His Love Walk

 

Book 7

 

Praise Him Anyhow Series

 

 

 

 

by

 

 

 

Vanessa Miller

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prologue

 

Carmella Marshall-Thomas woke up in a cold sweat. She shook her husband until he woke up and sat up next to her in the bed. “I just had a nightmare. Ronny was dead.”

“What?” Ramsey turned on the light next to their bed.

“I’m scared, Ramsey. The last time I felt like this Renee was being stalked and she and Jay almost lost their lives.”

Rubbing his chin as he focused on his wife of the last fifteen years, Ramsey tried to sound calm. “I’ve studied a little about dreams. Tell me this, did you see blood?”

“No, there was no blood. Is seeing blood bad?”

Sighing in relief, Ramsey said, “Let’s just say, it wouldn’t be good. At least some dream interpreters don’t think so. Now tell me about the dream.”

“It was kind of weird. I went to Ronny’s house because I was angry that we hadn’t seen him in a while.” Shaking her head, Carmella said, “That boy works entirely too hard. I mean, I know he desires success, but how much of it does he need?”

“Carmella, can you please get back to your dream?”

“I’m sorry, but Ronny and I used to be so close, and now...” she trailed off as she thought about how long it had been since Ronny had bothered to come home for a visit. Even though Ronny was already grown by the time she married his father, Carmella still thought of all five of Ramsey’s children as if they were just like the two she’d conceived with her first husband. They all belonged to her. They were her children and she would worry about the things that concerned them until the good Lord took her home.

Ramsey wiped a tear from her face as he said, “He’s a grown man, honey, we’ve got to move out of the way and let him live his life.”

“But the women in the dream told me he was dead.”

“What women?”

“Women were everywhere. I kept trying to reach his front door, but they kept blocking me, telling me that he was dead. And then when I finally reached the door, this woman with the face of an angel opened his door and invited me in. I pointed to the other women, standing all around the house and said, ‘They told me Ronny was dead’. The woman laughed as she informed me that Ronny was indeed dead to those women, yet very much alive.

“I was confused at first, but I stepped into the house and there was Ronny, standing in a tub with a white rob on, drenched from head to toe as if he’d just been baptized.”

Ramsey’s face relaxed. He turned the light back out and lay back down.

“Are you going back to sleep, Ramsey? Don’t you want to pray with me about this?”

“Yeah, I’m going back to sleep. I think God has already answered your prayers concerning Ronny. And once you digest the meaning of that dream, you’ll go back to sleep, too.”

Carmella wanted to turn the light back on, shake her husband, do something, anything to make him stay up so they could pray together. But then her mind drifted back to her dream and little by little the meaning became clear. “Oh,” she said as she lay back down and drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 1

 

Ronny Thomas made more deals by 8:00 a.m. than most men made in a week. He was machine like when it came to wheeling, dealing and making his money. He’d always been like that, but just seven years ago he didn’t even have enough money to pay his rent. Matter of fact, he didn’t have any rent to pay because his older brothers, Ram and Dontae had allowed him to sleep on their couch while he rebuilt his life after yet another financial disaster had occurred. Back then Ronny dealt with a financial disaster just about every other week. But he’d known that if he ever got his hands on enough money to do business with, he would make something happen. And so he did.

After taking out a fifty thousand dollar loan, he was back in business. Forbes magazine now called him an overnight success, an internet and real estate mogul because of the two businesses he had finally mastered. It seemed everyone was singing his praises these days, but Ronny knew that none of it would have been possible if his brother, Ram wasn’t the vice president of the bank that loaned him the money. Like they say... it’s not what you know, but who you know. Ronny was convinced that there were so many men and women in the world who, if given a break like he had received, would be able to make a success out of their lives as well. So today, he was paying it forward. Ram was now the president of a local bank in Charlotte. Ronny had decided to partner with Ram’s bank for the entrepreneurial program he wanted to get started. That way, it was like a double paying it forward... helping his brother’s new bank and helping future entrepreneurs.

“They’re ready for you, Mr. Thomas,” a woman peeked her head into the room and told him.

Ronny smiled as he rose out of his seat. These days he was respected and called Mister everywhere he went. He liked the sound of respect, because he couldn’t seem to get any of that during the years he struggled to find his way in the business world.

But he wasn’t struggling anymore. Today, he was wearing a Valentino. The suit was Navy blue with a single-breasted jacket that had notched lapels and a two button center front fastening and matching pants with a slim straight leg. To dress the suit down a bit, Ronny chose a black roll neck sweater. But dressed down or not, he still looked like a million bucks. Ronny was living the dream now... time to go make someone else’s dreams come true.

 

***

Slicing the green apple and tossing it into a sandwich bag, Nia Brooks shouted, “Two minutes, Jarod.” She could not afford to be late today. Everything was riding on her ability to get to the convention center and impress the formidable Mr. Ronald Thomas with her business plan.

“I’m on a pirate adventure, Mommy,” Jarod, her adorable four-year-old son yelled from his room.

“Not this morning you’re not. I have to get to an important meeting.” Nia put his lunch box into her oversized purse and stomped off to her son’s room. She opened the door and spotted him inside of the box that his Christmas present had come in.

“Will your boss be mad if you’re late for your meeting?” Jarod asked with his pirate hat firmly secured to his head as he rowed his cardboard box of a ship with two thick sticks he’d found in the front yard of their apartment building.

Nia lamented over the sixty dollars she had splurged to spend on Christmas presents that were being ignored. If she’d gotten him a box and a few sticks, maybe she’d have the rest of the rent money needed to keep a roof over their heads this month. “The meeting I have isn’t for work. It’s with some very important people who could help Mommy get her new business up and running.”

“If you’re not going to work, then help me find the hidden treasure.”

