Chapter 6
Jasmine stared at Cameron’s broad shoulders and trim waist as he walked away. It was obvious by his toned physique that he either worked out regularly or carefully monitored his diet. He’d hinted she would uncover a lot about him over the next two days, but what Cameron failed to realize she knew everything she needed to know about him. He had been informative about his marital status; he liked golfing, had a personal chef, and kept close contact with his college buddies. The only other thing she needed to know, if or when she agreed to accept his commission, was his preference for decorating styles.
It wasn’t that Jasmine hadn’t found Cameron attractive, charming, and engaging. He was all that, yet she could not see herself becoming romantically involved with him, because there was no room in her life for a relationship—even if it was a long-distance one. And for her there was still the issue of where she wanted her career to go. Did she want to continue in human resources or return to decorating? Jasmine recalled Tonya’s lament after they were downsized from Wakefield Hamilton about starting over at the bottom in a restaurant’s kitchen despite her vast experience as a professional chef, so when Hannah suggested Tonya invest in the DuPont Inn to own and operate her own eating establishments, the talented cook quickly accepted the offer.
Hannah had extended the same offer for Jasmine to invest in the new venture not as a decorator, but to assist her managing the inn where she would be responsible for benefits, payroll, and time management. She’d balked because she didn’t want to leave her parents or sell her condo, but now that she was unemployed for the second time within a year Jasmine knew she had to make a decision before summer’s end; however, if she hadn’t been solvent, then she wouldn’t have the luxury of taking the summer off.
Fortunately she hadn’t had to touch the severance pay she’d received from Wakefield Hamilton, while the monies she received in the divorce settlement from the sale of her design business and the equity in her condo had provided Jasmine with certain financial stability if she did not dramatically alter her current lifestyle. A hint of a smile parted her lips when she recalled her ex’s face when the judge awarded him ten percent of the business instead of the fifty he had asked for. After all, she had been the one to start up and grow the company before marrying Raymond. He’d left the courtroom infuriated and into the arms of his baby’s mama who’d sat in the back row witnessing the proceedings. She refused to make eye contact with the woman who’d slept with her husband and given him the child Jasmine had always wanted. With that phase of her life behind her, Jasmine went home and slept for more than twelve hours, and when she woke felt as if she’d been reborn.
“There you are. I was wondering where you’d disappeared to.”
Jasmine turned and smiled at her aunt. “I was just thinking about something.”
Danita returned Jasmine’s smile. “I hope it was about your boyfriend.”
Jasmine’s smile faded. She knew it was time she settle the matter of her relationship with Cameron. “Come sit with me in the parlor. I need to talk to you about Cameron.” Waiting until Danita sat on a brocade armchair, Jasmine sat on a matching one.
Of all of her father’s siblings, she was closest to his youngest sister. Danita had been the one she’d confided to about sleeping with a man old enough to be her father, and she’d been the first one she told when she uncovered her husband’s infidelity. There were times when she felt more like Danita’s daughter than her niece.
“What about Cameron?” Danita asked after a comfortable silence.
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“He’s your husband.” Danita’s question was a statement.
Jasmine rolled her eyes upward. “No. He’s not my husband, and he’ll never be my husband.”
“Is there something wrong with him?”
“There’s nothing wrong with him. It’s just that I don’t intend to marry again. Cameron is a friend. We met at a mutual friend’s wedding and he told me that he comes to New York every May to reconnect with his college frat brothers. A couple of days ago he took me out for dinner, and I thought I’d repay the favor by bringing him out here.”
Danita’s eyebrows lifted slightly. “So, there’s nothing going on between the two of you?”
Jasmine slowly shook her head. “Absolutely nothing.”
Taking off her bandana, Danita pushed it into the large patch pocket of her apron. “I’m willing to bet that Cameron would like something to happen.”
Jasmine went completely still. “Why would you say something like that?”
“Open your eyes, Jazz. Don’t you see how the man stares at you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That he wants to be more than friends. I’m certain you’ve heard the song “Hungry Eyes,” from Dirty Dancing. The man has hungry eyes whenever he looks at you. Keith mentioned it to me when you and Cameron were upstairs.”
“He stares a lot.”
“That’s because he likes what he sees and wants more than friendship, Jazz.”
“What he wants and what he gets are two different things.”
