скачать книгу бесплатно
“My brother.” Eric rolled his eyes. “Same old Marvin. You talked about being young and foolish—well, he’s now older and still foolish. I hoped he would grow out of his player ways, but he didn’t. He’s on a second divorce now.”
“What?”
Eric nodded. “Yep. He was married to a girl from here, really nice girl he met in college, Beverly.”
“I remember Beverly. Beverly Bonaparte?”
“Yeah, that’s her.”
“I can’t say that I’m surprised.” Deanna shook her head. “Wow.” Then she said, “Okay, I’m over it. What happened to their marriage?”
“What you’d expect of Marvin. Beverly loved him, but, yup, he cheated on her. Time and again. They have two kids, twins. A boy and a girl. The so-called perfect family. But not for Marvin. Nope, he wasn’t happy unless he could have more women. Sometimes I wonder how it’s possible that we’re related.”
“I wondered the same thing many times myself.”
Something changed in Eric’s expression. Giving her a pointed look, he asked, “Is that all you wondered?”
Butterflies fluttered in Deanna’s belly. Suddenly, she didn’t know what to say.
Eric held her gaze for a moment longer, then smiled softly and reached for more corn bread. “Anyway,” he went on, “Beverly and Marvin divorced, then Marvin headed to New Orleans to be with some other woman. Beverly moved to Cincinnati, so we hardly see the kids.”
“Oh, that’s awful,” Deanna said. But she was all too aware that Eric had just let her off the hook concerning whatever he had been curious about.
“Tell me about it. The twins are five, and I try to stay in touch with Beverly as much as possible. But she’s remarried, so she doesn’t have as much time for us as she used to. I think in the beginning she stayed away a lot because she didn’t like the reminders of Marvin. And because things had gotten ugly between them. Sometimes, the extended family can’t help but become casualties when divorce happens.”
Deanna nodded. She was thinking about Callie. Callie and Nigel hadn’t divorced, but she hadn’t been able to know her nephew until now because Callie had left, fearing that any contact with any of them would’ve led to Nigel finding out that she’d had his child. Thank goodness, they had all reunited—and now Callie and Nigel were together the way they should have been in the beginning.
Deanna shared that story with Eric, and when she was finished he said, “You would never know they’d been apart. Kwame talks about his mother and his father as though they were always together. He seems well-adjusted and happy.”
A smile touched Deanna’s lips. “He is. He’s elated to have met his father and thrilled that his parents are back together. You’d never know that he hadn’t been in Nigel’s life until a few months ago.”
Vivian arrived at the table with their dinner orders. “Two Cajun catfish dinners,” she announced, placing the steaming plates on the table in front of them. “Now, if you need anything else, let me know.”
“Sure thing,” Eric told her.
“It smells delicious,” Deanna commented.
“Wait till you taste it.”
Deanna did exactly that and then moaned in pleasure. “Oh, wow. This is amazing.”
Eric cut a morsel of his fish but held it in front of his mouth as he spoke again. “It sounds like your sister and Nigel had issues to work out, and as hard as it must have been for you all, having to come back here for your aunt’s funeral allowed healing to take place.”
“You’re right about that,” she said, but she couldn’t help thinking that Eric was truly insightful. Perhaps that was why she had been compelled to tell him her problems as a teenager. He was the kind of guy who got it.
“Sadly, Marvin is hardly in his kids’ lives. I don’t think he sees them at all.”
“It’s tragic, isn’t it? People divorce, and suddenly they’re not a part of their children’s lives. It shouldn’t be that way.” Deanna paused. “You said Marvin is on divorce number two?”
“Yep. He was married to this other girl for two years. No surprise, she left him. And the worst part is, she has a child with him, too. I’ve only seen his daughter once.”
“Wow.”
“I hardly talk to my brother,” Eric admitted. “He’s shacked up with some other woman in Louisiana. I don’t think he’ll ever get it.”
Silence fell between them, and they began to eat their dinners while listening to the smooth sounds of Trey Martinez. The man was good.
Deanna was halfway through her meal when she felt Eric’s
eyes on her. Slowly, she lifted her gaze and saw that yes, he was looking at her.
And something about the way he was staring at her made her breath catch in her throat.
“How old is your other niece?” she asked, hoping to alleviate the awkward tension she was now feeling.
“Cecelia’s eighteen months old,” Eric said.
No, it wasn’t awkward tension, Deanna realized. She was very distinctly feeling a sexual rush. But she tried to ignore it. “And what are the twins’ names?”
“Devon and Daneesha.”
“I bet they’re darling.”
“They are,” Eric confirmed. A beat passed, then, “You know what I’d really like to talk about?”
Deanna shook her head slightly, but her stomach was still fluttering.
“No,” she told him.
“I’d like to talk about us.” Eric held her gaze, his eyes not wavering. “About you and me.”
Chapter 4
For some reason, Deanna felt a wave of heat envelop her. You and me.
What exactly did he mean by that?
“Us?” she asked faintly, wondering why her pulse had picked up speed.
“All those years ago, when you used to come to me and cry on my shoulder about Marvin, did you never…” His voice trailed off.
“Did I never what?” Deanna asked.
Eric paused, and Deanna wondered if he wasn’t going to finish his statement. And she wanted him to, wanted to hear what he had to say.
“Did you never wonder about me? Did you never look at me in the way that you looked at Marvin?”