“I’m serious, Jarod. No more fooling around. This meeting is really important to Mommy.”

“All right, all right.” Jarod reluctantly climbed out of the box and put his coat on. As they were walking out the door, Jarod asked, “Can you go on a pirate adventure with me tonight?”

Nia handed her son his lunch box. As she was locking their apartment up, she nodded. “Sure thing, Captain. I’ll be the first mate on the ship.” After locking the door, she saluted him and then turned to leave the building. But a big imposing figure was blocking her way.

“Good morning, Mrs. Brooks, I was hoping to catch you before you left for work this morning.”

“She’s not going to work,” Jarod provided unsolicited information.

“I have a meeting,” Nia responded.

“I won’t keep you. I just stopped by to fix the faucet in your bathroom and to collect the rent.”

“About that…” Nia began.

Drake lifted a hand. “Before you say that you don’t have it, I have to tell you that I’m in a bind. The owner of the building will be coming here to tour the complex tonight. He will be looking at the books. And there’s no way that I can explain the fact that you’ve only been paying half the amount of your rent for the past two months.”

“Can’t you give me a little more time, Drake? Things have just been really hard lately, but you know I’ll catch up on the rent.”

He shook his head.

“A couple more days?” Nia hoped that the sad look in her eyes would cause Drake to help her out one more time. Since Johnny died she’d needed a lot of just-one-more-time kind of help. Nia never realized that making a living would be so hard. But after losing Johnny’s income and then being laid off from two jobs and then working temp jobs whenever she could get an assignment, reality hit her upside the head real quick.

She and Johnny had been so young when they married that life insurance had been the furthest thing from their minds. In Nia’s wildest imagination, she never would have thought that Johnny would die of a heart attack the same day their son was born. Everything had been a struggle after that, and Nia had put her dreams of owning her own business on the back burner. Because the thing she most concerned herself with these days was keeping a roof over her and Jarod’s heads.

“I can give you until two o’clock today, but that’s it.”

“Thanks, Drake.” Nia walked away from him with a smile on her face, but what Drake couldn’t see was that she was silently praying, asking God to fix this situation. She had twenty-five dollars to her name. But she’d used twelve dollars of that money in order to put a few professional touches to her business plan. She needed to put ten dollars in the gas tank, and Jarod needed two dollars for the field trip at his daycare.

“God, You know my needs... make a way out of no way,” she kept saying within her spirit as she and Jarod drove down the street. It seemed as if her life had been about losing, because Nia didn’t have much of anything. She’d lost her mother and father by the time she was twenty, her husband was gone before her twenty-fifth birthday. Several jobs had come and gone.

So, it was true that Nia had lost a lot, but she hadn’t lost her faith. As far as Nia was concerned, her problems might be big, but her God was bigger.

Jarod’s daycare was only two blocks away. They got out of the car. Nia held on to her son’s hand as she escorted him into the center. She was so grateful that she had found this place, the weekly fee was reasonable, Jarod loved his teacher and was learning to read because of their phonics reading program.

“Are you excited to see Ms. Johnson?” Nia asked Jarod. He’d been in daycare the last three years and had always seemed so shy and withdrawn at the other daycare centers Nia had taken him to. But all that changed when he joined Ms. Johnson’s class.

“Yea, I’m going to class. We’re going on a field trip today.”

She wished it had been a free field trip, but Nia wasn’t going to be the one to ruin his fun. Especially since precious little of that was coming their way these days.

“Mrs. Brooks, can I speak with you for a moment?”

Nia was beginning to think that the only way she would get a break today would be if she fell down and broke her leg. Smiling like she’d done with Drake, Nia said, “Of course, Amanda. Just let me drop Jarod off to his class and I’ll meet you in your office.”

“I need to see you before you drop Jarod off.”

Like she was marching to the guillotine, Nia turned and headed into Amanda’s office with Jarod close by her side.

Amanda closed the door behind them, and without even offering them a seat she said, “We need to clear up your bill before Jarod can go to class today.”

“What do you mean? I paid you last week.”

With an empathy filled expression, Amanda said, “I’m sorry, Nia but the check bounced. That’s the second time since Jarod has been here, so my boss has instructed me to only take a money order from you from now on.”

She hadn’t realized that any of her checks had bounced. She’d paid the electric bill, paid on that stupid credit card that she no longer had access to, but still owed five thousand dollars on, bought groceries... oh that’s right, she thought as her mind kept rewinding, she had a flat tire last week. She’d forgotten about the check that went to the auto club. “What can I say, Amanda. I didn’t mean to write a bad check. The money was in my account when I wrote the check. But I had a flat tire, and I guess I just forgot about the checks I had already sent out.”

“Believe me, Nia, I understand. I barely make enough here to keep the lights on in my apartment. But my boss is really upset about this second bad check.”

Nia hated the situation she was in. As a Christian, she believed in paying her bills and having a good name. But lately her name was being run through the mud with everybody. Something was going to have to give. “I really need your help, Amanda. I don’t have anywhere else I can take Jarod today. I have a meeting this morning that I can’t miss. I promise that if you let him stay, I’ll get the money that I owe in here within the next few days.”

Amanda hesitated for a moment, but then said, “Well, I’m just going to get to the paperwork that’s stacking up on my desk, I guess you must have slipped by me this morning.”

