When Love Comes Around (Love Conquers All) (30 page)

Moving in with Kevin, she had to make some major adjustments. She now had a husband and an elderly mother-in-law to think about. She went from keeping a small house spotless to a large, four bedroom, two and half bathroom home. Also, she had to get accustomed to doing laundry for two, preparing meals for two, sometimes three, if Beverly came over for dinner, in addition to all of the other activities she did before getting married.

With all of this new activity going on, something had to give until she could adjust. Unfortunately, her regular workout schedule had been sacrificed, but not anymore. First thing Monday morning, Starr decided that she was going to leave for work an hour earlier and hit the gym. This extra weight had to go.

“You got something to add?” She asked her other friend since everyone else was commenting on her current eating habits. Why hadn’t they commented on her weight, too? If they had noticed how much she was eating, surely they noticed the spreading hips.

Summer looked at her, and then shrugged a slim shoulder. “No, I don’t have anything to say. You’ve been eating a lot lately. What’s the big deal?”

Starr grinned at her petite friend. She could always count on her to be the free thinker of the group. If the others said, “go right,” she would say “go left.” This time she was going left with Summer. She was hungry and didn’t particularly give a hoot about her spreading hips.
I’ll get to the gym first thing Monday morning.

“Well let’s go then. I’m starving, where to?”

“How about that Brazilian Steakhouse?” Summer suggested, tapping her top lip with a leathered gloved finger. “Shoot, what’s the name of that place? Nick and I went there a few months ago.”

“You mean, FOGO DE Chao on Chestnut Street?” Ava threw over her shoulder as she slammed the trunk door of the vehicle.

“Yeah, that’s it. Ooh, Starr you’ll love this place. It has a salad bar that’s to die for.”

“That’s what I heard. One of my coworkers had lunch there and said the food was absolutely incredible.” Karen chimed in.

Linking an arm through Karen’s and then Ava’s, Starr said, “Well, FUJI DEL COW it is.”

The other women cracked up laughing. Starr was forever jacking up a name. It’s “FOGO DE Chao crazy lady,” Summer teasingly corrected as she linked her arm through Karen’s making them an unbreakable chain as they exited the parking garage.

Closing her eyes, slowly chewing, savoring the tender lamb chop, Starr was in heaven. She had never been to a restaurant that served a selection of so many mouth watering succulent meats. Everything from the pork roast, to the filet mignon, top sirloin, chicken breast wrapped in bacon, sausage, pork and beef ribs, and leg of lamb was scrumptious. Stuffed, she couldn’t remember all of the fifteen different savory, fire-roasted meats she sampled. All she knew is that every last one of them were beyond delicious.

Rubbing her tummy, she had to undo the button on her slacks. Not only had she tasted every meat, she went to the salad bar four times. Summer hadn’t lied when she said the salad bar was awesome. Everything from crisp fresh vegetables, ripe and juicy fruits, gourmet cheese, all types of greens, fresh baked breads, cured meats and fish adorned the larger than life salad bar.

Letting out a satisfied sigh, she closed her eyes fully sated.
That food was soooo good! I definitely got to get my tail to the gym on Monday.
At the rate she was going, her hubby wouldn’t be able to effortlessly pick her up anymore.
Uh-huh, I can’t have that happening.
Nothing thrilled her more than being picked up and carried to the nearest spot to be made love to. Whether it was a bed, a table, or a chair, it didn’t matter as long as Kevin was the one loving her.

“Starr?” Hearing her name being called she lazily opened her eyes.

“How you just gonna stop talking to us in the middle of a conversation?” Summer huffed turning over the round disc from green to red signaling the waiter to keep moving. If another thing were put on her plate, she would have to be rolled out the door.

“Sorry, Boo.” Starr smiled ignoring the three pair of eyes boring into her. It had been over a week since she and Kevin had come back from visiting her mother and new stepfather. With their busy schedules, this was the first opportunity she had to tell them the entire story in detail, with the exception of Karen.

Picking up where she’d left off, word for word she recited her mom’s story of how Patrick landed on her doorstep in a severe thunderstorm. He had walked for miles in the thick mud pushing his Harley when he stumbled upon Donna’s small country cottage. A combination of cracking lightening, thunder, and pounding at her front door had scared the living daylights out of Donna. Against her better judgment, she felt sorry for the Hell’s Angel look alike. Letting him in, she provided shelter until the storm was over and a tow truck could be called to take him and his bike back to his log cabin some fifteen miles down the road. The following week Patrick showed up with a bouquet of flowers and an offer to join him at the local diner for a cup of coffee. Donna kindly accepted the beautiful flowers, but refused the cup of coffee. The gentle blue-eyed giant kept coming around with flowers and his offer to go to the diner. Finally, one day she broke down, climbed on the back of his Harley and off they went.

Elbowing resting on the table, chin propped up in her palm Karen smiled. “I can’t wait to meet Poppa Patrick.” After talking with her mom’s new husband for hours on the phone, she too, felt an immediate connection with him. When Starr called her the next morning after she and Kevin had arrived at their mom’s, she asked to speak with Donna and then Patrick. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe her sister, but she had wanted to hear the fantastic news directly from the source. All those years of seeing her mother live as a hollow shell was over. Before hanging up the phone, she made the couple promise to come for a visit at Christmas.

“I’m so happy for your mom. I can’t wait to meet her and Poppa Patrick.” Ava said, leaning over giving Karen a tight squeeze. For years, she and Summer sat by helpless as their best friend and her sister downplayed that not having their mom around hadn’t affected them, as if it didn’t matter. She didn’t understand how they got by with seeing their mother on a once a year schedule. Whenever the sisters talked about Donna, the longing in their voices to have her around permanently was heartbreaking.