Danita met the younger woman’s eyes. “Are you still angry with men because of what Raymond did to you?”
Jasmine shook her head. “I’m so over him.”
“I don’t think so,” Danita accused softly. “If you were then you’d willing to start dating again, or do you intend to spend the rest of your life alone? After Jaelynn’s funeral, Mark told me not only could he not bear to live in this house because there were too many memories of the good times he and Jaelynn shared here, but he never wanted to love another woman as much as he’d loved his late wife. Four years later I got an invitation to his wedding. The man was babbling incoherently because he was so happy his fiancée was pregnant with their first child. As devastating as it was for him to watch Jaelynn change from a young vibrant woman to one as helpless as a newborn, he has been given a second chance at love.”
“Maybe he proposed marriage because his girlfriend was pregnant.”
“Stop it, Jasmine! Men nowadays don’t feel compelled to marry a woman because they’ve gotten her pregnant. Every time you turn around you hear a woman refer to a man as her baby daddy, or she’s his baby mama.”
“Maybe Mark married again because he didn’t feel complete unless he had a wife,” Jasmine rationalized. “Some men like the idea of ownership when they say ‘my wife.’ ”
“I doubt that. I’d just passed my state boards and was hired at a small, private hospital on the Upper East Side when Mark brought his wife in for an evaluation because she’d begun falling. And once she was finally diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor she asked if I’d be her private-duty nurse. Mark’s father was on the hospital board, so he arranged for me to take a leave and I moved out here to take care of her. The man drove into the city every Sunday night and drove back on Fridays, until he finally installed a computer so he could communicate with his office and clients.
“I’d watch his face whenever he stared at his wife and I knew that he was in love with her and not just her beauty, and that’s when I told myself if I could get a man to look at me like that I’d marry him. And when I met your uncle and the first time he smiled at me I knew he was the one. You’ve had two men look at you that way, and neither was the one you married.”
Jasmine temporarily found herself at a loss for words. “What are you talking about?” she asked, once she recovered her voice.
“I’m talking about Gregory Carson and Cameron Singleton. When you introduced Gregory as your mentor I knew you were sleeping together because I’d noticed the sly glances and the proprietary way he’d touch your arm or waist. And when you told me Gregory had been instrumental in helping you get your condo I wanted to say something, but figured it was none of my business. Once you opened up and confided in me about your relationship with him I wanted to tell you that I knew he was your lover, but pretended to be surprised. Now, let’s talk about Raymond.”
“I’d rather not,” Jasmine countered.
A slight frown appeared between Danita’s eyes. “Well, I’m going to have my say, and then I’ll never speak of him again. The man is nothing more than a parasite. He saw you as a lamb he could fleece. You had a thriving business, a luxury condo, and he played on the fact that you both shared Filipino ancestry. I swore to my brother I’d never say anything to you, but I had to talk Richard off the ledge when he threatened to shoot Raymond for what he’d done to you and blame it on PTSD from Vietnam.”
Jasmine’s eyes grew wide. She could not imagine her even-tempered, soft-spoken father shooting anyone. “I don’t believe it.”
Danita made sucking sound with her tongue and teeth. “Believe it, and if you ever mention it to him I’ll deny I said anything.”
Jasmine pantomimed zipping her mouth closed. “My lips are sealed.”
“Let’s talk about Cameron. I’ve just met Mr. Cool Breeze, but he looks and smells like money so I doubt he’s going to try to pimp you.”
“You’re right about the money aspect. Cameron’s a CFA.”
“What’s a CFA?”
“It’s a chartered financial analyst. In other words, he’s a portfolio manager.”
Danita chuckled. “I told you he smells like money. Call it women’s intuition, but there’s something about him I like.”
“I’m not saying I don’t like him, Aunt Dee.”
“Then what’s stopping you from becoming more than friends?”
“We live more than thirteen hundred miles apart.”
“That’s BS and you know it. You dated Raymond when you two lived eight thousand miles apart. All you have to do is hop on a plane to New Orleans and you’re there in a matter of hours, so stop making excuses. And now that you’re not working you can go down and spend the summer, and that way you’ll find out if you want to continue to date Cameron or call it off completely.”
A shiver of annoyance eddied over Jasmine’s body. Her aunt was being pushy. “You sound like Nydia.”