She felt a tightening in her chest, the kind she felt when she was attracted to someone. And yet, there was only one way to answer the question honestly. “I was so wrapped up in Marvin that someone else could have come into my life with a neon sign from God shining on him that said he was Mr. Right, and I wouldn’t have noticed.”
Eric grinned, and not for the first time Deanna noticed the way the faint lines around his eyes crinkled when he smiled, as well as those two little dimples in his cheeks. Had he always been this good-looking?
“I like that,” he told her. “What you said. It set up a really great visual image.”
Deanna shrugged. “The songwriter in me, I guess.”
“What about now?” Eric asked.
Deanna looked away for a moment, then back at him. “Now…” She drew in a deep breath. “There’s no denying that you’re an attractive man,” she said, “but we’ve always been friends.”
“And you don’t want to cross the friendship line?” Eric said, point blank.
“I…this is all out of left field,” Deanna admitted.
“For you, maybe. I was always interested in getting to know you better, but you only had eyes for my brother.”
“What?” Deanna gave him a questioning look. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah,” Eric said softly. “But you were my brother’s girl. And even if you weren’t, I was nearly four years older than you, which is ancient when you’re nineteen. I knew that you never looked at me that way. Why am I even telling you this?”
Deanna shifted in her seat. This was getting somewhat uncomfortable. She liked Eric, and he seemed to be the same decent guy he always was. Not to mention that he was easy on the eyes. But…
“I haven’t seen you in almost nine years,” Deanna said.
“And I never forgot you in all that time. I guess what I’m saying is that I hope that now—without Marvin or anyone else between us—maybe you and I can get to know each other on a different level.”
He was serious. Deanna had to take a moment to digest everything Eric had just confessed to her.
“This guy’s good,” Eric commented, indicating Trey Martinez at his piano.
“Yeah,” Deanna agreed. “Really talented.”
“You going to have dessert?” Eric asked.
“I wasn’t planning on it,” she told him.
“The peach crumble is great. Maybe we can share it.”
“Okay, you’ve twisted my arm. Let’s get one each.”
Eric raised a hand to flag down Vivian, and she came over to the table. “Two peach crumbles,” he told her.
“How was the catfish?” Vivian asked.
“Fantastic,” Deanna told her.
“Great.” Vivian collected their plates. “Any coffee?”
“I’ll have one,” Eric said.
“Me, too,” Deanna chimed in.
And as Vivian sauntered away, Deanna couldn’t help thinking about Eric’s bombshell. Was it true? Had he always been interested in her?
And how did she feel about that?
Just the question caused her stomach to tingle. There was no doubt that she was feeling a definite attraction to him today. For the first time, she was seeing him for what he was—a man, and not just a sounding board. What wasn’t there to like? He was tall, handsome, well-spoken. It wasn’t like pulling teeth to get information from him. He was the kind of guy who knew how to talk to a woman. That was hugely appealing.
But he was also her friend. And Deanna was no good at relationships. She had proven that time and again.
She’d had girlfriends who’d dated their male buddies, only for it to end in disaster. And then not only was the relationship over, but the friendship was, as well. Deanna could easily explore more with Eric…but at what cost?
The desserts came, which they ate while enjoying Trey’s music. He finished a particularly poignant song about love and loss to huge applause, after which he bowed and thanked everyone for listening. “I’ve got CDs for sale,” he added. “Only ten dollars. If you’re interested, come on up.”
Lifting her clutch purse off of the table, Deanna stood. “Ten dollars is a steal. I’m going to get one.”
She noticed others were approaching Trey, also eager to buy his CD. As she waited, she pulled two twenties out of her wallet. And when it was her turn to step up to Trey, she said, “I’ll take two.”
He began to scrawl his signature on the first case with a silver Sharpie. “You enjoyed the show?”
“Oh, no doubt,” Deanna told him. “You were amazing.” As a musician, she knew how nice it was to receive feedback. “Definitely very talented.”
“Thanks,” he said, beaming. “That means a lot, coming from someone like you.”
“Someone like me?”
He gave her a knowing look. “I know who you are,” he said. “And yeah, to hear that you enjoyed my music just made my night.”
He passed her the signed CDs, and she saw that on the top one he had written Ms. Hart, it’s a pleasure!! Which only confirmed that he knew exactly who she was.
“Thank you,” Deanna told him. Then she gave him the money.
“No problem,” Trey said, accepting the bills and heartily shaking her hand. Then he noticed that she’d given him two twenties and said, “You gave me too much.”
He offered her back a twenty, but Deanna waved a dismissive hand. “That’s a steal for the entertainment you provided.”
And she was suddenly struck with an idea. For the past few years, she thought that to continue her career meant releasing another album. But that wasn’t necessarily true. She could just as easily have a fulfilling career singing at small venues and clubs. Performing in a more intimate setting, like she had at the charity auction her sister had hosted last month.
“Hopefully I’ll see you here again,” she told Trey.
“Every Tuesday night, six-thirty.”
Deanna felt the hand creep around her waist then, and tingles of pleasure shot through her side. She looked to her right, into Eric’s handsome face. And her heart began to thud hard. Good Lord, Eric’s hand felt good on her body.
His fingers splayed over her hip, and a slow breath oozed out of Deanna. She missed a man touching her like this, she realized.
Eric offered his free hand to Trey. “Great show.”
Trey pumped his hand. “Thanks, man.”