Getting the meaning in her words, Nia hugged the woman. “Thank you so much, Amanda.” She then rushed Jarod to his class. When she got back to her car and looked at the time, she realized that she had just twenty minutes to get uptown. With the way the morning traffic was in Charlotte, it was going to take her at least twenty five. She glanced over at her business plan and then looked toward heaven and said, “Lord, I need a miracle. Can you please rush me through traffic without allowing me to get a ticket that I cannot pay? Thank you, Jesus, send your angels and let’s be on our way.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2

 

Ronny and Ram stood side by side talking with the attendees of the workshop. Over a thousand people crowded into the room they had booked for this entrepreneurial session. Ronny saw hunger on many of the faces... and that’s what he was looking for. Hunger would make a man or woman do whatever it took to become successful. Ronny also believed that Timeliness was a great indicator of how much a person wanted what they were going after. For that reason they had closed the doors after eight a.m. and had given strict instructions that no one be allowed to enter after the presentation had already begun.

Ram leaned over to his brother and said, “They are eating this information up. Look at their faces... like sponges, soaking in all the knowledge they can.”

“Knowledge is power, my brother.”

“Yeah, but money is king.” Ram smiled and then added, “Thanks for starting this program with my bank. This may just be the thing that helps with my expansion plans.”

Now Ronny was smiling. Anything he could do to help his big brother made him happy. “Hey, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I’m just happy to be able to give back.”

“Don’t get it twisted, Ronny. You were always meant for success. All I did was help it come a little sooner.”

Ronny turned back to the crowd. They all had their heads down as they filled out the paperwork that would determine candidacy for the program. Ronny hadn’t thought that such a formality was needed, but Ram assured him that anyone worthy of the money about to be bestowed on them, should have at least taken the time to manage their credit properly and have a firm understanding of the business he or she intended to operate.

But Ronny’s credit had been borderline at the time Ram had pushed his loan through, so Ronny wanted to make sure that credit worthiness was not the single qualifier.

“As you can see, we will need a business plan from each of you. Hopefully, you thought to bring that information, but if you didn’t, you can bring it back within the week. We are making this allowance, because in my early years I wouldn’t have thought about a business plan either.” Ronny laughed. “Matter of fact, most of my business plans were written on napkins, that I lost and would have to then think up my concept all over again.”

Someone in the audience held up an iPad. “Now we can put our notes in these little gems.”

Nodding, Ronny said, “Yes, electronic tablets have revolutionized the way we do business. It has become a business that earns billions of dollars each year. What if you had thought of that concept?” He was silent for several beats, allowing the men and women around him to take a moment to think about big, revolutionary ideas.

“I hope that we have a Bill Gates or a Steve Jobs in this room today. But I also hope that we have individuals who are thinking about redesigning our school systems or tackling the food industry to help us all live healthier lives.”

“But whatever your plan is, as long as it is solid, we are here to help make it happen,” Ram added.

A man in the back of the room raised a hand, Ram acknowledged him and then the man said, “About this credit requirement... how good does our credit have to be to qualify for one of these loans?”

“Good question,” Ram said as he put a hand on Ronny’s shoulder. “Because my brother is Big Daddy Warbucks, he is guaranteeing the loans for this program up to about ten million dollars. So, depending on the type of business, we are willing to work with credit profiles that are not stellar, but you must have shown a willingness to pay your bills within the last few years.”

While Ram was speaking, Ronny noticed that the back door kept opening and closing, he heard some raised voices. He left the stage and walked to the back of the room while Ram continued to instruct the group. As he opened the door and stepped into the hallway, he saw Joyce McKnight, his very capable assistant telling someone that they absolutely could not enter the conference room. “Mr. Thomas has a strict policy concerning timeliness.”

“But I can explain,” the woman was saying.

Ronny stepped in front of his assistant, preparing to give this woman a stern talking to about disrupting his meeting. But as he looked at the woman’s face, he saw two things that shut him up for a moment... hunger and beauty. Her big brown eyes drew him in, he became mesmerized. But then Joyce broke the spell.

“I was just telling this woman that we cannot let her in that room. It is against our policy and since I have already turned numerous others away this morning, we could get sued if we bent over backwards for her.”

Joyce was right. But he wished she wasn’t, because Ronny wanted to open the doors and give this woman the keys to his kingdom. That’s how he felt inwardly, but he shrugged and said, “Joyce has a point. Since she’s already turned away others, we can’t let you into the conference.”

“Will you at least take my business plan?” She handed it to him.

Ronny opened it to the first page. He saw the Mrs. next to her name then looked at her ring finger. A gold band did indeed grace that finger.

“Will you at least look over it? If you think my idea is solid, then give me a chance. That’s all I ask.”

Her name was on the paper so he said, “Nia Brooks, is it?”

“Yes.”

“Why were you late?”

She hesitated a moment too long.

Ronny handed the business plan to Joyce as if he couldn’t be bothered with it, and then walked back into the conference without saying another word to Nia.

***

Nia arrived at work two hours late. She tried to put her head down and get to work so she could forget about the rude and arrogant man who refused to take her business plan. It was crazy how life worked. Arrogant men like Ronald Thomas got all the breaks while humble and God fearing men like her late husband couldn’t seem to catch a break.

Nia put her hand over her mouth as if that could stop the thoughts in her head. “I didn’t mean it, Lord,” she whispered. “The people of God are always winning. I don’t need that man’s money. I have You and You own the cattle on a thousand hills.”

“Who are you over there talking to?” Donna, the woman in the cubicle next to hers asked as she stood and looked over at Nia.

Nia swung around in her chair. “I was talking to myself... well, actually, I was praying.”

“My mama used to pray all the time, too, then she got cancer.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Nia said politely. “But that doesn’t change who God is. He is able to heal, and to deliver us out of whatever problem we deal with.”

“Yeah, yeah, and the tooth fairy hooked me up when my tooth came out last week too.” Donna waved Nia off as she sat back down.

Nia’s mom had been a praying woman also. She’d taught Nia that God loves His children and that He delights in doing good for His children. When her mom had gotten sick, she made sure that Nia understood that her illness didn’t take away from God’s greatness. As it says in the book of Job, ‘Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him’.