“I’m glad I do,” Danita retorted, “because until you start seeing someone else you’re not going to get out of the funk where you keep rejecting men who are attracted to you. You’re young, beautiful, and talented, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t enjoy the company of the opposite sex. I’m not saying you should jump into bed with them, but you need to have some fun. What’s wrong with going to a movie, a ballgame, or just taking a walk through Central Park?”
“There’s nothing wrong with any of those things.”
“Then why aren’t you doing them, Jazz? Keith and I love running this place but there comes a time when we can’t wait for the Thanksgiving weekend to close down, so we can have time for ourselves. Our kids are grown and out on their own and that means we can travel, register for cooking classes in different countries, and act like young lovers when we kiss and hold hands in public. And now that I don’t have to worry about getting pregnant making love with Keith is better than ever.”
Jasmine grimaced. “That is too much information.”
“Is it? I’m more than twenty years older than you and I’m doing what you should be doing.”
“You’re right, Aunt Dee.”
Danita waved her hand. “Please don’t tell me I’m right and not do it.”
Jasmine knew it was time to enlighten her aunt. “I’m Cameron’s date tomorrow night for a yacht party with his college frat brothers.”
Danita gave her an incredulous stare. “You mean to tell me I’ve been beating my gums about you going out and now you tell me the man’s introducing to his friends?”
“Yup,” Jasmine said smugly.
“I take back what I said. I hope you’re wearing something that will have him salivating.”
Amusement flickered in Jasmine’s eyes when she thought of the dresses she had to select from for her date with Cameron. “I bought two dresses for my friend’s wedding, but I still haven’t decided which one I’ll wear. Either way, I have a dress for the yacht party and the wedding.”
“Speaking of weddings, Keith and I will cater one next weekend. The bride wants a Western-style wedding so when she saw the barn she decided it was the perfect place to hold her reception.”
“How many parties do you cater during the season?” Jasmine asked.
“It averages about a couple of dozen. Catered parties make up almost half of our annual revenue. I want to add a few new appetizers to this season’s menu. After taking a few lessons in Thailand, I told Keith we should include a few Asian dishes.”
Jasmine smothered a moan. “When you say Asian appetizers I fantasize about spring rolls and shrimp fritters.”
Danita nodded. “I had what the Thai call shrimp in tuxedo with a sweet chili sauce and they were so good I wanted to cry tears of joy.”
“Filipinos call them shrimp lumpia.” Jasmine searched her memory for the ingredients to make the appetizers she’d eaten as a child in the Philippines. Three hundred years of Spanish rule resulted in a fusion of Asian and Spanish cuisine of which she never tired, along with the dishes indigenous to the American South.
Danita sat straight, her gaze fusing with Jasmine’s. “Do you know how to make them?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I have all of the ingredients so I’d like you to help me make some.”
Jasmine’s eyes grew wide. “Now?”
Danita stood up. “Yes, now. We can make a few of your Filipino shrimp recipes before our men get back.”
Jasmine wanted to tell her father’s sister that Cameron wasn’t her man but didn’t want to rehash or defend her decision not to commit to a relationship because she did not trust men. She was a hopeless romantic and she knew becoming involved would be detrimental to her emotional wellbeing. She tended to think with her heart and not her head.
“What else do you want to make?” she asked her aunt.
“You mentioned shrimp fritters, and I have loads of them in the freezer.”
“They’re called ukoy. Do you have butternut squash?”
Danita nodded. “There may be a few ripe ones in the greenhouse.”
“Let’s go, because it’s been a long time since I’ve had shrimp lumpia and ukoy.”
* * *
“Where do you park your car?” Cameron asked as he left the RFK Bridge and headed toward downtown. He’d offered to drive back from Long Island to Manhattan after spending an enjoyable afternoon with Jasmine and her relatives. He and Keith had visited a winery and after a winetasting he ordered several cases of red, white, and rosé shipped to New Orleans. Jasmine’s uncle suggested he come back the end of August for the Shinnecock Indian Powwow which was one of the largest Native American Gatherings on the East Coast. Cameron told him he couldn’t commit at this time, but would definitely consider it.
“There’s an underground on the corner across the street from my building. Why?”
“I’m going to park this beast and take a taxi back to the hotel.”
