Her Heart's Desire (14 page)

“Yes, I’m sure. Ivan, we’re a team. I support what’s important to you. If our roles were reversed, and I was the one having to go away for my job, I know you’d be in my corner one hundred percent. I want to do the same for you. I’ll be here waiting for your safe return—no matter what.”

Ivan searched her face. “Sweetheart, as long as I have your support, that’s all I need.” He kissed her solemnly. “I’ll get time off, so I’ll be back as soon as I can manage it.”

“You’d better,” she said tearfully.

They resumed walking.

“When will you let your client know?”

“I’ll call him tomorrow morning. I don’t want anything taking away from our night together.”

“How long do we have?”

“Probably just a few days.”

She nodded. “I guess we’d better make the most of them.”

“We’ll do whatever you want to do,” he promised her. “Name it.”

“I’d like to go back to Navy Pier.”

He grinned. “The Ferris wheel?”

“The Ferris wheel.”

They took a trolley ride to the pier. Tiffany felt like a kid again when Ivan escorted her into their compartment on the ride. She held on tightly to his arm as the ride lurched forward, and they were airborne. When they got off, Ivan took her to the carousel and set her atop an inanimate horse. With each revolution of the ride, Tiffany giggled like a schoolgirl.

When it was time to go home, Ivan walked her back to her car.

“Thanks for a lovely evening.” She leaned up to kiss him. “I had fun.”

“Me, too.”

She started her car. “Are you coming back to my house?”

He leaned down so that they were at eye level. “Do you want me to?”

Tiffany cocked her head to the side. “Of course. When don’t I want to sleep with you?”

That made him grin. “I’m not in the habit of not giving my lady what she wants.”

“Good to know. Your lady will be in the bed wearing nothing but a smile. Don’t keep her waiting.”

With that, Tiffany sped away from the curb and down the street.

Chapter 19

“Y
ou look amazing,” Ivan assured Tiffany from the doorway, where she was getting ready.

“I’m meeting your grandmother, Ivan. I’m too nervous to look amazing.” On their last night together, Tiffany decided to invite a few guests over to her house for a bon voyage party.

He sauntered into the bedroom. “My grandmother won’t bite. You’ll be fine.”

“I’ll try, but your grandmother blesses you and Cole out at the drop of a dime. What will she do to me?”

“That’s different. Cole and I are her grandsons.”

“Exactly. You two are family. What’s she going to do to a person who isn’t related to her by blood?”

“She will be on her good behavior. Now stop worrying or I’ll have to...relax you.”

“Oh, no, you don’t.” She sidestepped him. “We’re not going to be late for your going-away party. Not gonna happen, Romeo.”

He stalked her with slow, predatory steps. His eyes were alight with mischief. Tiffany started to giggle and backed up.

“Stop it. I mean it, Ivan. I’ve got to go check on dinner.”

She took off running out the bedroom before he could stop her.

When Ivan reached the kitchen, Tiffany was checking on her roasted lamb.

“I don’t know why you didn’t let me hire waitstaff to help you.”

“Because this is my first dinner party in who knows how long. I wanted to do it all myself,” she explained. “It’s important to me.”

“Okay,” he replied. “But you’d better not be too tired to wish me a bon voyage later. As a matter of fact, we’ve got time now to—”

Tiffany glared at him. “No, we don’t.”

Luckily for her, the doorbell rang. They opened the door together to greet their first guest. Cole entered and escorted their grandmother inside.

Ivan hugged her and took her shawl. He wrapped his free arm around Tiffany.

“GiGi, this is Tiffany Gentry. Tiffany, this is my grandmother, Cecile Mangum.”

Tiffany reached out to shake her hand. “I’m delighted to meet you, Mrs. Mangum.”

“It’s wonderful to meet you, too, Tiffany—finally.” She directed the last word at Ivan. “I’ve heard so much about you, and I can see now that Ivan and Cole didn’t exaggerate. You are lovely.”

Tiffany blushed. “Thank you.” She showed Ivan’s grandmother to the couch while Ivan went to hang up her shawl.

Norma Jean and Heathcliffe came in next, and then Milán and Adrian. Ivan introduced the group to his grandmother.

“It’s wonderful to finally meet another member of Ivan’s family,” Norma Jean said, sitting next to Cecile. “You have wonderful grandsons, Ms. Cecile.”

“I agree, dear, but they’re a handful.” She chuckled. “Just like their father.”

Milán found Tiffany in the kitchen as she was taking some appetizers out of the refrigerator.

“I’ve got that,” she said, scooting Tiffany out of the way. “You go help entertain your guests.”

“Are you sure?” Tiffany said uncertainly.

“Of course. Now get going.”

Tiffany hugged her friend and returned to the living room. She sat on the arm of Ivan’s chair. He placed an arm loosely around her.

“Tiff, Ms. Cecile was just telling us a lively story about the first time Ivan tried to cut his own hair.” Norma Jean laughed.