As Nia was driving home later that afternoon, the temp agency called to inform her that her assignment would be ending at the end of the week. Then when she came into her apartment complex and saw her things on the curb, she knew that this was yet again another moment when she was going to have to trust her God even though she didn’t understand what, why or how.

She pulled up to the curb, told Jarod to stay in the car and got out. Drake was coming down the stairs with a box in his hands. Nia started screaming at him, “What are you doing? Why is my stuff out on the curb?”

“I told you that I needed the rent money by two o’clock. You got to go.” He handed her the box.

She put the box down. “Where am I supposed to go? I don’t have enough money to pay for another apartment.”

“You don’t have enough money to pay for this apartment either. I’m sorry, but I can’t run a business on charity,” he said as he walked away from her.

Nia grabbed hold of his shirt. “Don’t do this, Drake. I can’t live on the streets with my son. Please.”

“What’s going on here?”

At the commanding voice, Nia let go of Drake’s shirt and swung around to see the gorgeous face of Ronald Elijah Thomas, the Richie-rich guy who rudely dismissed her without listening to a word she had to say. “This is all I need today. Did you come here to chastise me about being late on my rent now, too?”

Ronny lifted a hand. “Hold on, I’m not here to chastise anyone, I just want to know why you’re causing a scene in front of my apartment building?”

Nia exploded, “I should have known that you would own this apartment complex. Only someone as heartless as you would throw a woman and her child out in the cold.”

Ronny turned to Drake. “What’s she talking about?”

Drake pointed to the furniture that had been set on the curb. “Mrs. Brooks has been evicted for non-payment of her rent.”

As Drake said those words Jarod got out of the car and ran into his mother’s arms. “Mommy, my pirate ship is outside.”

Nia hadn’t noticed the box that her son had been playing in this morning. But now she saw that it was filled with clothes and pushed up next to the couch one of her church members had given her. She reached down and lifted him into her arms. “You went into my son’s room? Have you no shame?”

“I’m just doing my job,” Drake said.

Ronny was looking around, trying to find the pirate ship the boy had spoken of. He finally said to Drake, “I don’t see his ship. Where did you put it?”

Drake shrugged. “I don’t remember seeing a pirate ship. Not sure what he’s talking about.”

Jarod pointed toward the box. “You put those clothes in my ship. I can’t find treasure with those clothes in my ship.”

Grinning at the boy, Ronny said, “I used to have a ship like that. My mom used to help me find all kinds of treasure.”

“Really?” Jarod’s eyes widened as this awe struck expression crossed his face. Then he turned to his mom. “Can he come with us on the pirate ship?”

“We can’t go on the ship right now, hon. Mommy has to find a place to put all of these things first.”

“Do you have any place to go?” Ronny asked.

“What do you care? You rich people think life is so easy for everyone. You couldn’t care less about people like me.” Nia put Jarod down as she told him, “Help Mommy put some of this stuff in the car.”

“Okay,” Jarod said cheerfully, as he bent down and picked up a Ninja Turtle DVD. Nia picked up a lamp and the DVD player. She opened the trunk of her car. They put their belongings in the trunk and then went back for more.

Ronny’s eyebrow went up at the insult. “You don’t know the first thing about me, lady.”

“I’ve seen enough to tell me everything I need to know.” She looked him up and down, stepped toward him, pointer finger extended. “You come over here wearing a suit that most of the residents in this complex would have to work a month, maybe two months to be able to purchase. And then if they did purchase it they wouldn’t be able to eat or pay their rent.”

“And your point is?” Ronny didn’t step back as she advanced. He stood his ground and stared her down.

“My point is that you don’t know what it’s like to need a few extra days to come up with the rent or to not know how you’re going to put food on the table after you’ve paid the rent.” Her chest was heaving as she finished her statement. She shook her head and turned away from him, waving a hand in the air as if she figured she’d just been wasting her breath talking to him.

Ronny pulled Drake aside and asked, “What’s her story?”

Drake said, “I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but Nia is a real nice Christian lady. She’s had some rough patches since her husband died. I’ve tried to work with her as best I could. But she’s been working temp assignments lately and I guess she’s not making enough money to afford all of her rent.”

“Has she paid anything?”

Drake nodded, “She pays as much as she can, but she has been short a couple hundred dollars the last two months.”

“Why did you put her stuff out on the curb?”

“You didn’t hire me to run a charity, so, I figured it was time that I took care of this problem. I’m sorry that it took me so long to come to the right decision. I’m sure you would have handled the matter promptly.”

Looking like an angry bear protecting a defenseless cub, Ronnie growled, “Put her things back in the apartment.”

“Excuse me?” Drake looked as if he thought he was hearing things.

“You heard me. I’m making enough money off of this complex. I can certainly afford to help this woman and her son. Just make it happen.” Ronny turned and walked back to his car.

Drake then ran over to Nia and took the clothes out of her hand as she was about to put them in her trunk. “Stop, you don’t have to move.”

“Just leave us alone. God will make a way. I don’t have to stand here and beg you and that mean boss of yours.”

“Listen to me, Nia. God must have already made a way for you, because Mr. Thomas told me to put all your things back in the apartment. He said you can stay.”

“B-but I don’t have the rent.”

“It’s all right. Just go on in the apartment and I’ll get help getting your things back in there.”

Nia grabbed hold of Jarod’s hand and headed toward her apartment. But before going in, she realized that she should have said something to Mr. Thomas, but by the time she turned around, he was backing out of the parking lot. She wanted to run after the car to thank him for his kindness. Just this morning she had thought Ronald Thomas to be an arrogant, self-centered, mean spirited millionaire who didn’t care about anyone but himself, but now he was looking more like a knight in shining armor. And she was grateful that he had rode in on his white horse via a white Mercedes and saved the day for her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 3

 

“Do you still have that business plan I handed you yesterday?” Ronny asked his assistant the moment she entered his office.