Jasmine gave him a sidelong glance. “Why would you want to do that when I could drop you off, and continue uptown?”
“Are you trying to get rid of me?” he teased.
Jasmine’s mouth opened and closed before she said, “No. Why would you say that?”
“It’s only seven-thirty and I thought we could hang out together a little longer.”
He’d spent nearly twelve hours with Jasmine and her family and he hadn’t wanted it to end. Her aunt and uncle were inviting, unpretentious, and obviously very much in love with each other. Keith had openly admitted he was more in love with his wife now than he’d been when he first married her, and Cameron was open when he admitted he had never been in love and would only marry if he was in love with a woman.
She smiled. “Is this when I invite you up to my place for coffee or a nightcap?”
His teeth showed whitely in his face as he flashed a wide grin. “It is.”
“Okay. When you turn onto my street there’s an underground garage near the corner opposite my building.”
Cameron felt as if he’d won a major victory. It was apparent Jasmine trusted him enough to allow him inside her apartment. During the drive to the city he’d expected her to talk about her ex, but when she didn’t he decided not to bring up the subject, and complimented himself on his ability to quell his impulsiveness when it came to Jasmine. His inner voice told him that she would reveal everything in her own time and at the right time.
During the long drive back to the city both had been content to listen to music rather than talk, and for Cameron this was a first for him just to relax and enjoy the music and the presence of the woman sitting next to him. Perhaps it was because he was a bachelor living alone that he’d come to covet his privacy and solitude. His mother had accused him of shunning marriage because he was selfish and predicted he would eventually die a lonely old man with nothing to contribute to the world except a tombstone. He’d kept mum when he wanted to tell Belinda LaSalle Singleton that she had stayed in a marriage that had been doomed from the start, and continued to stay with a man because she did not believe in divorce.
“Why did you call Black Betty a beast?” Jasmine asked, breaking into his thoughts.
“You named your vehicle Black Betty?”
“Yes. You don’t name your cars?”
“No,” he replied, “and why Black Betty?”
“The day I drove her home from the dealership Queen’s “Black Betty” was playing on the radio, so that became her name.”
“She must suck up gas like a sponge in city driving.”
“She does,” Jasmine admitted. “That’s why I only drive her when I’m going on the highway.”
“Do you really need a vehicle this big?”
“Not now. I bought it when I still had my decorating business.”
“Wasn’t that before you went into human resources?”
Jasmine shook her head. “Even though I was working in HR, I still had a decorating business.”
He shot her an incredulous look when stopping for a red light. “How were you able to manage both?”
There came a noticeable pause. “I didn’t. My ex took over the business for me.” There came another pause before Jasmine said, “I’d gone to Manila to visit relatives and look for pieces for a client who had become enamored with anything from Southeast Asia. That’s when I met Raymond Rios, whose family owned an import/export business. He had an uncanny gift for appraising whether an object was authentic or a reproduction with a single glance. What had begun as friendship turned into a long-distance romance and after a year we married in a traditional Filipino wedding and then in an American ceremony once we were back in the States.
“We ran the company together for about seven years until I decided to change careers, leaving Raymond to control the decorating business. Once I was out of the picture I discovered not only had he cheated on me, but unbeknownst to me, he’d had a baby with another woman. Meanwhile he’d been telling me he wasn’t ready to become a father. I was really devastated when he finally admitted after his son was born he had a vasectomy and that meant we’d never have children together.”
“The sonofabitch!” Cameron said under his breath. “How did you find out that he’d been cheating?”
“Raymond had two cell phones. One that was personal and the other for business. He’d gone out and left the business one at home and called me to ask if I’d seen it, and if I did, then pick up his voicemail messages because he was expecting a call from an important client. That’s when I heard a woman’s voice asking him to bring home some disposable diapers because she was running short. She ended the message with something that was too salacious for me to repeat. It was apparent she’d called the wrong phone. There were also text messages about when he could see her and others when he promised to give her money. I couldn’t believe he could be that stupid and give her both numbers. I don’t how I stayed so calm, but when he came home later that night I told him I knew about his baby mama, and that I was filing for divorce. We continued to live together until I had him served with separation papers charging him with adultery. That’s when he packed his clothes and moved out.”
“Where did he go?”
