a folder in front of me. “I did the
things you asked. I reserved the banquet hall, the videographer and photographer.
Those are the contracts from the vendors and your payment receipts. I’ll email everything
so you have digital copies.”
“Fantastic! What
would I do without you?”
“Hire two
hardworking people to take my place.” She chuckled. “I also have a call in to
the D.J. and limousine company.”
I sucked in a
cleansing breath and fanned my fingers out across the desk. “Great, that’s a
big help.”
“Did you want me
to get you a list of caterers?”
“Some back ups. I
have a small company in town I’d like to use. I’m going to call them myself.
They’re family friends and I’m sure they could use the business.”
Gayle put the pen
she’d borrowed back in my pencil holder. “Any thing else?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“You can book me a flight to Atlanta.
I’m headed to Garrison, Georgia, whether I want to or not.”
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