“I just threw it in the trash. I didn’t think you were interested.”

“What gave you that idea?”

Joyce stood in front of his desk with an armful of files. “It seemed as if you were more concerned with the time she arrived, than with the information in her business plan. Remember, you don’t like late people.”

He had been a bit obnoxious, Ronny could admit that to himself. But a man in his position has to set standards if he wanted to find the best qualified people to work with. That didn’t stop him from feeling like the worst kind of idiot for treating Nia so callously, especially since she was obviously struggling and probably could use a hand up. Nia could easily have been one of his sisters. Renee had been in a downward spiral when she applied for a job at her now husband, Jay’s company. What if Jay had simply dismissed Renee like he’d done with this Nia Brooks person? His parents had raised him better than that. So, he was determined to spend the first few minutes of his morning looking over her business plan. If it held any merit, then he would move heaven and earth to help Nia Brooks with her business so that she could provide a better life for her son.

“Here it is.” Joyce ran back into the room carrying the binder. She handed it to Ronny and then stood in front of his desk.

“That will be all, Joyce.”

“I thought you might want to go over your schedule before getting involved with anything else.”

Ronny shook his head as he lifted Nia’s binder. “I can’t do anything but review this business plan. When I’m finished, then I can tackle the next thing.”

“You’re the boss,” Joyce said as she turned and walked out of his office.

“Yes, I am,” Ron said to himself as the door to his office closed and he opened the binder. The first thing he noticed was that the business plan was professionally done and it had all the right elements. Ron normally didn’t give much credence to the mission statements in business plans. They were usually just words on top of words which meant nothing. But Nia Brooks’ mission statement gave him pause.

‘To bring back the pleasure of enjoying an after dinner dessert or snack in a healthful, fulfilling and more sustainable way.’

Since his beloved step-mother was in the process of selling her bakery because she didn’t want to encourage the eating of sugar and more sugar, especially after she had been both diagnosed and healed of diabetes, Ron was intrigued by the proposal. His interest was further sparked when he noted that Mrs. Nia Brooks’ snacks and desserts were healthy because they included no or very little sugar.

If this idea of Mrs. Brooks worked, maybe she could partner with Mama-Carmella and then his dad could make use of those plans he had of expanding the business. His family had been on his case lately about not spending enough time with them, so as he continued to read the business plan, the wheels were turning on how he could invest in the business and also do something for his family. Because even though being a success in business was very important to him, family would always be just as important. To this day, Ron was willing to drop whatever he was doing if anyone in his family needed him.

Last Christmas had been one of those times; the word had gone out to all of his sisters and brothers that Mama-Carmella was sick. Ron had been in the middle of a closing on a high rise apartment complex, but he left everything in the hands of his trusty assistant and headed to Raleigh. Things had turned out all right. The family had been a nervous wreck, but Mama-Carmella had everything under control and now she was living a much healthier life. She claimed all credit went to God for that, but Ron figured that the changes she’d made in her lifestyle should receive more of the credit.

That was the only problem he had with Christians. They always wanted God to get all the glory. They seemed oblivious of the fact that bragging rights could take a man or woman a long way in the business world. But hey, if that’s what made his step-mother happy, he wasn’t going to rain on her parade.

Ron buzzed Joyce back to his office.

Immediately, Joyce opened his door and said, “You wanted to see me?”

Ron handed her the business plan he’d just read through. “This looks good to me. But I have a few questions.”

Joyce opened her electronic tablet and started taking notes.

“In the company description area, Mrs. Brooks states that her company would be different from other healthy snacks companies because she also plans to add classes that would enable the consumer to make some of these products themselves. I’d like you to tell me if this has been done before and if so, where... how much do they charge and how are the classes set up.”

“Got it. You’ve had a few calls this morning. Bridgett Mills and Yvette Daily. They both asked me to let you know that they were available for dinner tonight.”

“Thanks Joyce.”

“Will there be anything else, sir?”

“That’s all for now.” Restless, Ron stood up and went to the window behind his desk. As he stood there looking down at the men and women as they walked the streets below, an uneasy feeling crept up his spine. Lately, he was having trouble deciding what to do about the women in his life. Bridgett had been exciting and mind blowing when they first started dating, but then she started pressuring him to get serious. The same thing happened with Yvette, and now he didn’t feel like going out with either woman.

Times, they were a changing, because Ronny used to be the life of the party where the ladies were concerned. But he just wasn’t having as much fun as he’d previously had with his indulgences. The more time Ronny spent away from the dating the scene, the more he realized that he’d only been dating all those women to prove something to himself. Years of struggling to earn a living, had caused him to feel unworthy of any woman’s time. How could he ask someone out on a date, when he hadn’t even had enough money to foot the bill for popcorn and a movie.

These days Ronny could pay for a lot more than popcorn, but at this point in his life, he’d rather be making deals than spending one more night on the town with a woman he had no future with. But as he turned from the window to work on the next deal on his desk, Ronny’s mind drifted back to yesterday and the feisty woman he’d met who seemed to think he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Boy did she have him pegged wrong. Ronny smiled as he contemplated their next meeting.

***

 

“Eat your dinner, Jarod.”

“But I don’t like spinach.”

When Nia was a child she didn’t like spinach either. But she’d since learned how good spinach was for the body and gave it another try. Sautéing those leafy greens with garlic, olive oil and a little bit of sea salt was like yum-yum to the tummy. “Spinach is so good for you, Jarod. Why don’t you give it a try?”

