“I told him,” said Trina. “Being a sheriff is not easy.”
“In that little town? Give me a break,” said Reno. Then his phone rang. He looked at the Caller ID, saw that it was his casino security chief. “What now? Already? I’m on my way,” Reno said and ended the call. Then he grabbed a slice of bacon and stood up.
“What is it?” Jimmy asked him.
“Two cocksuckers fighting in my casino.”
“This time of morning?” Jimmy asked as Trina’s phone buzzed with a text message too.
“Yes, this time of morning. They’ve been on a drunk all night. They’re trying to tear up the place.” Reno gave Trina a kiss in the mouth, gave Jimmy a kiss on his head, and was about to leave until he saw the look on Trina’s face as she read her text message.
“What?” Reno asked her.
But she was engrossed in that text message. He and Jimmy looked at each other.
Then suddenly Trina got up from the table as she threw her phone in her briefcase.
“What’s happened?” a now concerned Reno asked her.
“Just an um … just a problem with the inventory at the boutique. I’d better get over there.” She kissed Reno on the mouth as if she had forgotten he’d already kissed her, and she hurried out.
“But you haven’t even eaten yet?” Reno yelled after her.
“I’ll eat at Champagne’s,” Trina yelled back as she hurried for the exit.
“What the,” Reno said as he looked at Jimmy.
“Don’t look at me,” Jimmy said as he stood up to leave. “And don’t you have a crisis of your own downstairs?”
“What crisis?” Reno asked with a frown on his face.
“The one you just mentioned to us. The all-night drunk that’s tearing up the place as we speak? Remember that?”
“Oh right!” Reno began hurrying out too.
But Trina, not that casino, was on his mind.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Trina saw Von as soon as she entered the diner. At first she hesitated, as that feeling of dread came over her again. She’d known this man for decades. There was a time, back in the day, when he comforted her when she needed it the most and they became more than friends. She knew this man in every way.
But sometimes she felt as if she didn’t know him at all. She knew it was the horror of those memories that slowed her. It was the wrongness of it. But he was no mirage. He wasn’t somebody she could forget because of all the baggage that came with knowing him. He and that baggage would always be as much a part of her life as the air she breathe. There was no getting around it. She made her way to his booth.
Javon Douglas, a tall black man, stood up when he saw Trina heading his way. Always a gorgeous girl, he still couldn’t get over how sophisticated and elegant she looked as she walked his way. He always wanted her. And when he had her that one night, it was the highlight of his life. And still was.
“Don’t you look beautiful,” he said with a grand smile when she made it to his booth.
“Hey Von,” Trina said as they gave each other a hug. He wanted it to linger. She quickly drew back and sat in the seat across from him.
“Those glasses are giving serious sophistication,” Von said as he sat down too.
“I’m wearing these glasses because my ass half-blind,” Trina shot back. “Sophistication has nothing to do with it.”
Von laughed. Always serious. That was the Trina he remembered too.
Trina looked at him. “More came?”
“Plenty more.”
