Love With A Younger Man Read online

  Obviously, she saw what I was holding in my hand. Why was she tormenting me? Why didn’t she just come out and say what she was thinking and get it all over with?

  “I was just—”

  “I know, but I came all this way in need of a cup of coffee with a good friend.”

  “It’s not that I don’t want to make coffee—”

  Eve reached out and lightly touched my face. “Make us a pot of coffee. I need to tell you something that’s so very important. I believe that you’ll really want to hear about it.”

  “I’ll miss my flight.”

  “Save it for your honeymoon.”

  I had no idea what was going on. Nothing made any sense. It felt as if I’d fallen into some parallel dimension. Consoling myself with the notion of taking the first flight out in the morning, I grabbed the coffee from the fridge and filled the coffee machine.

  “First of all, let’s get something straight.”

  I turned to look at her.

  “You’re not going anywhere.”

  “I have no choice.”

  “You always have a choice.”

  I shook my head. “Not this time.”

  “Oh, yes you do,” she said and smiled at me.

  She had no idea what I was going through. How could she know? I began to protest, but she held up her hand. “Let me finish.”

  The coffee machine had become quiet, signaling that the coffee was ready. With trembling hands, I poured two mugs of coffee and set them down on the small table next to the sugar and milk. I watched as Eve carefully opened the sugar and stirred it into her cup along with some milk.

  “When I saw the panic in your eyes yesterday as a result of that phone call, I knew something was wrong. I feared that it might be so bad that unfortunately you’d never ask for my help. Knowing you, you would try to work it out yourself.”

  I absentmindedly stirred my coffee, watching the swirls in the cup.

  “It turned out I was right. Your father called me not long after he spoke to you. He tried to blackmail me into paying a million dollars to avoid ruining the reputation of my agency. He figured he had nothing to lose. At best, he could end up with two million. Am I right so far?”

  She had my complete attention. “He demanded a million from me.”

  “I once told you I saw a great deal of me in you.”

  I nodded.

  “The truth is your greedy father underestimated me and the people I know. I may have money now, but I didn’t always. Nor did I always rub shoulders with the in crowd. I worked hard to get where I am, and I didn’t intend to let some old G destroy it. Do you follow me, so far?”

  “Yes.”

  “I still have friends from the hood, and they paid your father a visit to help dissuade him. I think he’s changed his mind by now, and is probably heading back to that slimy rock he crawled out from under.”

  “He’s gone?”

  “Hopefully, for good, this time.”

  Tears of happiness began to slip from my eyes as Eve got up and put her arms around my shoulders.

  “Girl, he’s lucky I didn’t take care of him myself. He’d be missing some important body parts.”

  “Thank you, Eve. I will never be able to repay you for this.”

  “You should have come to me, Amber.”

  “I couldn’t. I was too ashamed.”

  “You made something out of yourself that’s an original. Something you can be proud of. Don’t forget, I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth, either.”

  I smiled. Suddenly, it felt as if the weight of the world had been removed from my shoulders. Ironically, I never thought it possible for Eve to have such humble roots.

  “It’s late and you’ve got some unpacking to do,” Eve said, clearing off the table.

  “Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Eve.”

  “You want to pay me back? Sell another ritzy estate,” she replied and gave out a short laugh.

  I walked her to the door. As I wheeled my suitcases back into my bedroom, I thought about my father. He’d probably gotten what he deserved. This time, I hoped he remained out of my life. Eve had given me a future once again. I broke into a huge smile and began to unpack.

  As I unpacked my bags, I naturally thought about Richard and something he’d said. He wanted to be surrounded by all our friends when we got married. Hell, all my friends added up to two: Eve Jones and Ray Johnson. And how many friends did he have other than the two jerks I’d overheard dis me? I had a funny feeling that between Richard and me, we could count all our friends on two hands. What did we need to spend a fortune on a display for?

  Maybe I feared some other obstacle would block our path to the altar, or perhaps I just couldn’t wait to make it official. Whatever—I didn’t care. All I knew was that I suddenly wanted to get married as soon as possible to the only guy who ever truly loved me unconditionally and allowed me to be me. Nothing in the world meant as much.

  “Hello? Amber? Are you home?”

  It was Richard. I thought he’d be tied up tonight. I felt as if I’d rubbed a lamp and conjured him up.

  Then I remembered.

  The letters! I’d left the damn letters on the counter with my purse. I rushed out into the hall just in time to see Richard reading the letter I’d written him.

  He looked up at me with questioning eyes. “Why?”

  I realized that if I tried to explain the letter by telling him the truth, I would most likely lose him. How could he want me after learning about my terrible past? The only problem was I had no other way out. I had no explanation for the letter. Perhaps it was time to come clean.