“No spinach. Want pizza.” Jarod started pounding on the table and chanting, “Pizza, pizza, pizza.”

She didn’t even have rent money, where on earth did her son think she was going to get money for a pizza from? Maybe she should just get out her magic wand and scare up a few tickets to Disney World while she was at it. Heck, why didn’t she just wave that wand and have all of the Disney theme parks relocate to their back yard? That way, she wouldn’t have to worry about pesky hotel fees and gassing up her car to get them all the way to Florida.

She stood up and put her head in the refrigerator, partly to cool herself off and partly to find her son something else to eat. It wasn’t his fault that they had no money, so she needed to get out of her bad mood and help him out. “How about some yogurt or an apple,” she said as she scrounged around the half empty refrigerator. They might not have much, but Nia was determined that her son would eat healthy so that he wouldn’t have to worry about health problems later on in life.

“Apple,” Jarod agreed cheerfully.

Nia cut up the apple and made sure to take the seeds out because her son wouldn’t take a bite of an apple that still had the seeds in it. Nia smiled as she remembered that his father had been the same way. At times, Jarod reminded her so much of Johnny that she felt as if she was raising a mini-me version of Johnny Brooks. She was just thankful to God that this smaller version of Johnny had no traces of the illness that shortened his father’s life.

“Here you go.” Nia put the plate in front of her son and bowed low as if she were serving a king. She then sat back down and continued eating her spinach and salmon with quinoa.

“Can we make a pizza tonight, Mommy?”

Nia wished that she could say yes, but today had been her last day on her temp assignment and she didn’t know when the next assignment would come around and her last check was already designated for the rent. At that thought, she popped back up, grabbed her cell phone and called Drake. When he answered she said, “I have the rest of my rent. Jarod and I will walk down to your apartment after dinner and hand it to you.”

“Your rent has already been covered. Use that money to purchase the products for those fabulous candy bars you make.”

She didn’t like her creations being labeled as candy bars, when nothing about them was candy-ish. Nia would rather call her product something like Health Bars. Because they were made from all natural, good for you ingredients like nuts, almonds, honey and cacao chocolate, rather than milk chocolate.

Nia had gone to that entrepreneur session earlier in the week, in hopes of getting the capital needed to finally be able to teach others about healthful living. It was nice to have the extra money in her pocket to be able to purchase the items needed to make her next batch of Health Bars, but Nia needed to know what had changed. Why didn’t she need to come up with the rent money? She asked Drake as much.

He said, “Put it this way... if you play your cards right, you might not have to pay another dime throughout the term of your lease.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Drake, you do know that I’m not interested in having a relationship with you, right?”

Drake laughed. “I got that message loud and clear the first week you moved in.”

“Then why are you helping me like this?”

“I’m not,” he told her. “I don’t have clout like that, or I never would have thrown your things outside in the first place.”

Was he telling her that mister-all-business-better-be-on-time Ron Thomas was behind this? Why would someone like him help her, especially after the way she talked to him a few days ago? “Why is he doing this, Drake? You didn’t put any ideas in his head, did you?” Nia was used to being hit on by men. She carried herself well and she was told on many occasions that she was very pleasing to the eye. Translation, men wanted her on their arm for one reason or another.

“I don’t think it’s like that, Nia. Besides, you saw the man for yourself, I’m sure he has women beating down his door to get next to him.”

Drake was probably right. “Well, can you tell him that I said thanks, but also let him know that I will pay back everything I owe with my income tax check.”

“If anyone else said that, I wouldn’t believe a word of it. But I do believe you will pay everything you owe. You’re one of those good girls. I just wish I had been good enough for you.”

Drake hung up the phone before Nia could tell him that it wasn’t about him being good or bad, it was simply that he wasn’t Johnny.

Trying to get her mind off all that she had lost, Nia hung up the phone and went to the closet and grabbed her and Jarod’s hat and coat. As she headed back to the kitchen, there was a knock on the door and then Jarod said, “Someone’s at the door, Mommy” as if she hadn’t just heard the same knock he’d heard.

“Thanks for letting me know, hon.” She handed him his hat and coat. “Put this on so we can go.”

Nia walked over to the door and looked out the peephole, wondering who could be stopping by their apartment at six-thirty in the evening. To her surprise she saw that it was Ron Thomas. For a moment, while she had a chance to look at him without him noticing, she admired the strong bone structure and those penetrating eyes of his. The man was perfection, but that was the outside of the man. She hadn’t forgotten how he dismissed her like she was some slacker just for being a few minutes late to his event. Swinging the door open she said, “Why are you here and what do you want from me?”

“You haven’t lost that winning personality, I see.”

“Don’t be cute.” Actually, he couldn’t help being cute... matter of fact, he looked down right luscious as he grinned at her and those deep dimples dipped into that chocolate coated skin of his. “Just tell me what you want. If this is about the rent, I already told Drake that I will pay every dime back to you when I get my income tax check.”

“I didn’t ask for any money back. I came to discuss this,” he handed her the business plan she’d given him just five days ago. “But if you don’t have time, I guess I’ll be leaving.”

Nia looked down at the binder in her hand. She’d spent countless hours putting this business plan together. And if Ron Thomas had come here to discuss her dream business, there was no way she was letting him get away, just because she had a slight attitude problem. She opened her door wide, “Please, come in. I’d love to discuss my business plan with you.”

She invited him to have a seat, then she went into her bedroom, closed the door behind her and did a happy dance while she lifted her hands and gave God praise for what He was about to do in her life. The struggle would be over once she was able to get her business up and running, and because she kept the faith, God had now sent the very man who’d turned her away to her front door.

