Where I Wanna Be (58 page)

“
Tomorrow. We’ll work all day on it and will have it delivered to her work.”

“
Perfect,” Darren glanced at his watch and saw he needed to make another appointment. “I need to go. Do I pay for it now?”

“
Sure do,” Maria pointed to the register “I’ll help you at the front register.” She led Darren to the register and rang him up as Eli watched with a confident smile. Once Darren was done, he walked past Eli and didn’t bother to say goodbye.

Joey entered the main floor and watched as Darren was leaving. He walked over to where his brother was still calmly eating his cookies. “I’m impressed, bro.” Joey sat across him. “I thought I was going have to call Art over.”

“
I’m not mad at him.” Eli sipped his cappuccino. “It is what it is.”

“
Vaffanculo
!” Joey shook his head.

“
I’m not lying.” Eli defended himself. “I’m not mad at him.”

Joey knew his little brother too well. If Eli had no reason to be mad at Darren, it was because he was plotting something against the man. It was another D’Amato trait they all shared: why say something, when you can
do
something. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“
Shame on the man who walks into the floral shop of the husband of his girlfriend, ordering flowers for her, and not thinking something might be wrong with that picture.” Eli smiled.

“
What are you going to do about it?”

“
It’s been done, my man,” Eli had a pie-eating grin on his face. “Darren’s just keeping the bed warm for me. Daddy’s coming home…” He quickly glanced at the delivery date for Faith’s bouquet. “…tomorrow.”

“
Okay, everyone. We have a very busy day ahead of us. We have head after head coming in. We need to be on point with our game.” Faith instructed her staff at MillionHair. “We can laugh and joke as long we get everything done. Sounds good? Good. Let’s go!”

“
Someone’s Ms. Cheerful,” Kimberly had a sly smile, “the only time someone is this cheerful is if something good happened.”

“
Tell me something good…” Jocelyn began to sing.

“
Tell me you got your back blown out, yeahhhhh…” Cameron added.

“
Excuse you!” Faith looked at her laughing staff. “When in the hell did y’all become so crude?”

“
When in the hell did you become a prude?” Krista questioned. “I’ve seen your kink closet. Y’all would not believe what she has in it.”

“
Oh, I’ll believe it,” Cameron prepared his station, “she didn’t get that five-carat ring out of love.”

“
She got it because she wore out her best knee pads,” Kimberly grabbed a cup of coffee.

“
Y’all just jealous,” Faith folded her arms, “because I got it like that.”

“
Speaking of you getting it like that,” Jocelyn nodded towards the front door, “someone definitely agreed.”

Faith turned towards the front door and saw two delivery trucks from Madre’s. Several employees unloaded the contents of the trucks and began carrying them inside MillionHair. Vases of roses, mainly pink and red, were set around the shop.

“
Excuse me, Marco,” Faith approached him, “what’s all this?”

“
You have a delivery,” Marco got out his clipboard and checked the order, “from a Darren Matthews.”

“
Darren did all this?” Faith smiled as she looked around her shop. There must’ve been fifteen vases already and more were still pouring in.

“
Actually, I did.” Eli appeared behind Marco, who stepped aside. “I did all of this, baby girl. How are you?” He gave Faith a long hug.

Heavenly. That’s what he felt like. The smooth scent of his aftershave tickled Faith’s nose. His strong, muscular arms wrapped around her body, protecting her, holding her. “I’m doing great, Eli. How are you?”

“
I’m doing much better now that I’ve seen you.” Eli smiled.

“
You’re bold, Eli.” A small grin formed on Faith’s face. “I would’ve never thought you would deliver flowers to me from another man.”

“
He ordered this,” Eli presented a paltry floral arrangement to Faith. It contained dying and dead flowers.

“
Darren ordered this?” Faith asked as she looked at the arrangement.

“
To his specification,” Eli blinked several times. “He told me what he wanted and I made sure it was exactly what he wanted. It’s not my fault your man doesn’t have any taste.”

“
He’s not my man,” Faith corrected.

“
Mr. Man has a big bank account.” Eli surmised. “You chose well for a boyfriend.”

“
You know he’s not my boyfriend.” Faith stood up and dusted off her jeans. “Are you intimidated by Darren?”

“
That overrated, corny-ass motherfu…” Eli bit his lip, much to Faith’s amusement. “I’m not intimidated by anyone, Faye. You know this.”

“
Yeah, I know. I just wanted to say that to get under your skin.” She smiled. “Darren knows he’s not my boyfriend and so do you.”

“
I know that.” Eli’s lips slowly curled upward to reveal a big smile. “I just don’t think he does.”

“
I guess I need to make it clear then.” Faith sniffed a rose as she studied her husband’s face. Faith looked around her salon. It seemed more flowers were coming in by the second. “Apparently, looking at all the flowers he’s sent.”

