Maui lifted her hands in surrender just as that gas station song came on. I rolled my eyes. Carter was definitely behind that shit. As we headed to the kitchen, I saw Red watching us and Carter winking at me. I smiled at him and immediately went to the stove to see what all we had to eat. When I saw the oxtail boudin balls, I went in. Before I could get too carried away, I looked at Noni and said, “Again, you know you owe Red an apology. I’m not saying you have to let him back in, but you definitely owe him an apology.”
“Yeah. Daddy said the same thing. I’ll apologize.”
She wouldn’t have to wait long, because Red and Carter were making their way to the kitchen. When she turned around to see him, she turned completely red. I expected Red to still be angry at her, but he wasn’t. That was shocking to me. As hotheaded as he was, he was extremely calm right now. He extended his hand to her, and she slid her hand in his. He kissed it.
“Can we talk after you eat?”
“Yeah,” she responded, then gave his hand a squeeze before releasing it.
My eyebrows lifted. That seemed promising. Red was proving that he was being considerate of Noni’s feelings. The old him would have cranked the conversation up right here. I was pretty sure Noni had taken notice as well.
When Carter’s scent wafted its way to my nose, I closed my eyes as his arms slid around me. I set my plate on the countertop and turned to him. After kissing his lips, I asked, “So, will you move to Nome?”
“I will do whatever you want to do, baby. Besides, your house is bigger than mine and can hold more kids.”
I frowned as I stared up at him, causing him to laugh. I shoved him playfully. “You play too much.”
He pulled me in his arms again and kissed my lips. “I’m so happy, Bali. You gon’ be my wife one day.”
I gave him a tight smile. “I know. I’m happy, too. Bali Henderson-Semien. I can’t wait.”
“Whenever you ready, let me know. After the nationals, of course.”
I giggled as I relaxed in his arms for a moment. “Okay, I’m hungry. Move.”
I gave him another playful shove as he laughed. This was truly the life I’d always wanted. I could only pray that Noni figured out how to open up, so she could have everything she desired, too.
CHAPTER 14
RED SQUARED
As I watched Noni walk through the door, I admired her physical attributes. It was what I was first attracted to. She was tall, close to six feet with long legs, had long curly hair when it was in its natural state, a gorgeous smile whenever she decided to show it, and had extremely smooth, light brown skin.
She had modest curves, enough to get my attention, and was smart as hell. Although I gave her a hard time about not committing to me while she was in school, I loved that she was headstrong and intelligent. She was smart as hell to be a practicing doctor at the age of twenty-six. She would be twenty-seven in a hot minute. Still . . . most people didn’t finish their internshipsuntilthey were twenty-eight or older.
She turned to me, and I grabbed her hand, leading her to my truck. I cranked up my diesel engine and helped her inside. I knew Noni liked privacy. If I wanted her to express her feelings, I had to try a different approach. I had to attract a bee with honey, not vinegar. That was what my dad told me before we left the house. When I got inside, I grabbed her hand, and we sat in silence for a moment.
“I’m so sorry, Red.”
“I’m sorry, too.”
“What are you sorry for? You’ve already apologized. This weekend, I fucked up and could have cost you your career.”
I frowned slightly. My first thought was that she thought I would end up fighting. I thought about how I grabbed her by the neck, and I got sick to my stomach. That was probably why Mr. Storm was giving me the look of death. I knew the only thing that saved me was that Carter was proposing to Bali, and he didn’t want to disrupt that.
“How so?”
“Your head could have been so fucked up until you hurt yourself out there . . . or worse. A freak accident could have happened. Although you make sliding off that horse while he’s galloping full-speed look easy, I know that it isn’t. Secondly, anyone could have seen what happened outside the restaurant Friday night and reported you. That was selfish.”
“Had I not been an ass to you, that shit would have never happened. Noni, I love you. That’s real shit. I was angry Friday. I just wanted to be left alone, but I know I fell in love with a petty, rowdy ass Henderson. I should have known it wasn’t over simply because you broke up with me. Plus, you’re Storm Henderson’s daughter. I should have been prepared for the fuckery.”
She smiled slightly, and I reached over and grabbed her hand again. As I turned to her, I continued. “I know we can’t just hop back into a relationship simply because we’re speaking to one another again. But I want you to know that I’m not going to stop trying to better myself, not only for you, but for me. You are the woman I want and love. I’m not giving up. Can we at least keep the lines of communication open?”
She slid her hand away from mine and looked out of the window for a moment. I remained silent, waiting for her answer. Closing my eyes, I said a simple prayer. The only thing I uttered mentally was,“Lord please.”I believed God knew exactly what Iwanted to say. He knew my heart and my desire to make Noni happy.
She turned back to me. “I will unblock you, but I need time, Red. I need time to work on myself. I feel like, although we’ve been together as a couple for a while and even longer unofficially, it seems like we rushed. We didn’t take time to truly know one another. I was always studying and not allowing myself to make time to connect with you. Even after I graduated, it was like we dove headfirst into a serious relationship without truly dating each other.”
“You’re right. I need time to work on myself, too, but I only want to be the first to say good morning and the last to say good night.”