Nia didn’t know if Ron Thomas was sold on her business plan yet, but she said a quick prayer, asking God to help her to say the right words that would allow this business tycoon to see that what she had to offer was not only a viable business, but it would help save lives as well. By the time Nia walked back into the room with Ron, she was ready for him. As far as she was concerned, Ron Thomas wasn’t leaving her apartment until he had committed to investing in her business; she just prayed that she wouldn’t have to tie him up and hold him hostage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 4

 

“Would you like something to drink?” Nia asked in the most polite tone she’d ever used when addressing Ron Thomas.

“What do you have?”

Laughing, Nia admitted, “Water.”

As she laughed, her head tipped backward. Ron sat up, taking note of every ripple line that appeared as the smooth sound of her laughter died out. Every time he came in contact with this woman, she seemed to be even more beautiful than she was the last time he saw her. “You should do that more.”

Her eyebrow went up. “Do what?”

“Laugh. It lights up your face. I bet your husband loves to make you laugh.”

“My mom’s not married,” Jarod said as he took his coat off. He then asked his mom, “Can I have a piece of paper?”

“What for?” Nia asked.

“Need to draw my map. I’m going on a pirate adventure.”

Smiling, Ron said, “Where you headed, Captain?”

“I don’t know. I’ve got to draw my map first,” Jarod told him.

Nia took a blank piece of paper off the dining room table. “Here you go. Have fun on your pirate adventure.”

Jarod ran off and then Nia turned back to Ron. “Would you like to sit at the table and go over my business plan?”

“I’m sorry. I forgot that Drake told me your husband passed away.” Ron stood and walked over to the table. As he passed by, Nia he pointed at her ring finger. As he sat down, he asked, “So, why do you wear the ring if you’re not married?”

Shaking her head, Nia mumbled, “My son has a big mouth.”

“Excuse me?” Ron said as he leaned closer to hear her.

Nia sat down across from Ron. She twirled the ring on her finger as she answered, “I guess I like to look at it and remember when things were different.”

He heard the sadness in her voice and was immediately ashamed of himself for prying. “I shouldn’t have asked. Forgive me.”

“It happened four years ago. I never thought I would get used to Johnny’s being gone, but I think I’ve finally gotten to that point where I’ve accepted reality.”

“So Jarod never knew his father?”

“One came into the world and the other left just as if they were trading places.” Nia shrugged. “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”

“You remind me of my step-mother. Her motto is ‘Praise God Anyhow’. I don’t know how she does it, but Carmella Marshall-Thomas is one tough lady. She wouldn’t even let her own illness get her down.”

“She sounds like someone I’d love to meet.”

Ron smiled. “I’m glad you said that because as I read through your proposal, all I kept thinking was that my step-mother would be the perfect business partner for you.”

Leaning forward, Nia asked, “How so?”

He hadn’t checked with Mama-Carmella, so he didn’t know how she would feel about someone outside of the family knowing all her business, so he kept his explanation short. “She owns a bakery and had been thinking of expanding but she and my dad changed their plans and now the business is stagnant. But I think this idea of yours would really spark something in her.”

“I’m excited, but I don’t want to get too carried away with believing that my dream is finally going to come true, because it sounds like you haven’t talked to her yet.”

Nia’s comment gave him pause. She was right, after all. Ron never did deals like this. He normally made sure all of his bases were covered before making his mind up about doing a deal. But Ron’s mind was already made up... if Mama-Carmella didn’t want in on this business, he was determined to make it happen for Nia any way he had to. And that resolve was what bothered him... Why this project? Why this woman?

Sounding all business, Ron said, “It is true that I have not spoken with the management team of Hallelujah Cakes and Such; however, I believe that this venture is a solid fit for her so I’m willing to give it a try, how about you? Can you trust me on this?”

“I have no choice.” Nia waved her hand around her apartment. “Look around, I’m sure you can see that we don’t have any nest egg to fall back on, no savings to get my business off the ground. And you were here the day I almost got evicted, so I’m really in no position to pretend that I have any other options.”

He hated that life had beat on her so harshly. But he’d been there himself and felt compelled to tell his story. “You’re not alone. I used wonder when things would finally turn around for me so that I could stop living beneath my destiny. But then one day, things just started going my way. I’m living the dream now.”

“Yeah, well, it seems like I’ve been living the nightmare.”

“Time to wake up,” Ron told her while putting a strand of hair behind her ear.

“It’s way past time for me to wake up. I’ve been praying and believing that God would do something to turn my situation around.” A tear rolled down Nia’s face as she said, “And He sent you.”

Ron lifted a hand. “Hold on now. I never said I was on some mission from God. I’m just Ron Thomas, plain and simple.” He patted his back. “No wings on my back.”

“Okay Mr. No-Wings, what’s next... how do we get started?”

“First things first. Before I can invest in this project, I need to sample these desserts you want to bring to market.”

Hopping out of her seat, Nia said, “You ain’t said nothing but a word. Jarod and I were on our way to the store to get some ingredients for my Health bars when you knocked on the door. Let me get Jarod and we can head out.”

“You call them health bars?”

“Yeah, because they’re not only tasty, but healthy.”

“We might need to work on that name,” Ron told her as he walked over to the door to wait for them. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins like it did every time he was getting ready to do a deal. But something was different about the way he was feeling right now as he watched Jarod bounce his way toward the front door and Nia chase after him with his hat and coat. He didn’t know why this deal felt so different, but as they left for the grocery store, Ron tried to shake off the thought that this deal would require a lifetime commitment.

 

***

“You are a hard man to catch up with,” a woman said as she slid up close to Ron and wrapped her arms around him.

Nia grabbed hold of Jarod and stepped back as the woman continued to maul Ron.

“Hey Bridgett, I didn’t know you shopped at this grocery store,” Ron said as he pulled himself out of Bridgett’s grip.