“The only place he could go. He moved in with his baby mama who lived in public housing with her three other children all from different daddies.”
Cameron laughed loudly. “Talk about going from the penthouse to the outhouse.”
“That he did. Of course he sued me for half the business, Black Betty, and a share of the equity in the condo, but thanks to advice from Hannah he wound up with only ten percent of the business, which I’d sold before the divorce was finalized. He wasn’t entitled to the condo because I never put his name on the deed even though he’d begged me to over and over.”
“Had you put his name on anything?”
Jasmine shook her head. “No. The business, condo, and Black Betty were all in my name, because my grandmamma had preached to me not to give a man what I’d worked for no matter how good he made me feel.”
For Cameron, it had been his grandmother who had provided him with a place of refuge when the arguments between his parents escalated to the point where he feared it would lead to physical confrontation. “Grandma does always know what’s best for their grandbabies.”
“I’m a witness to that,” Jasmine said in agreement.
“Hannah was your divorce attorney?” he asked.
“Not in the legal sense.”
Cameron listened when Jasmine said that she’d suspected her lawyer was being paid off by her husband and one call from Hannah threatening to report him to the bar association which could’ve jeopardized his license ended it.
“How did she know he was being paid off?”
“It probably was because he told me Raymond was entitled to a lot more than ten percent of the business, and that I was leaving him practically destitute because he had a child to raise and educate. I knew I sounded cruel when I told him I wasn’t the child’s mother and therefore it wasn’t my responsibility to provide support for him.”
“And you weren’t, Jasmine. If he made the baby with another woman then it was incumbent on him to take care of it and raise it with her. He waded out into the waters of adultery and unlucky for him he got caught in the undertow.”
“Have you ever cheated on the women with whom you were involved?”
Jasmine’s question caught Cameron completely unaware. “No. I’ve never been able to juggle more than one woman at the same time.”
“Good for you.”
“Does this mean I passed your test?” he teased.
Jasmine shook her head. “Only the first part. I have a three-part examination before you can earn your certification.”
Cameron laughed. “Damn, woman. That’s sounds cruel.”
“Do you blame me after what I’ve been through?” she asked.
He sobered quickly. “No I don’t. If my brother-in-law did to my sister what your ex did to you I definitely would’ve knocked the hell out of him.” Cameron signaled, and then maneuvered around the driver holding up the flow of traffic. “How long have you been divorced?”
“It’ll be three years in July.”
“How long did it take you to get back into the dating pool?”
“Almost three years.”
Cameron gave her a quick glance. “Am I your first?”
“Yes. Only because you’re the first who refused to accept rejection.”
He smiled. “I suppose there’s something to be said for perseverance.”
“That’s only half of it,” Jasmine said cryptically.
“What’s the other half?”
“We live thirteen hundred miles apart.”
Cameron felt some of his confidence waning much like someone taking the air out of a balloon. “Are you saying you’re not willing to agree to a long-distance relationship?”
“Right now, I’m not willing to agree to any relationship, Cameron. I like you and enjoy your company otherwise I wouldn’t have agreed to become your date for tomorrow night. I have trust issues when it comes to men, so I’m reluctant to become that involved. I’m certain you’ve dated women because you enjoy being with them, but not enough to plan a future.”
“Are you saying you never want to marry again?”
“That’s exactly what I am saying,” she said emphatically.
Cameron wanted to tell Jasmine they were more alike than not, because his reason for remaining single had nothing to do with an unfaithful partner but from seeing firsthand how a union fraught with anger and resentment had scarred him as a child and young adult.
“It looks as if we’re both on the same page when it comes to marriage,” he said after a comfortable pause.
“Someone you loved cheated on you?” she questioned.
A wry smile parted his lips. “Not at all. And if she did, then I wouldn’t blame the entire opposite sex for one woman. I—”
“I’m not blaming all men for what my ex did to me,” Jasmine said, interrupting him.
“I didn’t say you did. You’re the one who assumed I’m anti-marriage because a woman cheated on me.”
“If not that, then it would have to be your parents’ marriage,” she said perceptively.
