Sisters and Husbands (27 page)

“It’s good to be back,” Tyrone said as he picked up the luggage. Kenny helped him carry the bags upstairs and then went back
to his Xbox. Tyrone came down, and he and Charmaine walked into the kitchen and popped and poured the wine. They sat at the
table and clicked their glasses together. “To new beginnings,” Tyrone said.

“I like that,” Charmaine said.

“Again, I want to apologize for Tiffany’s attitude just now. I talked to her as we drove over here, but it didn’t seem to
help much. I’ll work on that.”

“It’s going to take some time for both of them,” Charmaine said. “She understandably resents Kenny for being able to live
here all year with you, and she doesn’t like the idea that I’m sort of replacing her mom.”

“But I haven’t been married to her mother for several years now. And her mother is fine with me and you.”

Charmaine shrugged. “I’m sure Tiffany still wishes the two of you would get back together. It’s the dream of any child of
divorce to see their parents together. I’m not saying it’s an excuse for her behavior. It’s not. Just trying to see her side.”

“You’re probably right, and it’s going to be tough to get her to shake those feelings,” he said. “I’m going to have to be
straight with her from now on and make it clear to her that I won’t be getting back together with her mother and that she
shouldn’t hold that against you or Kenny.”

“And I’ll explain to Kenny that it’s going to take some time for her to get used to sharing her father and that we all have
to be patient with her. Kenny should be able to understand that, since he had to get used to you when you moved in.”

“I told Tiffany that they won’t become best buddies overnight, maybe never, but they have to learn to get along and respect
each other.”

“We have to work together on this,” she said. “They’ll come around if we’re united.”

He nodded in agreement. “Being away from you got me to thinking. There’s going to come a time when Tiffany will go off with
some dude to start a family of her own, and I don’t want to find myself all alone when that happens.”

He reached across the table for her hand and squeezed. It was good to hear him talk like this, Charmaine thought.

“`I’ve given some thought about how to handle this,” he continued. “I can start by showing more respect for you and Kenny
around Tiffany. I have to make it clear to her just how important we are to each other. She’ll grow to like you both better
if she sees how much you mean to me.”

Charmaine smiled broadly. Now
that
was her man talking. “That’s a plan I can get with.”

He leaned over and kissed her on the lips. Then he gave her a seductive look and delicately ran the tip of his forefinger
along the outline of her low-cut top. “The kids are occupied with their Xboxes and iPods,” he said. “What do you say we two
grown-ups sneak upstairs. We’re overdue for some serious making up.”

Charmaine nodded eagerly. “That’s the best idea you’ve come up with in a long, long time.”

He picked up his wineglass, she grabbed hers, and they held hands as they slipped up the stairs.

D
inner with Reuben at the Crab Shanty in Ellicott City seemed to fly by for Evelyn. One minute he was knocking on her door
and helping her into his black Lexus sedan; the next he was tipping the waitress. In between, they had dined on some of the
best seafood in Maryland, all the while talking and laughing nonstop.

It had been decades since Evelyn had dated, and she had not been looking forward to the prospect. Truth was, she had been
separated just under a month and hadn’t really had time to think about anything as far out as dating again. She suspected
that if she’d had much time to think, it would have scared her silly. Yet here she was having the time of her life with a
man who was fun and flirtatious and made her feel alive again.

They held hands and walked back toward Reuben’s car as the sun was falling, creating a luminescent glow in the evening sky.
It was the first moment of silence between them since he had picked her up at six that evening, nearly three hours earlier.
She looked up at him and smiled, and he squeezed her hand gently.

He pulled out of the parking lot onto Plum Tree Drive and turned onto Route 40, heading toward his new condo in Columbia.
She had agreed to stop by and see it before he drove her the thirty minutes to her home in Silver Spring so she could meet
up with Kevin and give him the keys to the house as promised. She honestly didn’t want the date to end. Reuben was upbeat
and pleasant to be around. And she found him even more attractive now than she had when he was younger. Some people tended
to grow better-looking with age, and Reuben was definitely one of them.

She had even toyed with the idea of calling Kevin and telling him to come later that night so she could have more time with
Reuben. Going from Reuben to Kevin was going to feel like walking from daylight into darkness. But she decided against doing
that. She didn’t want to overplay her hand with Reuben and have him get tired of her before they got started.

His condo was right in the midst of downtown Columbia, within walking distance of the shops and restaurants in the area. He
pointed out a group of new town houses being built near the mall, where he hoped to buy once he and his wife sold their house
in Prince George’s County.

“You excited about being a bachelor again?” she asked.

He threw his head back and laughed out loud. “Yes and no. Meaning that I’ll probably enjoy it for a while, but I’m really
a one-woman kind of guy. I appreciate an evening out with good company like we just shared, but what I really enjoy is having
a steady companion. What about you? Are you looking forward to getting back into the dating scene?”

Evelyn shook her head. “Not even a little bit. If anything it makes me nervous. I’m so rusty when it comes to all of this.”

“You shouldn’t be nervous. You won’t have any trouble getting dates and you were fine with me tonight.”

“It’s sweet of you to say that. But I think I was comfortable with you because we already knew each other. And at my age,
most men are taken, gay, or too old to get it on.”

He chuckled. “Well, thanks a lot for that vote of confidence.”

“No, not you. I didn’t mean it like that. See? I’m rusty at this dating thing.”

They laughed and continued their discussion of the ups and downs of newfound singlehood in Reuben’s kitchen as he removed
two wineglasses and a bottle of cabernet sauvignon from the cabinet. He popped the cork, and she picked up both glasses and
held them as he poured.

