What Love Tastes Like (27 page)

Nick breathed a sigh of relief. Tiffany's car was in their driveway. She'd gone back into the kitchen as soon as her father left, without a word to him, and when he called down to the kitchen, she was adamant about not discussing what had happened while at work. As angry as she'd seemed when she left the table, he'd not been at all sure that he would find her here. Within minutes, he was walking through his dark, quiet mansion. He walked straight to the master suite and called out softly. “Tiffany?”

He stepped inside and allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness.
Is she sleeping? Should I turn the light on and wake her up?
For a man often said to have nerves of steel while making multimillion-dollar decisions, Nick felt more than a little uneasy. He'd second-guessed his earlier decision during his entire drive home. Especially after he'd called her cell and she hadn't answered.
Should I have told her what I knew about her father being my stiffest competition on a deal that mattered most?
Nick had wanted to spare her from what could have become a confrontational situation. He'd hoped to have some type of resolution to the matter and
then
tell her everything. But Tiffany was a grown woman. Belatedly, Nick realized he maybe should have allowed Tiffany to make that decision for herself.

“Nick.” Tiffany called to him from the hallway.

Nick spun around and walked out of the bedroom. “Baby,” he said, his arms outstretched.

“Uh-uh. I don't feel like hugging right now. I feel like listening—to the reason why you were with my dad and Angelica, of all people, today at the restaurant. And why you didn't think the fact that you know my father is something you should tell me!”

“That's exactly what I want to do, and why I was looking for you. Can we sit down?” Nick asked, pointing toward the master suite.

“In the great room,” Tiffany countered. She didn't want to discuss this in the same room where they'd made passionate love the night before.

Tiffany sat at the end of the long couch. She crossed her arms. And waited.

“I was trying to protect you,” Nick began. “I ran into Keith yesterday, at the hotel. Or rather, he ran into me.”

“You saw my dad yesterday, too?”

“I didn't know he was your father, not then.” Nick explained the brief, mysterious encounter when Keith had bumped into him. “He knew who I was. But when I asked who he was, he hurried out the lobby. I went to the restaurant and asked Amber if she knew who the gentleman was who'd just eaten there. She told me it was your dad.”

“And you didn't come to me then because…”

Nick sighed. “Because she told me his name.” Nick understood Tiffany's confused expression and hurried on. “Tiffany, Keith's firm is vying for the China nightclub project. His is the group I've been competing with to get this deal. I'd never met him, so didn't know what he looked like. I'd seen file photos of him, had an idea. But he brushed by me so quickly that it didn't register…until I talked to Amber.” He was quiet a moment, allowing the enormity of what he'd just said to sink into Tiffany's understanding. “I went back to the office, made some calls. And the more I learned, the more certain incidents of the past few months made sense. Especially where Angelica was concerned.”

“That was going to be my next question. Why was she there?”

Nick's stare met Tiffany's. “She and Keith are dating.”

“What?” Tiffany lost her calm demeanor and jumped off the couch. “You have
got
to be kidding me! Tell me you're lying.”

“I wish I were.”

Tiffany began pacing the large expanse of the room. “What in the hell is she doing with my father? And why didn't I know about it?”

“Angelica didn't want you to know, Tiffany. She didn't tell your father that she knew you. You can trust me on that. Angelica knew about this project. I first heard wind of it when she and I were dating, engaged, actually. I knew then that this venture could be a career-defining moment for me, and I shared this excitement with her. So, my guess is that following our breakup, she found out who the opposing players were. This wouldn't necessarily be hard. Angelica and I dated for four years. She met several of the high-powered men I do business with. She then got to Keith—I'm not sure whether at this point she knew he was your father—but she latched on to him as her next
sponsor.
Angelica only dates men who are wealthy and can keep her in the lifestyle to which she's grown accustomed. She's also vindictive. So it probably didn't hurt that your father was trying to get a deal that meant so much to me.”

Tiffany stopped pacing and walked to a table where several expensive pieces of crystal were displayed. She idly fingered the intricately carved pieces, thinking how something so valuable, so beautiful, could be shattered in an instant.
Is this what will happen to what Nick and I share?
Tiffany tried to keep out negative emotions and focus on what Nick had said. But there were still so many things she didn't know, didn't understand.

She walked back over to the couch and sat down. “I still don't get why you didn't come to me after you found out Keith was my dad.”

Now it was Nick's turn to get up and pace. “Maybe I should have. But I was so shocked, and this all happened so fast. I know how you feel about your father, and how he's always put business before you. There were nagging questions that I needed answered before I said anything to you.”

