The Replacement Wife (24 page)

Q
uentin could tell that Deirdre was nervous. No one had been invited into his music room since Chandra had died. Quentin sat at the piano and tapped a couple of keys. It needed tuning. He'd handle that later.

“Why did you want to talk to me in here?” Deirdre asked.

Quentin patted the piano bench and motioned for her to sit. “Because I don't want to talk right now. I want to sing.”

“Why do you want to sing with me?”

“Because I have been neglecting your gift. You've managed to be incredible without my help, but you can be better.”

“Am I on punishment, though?” Deirdre asked.

Quentin cleared his throat. “No shopping for the next three months. Now, let's talk about singing. I want us to do a duet for your brother's wedding.”

“I can't believe he's marrying that hood rat.”

“Your future sister-in-law is a very nice girl. Have you talked to her?”

Deirdre rolled her eyes. “You talked to her, but you wouldn't talk to Moe. You wouldn't even let me see Moe.”

“Why do you keep trying to talk about that when I'm trying to sing?” Quentin tapped a few keys.

“Because, Daddy! You're not being fair. Moe . . .”

“Took you into a dangerous situation. He should've been man enough to come here and ask my permission to take you out. He wasn't. End of story. Let's warm up.”

Deirdre groaned. “I don't feel like singing.”

“We're going up the scale first. Sing ‘today is a good day today.' ”

Deirdre sang without much enthusiasm. Quentin said, “And up, today is a good day today.”

Deirdre followed Quentin's lead and went up the scale and then back down to the lowest notes she could muster.

“So, what are we singing?” Deirdre asked when they finished the scales.

“ ‘Can't Take My Eyes Off of You,' the Dionne Warwick version,” Quentin said.

Deirdre scrunched her nose. “Can't we sing some Beyoncé?”

“I don't think so.”

“Okay, well, at least can we do the Lauryn Hill arrangement?”

Quentin mulled this over for a minute. “Okay, we can do it that way. Do you know it already?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“So, let's sing. And one, and two, and one, two, three.”

Quentin beamed at his daughter as they sang the lyrics to the classic song. He actually liked Lauryn's version. He sang the low parts and Deirdre sang the high parts. She could've done the whole thing by herself, but they harmonized perfectly.

When they were finished, they sat quietly for a moment, both blinking back tears. He hadn't sung a song with her since she was a little girl.

“Do you know how much I love you, Deirdre?”

“It doesn't always feel that way.”

“I know it and I'm trying to change. I know I've got some making up to do.”

“It feels like . . . sometimes it feels like we lost you and mom.”

Quentin swallowed hard to hold back more tears. He knew that God didn't want his children to feel like orphans, and he was so glad that his heart was finally healing.

“I love you too, Daddy,” Deirdre said. “I want to tell you something, but you have to promise me you won't be mad.”

“Does it have something to do with Moe?” Quentin didn't think he could take any more revelations.

“No. It doesn't have anything to do with Moe. I don't even like him anymore. It's about Chloe.”

Quentin pulled his eyebrows together tightly. “What about Chloe?”

“Promise you won't get mad, Daddy!”

“Whenever you ask me to promise not to get mad, it's because you're about to make me mad!”

Deirdre crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. “Never mind.”

Quentin closed his eyes. He wanted Deirdre to open up. He wanted her to talk to him, and he definitely wanted to know what information she had about Chloe. “Okay. I won't be mad, Deirdre. I promise. Whatever you tell me, I won't get angry.”

“Remember that picture you got of Montana in your text message?”

Quentin felt the nerve next to his eye twitching. “Yes. Why do you know about it?”

“Because Chloe asked me to help her. She asked me to send it. I didn't really care about Montana at the time, so I did what Chloe asked, but I'm so sorry I did it.”

Quentin's mouth formed a little line. “You should be.”

“You're not gonna tell her, are you?”

“No. She would be hurt, Deirdre. I won't let her know you had anything to do with that.”