Cameron had promised Jasmine she would know everything about him before the end of the weekend, and that meant being straightforward. “You’re right. I grew up believing parents don’t agree on everything, but my folks not only argued, they seemed bent on emotionally destroying each other. I’d lock myself in my bedroom and put a pillow over my head so I wouldn’t hear their yelling. If that didn’t work, then I’d hide in a closet, refusing to come out until they promised they would stop fighting with each other. That would last for maybe a week, and then it would start up again.”
Jasmine rested a hand against his that was holding the steering wheel in a death-grip. “I’m sorry, Cameron. No child should grow up having to experience that.”
He reversed their hands and threaded their fingers together. “It’s unfortunate that it took an accident where my mother almost lost her life for them to come to their senses.”
Jasmine’s audible intake of breath reverberated in the vehicle. “What happened?”
“Fifteen years ago my mother was in a car accident that resulted in severe head trauma. The doctors put her into a drug-induced coma to reduce the swelling on her brain, and the chief doctor of the department of neurosurgery predicted that if she did come out of the coma she wouldn’t be the same. It was a wake-up call for my father who refused to leave her bedside, except to go to the hospital chapel to pray for her full recovery. Within weeks he went from a controlling, bombastic, arrogant tyrant to a humble, repentant husband. Miraculously she came out of it without any lingering adverse effects. After spending two months in the hospital, she came home and she and Dad were like loving newlyweds and have been that way ever since. This August they will celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary.”
Jasmine smiled. “Good for them. I assume they realized fighting wasn’t worth it when they may lose someone they really love.”
Cameron nodded. “That’s what Dad said after he brought Mom home. He’d married her because he loved her but he also wanted to control her, and my mother is too independent to allow a man to have that kind of power over her.”
“Why didn’t she divorce him?”
“My mother doesn’t believe in divorce, and I suppose she stayed in the marriage because she thought it would eventually get better. Regrettably it took a near-death situation for it to get better.”
“What’s the expression? Better late than never.”
Lines fanned out around Cameron’s eyes when he smiled. “You’re right about that. The few times I attempted to intervene in my parents’ brouhaha, my mother cautioned me to stay out of it because she didn’t want to involve her children in something she could handle on her own. She could be like a rabid coon when cornered, which meant she could give it and take it.”
“I’m glad they were finally able to save their marriage.”
Cameron brought Jasmine’s hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. His parents were fortunate to have been given a second chance, while it hadn’t been the same with Jasmine. He concentrated on driving, as he replayed the events that led to Jasmine’s divorce and her reluctance to trust men. He’d registered the pain in her voice when she mentioned her ex-husband’s duplicity. His cheating on her was traumatic enough, but to have a child with another woman while denying his wife the possibility of becoming a mother was loathsome. Well, in the end Jasmine had become the victor because she had denied the scheming leech what he wanted. If it had been up to Cameron he’d have made certain that the man only got one percent instead of ten.
He maneuvered around the corner to her street, found the underground garage and when Jasmine leaned over to press a remote device attached to the underside of the driver’s visor he recoiled as if burned when her breast brushed his forearm. The flesh between his thighs stirred and he pressed his knees together in an attempt to suppress an erection. The barrier went up and he drove through.
“My space is 52,” Jasmine said as he deliberately slowed to less than ten miles an hour to give himself time for his hard-on to go down. He found her assigned space and parked.
Cameron shut off the engine, got out and came around to help her out, and then reached behind the passenger seat for the cooler Danita had packed with leftovers. Grasping the handles of the cooler in one hand, he rested his free hand at the small of Jasmine’s back. She waved to the attendant in the booth at the entrance as he led her out of the garage and across the street. It was a warm spring night and the sidewalks were teeming with people taking advantage of the unseasonably balmy weather.
Spring and fall were his favorite seasons to visit the city where he’d attended college. Cameron had planned to return to New York for his graduate studies but chose Loyola University instead for an MBA with a specialization track in finance. He’d registered for courses in investment and venture capital investment, and financial decision modeling.
Jasmine greeted the doorman on duty with a friendly smile when they walked into the lobby. She retrieved her mail while Cameron punched the button for the elevator. They stepped into the car and rode to the eighteenth floor, and when she opened the door to her apartment and he followed her inside Cameron was stunned with the panorama unfolding before his startled gaze. Jasmine’s condo was a palette in varying shades of white: walls, area rugs, chairs, sofa, drapes, and tables, and he wondered if her life since her divorce was absent of color and sterile as her home.