A Love So Deep (22 page)

S
oft
, mellow jazz engulfed the room—the swishing sound of the drummer’s brush simulating mock anticipation of a lover’s call while Grover whispered in his tenor voice, “The Look of Love.” The look of love was plastered on their faces and contentment oozed from their souls. Rita lay snug in the crook of Graham’s arm—Graham encircled her body with his arms. With eyes closed, the melody entrenched their minds, souls and bodies.

And as all fairy tales come to an end, Rita knew it was time for her to depart. She had an early plane to catch to Seattle in the morning, and she needed to go back to the hotel and pack her things. She tried to remove Graham’s arm from around her; however, his vise grip was so tight, Rita thought he had her in a death hold.

Rita struggled to free herself when Graham suddenly released his hold on her. She stared at him, not sure what to make of it. She was probably overreacting—some moment from her past trying to resurface. Graham was a gentle man.
At least he was up until this moment
, Rita thought. It unnerved her a little, for surely this was not a sign of things to come. It was all right for a man to be a little possessive, but Rita would never again allow any man to possess and control her soul using her at will. Her concern melted when he spoke.

“What’s wrong with my baby?”

She needed to let Graham know straight up how she felt, because there would be no nipping it in the bud later.

“You were holding me so tight, and…when I tried to get up, I had to struggle to get out of your grasp.”

“What?”

“Ssssh. I endured a lot from a man I once loved, and I will never, ever…”

“Baby, stop. Do you think I would ever hurt you? Never, ever. I’ll call up Amanda if you want me to. She’ll give you an outstanding character reference on my behalf.”

They both laughed, and Rita felt a little ridiculous for having thought that Graham would try and hurt her.

“Amanda would have liked you,” Graham continued. “I must have slipped into a deep sleep, because I was dreaming about holding you forever and never letting go.”

“Don’t play, Graham Peters. You had me a little distressed.”

“Know this, my angel, I will never hurt or try to control you…only love you. And besides, you have yet to say that you’ll be by my side for the rest of your life.”

“I will, baby, I will. I’ve never met a man like you. You’re warm, thoughtful, loving, caring, intuitive, sensitive, compassionate…did I leave anything out?”

“Was I a good lover—even for an old man?”

“A damn good lover, Graham Peters.”

Graham pulled Rita to him and kissed her neck…behind her ears.

“You know?” Rita said, sitting up and pulling away from Graham.

“What, baby?”

“I was a little jealous today when that woman from your church came busting up in here. In fact, it ticked me off somewhat that you were giving Miss Thang an eyeful of what was only mine to enjoy.” Memories of their last encounter were fresh in her head, along with every antic Mary had pulled since then. Rita wished she had been at the church when Martha had given this desperate Graham-chaser a piece of her mind.

“She did look real good today. I mean extra good. Her perfume smelled good…sensual…downright intoxicating. And that booty…”

Rita picked up a pillow from the sofa and hit Graham with it. “Graham Peters, you’re supposed to be feeling my pain, not flattering yourself about a desperate, ain’t-never-had-a-man, call herself a Christian woman who is lusting for you.”

“You have nothing to worry about,” Graham said with a straight face.

“You saw how she was looking you up and down, and…and you standing out there bare-chested so she could see what my man was giving me.”

“But don’t you see? All she
could
do was look. You had the goods and the only thing Mary could do was walk out knowing that you and I were joined together.”

“How were we joined, baby? Say it.”

“At the hips, tits, lips, and fingertips.”

“You are so bad.”

“Well, Mary Ross had no business coming up in here.”

“You let her in.”

“I was in a hurry to get back to you, baby. I didn’t even peek out of the window to see who it was. That was so stupid of me.”

“Well, she’ll have a lot to tell the church folks this time.”

They laughed.

“Sister Mary needs to get her own man, because I’m already spoken for. I love you, Rita.”

“I love you, too, baby. I’ve got to go. We’ll talk every night and day.”

“Will that be enough?”

“Maybe not, but it will have to do for now. I’ll be back before Christmas.”

“I guess I’ll have to settle for that.”

Brrng, brrng, brrng, brrng
.

“That’s my cell,” Rita said, looking back at Graham before she rummaged through her purse to retrieve her phone. “Hello.”

“Hey, Rita.”

“Clyde?”

“Yeah, baby. I need a big favor.”

“If I can.”

“I had a cancellation, and I need an act for the next few weeks. How about it? Can you be here next weekend?”

“But Clyde, I’m on my way back to Seattle tomorrow, and I’m not prepared…”

“Stop your whining, girl. I know you and Midnight Express won’t let me down.”

“I don’t know. The band may be off doing other things…”

“I need you, baby. I heard you were in here last night and tore the house up. Ran out before I could catch up with you.”

“I was tired. And if I had relented, the crowd would have kept me there all night.”

“See, that’s what I mean. They love you here. Tell you what…give me a call tomorrow and let me know your decision. I’ll give you time to round up the posse. But I need you, baby.”

Rita sighed. “Okay. I’ll let you know something then. Thanks, Clyde.”

“Bye, love.”

Rita closed the receiver and stood staring at Graham. “Clyde wants Midnight Express to headline for the next few weeks, beginning next weekend. I really hadn’t planned to come back to Oakland that soon.”