It did matter. Ava could attest that it did. Countless sleepless nights nagged her, reminding her how one’s heart could literally ache when you couldn’t have the one you loved.

Summer took a sip of her iced tea then set it down. “Are you guys still fighting over who they’re staying with?”

Starr giggled. “We’ve decided it would only be fair if we shared them.”

Summer lifted a perfectly arched brow. “Shared them?”

“Yep. Mommy is going to stay with me and the kids a couple of days─”

Finishing her sister’s sentence, “And with me and Kevin a couple of days.” Rolling her eyes she huffed, “You know my co-workers had a nerve to get mad at me because I wanted the week of Christmas off.”

Starr didn’t give a flying pig how mad they got. Over fourteen years had passed since her mother had come home and there was no way she was going to be at work when she did. Her supervisor
tried
to deny her the time off. However, Starr had to make the woman remember that she hadn’t taken a vacation all summer. Having two nurses take time off to get married, another out on maternity leave and everyone else taking much deserved vacations, Starr had been a trooper and foregone her summer vacation. And now that she needed time off, the supervisor had a nerve to deny the request. The reason for the denial was some lame excuse about hospital policy and not taking time off during the holiday. The one evening Kevin managed to make it home at a decent hour, she was in a foul mood, fussing up a storm. Snatching open cabinets, taking down dishes, slamming them on the table, she threatened to quit her job. That’s how serious she was about spending time with her mom. Before she could slam the glasses down, Kevin gently removed them from her hands. “If you feel this strongly about getting time off, do what you gotta do, baby.”

“You think I should quit?”

“Yes. Baby, you’re a nurse you can get a job anywhere. If they can’t appreciate that you did them a favor last summer by not taking a vacation while everybody else did their thing, then I say the hell wit ‘em. ” Filling the glasses up with iced tea, he winked at her. “You know I got you.”

Everything he said to her made perfect sense. Other institutions were always sending her literature in the mail about available nursing positions in the tri-state area. Starr was a team player when it came to her job. She couldn’t count the times she’d volunteered for overtime, came in on her day off because the unit was short staffed or was willing to be pulled to another floor that had a call out. Although she loved her job she would give it all up to spend time with her mom and Patrick. Picking up a plate from the table, she stopped to give him a quick peck on the lips before going over to the stove to fix his plate.

“Thanks honey, I just might do that.”

The next morning, Starr waltzed in her supervisor’s office with her letter of resignation in hand. Suddenly, the hospital’s policy was no longer an issue. Starr watched over her supervisor’s shoulder as she entered her vacation time into the computerized work schedule.

Sucking her teeth, Ava snipped out, “Doesn’t surprise me one bit.” She was all too glad to be out of the hospital away from all the politics. Certain policies only applied to certain people. Working as a school nurse gave her lots of autonomy, which she loved. When she had gone back to school to get her school-nursing certificate, she tried to convince Starr to do the same. At the time, Starr was involved in several committees at work and felt she didn’t have the time to dedicate towards getting her certification to become a school nurse. Not even the bribe of working nine months out of the year, having all major holidays and all summer off, had convinced her to leave her job.

Starr opened her mouth to agree with her friend when a familiar face caught her attention. She couldn’t believe it! What was she doing here? Oh, this was going to be too easy. She had hoped for this opportunity for weeks. No way was she going to let it slip through her fingers.

Taking the cloth napkin off her lap, Starr didn’t say a word as she got up from the table. If she told them what she was about to do, they would have stopped her. Well, she didn’t want to be stopped. She wouldn’t be stopped. On a mission, she locked in on her target and followed.

Each of the women threw the other a curious look as they wondered what had gotten into Starr. One second she was about to say something, and then the next she looked as if she wanted to kill someone.

Following Starr with their gazes, Summer was the first to recognize her target. Jumping up from her seated position, she frantically whispered as not to draw attention, “Oh no. Get her. Get her now. That’s Trina she’s going after.”

Ava stood to her feet. Before either one of them could leave the table, Karen grab their wrists saying, “Wait a minute. I don’t think we should go running up in there just yet. Starr can handle herself. If she’s not back in a few minutes then we’ll go.” Pausing she looked at both woman, “Okay.”

Karen knew Ava and Summer too well, especially Ava. There was no need for a group of sisters to be brawling in a nice restaurant. Having them sit and chill for a few minutes was for the best.

Both women took their seats. “All right, but if she’s not out in five minutes, I’m going in.” Ava coolly stated looking at the watch on her wrist and started the countdown.

“Five minutes.” Summer reiterated holding up her hand spreading her fingers apart.

Each of them was livid when they learned of Trina and her trifling foolishness to get Kevin back. None of them gave Trina a second thought when it came to her coming between Kevin and Starr. Kevin loved his wife. Period.

However, what had peeved them all the most was Trina’s harassment of Beverly Dawson. They couldn’t believe she would stoop so low as to harass an elderly woman just to get at a man. It was all just so tacky.

As they sat and waited, idle chitchat occupied the space of five minutes.

“Five minutes up. Let’s go.” Summer said as she stood heading to the ladies’ room with the others closely trailing behind.

Starr slowed her pace once Trina entered the ladies’ room. She wanted to use the element of surprise to catch her off guard. Walking as quietly as possible, she surveyed the beautifully decorated room. Tiptoeing to keep her suede boot heels from clicking on the Italian tiled flooring, she stooped down to see which stall she had gone into. Standing she slowly tiptoed over to marbled sink countertop and leaned against it. Studying her manicure, she counted backwards starting at a hundred. She wanted to kick the stall door in and bum-rush the ho. As soon as she heard the toilet flushing, Starr hurried into a stall leaving the door slightly ajar, giving her a good visual.