Chapter Eight

 

 

“Your dress is gorgeous, Nat. I’m so excited!” Cadence squealed as she entered her apartment.

Natalie was right behind her. After the two went dress shopping, they stopped for dinner. Since Eli was out shopping for tuxedos with Solomon and Oliver, she had some time to chill with Cadence before Eli would begin to seek her out.

“You sound like you’re the one getting married,” Natalie said.

“I’ll live vicariously through you since this is probably as close as I’m ever going to get to marriage.”

“Oh, whatever. You’re just so picky with menfolk.”

“Yes, I am.” Cadence laughed. “Hey, are you sure you don’t want to bring your dress inside?”

Natalie laughed. “Why? You think somebody is going to break into my car just to steal my dress?”

“No, but if it was my dress, I wouldn’t let it out of my sight.”

“It’ll be okay in the car,” Natalie said, sitting on the couch. “I’m glad I found a dress I love...didn’t know what I would find in this limited amount of time.”

“You did good, sis. Or shall I say I did good since I picked it out.” Cadence sat in the chair across from Natalie, analyzing her for a moment while smiling. Natalie and Eli had come a long way to get to this point – the point where friends became marital partners. Lovers, vowing to love each other forever. “So this is really happening. My little sister is getting married to the love of her life.”

Natalie smiled when she thought about Eli and his love for her, but she still had those relentless knots in her stomach. The nervous, high-anxiety ones. “Do you think I’m doing the right thing, Cadi?”

Eyebrows raised, Cadence said, “It doesn’t matter what I think. You’re the one who has to love and cherish him.”

Natalie smiled. “I already love and cherish him. We argue, make up…we have no choice but to make up. I can’t imagine my life without Eli. I can’t. But there’s an energy between us that scares me.”

One brow raised, Cadence asked, “What kind of energy?”

Natalie shrugged.

“You don’t know?” Cadence asked.

Natalie held her stomach. “Okay, let me ask you a question. Do you think it’s possible to love someone too much?”

“Umm…hmm…never thought about it,” Cadence said, “But I suppose it could be possible, especially when I hear about stalking cases. It usually plays out something like a woman ending a relationship with her boyfriend or husband and then the guy starts stalking her like he’s trying to get her back. But, then again, I guess that wouldn’t be considered love. If you love someone, why would you stalk them?”

Natalie nodded.

“Why do you ask?” Cadence inquired.

“Because I think Eli loves me entirely too much, and while that may sound exciting and serendipitous to some women, it scares me a little that my man is obsessed with me.” She released a sigh.

Cadence giggled like a high school girl going to prom.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Because you just referred to Eli as your man. I’m loving this…never heard you call Eli your man before.”

Natalie smiled. “Cadi, can you focus for a minute?”

“Okay, sorry. What were you saying again? Your man is obsessed with you?”

“I think he is.”

“I don’t,” Cadence told her. “Why would you say that, anyway?”

“Well, someone told me that Eli was following me.”

Cadence snapped her head back as the playful mood she was in quickly went away. “Following you where?”

“Around…to the store, restaurants…doesn’t matter. He follows me.”

“Who told you this?”

“I don’t want to say,” Natalie told her. In an effort not to cause contentions within her new family, she wanted to keep Solomon’s name out of the conversation. It was bad enough that Eli and Solomon weren’t getting along like brothers should’ve been.

“Oh, come on, Nat. Who told you? Mom?”

Natalie scrunched up her face. “No, it wasn’t mom. Listen, the source of the information is not more important than the information itself.”

“I know who it was,” Cadence said at the snap of her fingers and brightening of her eyes. “Solomon. Am I right?”

Natalie slowly suspired. “Cadi—”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t believe a thing Solomon had to say, but if you’re concerned about the truthfulness of it, ask Eli yourself.”

“I did.”

“And?”

“He confirmed it.”

“What!” Cadence said, sitting straight up, nearly jumping out of the chair.

“He said he was following me for protection.”

“Protection from what?”

Natalie opened her hands, palms up and shrugged. “Anything or anyone he deems a threat. I don’t know.”

Looking over at the window, Cadence said, “So he could be sitting outside right now, watching us.”

Natalie giggled. “He could, but he’s not. He’s with his dad, Solomon and a few of his colleague-friends having a male-bonding, pre-marriage celebration tonight.”

Cadence shook her head. “That’s crazy, though, sis. I can’t imagine my man following me around.”

“He said I was there for him, you know, when he was shot. So this is his way of returning the favor…of making sure he’s there for me whenever I may need him.”

“Girl, please…if he wants to be there for you, tell him to pick up a broom, sweep the floor and wash some dishes. That’s being there for you, right?”

The women laughed together.

“You’re funny, Cadi.”

“Seriously, though. A man doesn’t have to be a superhero to impress his woman. Little things go a long way.”

“You’re right, and in his defense, he does do little things for me. He cooks. Makes the bed. Vacuums. He remembers to open the windows when it rains. Massages my back. My feet. Fills my tank up with gas—”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Cadence said chuckling.