“Like what?”

“Like whether or not Keith knew about us, whether he was somehow using you to get closer to my businesses, to get information.”

“Wait. You thought I might be working in cahoots with my father?”

“No, baby, no,” Nick said as he walked over to the couch and sat next to Tiffany. She stiffened, but he persisted in taking her hand and looking her straight in the eye. “I trust you more than anyone else in the world, Tiffany. Don't ever doubt that. But—and don't take this personally, baby—but I don't trust your father. Some people will do crazy things when the stakes get this high, and I couldn't discount the fact that Angelica may have told your father about us, in some distorted way, to push Keith's desire to win this project over me even higher. What if she'd told him I was using you, or that if he won this deal it would get you away from me? Women like Angelica are more conniving than you can believe.

“I didn't want to come to you until I had the facts straight, and until I had the chance to talk with Keith face-to-face, and man to man. I wanted him to understand this deal was not just about me…but about us.”

Tiffany jerked away from Nick and stood. “Now who's using me to get the deal? You think your dating me is going to mean a thing to Dad? Ha! I bet I'll have the last laugh on that one. Because if you think my father is going to bypass big money just because I'm his daughter, then you've still got some homework to do. Keith Bronson is about one thing and one thing only—m-o-n-e-y. So if you thought I was going to be your ace in the hole, you'd better keep digging.” Tiffany wanted to run out of the room, but instead simply turned her back on the man she loved and stared out at the starry night. She didn't want to believe that Nick would use her as a pawn in business, but all of the old voices—the ones from the years when she came in second with her father—were speaking to her now. She'd been so close to living the life of her dreams—having a cozy, funky restaurant and running it with the man she loved. But now she had to question whether she even knew the man she'd been sleeping with off and on for the past eight months. Maybe who she thought he was, was too good to be true.

“I didn't tell him about us to affect the outcome of the business deal,” Nick said softly. “I told him because you're his daughter, and I thought he should know.” He waited for a response, and when he didn't get one, walked over to Tiffany and took her hand. “Come here.”

“No!”

“Please, Tiffany. Let's talk this through.”

After a long moment, Tiffany walked around Nick and sat on the couch. She sat on the edge of the cushion, her back ramrod straight, as if to take flight at any second.

Nick joined Tiffany on the couch, and took her hand.

Again, she snatched it back. “Look, can't you just say what you have to say without touching me?”

“No, I can't.” He calmly took both of her hands in his. “Look at me, Tiffany.”

Slowly, reluctantly, she complied.

“Perhaps I should have handled this whole situation with your father differently. I can see how my actions could be interpreted as suspect from your perspective. I was trying to protect you, keep you out of the middle of what was going on, at least until I was sure exactly what that was.

“When I first heard the name Keith Bronson, I had no idea he was your father. I only knew of his involvement with Angelica which, given our history, already had me quite concerned. Then last night, when you mentioned his name and ‘father' in the same sentence, baby, that just took an already crazy situation to another level. I could only imagine what hearing about Keith and Angelica would do to you, so I decided to try and get more information, find out the exact nature of their relationship, learn Angelica's angle in dating him relative to our mutual business interests, and, yes, to speak with your father about the China project. I'd hoped to tell you what was going on once things were resolved, one way or the other.”

Tiffany stood and whipped around. “What kind of resolution can there be to this mess? My dad is screwing a woman who can't stand me
and
who just happens to be your ex, while also vying for the same ‘once in a lifetime' deal that my man wants. Neither of you are going to back out, Angelica is going to continue being a bitch, and me? Don't ask me to choose, Nick. Ours isn't the best relationship, but he's still my father. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens.”

“You won't have to wait long,” Nick said, as he too stood. “And you won't have to take sides.”

“How do you figure that?”

“I've thought this entire situation through, and I've stacked up the deal against what you mean to me. Baby, the scales tip overwhelmingly in your favor. If you want me to, Tiffany, I'll walk away from this deal. Right now, today. I mean it.”

Tiffany sighed as she placed the last bite in her mouth and swallowed. Since the incident involving her dad and Nick the week before, and since canceling the barbeque with the Parsons family, she hadn't had much of an appetite. Leave it to Grand to bring it back. As had happened during her childhood, Grand's beef stew made her feel better. It was chock full of succulent beef, loads of vegetables, and round pasta. But mostly, the dish was filled with her grandmother's love.

“That was delicious, Grand,” Tiffany said. “I need to come over here and watch you make it because my stew doesn't come out like this.”