“I do want to say that you’ve given me more confidence about what it might be like to be single again,” she said.

“Have I, now?”

“Definitely.”

“Glad to be of help.” He finished pouring and placed the bottle on the countertop. But instead of taking one of the glasses
from her hands he took them both and set them down. She looked up at him, a puzzled expression on her face.

“You know what I want before we toast, drink, and all of that?”

A chill ran up her thigh, which was odd, she thought. Usually they ran down her spine. “What?” she asked, smiling at what
she thought was coming.

“This.” He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers as he gently touched her chin with his fingers.

She closed her eyes and held her breath. Even though she was expecting this, she was in a mild state of shock. It had been
ages since she had kissed any man besides Kevin, and it had been months since she’d kissed Kevin. But she liked it. She really
liked it. She liked it so much that when he released her and moved to pick up the wineglasses, she put a hand out to stop
him. She tugged lightly at his shirt until he bent over and kissed her again. This time she didn’t freeze up but let herself
enjoy the feelings as he wrapped his arms around her and tightened his hold.

Evelyn wasn’t sure what came over her, maybe something that had lain dormant for far too long. But she found herself arching
her body against his urgently and pressing tightly as she felt him become more aroused. They wriggled and moaned and he backed
her up to the countertop.

At that moment, as he kissed her passionately on the neck, a voice in her head told her to put a stop to this. Things were
going too far too fast. She pulled her lips away from his and placed her hands on his chest. But before she could push him
away, his lips found the crevice of her breast, and the sensation of his hot tongue on her bare flesh sent her into a frenzy.
He reached down and hiked up her skirt.

When she felt his hand tugging at her bikini underwear, she knew they were approaching the moment of no return. If she was
going to back out, she needed to do it now. Goodness knew she hadn’t seen this coming. She’d had no idea how needy her body
had become all these many months with no affection from Kevin.

She had no false illusions of love forever after with Reuben. She understood that if she had sex with him now, it could well
become a one-night stand of hot passion. Could she live with that?

Hell yeah. She helped him tear off her panties; then they both moved to the zipper of his slacks. She kicked off her heels
and he pulled her down to the cold, hard kitchen floor. They flipped around and she lifted her skirt and anxiously straddled
him. She could tell that he was as startled by her sudden burst of eagerness as she was.

He pulled her face to his and reached for her lips, kissing her gently at first and then more excitedly. The kiss became wetter
and more urgent, until finally at the height of passion she bit him, shuddered, and moaned loudly.

“Ouch!” he muttered, reaching up to touch his bottom lip. “You’re a wild one tonight.” He laughed softly.

“Sorry if I hurt you,” she said as her heartbeat slowed down a bit.

“Don’t be.” He flipped her beneath him and landed on top of her. Their hips moved rapidly, and she could feel her passion
beginning to inflame anew.

Reuben pulled into Evelyn’s driveway and leaned over to the passenger seat to kiss her softly on the lips.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said.

Evelyn smiled, remembering how those words used to leave her so hopeful when she was dating years ago. She could recall many
nights waiting near the telephone for him—whoever he was at the moment—to phone her.

Now the words had an entirely different meaning to her—or little meaning at all. She would be flattered if Reuben called.
She enjoyed his company, and he had reawakened feelings that hadn’t burned through her body in eons. But she also knew that
if she never heard from him again, she’d be just fine with that too.

He placed his hand on his door handle, preparing to get out and walk her the short distance to the side door, and at that
moment she remembered that she was supposed to meet Kevin there between ten and eleven. She knew without even looking at her
watch that it had to be close to midnight. After their hurried lovemaking on the kitchen floor, they moved to Reuben’s bedroom
with the wine bottle for a second, more leisurely session.

Now she felt bad about forgetting Kevin. Oh, wait. No, she didn’t, not really. Anyway, there was a good chance that Kevin
hadn’t even shown up, knowing him.

She reached out and touched Reuben’s arm. “You don’t have to get out.”

“You sure? I don’t mind.”

“I’m positive,” she said, smiling. God knew that if he walked her to the door they’d probably end up in her bedroom. “I’ll
be fine.” She removed her keys from her bag, they kissed briefly once again, and she climbed out. He waited as she unlocked
the door and entered the house, and then he backed out of the driveway and took off.

She removed her heels, and picked them up. She walked across the kitchen floor to the stairs in her bare feet, all the while
humming softly. She felt as if she had not a care in the world. It was amazing how much a little loving could do for a woman,
she thought as she skipped up the stairs.

Just as she reached the landing a knock came at the side door. Maybe she had left something in Reuben’s car or maybe he just
wanted more of her. For a moment she tried to think of what she would say to get rid of him. Then she realized that she didn’t
want to get rid of him. She wanted him to make her feel good again.

She dropped her bag and heels on the floor and ran back down the stairs. When she was close enough to the door to see the
figure through the glass panes, she realized that it wasn’t Reuben coming back to make more love to her. It was Kevin.

She opened the door slowly. Kevin stood on the threshold, a look of bitter astonishment on his face.

“I don’t believe you just stood me up,” he said angrily as he brushed by her and into the kitchen.

Evelyn closed the door softly and turned to face him patiently. She was determined that he was
not
going to alter her joyful mood. She was feeling too peaceful, too contented about her time with Reuben to allow Kevin to
ruin the moment.

“Sorry to be late getting back,” she said. “I, um, got held up.”

“I bet you did,” he said sarcastically. “Was that him?”