*** The train ride to Bettina’s house went by quickly and I walked the several blocks from the station to her door, noticing a handful of cars parked in front of the house.
Cedric’s Audi was not among them, so I breathed a small sigh of relief. I wasn’t quite ready to see him yet today. For all I knew, these cars could have also been visitors of the neighbors.
I knocked on the front door and waited for about three minutes before ringing the doorbell, which I wasn’t sure worked anyway. I seemed to hear people out 623/727
back, but couldn’t tell if it was the neighbor’s yard or Bettina’s.
Just when I was about to turn away, the door opened. I was surprised to see Cedric’s brother Caleb open the door.
“Allison. My God,” he said, seemingly taken aback.
“Hi, Caleb.”
Caleb’s bright blue eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost and he briefly looked behind his own back and whispered, “What are you doing here?”
“I tried to call earlier, but there was no answer. I…uh…just got back from an extended leave and was hoping to talk to your mother and visit Callie. Is she home?”
“Yeah…um…” he said, looking behind his shoulders again briefly.
Caleb just stayed in front of me speechless.
What was going on?
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Before I could think, I heard footsteps and a male voice come up from behind him and say, “Caleb, what the hell is taking so long? I’m fucking thirsty. Who’s at the door?”
I knew that voice anywhere.
Caleb closed his eyes defeated and moved out of the way.
Cedric stood frozen behind him and placed his hand over his heart upon seeing me.
The sight of him nearly knocked me down. Still standing in the doorway, I lifted my hand in a small wave and whispered,
“Hi.”
Cedric looked at Caleb who continued to say nothing, then looked back at me and swallowed.
“Allison,” Cedric said so softly it was almost inaudible.
My heart skipped a beat at the sight of his handsome face, piercing eyes and the 625/727
immediate recognition of his familiar scent.
My body tingled in sudden awareness as if it found a connecting part that had been missing for five months.
I cleared my throat. “I am sorry for just showing up here. I…um…thought…I was just dropping in on Bettina. I had wanted to surprise Callie. I didn’t mean to startle you I—”
Cedric licked his lips and shook his head and interrupted me. “Don’t apologize…don’t ever apologize…God…It’s so good to see you,” he said as he continued to stare at me as his mouth turned slowly upward in-to a genuine smile that tugged at my heart.
But why were both of them just standing there and not inviting me in?
A few seconds later, I heard a female voice say, “Cedric, hon…where did you go?” and got my answer when an attractive Asian woman walked in the room.
CHAPTER 35
CEDRIC
“Ugh…I’m gonna be sick,” Denise said as the smell of the roasting pig wafted in the air. Denise was three months pregnant and the aroma of the meat was making her nauseous.
I was helping my mother rotate it as it sat on the stake over flames. This porker was going to taste damn good though, when the roasting was done and I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into it.
“I can’t believe you guys do this every year,” Stephanie laughed.
My mother smiled, salted the pig and said, “Twice a year, actually…Labor Day and Memorial Day weekends. You’ll see how good it tastes.”
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“Well, this is definitely a first for me.
Thank you for letting me experience it with you.” Stephanie smiled.
“You’re very welcome. Don’t thank me until you taste it.”
I was happy Mom was being cordial to Stephanie. Even though I hadn’t wanted to bring a woman I was only seeing casually here, I was finally relaxing, thanks to the passage of time and the passage of beer down my throat. I knew my mother was going to be shocked to see me show up here with someone because she knew how torn up I still was over Allison, but I think even she realized that I needed a distraction.
Allison had all but disappeared from our lives. Even Callie had finally stopped asking about her. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about her today, though, and wondering how she was spending the holiday, whether she was alone or whether she had found someone else by now. Every time I 628/727
had even a little alcohol in my system, the longing got worse, my hazy thoughts immediately would shift to her, to her beautiful face and eyes and to memories of the way she tasted. Sometimes, it was downright painful to remember and I could feel my chest tighten.
My mother interrupted my daydream-ing. “Looks about done. What do you think, Cedric?”
“I say about ten more minutes. But it is time for another cold one.” Stephanie laughed and shook her head. “Will you get me one too?” Caleb stood up from the lawn chair he was sitting in. “You guys stay. I’ll get them. I have some Octoberfest in Mom’s fridge. I wanna break into those. Looking over at a pregnant Denise, he added with a wink, “For you, an O’Doul’s.”
Caleb sauntered through the sliding glass door into the house. After a few 629/727
minutes passed and he hadn’t returned, I decided to go in and help myself to the beers deciding that he was probably stuck in the john.
I walked through the empty kitchen down the hall toward the bathroom, where I was going to taunt him if he was taking a shit, when I saw him standing instead at the front door.
“Caleb, what the hell is taking so long?
I’m fucking thirsty. Who’s at the door?” Caleb moved to the side and I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me.
Allison was standing at the threshold looking more beautiful than I imagined in my dreams. He dark flowing hair had grown longer, almost to her waist and it was blowing in the breeze. Her green eyes were spark-ling, made brighter by the sexy bluish green tank top she was wearing that hugged her breasts tightly. It took all of my strength to stop myself from rushing toward her.
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I could barely get the words out and uttered, “Allison.”
She looked nervous, but sweet. Her eyes seemed to be welcoming the sight of me.
This was not at all the enraged person I saw leave my condo many months ago. This was not the distant person I left at her doorstep when I delivered the letter. Something had changed, or rather…returned.
She looked down at her shoes briefly and then straight up into my eyes. “I am sorry
for
just
showing
up
here.
I…um…thought…I was just dropping in on Bettina. I had wanted to surprise Callie. I didn’t mean to startle you I—.” I shook my head. God, she was beautiful. “Don’t apologize…don’t ever apologize…God…it’s so good to see you.” I smiled and just stared at the stunning sight before me.
My body ached to touch her, to hug her, but I wasn’t sure if that’s what she 631/727
wanted, so I painfully stayed put as we just stared at each other.
I needed to know what she was thinking.
What the fuck was I going to do when she saw Stephanie back there?
Before I could come up with a solution, a few seconds later, Stephanie entered the house and broke the silence.
“Cedric, hon…where did you go?” Shit.
Shit.
Shit.
I looked back at Stephanie and then over at Allison frantically trying to telepath-ically tell her with my eyes that Stephanie was not my girlfriend, was not important to me, like she was.
Allison looked sad, but then suddenly put on a fake smile and stuck out her hand in Stephanie’s direction as she stepped through 632/727
the threshold. “Hi, I’m Allison, Callie’s therapist.”
My heart nearly stopped when I saw the ring I had given her gleaming on her right hand.
Holy shit, she was wearing the ring.
Stephanie shook Allison’s hand and looked over at me, probably curious about whether there was any relation to the Allison I called out in my dream last night. If she did suspect it, she let it go at that point.