Kelly laughed. “That’s what I love about you, Roz. You keep it real. You keep it real girl!”
Roz smiled too. She really liked Kelly. “So what’s up? Why did you feel a need to get rid of my lunch dates?”
“I just wanted to check on you. To make sure you’re okay.”
Roz stared at him.
“I know your stepson was in that bad car crash: I saw it on the news. I heard he was fine, but I wanted to make sure you’re doing okay.”
He was the only person in months that bothered to ask about her wellbeing. She was touched by that. “Thank you, Kelly. I appreciate you asking. But I’m good.”
“No offense, Roz, but you don’t look so good.”
Roz wasn’t offended in the least. She knew what he meant. She took another sip of her tea.
“It’s Mick again,” he said. “Isn’t it?”
She looked at him over her tea mug. “Who’s to say it’s not me?”
Kelly raised his hand. “I say it’s not you. Hello? It’s never you.”
Roz gave a weak smile, finished sipping her tea, and then sat down her mug. “Anyway,” she said. She wasn’t about to even try to unpack her personal mess with Mick with some other man. “I heard you bought a house in Philly.”
He nodded. “I did, yes, I did.”
Roz studied him. “Why?”
“Why not? Because it’s a beautiful place to live. I love all the lovely people there. I love the food.” Then he looked a Roz. “And I love me some Roz Graham.”
“That’s not the reason and you know it.”
“The point is, I own property everywhere. And Philly works for me. It’s close enough to New York that I can get here in a hurry if I have to. And it’s far enough away from New York that I can feel like I’m not at work all the time. That I’m away from work. And,” he added, “I love me some Roz Graham.”
“I’m not a Graham anymore, Kelly, and your ass know it.”
“You’re always be Roz Graham to me.”
“Roz Graham been gone a long time ago. I don’t even recognize that girl. I’m Roz Sinatra through and through now. Mick saw to that.”
“But did you see to that, Roz? Why would a strong, powerful woman like you let some crooked-ass man like him erase you, and who you are, like that?”
“He didn’t erase me.”
“He defined you then.”
“He didn’t define me either. My love for him did that.”
Kelly stared at Roz. His handsome face was filled with that loving look Roz remembered Mick used to give to her. It was so sweet that it was uncomfortable. She was a married woman! “You’re staring,” she said to him.
“How I envy that man,” Kelly blurted out. “I’d give both arms to be with you when he won’t give you the time of day.”
“Careful, Kelly. That’s my husband you’re talking about.”
“Remember that Gladys Knight songIf I Were Your Woman?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Do you remember it, Roz?”