“Honey, it looked like he had two Mohawks on the top of his head,” his grandmother said.

“Mom was furious,” Cole added. “We were scheduled to get family portraits taken the next afternoon.”

“Oh, no,” Tiffany said. “What happened?”

“My mother had me wait for my father in the foyer to make sure he saw me. When he got home—”

“The look on his face was priceless,” Cole said. “First he grounded Ivan for messing with his hair clippers, and then he had to sit there while Dad gave him a buzz cut. It was hilarious.”

“Not to Mom,” Ivan said drily. “Just seeing those pictures makes her mad all over again.”

Milán entered with a platter of assorted appetizers. Everyone dug into the pinwheels and puffed pastries with gusto.

“Would anyone like a drink?”

Ivan took drink orders, and Adrian got up to help him. When the kitchen timer went off, Tiffany excused herself to go check on the meal.

“Need some help?” Norma Jean said from the doorway.

“Yes, thank you. Everything is ready. I’ll let the lamb sit for a few minutes while we put everything on the table.”

In addition to roast lamb, which was Ivan’s favorite, she had also made garlic mashed potatoes, roasted whole green beans with pine nuts and homemade garlic parmesan knots. All eight of them sat down at the dining table. Heathcliffe said a special grace to bless the food and Ivan’s journey. Everyone said, “Amen,” and began passing dishes around.

As was the norm at Norma Jean’s house, the dinner conversation was lively. Cecile was fascinated by the tale of the Love Broker, and how successful Norma Jean had been at making love matches for Adrian and his friends.

“Have you breathed a sigh of relief yet?” Ivan whispered in Tiffany’s ear.

“Sort of,” she admitted. “I just wanted tonight to be superspecial for you.”

He leaned in for her ears only. “Sweetheart, this dinner is absolutely perfect. Having our friends and family here is awesome, and I’m truly appreciative of your hard work in making this happen, but the superspecial part of this night is being able to share it with you.”

That declaration was enough to make Tiffany lose her composure. She politely excused herself and walked into her room and shut the door.

Ivan would leave tomorrow, and it had suddenly become real that he was leaving and would be gone for months. She didn’t know when he’d get a chance to come home to visit. Ivan was the most important thing in her life, and all bravado aside, her heart was breaking at the loss.

She was still trying to get it together when Ivan tapped on the door a few minutes later. He opened it and poked his head in.

When he saw her crying, he was at her side in an instant. He knelt down beside her.

“Tiff, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” he said with concern. He placed a hand on both her knees. “Talk to me, are you ill? Was it something you ate?”

“That’s the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me,” she said.

Ivan stared at her in confusion. “What?”

“You said that all you needed to make your night special was me. Nobody has ever said anything like that to me before.”

He relaxed. “Tiffany, look at me.”

She raised bloodshot eyes to meet his.

“Baby, just because I’ll be on the other side of the world doesn’t mean I won’t be able to tell you how I feel about you, and how important you are to me.”

“I know, but...it won’t be the same. You won’t be here
with
me.” She sniffed and blew her nose.

“True, but the sentiments won’t change, sweetheart. I care about you—two inches away, or two million.”

A light rap sounded at the door. “Tiffany?” Milán said hesitantly. “Are you okay? I don’t mean to interrupt, but Ivan’s grandmother is asking about dessert. She wants to know if you have stuff to make a chocolate sundae.”

Tiffany burst out laughing. “Come in, Lani,” she called out.

Milán opened the door an inch at a time.

Ivan helped Tiffany to her feet, and then faced Milán. “Would you mind helping Tiffany? I’m going to go fix the Grand Dame a sundae. She’s stuck on them right now, and nothing else will do.”

“Sure,” she said, going to her friend. “We’ll be out shortly.”

Ivan cast a glance at Tiffany a final time before he left.

Milán hugged her friend. “It’ll be okay,” she soothed. “You’ll see.”

Tiffany blew her nose again, and dabbed at her eyes. “Is it bad?”

Her friend looked her over. “Yes. You do look like a train wreck, but we can fix it,” she said confidently.

By the time the two friends returned, everyone was back in the living room holding dessert plates. Everyone except Ivan’s grandmother. She had a dessert dish filled to the hilt with ice cream slathered in chocolate, with a cherry on top. She was blissfully happy.

Ivan got up and walked over to Tiffany. “How are you feeling?” he said with concern.

“I’m fine,” she replied. “How do I look?”

“As beautiful as you did a few minutes ago.”

“Ha.” She snorted. “My nose was running, my eyes were the color of lobster and my cheeks were puffy.”

He leaned in closer. “True,” he said, for her ears only, “but I still wanted to lean you over and—”

“Ivan,” she gasped, blushing.

He kissed her rosy nose. “What? I think you’re sexy no matter how you look.”

Milán and Norma Jean exited the kitchen with two trays of champagne flutes. They handed each person a glass as Tiffany stepped in front of the crowd.