Deirdre jumped up and hugged Quentin. “Thank you, Daddy!”

“You're still grounded, though. Just so you know.”

Deirdre sighed. “The story of my life.”

M
ontana, as usual, was running late for choir practice. There were some last-minute runs she needed to make for the masquerade ball, and she'd tried to cram everything into a few hours without thinking about Atlanta traffic.

Brother Odom hated when they were late, so she hoped that they were still on the praise and worship part. Sometimes, if a lot of people were running late, Brother Odom would drag that part out until the stragglers came in. He'd roll his eyes at every one of them as they tiptoed into the choir stand.

Montana ran into the sanctuary and up the middle aisle. She was fortunate. Brother Odom hadn't even started yet. He was standing at the organ talking to the musicians. Wait. Was that Quentin at the second organ? What in the world was he doing there?

Quentin waved at her as she ascended the stairs into the choir stand. Emoni abandoned the alto section and met her in the last row of sopranos.

“What's going on?” Montana whispered.

Emoni shrugged. “All I know is that Quentin came in and met with my dad this afternoon. They talked for hours, and he prayed with Quentin. You think he's back?”

“He must be. Why else would he be sitting at the organ?”

“Well, what do you think about that?”

Montana bit her bottom lip and gazed over at Quentin. He looked right at home at the organ. He caught her looking and gave her a smile. She looked away.

Brother Odom finished talking to the musicians and stepped up to his podium. “Praise the Lord this evening. I want y'all to give a hearty handclap of praise for our very own prodigal son, Quentin Chambers. He's joining the music ministry again. I think we'll test him out on the organ. What y'all think?”

Everyone who had been in the choir for many years laughed and clapped. They obviously knew how good he was. He'd led them all before Brother Odom was ever a member of Freedom of Life.

Brother Odom worked the choir hard that night. He took them through several songs that they already knew and started teaching another one. He directed the choir like he had something to prove. But Montana was sure Quentin wasn't there to steal Brother Odom's job.

After rehearsal was over, Montana tried to leave quickly. She didn't want to talk to Quentin in public. Not after Chloe's court filing. By now everyone had heard her accusations of treachery. Emoni said that no one believed it, but she wasn't sure.

Montana heard Quentin's voice as she tried to rush out of the sanctuary. “Montana! Wait up!”

Montana took a few more steps and decided to stop and wait for him. “Yes, how can I help you?”

“Are you okay with me being back on the music staff?” Quentin asked.

“Of course I want to see you back in church, Quentin. You belong here. I'm glad you're here,” Montana replied.

“Then why are you running away without speaking?”

Montana said, “Because I see you every day. I already spoke to you today.”

“Well, I'd like to speak to you again. Hi, Montana. I hope you're having a wonderful evening.”

“I am. I will see you later.”

Emoni walked up to Montana and Quentin. “Hey, do y'all want to go out to Houlihan's with us?”

“Sure!” Quentin said.

Montana shook her head. “I've got some things to handle back at home. Next time, okay?”

“Stop lying in the sanctuary,” Emoni said. “You have nothing to do.”

Montana's eyes widened. She couldn't wait to get Emoni back for betraying her. Obviously, she didn't want to go anywhere public with Quentin.

“Yeah, come on, Montana. My treat,” Quentin said.

“Oh, all right,” Montana said.

Emoni said, “Yay! Meet y'all there.”

When Emoni was out of earshot, Montana said, “Quentin, you can't do this. You can't infiltrate my friend circle.”

“They're my friends too.”

“You barely know Emoni.”

“I've known Emoni her entire life. In fact, you are infringing on my friend circle. I'm getting reconnected.”

Quentin headed out of the sanctuary, but Montana stood still. He turned around and asked, “Are you coming?”

“You're not going to let me get away, are you?” Montana asked.

Quentin shook his head. “Not at all. Let's go. I'm hungry.”

Montana followed Quentin out of the sanctuary. She watched him talk with Darrin and Trent before getting in his car.