Grand chuckled even as she warmed at the praise. “Come over anytime, baby. But there's some kinds of cooking that has to be lived through, rather than taught. Tastes that come from repeating the process, and refining it, and pouring years' worth of ‘know that you know' into the pot. You can already cook rings around me in some things. But beef stew, and these feel-good dishes? They come from years of stirring them together, after you and the recipe have had a chance to dance together for a while, get to know each other. And from having someone around you where you want to pour not only food, but love into the bowls.”

The two ladies cleared the table and walked into the kitchen. Tiffany ran the dish water and began cleaning the plates. Grand hummed while she put on a pot of coffee and then began storing the remainder of their meal. “Well, do you want to talk about it while we're washing dishes, or afterward, when we have dessert?”

“What makes you think I have something to talk about?”

Grand said nothing, just started humming again.

Several moments passed before Tiffany spoke. “It's about Nick, the man I'm dating.”

“Uh-huh.”

“No, actually it's about Daddy.”

Grand stopped and looked at Tiffany. “Well, which one is it about, your fella or your father?”

“Actually, Grand, it's about them both.”

“I tell you what,” Grand said. “These dishes can wait. Cut us a slice of that pound cake and take it in the living room. I'll get the coffee.” When Tiffany hesitated, Grand continued, “Conversations like these are always easier with a little sugar around.” She winked and nudged Tiffany toward the cake pan.

Soon afterward, Tiffany was sitting in one of Grand's well-worn recliners, eating cake and telling her story. She told Grand everything—about how she and Nick met (well, she did leave out some parts of that story), deciding not to date him when she got hired at Le Sol, and then changing her mind and dating him anyway. She talked about Angelica and the run-ins they'd had. And finally, she told Grand about Nick and her father vying for the same lucrative venture in China, and how she found out about it.

“What's your daddy got to say for himself?” Grand asked, when Tiffany finished.

“I don't know.” Tiffany shrugged. “We haven't talked.”

“He didn't call after running into you that night?”

“He called once and left a message asking if I was okay.”

“And why haven't you called him back?”

“Because…a part of me isn't sure I want to hear what he has to say.”

“And he hasn't called again.”

Tiffany shook her head.

Grand took a sip of coffee. “And what about your fella? What is he saying?”

Tiffany told her about Nick's offer to bow out of the deal if that was what she wanted.

“Do you think he meant it?”

“I don't know. I've never had anybody put me ahead of their work, but deep down, I really do think he meant what he said. Oh, Grand, this love stuff is so complicated. I don't know what to do!”

“If that young man meant what he said, that he'd turn down millions to make you happy, then I'll tell you my opinion.”

Tiffany welcomed another opinion. Lord knew she'd talked Joy's ears off and still didn't know how to feel. “Please, Grand, what do you think?”

“I think you done found the man who can help you perfect your beef stew!”

 

Tiffany had been gone for more than an hour before Grand made the call. She'd just gotten off the phone with Janice, who hadn't been home when Grand had left a message earlier. Janice had been curious, even hesitant, about giving Grand Keith's number, pointing out that they hadn't spoken in two or three years. But Grand reminded Janice that she was mama in this conversation, and assured her that she had a very good reason for wanting to speak to Keith Bronson.

“What do you want to talk to him about?” Janice had asked her.

“That's between me and him” had been Grand's reply.

Grand dialed the number carefully. She waited, and frowned when the call went to voicemail. Figuring this was not something to be left “after the beep,” she hung up and immediately dialed the number again.

This time, Keith answered. “Hello?”

“Keith, this is Gladys.”

A beat of silence and then, “My mother-in-law?”

Gladys chuckled. “You know more than one Gladys?”

“Uh, no,” Keith sputtered. “But I'm just rather surprised to be hearing from you, that's all.”

“I know it's been a while. Janice gave me this new number.”

They shared a few pleasantries, inquired after each other's health. “So, what can I do for you, Mama Goodness?” Keith asked, using the endearment he used to call her.

“It ain't about what you can do for me,” Gladys replied. “It's about what you can do for your daughter. You need to call her. And you need to have a conversation that is long overdue.”

“Tiffany? I don't mean to be rude, Gladys,” Keith countered, suddenly feeling his ex in-law was not so dear, “but I don't see where my relationship with my daughter is any of your business.”

“She ain't been much of your business, either.”

“Wait a minute. You listen here—”

“No, you listen. I'm not judging you. I'm just calling it like I see it. That child needs you, and you ain't always been there. But, son, if I have anything to say about it…that's all about to change.”