“First, I’d like to say thank you all for coming tonight to support Ivan as he embarks on a new and exciting project. I know it means a great deal to him, as it does me, to have you all here to bid him farewell, good fortune and a safe journey on his trip to Dubai. I hope this trip brings Ivan and Mangum and Associates much success now and in the future. So raise your glasses with me and wish Ivan well.”

Everyone clinked their glasses. Next Cole came up and gave a toast.

“Ivan, I know I joke around a lot, but you’re much more than just my big brother. You’re my best friend. I look up to you, I respect and value your opinion, and I’m very proud of your accomplishments. Besides that, that scowl of yours never fails to send the ladies running my way instead of yours.” Seeing the look on Ivan’s face, he added, “Except one.”

The group laughed.

“Here’s to you, Ivan. I love you, I’ll miss you, and I wish you the best of luck.”

Each person took a turn saying kind words about Ivan and wishing him well. Even Cecile stood up and slowly walked over to stand near Ivan and Tiffany. She tapped her grandson on the shoulder and said, “I like her, honey. You did a good job. She’s a little on the small side, but she’s got good hips so she should have no problem cranking out the next generation of Mangums.”

Tiffany blushed almost as deep as the red dress she was wearing. Quickly, Ivan cleared his throat and thanked everyone for coming to see him off.

Excusing herself, Tiffany headed back to the kitchen to get more champagne. When she got there, she placed her hands up to her heated cheeks.

“Well, at least she likes you,” Ivan said from the doorway.

“Thank God I’m built to crank out baby Mangums,” she said, blushing all over again. “She may have just knocked Norma Jean off her pedestal for who can say something to shock the most people in a single night.”

Ivan strode over and picked her up.

“What are you doing?” she hissed. “Put me down.”

“Not till you say, ‘Ivan, you were right, your grandmother likes me.’”

“I’m not saying that.”

He started to tilt her.

“Okay, okay. Ivan, you were right. Your grandmother likes me.”

He lowered her to the ground, but still kept her in his arms. “See, was that so hard? Plus, she’s right, you know.”

“About what?”

“You do have good bone structure.” He moved the palm of his hand over her stomach. “When the time comes, I’m sure you’ll have no problem birthing one of my babies.”

She shoved him. “You’re not funny, Ivan Mangum. I’m going to pay you back for this,” she promised him before hurrying back to their guests.

When Ivan came out, he went straight to Tiffany’s side and placed a possessive arm around her waist.

“Thanks for being a part of this celebration. Your kind words tonight just reconfirm that we’re all connected in some way by love, respect and admiration. I made a promise to Tiffany that I’m coming back to her safe and in one piece, and I meant it.”

“You’d better if you know what’s good for you,” his brother chimed in.

As the party wound down, Tiffany was in the kitchen cleaning up when Norma Jean wandered in and walked over to Cole, who was making a plate to take home.

“Do you need help with anything, Cole?”

“No, thanks, Ms. Jeannie. I’m good.”

“This was such a wonderful party. I noticed your girlfriend wasn’t here. Did she have to work late?”

Tiffany smiled. She knew where this was going.

“Hardly,” Cole said drily. “I don’t have one, and that’s the way I like it.”

“You don’t say?”

“Mom,” Adrian practically yelled from the doorway. “There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“I’m hard to miss, honey. I’ve just been in here talking to Cole.”

“Splendid, but it’s time to go,” he said, before taking her arm and leading her out.

* * *

Cole and their grandmother were the last to leave.

“Thanks, little brother. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me,” Ivan said to Cole.

“Hey, that’s what I’m here for, right? I’ve always got your back.”

“I’m going to miss you.”

“Me, too,” Cole replied.

They hugged and clapped each other on the back. “Cole...”

“You don’t have to say it, Ivan.”

“Yes, I do,” he said with emotion. “Look out for her. I...I need to know that she’s safe.”

“Of course I will, Ivan. As if she were my own sister.”

Ivan nodded. Relief suffused his face. “That’s good to know, because she will be someday.”

The two brothers shared a moment of understanding before Cole moved off to say good-night to Tiffany.

Ivan took the opportunity to say goodbye to his grandmother.

“It’s been a hell of a night,” she said, when he came to her side.

“That it has.”

“She’s a great girl, Ivan. I mean that. I can tell she doesn’t take any crap from you, either. That makes me like her even more.”

He shook his head. “Is that so?”

“You know me—I like women with spunk. She looks like she gives as good as she gets. I meant what I said earlier. I think she’ll do nicely—and not just to dip your cone in, either.”

“GiGi,” Ivan warned.

“Don’t GiGi me,” she said, raising herself up to her full height. “You’d better not go over to Dubai and get yourself hurt. That would really piss me off.”

Ivan gave his grandmother a big hug. He kissed her cheek. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

He saw his family to the car. When he came back in, Tiffany wasn’t in the living room. He locked the door and turned out the lights.