Chapter Thirty-eight
All the signs were there. Heck, they were divorced for crying out loud. So what did Michelle expect? Though she held up good in front of Keithe and Stoney, it was still so very new to Michelle that she just may end up alone for the rest of her life.
She had moved in haste. The fact of the matter was that she had moved in self, flesh. Michelle hadn’t listened when she consulted God, for if she had, her mind and body would still be in Houston instead of in the midst of the uproar, sitting on a pew at Stoney’s father’s church.
She tried not to badger herself too bad. Though she was saved, Michelle was still on the surface level of praying and listening. She hadn’t bothered to get deeper into God’s Word for herself. If she had, she would have heard Him reply with a no to her moving from Houston. Looking around at all the commotion and tears, Michelle knew that would change in her life. Prayer and listening to God’s answer was something she would have to be patient with.
Yes, God hated divorce, but what was done was done. There was no way He wanted her to continue to hurt herself emotionally.
Her cracked tooth, and even Kendra and Gracie’s impromptu girl talk, had been God’s way of telling Michelle to cover her heart. Her heart was deceitful and she followed it all the way from Houston and made her way into Dallas, though temporarily.
She had done well until she saw Keithe literally run out the church after that Kenya woman. Michelle wanted to die from the heartbreak she felt just seeing Keithe fight for something he truly had wanted. That something that wasn’t her. Michelle thought, if that was a sign from God, I surely got it. Sooner rather than later she would wrap up her living arrangements in Dallas and leave, heading back to Houston.
A hand on her shoulder was the only thing able to bring her out of the thoughts she was drowning in. Her eyes, flooded with tears, were too heavy for her to look up.
“Mom? Are you going to be all right?” Stoney asked with Grant Jr. propped on her hip. Still struggling with her own pain about how things had ended for her sister, Stoney couldn’t bypass checking on her mother, who had sat in one spot for what seemed like forever in her own tears.
With her lip tucked, Michelle moved her head in a practiced motion, too afraid of hearing her voice and the cracking she was sure it would do.
“Are you ready to go? Do you just want to leave your car here and we can come back for it?” Stoney worried about her mother. “I’m going to take Junior and—”
Shaking her head, not wanting Stoney to take away from the baby’s needs in order to tend to her, Michelle cleared her throat. Before she was able to give her plans, Michelle blinked as she saw a familiar face coming through the sanctuary doors. It was Deek.
“I will take care of her, Stoney.” Deek gave Stoney a salute as he made his way closer to where they were sitting.
Realizing that it wasn’t just her imagination, but indeed Deek, Michelle pulled herself up from a slouched position by holding on to the pew in front of her. A slow turn to her right, Michelle paused before she looked up into Deek’s eyes. Her heart jumped.
Without strength to stand to her feet, Michelle’s neck lost its stretch and she bowed in a flood of tears.
The day Stoney had called Deek to inform him that her mother didn’t have his key was the day he poured out his heart to the young woman.
“I don’t want my key, Stoney. That’s not why I’ve been calling her,” he proudly expressed.
“You don’t?” Stoney wanted to understand.
“No, I don’t. I’ve been calling because I love and miss your mother.” Deek was honest. “My wife. My ex-wife ...” he over- emphasized. “I have to admit, she pulled that mess about missing me and wanting to get back with me. Apologizing for running me off and cheating. And yes, I fell for it.” He lowered his voice, ashamed. “But it didn’t take long for me to open my eyes.” He wanted to spare Stoney the details, but definitely wanted an opportunity to share it with Michelle.
“I’ve been calling your mother, leaving her messages. I even stopped by the house. She won’t open the door or anything.” He was testy.
“She moved,” Stoney began to share with him. Feeling that Deek honestly loved her mother and only wanted the best for her, she gave him the details of her mother’s move to Dallas.
Not sharing her address, Stoney had told him how he would be able to corner her in public. No time like the present.
“’Chelle.” Deek tilted her chin with his hand. “I love you.” He spared no time. “I don’t care what brought you here to Dallas.” He no doubt could figure it out if he tried hard enough. “All I want to know is if you’re going back home ... with me? I love you, Michelle.”
It didn’t take Michelle but one minute to stand up and fall into Deek’s arms, realizing their breaking up was what had set sadness in her heart.
“I love you too,” Michelle responded and released her transformed emotions into tears of happiness.
“But I have to know.” Deek pushed the love of his life away in order to look into her eyes. “Can what happened in Dallas stay in Dallas?”
“Yes ... I never should have—”
Deek held up his hand, needing her to stop the ranting she was about to start.
Placing his hand inside of his blazer pocket, Stoney gasped a breath of air and switched Grant Jr. to her other hip. A fresh set of tears found room to shine.
Michelle turned to Stoney to see what the gasping was about. Trailing her daughter’s eyes to the box in Deek’s right hand, Michelle brought her own hand to cover her own intake of air.
“Deek ...” Michelle started.
“I want to apologize for not explaining myself better. I should have told you that I needed closure with my ex-wife. But that never meant I wanted to let you go. I need you in my life. I love you and want to spend the rest of my days with you.”
Not allowing his old college-turf knee to bother him for the moment, Deek got down on one knee, with the help of his wife-to-be, and asked for her hand in marriage.
“Michelle. Will you marry me, honey?”
Michelle never looked at the ring. She was only amazed at how God had allowed her what she had always wanted: a man to want her. A man to proclaim his love for her and a man to pursue her. Deek was that man.
In all of her dating, Michelle had always been the aggressor. She had been the one to hint around at marriage and even propose to a few men. She had been the one to remind her beaus of anniversary dates, birthdates, and special dates. It was never what she wanted for herself.
She wanted a man’s man. One who knew what and who he wanted. One who took charge of the relationship and allowed Michelle to be the woman she wanted and needed to be. Michelle had all that and then some in Deek. And there was no way she was letting him go.
“Yes. Yes! Of course I will marry you,” Michelle happily agreed, knowing it was Deek all along she wanted. Her fear of losing him was what pushed her to fight with what had been familiar to her. She would always love Keithe, but she knew he had been placed in her life for a season and a reason. He deserved more. And so did she.