A sly grin crossed Graham’s face. God was having favor on him. His prayers were being answered. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. You could stay here.”

“No, baby. That would be a bad idea. We can spend time together, but it would look better if I stayed at a hotel.”

“That doesn’t make sense. If we’re going to spend time together, why can’t we just be together—like now?”

“Graham, sweetheart, it wouldn’t be right. I’ll be here for an extended period of time—not just a day. Your family will be in and out, and if we’re going to be together, forever, we have to make a good impression. That doesn’t mean we can’t make love to each other every night.”

“You are making this hard, but you’re right. That’s why I love you. You use your head for more than a hat rack. Okay. Let’s get your stuff so you can get out of here.”

“Kicking me out now?”

They laughed.

“No, baby. I’d never do that. I just want you out so that you can hurry on home. And the sooner you do, the sooner you’ll be back in my arms again.”

“I will be back.”

Graham helped Rita take her things to the car. It was early evening and unusually quiet in the neighborhood. A waning moon already hung in the clear eastern sky offering no hint of yesterday’s downpour.

As Rita got into the BMW, she looked up slightly and thought she saw someone looking at her from a car parked across the street and a few feet ahead. She looked away, and when she looked in the direction of the parked car a second time, she didn’t see anyone. Maybe she imagined it. She didn’t want to alarm Graham and decided against saying anything to him.

It was the second time today she had reacted to what seemed like nothing. She didn’t want to give Graham any reason to think she was unstable, although she was beginning to wonder if something was wrong—with all the strange feelings she was having. Did it have something to do with seeing William this weekend? Rita let it pass. She bade farewell to Graham and was off.

Mary returned to her seat. Unfortunately, her guest had not chosen to leave. He gave her a broad smile, his eyes never leaving her. Mary smoothed her dress down like a nervous schoolgirl. And the smile she tried to suppress came rushing to the surface.

“You are absolutely beautiful,” Charlie said. “And please forgive me if I upset you.”

Mary waved her hand in absolution. “It’s all right. I guess I’m a little sensitive about things and I tend to overreact.” Mary blushed again.

His eyes were fixed on her, and Mary squirmed some more. It seemed Charlie was looking into the core of her soul as if trying to analyze and dissect every word she was saying. He took both of her hands in his and continued to stare, occasionally parting his lips as if to speak but without a single syllable escaping. Then his mouth flew open and he rambled something that Mary was not sure she heard. “What?”

“I’d like to get to know you better, Mary.” It was Mary’s turn to stare at Charlie. She wasn’t sure what this man wanted. “There is more of you than meets the eye.”

“I guess I should be flattered,” Mary started, unraveling her hands from Charlie’s, “but you know that I’m not a worldly woman. My life is my church.”

Charlie sat with a vacant look on his face. He raised his right hand slightly and scratched his head, finally bringing his elbow down to rest on the table, culping his chin with his hands.

“I don’t believe I’m a worldly man, Mary. I haven’t been to church much, but maybe I can go with you sometimes. And look, we’re already having lunch together—our first date.”

Mary wanted to be flattered, but Charlie puzzled her. He knew she was in love with Graham Peters, but yet, he was trying to come on to her. Why?

“Mr. Ford…”

“Charlie.”

“Okay. Charlie. I’m not sure why you want to be with me. I know that you are well aware that I’m attracted…attracted to…” Mary hesitated.

“Attracted to Graham?” Charlie prompted.

Mary nodded yes. “You were saying earlier that he has been seeing someone else.” Mary lowered her eyes, and a small tear traveled down the side of her face. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but…” Mary hesitated again, “I need to talk to somebody. I was over there this morning.”

“You mean Graham’s house?”

“Yes, Graham’s house. I wanted him to see the new me. I shed my old clothes and got a new hairdo, and I had hoped he would notice. He came to the door in only a pair of PJ bottoms, and I could tell right away I had more than surprised him. I believe he even liked what he saw.” Mary paused and noticed Charlie’s intense interest in what she was saying.

“Continue,” Charlie prodded.

Mary watched Charlie’s expression as she spoke. “I could tell he did not want me there—like he might have been preoccupied.”

“Was he alone?”

“Excuse me,” the waitress said, interrupting a pivotal point in Charlie and Mary’s newfound friendship. “Two rib platters.” She sat the food on the table. “Can I get you anything else?”

“Ketchup,” Mary shouted, happy for the interruption.

Charlie fingered his fries while Mary kept her eyes diverted, concentrating on the insatiable appetite she’d just acquired. Changing the subject, she said, “Go on and try the ribs. They’re good.”

“I will in a moment.” With no intention of aborting his last question, Charlie inquired again if Graham was alone.

“He wasn’t,” Mary said in between bites of her ribs that she delicately tore from the bone. “But I don’t feel like talking about that now. I’m starving, and your food is going to get cold if you don’t eat.”

“All right, Mary. The food looks good…smells good, too. We’ll just have to make another date; I’ll pick out the restaurant.”

Mary sat the bone down on her plate and looked straight into the eyes of the mysterious Mr. Ford. Her gut feeling told her that Charlie had an ulterior motive for wanting to see her again—his sudden appearance at her lunch table, his coming on to her. Not only that, he seemed to be preoccupied with what was going on at Graham’s house. He was his best friend; didn’t he know?