When she'd seen Quentin sitting at the organ, Montana's heart had fluttered, but she was cautious. As much as she wanted to let herself fall in love with Quentin completely, playing the organ didn't mean he was right with God or healed.

Montana had to be sure. Then she realized that she had absolutely no idea how she'd be certain of Quentin's change. She'd have to trust him, and God.

Montana didn't have a problem trusting God; it was Quentin she wasn't so sure about.

M
ontana wanted to strangle Emoni. They weren't having their usual post-choir-practice dinner outing. It was just Emoni, Darrin, Quentin, and herself. They were on a double date. She and Quentin hadn't even had a regular date yet, but they were going on a double.

Montana was glad she'd driven herself to the restaurant. It had given her time to think about what was going on without being in close proximity to Quentin. It was hard to think clearly with Quentin and all his pheromones wreaking havoc with her senses.

When she got to the restaurant, Emoni, Darrin, and Quentin were already waiting for their table.

“What took you so long?” Quentin asked. “Which way did you come?”

“I follow all traffic laws. That's why it took me the proper amount of time to get here,” Montana said.

Emoni laughed. “Translation: Montana drives like a grandmother.”

“You should've let me drive you,” Quentin said. “Part of it is her car too. It's like a dinosaur.”

Darrin said, “Depending on what dinosaur we're talking about, that could be a good thing. Have you ever seen a pterodactyl swoop through the air?”

“When have
you
seen a pterodactyl?” Emoni asked. “And please don't tell me you saw it on
Jurassic Park
.”

Darrin shrugged. “Well, yeah. That's where I saw it, but they did a lot of research prior to filming that movie. It's pretty accurate based on the fossilized remains of dinosaurs. Don't hate.”

Montana covered her mouth with her hand and giggled. She wondered how a conversation about the state of her car had turned into a debate session for Darrin and Emoni. They seemed to enjoy sparring as much as they enjoyed talking sweet to one another and holding hands.

The hostess showed them to the table, and a waitress was right there to take their drink orders. They'd chosen a booth, and Emoni and Darrin decided to sit on the same side. So that left Montana uncomfortably close to Quentin. She felt her mind go foggy.

“So I'm just going to come out and ask,” Darrin said. “What are your intentions with our sister?”

Quentin chuckled. “Dang, bro. You could've given me a warning that you were about to ask me that.”

Now Montana wanted to strangle Darrin
and
Emoni. First they set her up on a double date, and then they commence to interrogating Quentin. That was a complete and utter violation of some unwritten friend rule.

“It's an easy question,” Emoni said. “Or it should be.”

“Well, you all should be asking Montana what her intentions are. I've made it clear that I plan to pursue a relationship with her. I just had to get some things right first.”

“And is everything right?” Emoni asked.

“Emoni!” Montana fussed.

Emoni shrugged. “I'm trying to help you out. You should be thanking me.”

Quentin touched Montana's arm. “Things are right, Montana. I promise.”

Montana nodded and quietly ate a piece of bread from the basket on the table. She believed that things were right with him, but she wondered what people would think about them having a relationship so soon after he broke up with Chloe.

“Maybe we should just keep this on the low, until the Chloe stuff dies down,” Montana said.

“Why?” Emoni asked. “Everybody understands that things don't work out sometimes. Most people are wondering why it even took so long for them to split up.”

Darrin nodded. “And rich men getting sued by women is nothing new. Nobody cares about what Chloe did.”

Darrin gave Quentin a fist bump across the table to emphasize his point.

Montana turned to look at Quentin, and he was grinning at her. He was enjoying this night out with her friends.

“I just want everyone to stop bringing my ex-girlfriend up in conversation. She wasn't a fiancée, she was a girlfriend. I've moved on.”

Montana was convinced that Quentin had moved on, because he was pursuing her without restraint. It might not be a perfect situation, but Montana did feel that their coming together was the will of God. Just a little more chasing, and Montana felt that maybe she'd slow down just enough to be caught.