“He’s so good to me,” Natalie said in a reminiscent way.

“Wow. You’re glowing right now.”

“Am I?” Natalie asked, smiling.

“Yes, you are, just like you were glowing at dinner last night. Persinna was so happy. Mom was, too.”

“Yeah. They were.”

“Someone wasn’t too thrilled about your engagement though.”

Natalie frowned. “Who?”

“The only person at the table who didn’t congratulate you or Eli.”

Natalie thought about it for a moment and said, “Solomon?”

“Yep.”

Natalie shifted her position on the couch. “You’re right. He didn’t congratulate us. He was just sitting there.”

“Yeah, sitting there staring at you,” Cadence added.

“Staring at me? What do you mean?”

“You didn’t see the way Solomon was looking at you and Eli yesterday?”

“No. I was in the moment. I wasn’t paying Solomon much attention.”

“Well, he sure was paying you some attention. He was all up in your face.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I peeped it out. I watched him for minutes at a time looking across the table at y’all. I’m telling you…something ain’t right about that, Nat. Everybody was happy and celebrating your engagement and the only thing he could say was, when did this happen? He couldn’t open his mouth to congratulate you two or say something like, I’m happy for you both? All he said was, when did this happen?”

“Solomon and Eli don’t get along too well. Maybe, since he’s older, Solomon feels like he would’ve settled down and gotten married before Eli. Solomon has always tried to elevate himself above Eli like he’s made all the good choices in life and Eli was not on his level. I honestly don’t know what his problem is.”

“How old is Solomon?”

“I think he’s forty. Maybe forty one…somewhere in there.”

“Don’t you think forty is too old for a guy to be involved in some sibling rivalry? And Solomon’s not trying to settle down. He thinks he’s God’s gift...thinks he can get any woman he wants. But there’s one woman who’s proving to be a challenge.”

“Who?”

“The woman who’s marrying his brother.”

Natalie laughed it off. “Wow. You’ve taken speculation to new heights with that one, Cadi.”

“Let me ask you something, Nat,” Cadence said with a straight face. Serious tone. “Did they ever catch the guy who shot Eli and killed his partner?”

Natalie’s smile faded. “Wait a minute, Cadi. I’m not going to entertain this. There’s no way Solomon had anything to do with that. And I didn’t even know Eli back then if you’re trying to imply that Solomon tried to kill his own brother just to get me. That’s absurd.”

“That’s not what I’m implying. I’m trying to alert you to the fact that something isn’t right about Solomon.”

Just as she said those words, Natalie thought about how Solomon was behaving at Eli’s house the night Eli was intoxicated. Solomon was spaced-out. She had to yell at him to help her get rid of the alcohol. She had to tell him to bring Eli some water. And then, Solomon told her that he stayed up that night to keep an eye on her, not on Eli. She thought that was strange. “Hey, there is something,” Natalie said.

“What?”

“The morning after the ordeal I went through with Eli, I heard Solomon and Eli arguing in the kitchen. Before I could get in there to see what the problem was, Solomon stormed out of the house and told me to stay at my own risk…said he couldn’t protect me anymore.”

Cadence frowned and ducked her head back. “Protect you?”

“Yes. That’s what he said.”

“Protect you from Eli?”

“Solomon’s exact words were, stay here with this nut job at your own risk, Natalie. I can’t protect you from him anymore. I thought it was strange that he’d say that.”

“That is strange, especially considering Solomon also told you that Eli was following you. How would he have known Eli was following you unless he was following you himself?”

“Well, he said he was following Eli.”

“Why?”

“Because he suspected something was going on with Eli, so to make sure his brother wasn’t getting into trouble, or whatever…he took a week off work to investigate…said he watched Eli go into a liquor store a few times.”

Cadence shook her head. “Doesn’t make sense, Nat, and here’s why. You said Eli and Solomon don’t get along, right?”

“That’s right.”

“And Solomon tries to make himself appear better and more successful than Eli.”

“He does. I’ve witnessed it myself a few times. On one occasion, we were having dinner at his parent’s house when Solomon told everybody that Eli had started drinking again.”

Cadence shook her head. “So Solomon was supposedly following Eli to make sure he was on the straight and narrow, but once he found out his brother was going back and forth to buy liquor, he made no attempt to stop him?”

Natalie shook her head. “No. He just brought it up in front of his parents.”

“And you,” Cadence added. “Solomon’s not trying to make Eli look bad in front of his parents, Nat. He’s trying to make him look bad in front of you. I’m telling you…he was staring across the table like he could snatch you up and run away with you or something.”

Natalie shook her head. “If Solomon had a thing for me, which I’m certain he does not, I’m sure Eli would know and would have told me about it.”

“Maybe Eli doesn’t want you to know. You ever think that’s the reason Eli’s been following you? Maybe he’s protecting you from his brother, Nat? It’s something to think about.”

Natalie felt uneasiness settle in the pit of her stomach while at the same time hoping there wasn’t any substance to Cadence’s theories.