  “After that gut-wrenching day when you nearly walked out, I thought it was all settled. Now you want to leave again? You say it’s for the best. I don’t understand.”

  “You once asked where I learned how to please a man.” As I spoke, tears began to fall. “My father abused me as a child. He pimped me out to his friends and took graphic pictures of me. When I was old enough to run away, I did and used my skills to please men in order to raise money to put myself through school. Then, I reinvented myself.”

  “Amber—”

  “Please let me finish and get this over with,” I said, in the voice of a stranger. Richard was silent, but as I continued, each word felt like a nail being driven into my coffin.

  “I changed my name, got my realtor’s license, and thought I’d finally escaped my past. Well, I didn’t. You see, my father showed up yesterday and blackmailed me. He threatened to show Eve those horrible pictures of me if I didn’t pay. But with him, I knew that would be only the beginning of the extortion. He’d never stop until he’d milked me dry. I wrote those letters because I was a coward and feared telling you and Eve the truth. Yet, ironically, after I left the office today, my father double-crossed me and attempted to blackmail Eve before I even had the chance to pay him. I know this because Eve was here; she just left. However, Eve wasn’t a coward like me and stood up to my father. She went so far as to call some friends from her old neighborhood to come and persuade him to leave me alone. I’d meant to throw away the letters—”

  I didn’t have the chance to finish my sentence. Richard grabbed me. He crushed me to him as his lips devoured mine. He fiercely planted kisses on my eyes, my face, my neck before returning to my mouth. Finally, we parted, breathless.

  “You still want me?” I asked in disbelief.

  “Lady, I don’t give a damn about your past. All I want in this world is in my arms.”

  “Then marry me as soon as we can at City Hall. I don’t want a church wedding. I don’t want to wait.”

  “You really want to get married right away?” he asked, one eyebrow raised. I nodded.

  He smiled. “All right, then. Order in some Chinese, and let me make a few phone calls.”

  ***

  I met Richard at Town Hall to apply for a marriage license.

  In a few days, we were to be married before the Justice of the Peace. I had
chosen to wear a simple, tailored, beige suit. The smile on his face when he saw me told me he approved of my choice. City Hall was the seat of local government, and the place was filled with people applying for all sorts of licenses. Of course, we weren’t the only couple tying the knot that day—but I knew I was the happiest person there.

  I finally felt safe. No longer did I have to look over my shoulder. The secret of my terrible past could no longer hurt me. Kiesha Washington was dead and buried. But, most of all, I was marrying the most wonderful guy in the entire world who had the power to make my heart sing.

  Just before the ceremony, Eve met us in the waiting room outside the Justice’s chambers. She hugged me and Richard. “Girlfriend, you look radiant. You could be the spokesperson for marriage. Hell, if we put you outside hawking marriage licenses, we’d sell enough to lower taxes!”

  That brought on a gale of laughter that earned us a stern look from the Justice’s assistant. Looking at Eve, I felt she looked beautiful as well in her black suit. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to tell her this because Richard’s two buddies, Mark and Lewis, showed up. Richard stood and they thumped him on his back. I didn’t quite catch what Lewis said to him, but I remembered the unkind things both men had said about me that Sunday morning at Richard’s place when they discovered he was still seeing me.

  “You never met Amber, guys,” Richard said, beaming as he introduced them to me. (indent)“Congratulations,” Mark said, and Lewis nodded his agreement.

  I thanked them both, knowing deep inside that most likely, they would never accept me or understand how Richard could love an older woman.

  Ray arrived. “Glad I’m not late. Had an appointment.” I introduced him to Richard and his friends.

  “Good appointment?” Eve asked. Ray shook his head.

  The door opened, and a very happy couple, walking arm-in-arm, came out. The assistant nodded to us. It was time. I took a deep breath and gave Richard my hand. He kissed it, and we went inside. The others followed us in and would be our witnesses.

  The Justice of the Peace was a short man with graying hair and wire-rimmed glasses. He reminded me of an owl. He welcomed us in a soft voice and wasted no time getting started. Then I heard, “You may kiss the bride,” and it was all over. I was now Mrs. Richard Harrington.

  Richard took me into his arms and kissed me. In that wonderful kiss, I saw my future filled with sweet velvet days of love.

  The End-

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  With nearly 200 short stories in print and her fifth novel soon to be released, sweet and spicy Candy Caine keeps her husband, Robert, on his toes in their Long Island, NY, home. Supportive of her writing career, Robert is always willing to help her make certain the scenes in her stories are authentic. After all, technique is very important for good writing. Visit Candy’s website at www.candycaine.com.

  Candy Caine likes to hear from her readers. You can reach her at [email protected]

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