“I can’t let you do that. You two are enjoying retirement.” I balked.
“We’ve been retired for three years. We’ve gotten a little bored, and this will give us something to do while we plan our next adventure.”
“Dove, if you don’t take Mama up on her offer, I will,” Ivy retorted.
Mama and I both looked at her like she had grown a third eye. “Girl, don’t nobody want to fool with them little bad behind first-graders you teach,” Mama replied, causing both Ivy and me to crack up laughing.
“I know that’s right,” I remarked, wiping my tears. “Do you think Daddy will be okay with that, though?”
“Your daddy is the one who suggested it when you first went through it.”
I bobbed my head as I thought about the little beach cottage. I hadn’t been there in years. A smile hovered over my lips as I thought about all the wonderful summers we spent there, especially when our neighbors, the Reeds, would go with their foster kids.
My smile faltered because thinking about the Reeds always brought back memories of Reighvyn. It had been years since we last saw each other. He hadn’t graduated college, but he had gone into sports. That had been the crack in our friendship. With his constant travels and training schedules, it was hard to reach him. Our communication dwindled to nothing at all.
Yeah, it might be time to take a trip back to the past to remember who I was and tap back into the heart and soul of Dove Reign Flowers.
“I’ll do it.”
“Good. I’ll call the service and have them go out to prepare the place for your arrival. It may be a couple of days from now, but you’ll get the rest that you need,” Mama replied.
“Surprised to find you here,”I stated, stepping into the bedroom.
Daniella jumped and turned to look over her shoulder. “I uhm, . . . I thought you were out of town,” she replied.
When she licked her top lip nervously, I knew that she was up to no good.
“I was. Just got back. What are you doing here?”
She shrugged and replied nonchalantly, “You know. Just picking up some things that I left behind.”
“I thought you took all your shit when you packed it up and realized I wasn’t the nigga for you.”
She rolled her eyes. “I really don’t want to do this with you today, Reigh. I’m tired, and I just got back in town too.”
“You should’ve called. Whatever you needed, I could’ve had it packed and waiting for you.”
She hefted a bag over her shoulders with a hand towel tucked over the bag. “No problem. I didn’t want to inconvenience you, and I still have a key. You didn’t change the locks.”
I stepped back and moved out of her way as she approached the doorway. “Let me carry that for you,” I suggested, reaching for the bag. The way that she jumped out of my way, you would have thought I had leprosy.
“No. I’m good. I’ve got it.”
I bobbed my head, and as she walked past, I reached out and tugged the towel. I was still holding it as she walked toward the door, and I was right on her ass. The bag she had couldn’t be zipped completely, which was why she had a hand towel covering the opening.
I slipped the rolled artwork from her bag. It was a rare, signed lifetime Jean-Michel Basquiat print.
“Yeah, a’ight. Bet ya slick ass did think you had it.”
“What are you—Reigh!”
“Don’t fucking Reigh me. That’s why ya ass didn’t call. You up in here stealing shit from me now. Let me see what else you got in that bag,” I demanded, reaching for the bag.
She jerked the bag out of reach. “No! It’s mine. I bought it!”
“You didn’t buy this print. Ya ass a damn lie if you try to say that you did.” There was no way in hell Daniella would have been able to afford anything that cost half a mill.
“I’m not talking about that stupid ass painting. It’s so ugly, and it doesn’t even make sense why someone would spend that much on it.”