Eli pulled Faith closer to him and whispered in her ear. “That’s from me.”

Damn, he felt wonderful. She had forgotten how rock hard his body was. She had forgotten the tingly sensations formed in her belly when he wrapped his arms around her. But she never forgot how much she loved the man holding her, the one begging for a second chance to make everything right, the one she gave it all to and would do it again in a heartbeat. “You always knew how to charm me, Mr. D’Amato,” she whispered.

Eli caressed Faith’s cheek with a thumb. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to win you back,
anima mia
.” He kissed her forehead before he left the salon.

Faith watched Eli leave her salon. He smiled at her briefly before he got into his SUV and sped off. “Sooooo….” Krista walked up to Faith and leaned against her. “….wanna fill me in on what’s going on between you two?”

“
Nothing,” Faith shook her head.

“
Really?” Krista raised an eyebrow. “Nothing at all? We look like we just opened up a damn flower shop in here and you say nothing is happening between you two?”

Faith let out a sigh. “We may or may not be getting back together.”

“
And you may or may not be trying to sell me some bull,” Krista laughed. “For real, Faye. What’s going on?”

Faith knew what she was doing when she climbed into Eli’s bed that fateful night. Unlike her emotions with Darren, Faith didn’t feel remorse or guilt about sleeping with Eli. It almost felt like they needed to reconnect that way. The sex was just like how it had always been—feral, passionate, unbridled. Their hands interlocked throughout the night and they snuggled with each other until Eli had to leave for the shop.

It was one of the best sexual experiences she had ever had and she was glad it was with Eli. Even thinking about what happened the prior night made her sex softly contract in anticipation for the next session. Faith knew better, however, and didn’t want to get the feelings between her legs caught up with the emotions her heart had. “I don’t want to get my hopes up. I don’t know what’s going on with him, with us. I just don’t know.”

“
Are you afraid he’s going to leave you again?” Krista asked.

“
No,” Faith shook her head.

“
So, what’s the issue then?” Krista looked around the shop. “Clearly he wants to come back home.”

“
I’m afraid,” Faith paused, “I’m afraid if I give him a second chance, I’ll end up regretting it. Can things really be better? Can we really work on everything after what happened? I just don’t know if I can take that chance.”

Krista listened intently. “Would you get back with Eli if Nathan wasn’t in the picture?”

Faith was confused by her best friend’s question. “I don’t understand.”

“
If Nathan didn’t exist, or he wasn’t a factor, would you get back with Eli?” Krista asked.

“
That’s not a fair question,” Faith replied, “I can’t deny my son ever existed.”

“
My point, Faith, was if you’re going to get back with Eli, you need to do it for you, not for Nathan. Nathan will be just fine on his own. He has a great relationship with his father and Eli is very committed to being a part of his son’s life.” Krista plucked a long-stemmed rose from a nearby vase and handed it over to her best friend. “But you need to decide if being with Eli is what you want. I think that’s a chance you have to be willing to take.”

****

After Faith left MillionHair, she headed home. Eli was going to keep Nathan for the weekend and Faith was grateful for that. It was going to give her some much needed time to sort her feelings out.

She could remember being one of those women who vowed to never take a man back when he was unfaithful. One time and it’ll be the last time, was her motto when it came to cheating. If a man strayed, there was no point of giving him a second chance.

Amazing how a child, marriage, and money would make a difference in her point of view.

Faith didn’t care about Eli’s money. She was with him when he had nothing and was there when he gained everything. She had her own savings account and would do just fine if they decided a divorce was the best solution between them. She would buy out Eli’s ownership in MillionHair and she would completely own her salon, if it came to it.

The real issue was Nathan. She hated the idea of Nathan having two residences. While Nathan didn’t mind to seeing one parent a certain week and the other the following week, Faith had a big issue with that. It wasn’t supposed to be like that. They were supposed to be together all the time.

Roses and forever, that’s what Eli promised her. That’s what she wanted from him, and not from anyone else. He swore up and down he would do whatever it took to win her back and be a family again, but how could she be so sure? What if things were fine for a while and Eli decided he couldn’t do it anymore? What if he left and stayed gone? She would look like a fool for taking him back to begin with.

I think that’s a chance you have to be willing to take.
Krista’s words rang in Faith’s ear. Her mother and Nicola said the exact same thing to her. If she wasn’t willing to forgive Eli, it was best to cut ties and begin the divorce proceedings. There was no point in dragging out the inevitable.

Oh, the days when the only thing I had to worry about was what color I wanted to dye my hair
, Faith sat down on the steps of her townhome and rested her chin on a hand.
Why is this decision so freakin’ hard?