“Organic is the new black, dear heart. We’re all trying to live to be a hundred and two.” She flipped her hair and moistened her lips. “And besides, I couldn’t chase you around if I didn’t take care of myself, now could I?”

“Your hair is pretty,” Jarod said as he moved away from Nia and touched the hair flowing down Bridgett’s back.

Bridgett jumped as if an animal had just mauled her. “Whose child is that?”

“He’s mine.” Nia grabbed Jarod and pulled him back to her.

The woman then pointed from Jarod to Ron and asked, “Is there something you need to tell me?”

“I can’t think of anything,” Ron answered, looking as if the conversation was boring him.

“This boy isn’t your son, is he? You’re not here on some family outing, making me look like a fool are you?”

Nia didn’t even know the woman standing in front of her, but she could see that this woman was as self-centered as they come. If Ron Thomas was interested in a woman like this, then she questioned his judgment.

“My affairs do not concern you like that, Bridgett.”

“Putting her hands on her hips, Bridgett declared, “Your affairs used to concern me. What’s so different that I’m suddenly out of the loop?” She pointed toward Nia, looking her up and down as if she didn’t see anything special. “I know little miss-thing over there can’t be the reason.”

“I’ll talk to you later, Bridgett.” He grabbed the cart and began pushing it down the aisle that he and Nia had been headed towards when Bridgett stopped them.

Nia held on tight to Jarod while she and Bridgett eyed each other. It was obvious to Nia that this woman didn’t think much of her. She had the look of money, with her long, expensive weave, Gucci boots and purse to match. Everything Nia had on had been bought and paid for at a second hand shop, so she was no match for this woman in the style department. But Nia wasn’t going to be intimidated by her or anyone else.

Ron swung back around. “Nia, come on. We don’t have all night to get this stuff done.”

Oh yeah, that’s right. She was auditioning for her business venture, not marking her territory. And why she felt like she had to challenge that awful woman was beyond her. Nia rushed over to Ron. “Okay, let’s go. I just have to grab a few more ingredients.”

“Now I get it. You must be Ron’s housekeeper. Maybe I’ll stop by the house later so your maid can fix us both a healthy meal,” Bridgett said as she scoped out the ingredients in the shopping cart, then waved to them.

Nia turned back towards Bridgett with smoke coming out of her nostrils. She opened her mouth to tell the woman a thing or two. “How dare you.” It burned Nia up that this glamorous woman would assume that someone like her wasn’t good enough to be with a guy like Ron Thomas.

“Don’t let her upset you, Nia. Bridgett doesn’t know how to act when in polite company.” Ron pulled Nia back.

“Well, she better learn before I have to teach her.” Nia pushed the cart down the aisle trying to get as far away from the awful woman as possible. She couldn’t believe that she had almost gotten herself into a fight over someone calling her a maid... or had her instinct to fight come from some other reason? Lord, I really, really need Your help right now,” Nia prayed as Ron caught up with her.

***

“This is too delicious, Nia. It can’t be good for me.” Ron licked the chocolate off his fingers and then reached for another bite size piece of the candy bar made with nuts, honey and cacao chocolate.

“Actually, cacao chocolate is very good for us. It can help keep blood pressure stabilized and it’s even healthy for the heart. Some studies suggest it helps insulin resistance.”

“Then I need to be eating chocolate every day.”

Smiling, Nia told him, “It’s like most other things in life... moderation is the key. Because the dark chocolate of the cacao powder and the walnuts and other type of nuts that I use all have calories and fat. So, you don’t want to lose your mind eating these health bars, or it can become very unhealthy because of the weight gain.”

“So how do we get that message out to the consumer but still make a profit? Because we want them to keep reaching for more and more, right?” Ron asked, thinking like a business man. Which was the right way for him to think since he was in the business of making money.

“That’s where the other half of my business plan comes into play. I want to teach people about healthy living. They can sign up for cooking classes or we can create videos and even do cookbooks on the subject.”

Ron glanced at the sofa and saw that Jarod was out cold, he looked at his watch and was surprised that it was past eleven o’clock. “I am so sorry, Nia. I had no idea it was this late.” He pointed to Jarod as he stood up. “I kept you from getting your little one ready for bed.”

Nia turned to her son, looked at his sleeping form and said, “Oh my goodness. We were so busy talking and cooking that I thought he’d gone off to bed. I didn’t even see him on the couch.”

“I distracted you with all my questions and my grumbling stomach.”

Putting her hands on her hips, Nia said, “You did seem hungry. Didn’t you eat dinner before coming over here?”

“To tell you the truth, I ate a hefty meat and potatoes meal this evening. But the things you cooked were so good, I couldn’t help but sample.” Then with a dreamy eyed look, Ron told her, “You know, in a way, you remind me of my step-mother. She can tear something up in the kitchen, too. But until recently, most of the food she cooked was very unhealthy.”

A look of confusion crossed Nia’s face. “Do you think she’ll be interested in my business model if she doesn’t like the kind of food I make?”

“Mama-Carmella has changed on the cooking and eating front. I think the two of you will get along very well, but I’ll let her explain all that to you.” He put his coat back on and then asked, “Can you and Jarod go with me to Raleigh in the morning?”

“In the morning? How long will we be there?”

“I was thinking we could hang out down there for the weekend... give you and Mama-Carmella a chance to meet and see if she is interested in this business venture.”

“Then sure, we’ll be ready. What time would you like to leave?”

“I’ll have my assistant give you a call tomorrow to set everything up.” Ron hesitated a moment, then quickly walked over to the door and left Nia’s apartment. He was about to ask her for a hug, but immediately realized how inappropriate such a thing would have been. But when he was in Nia’s presence, he felt like being inappropriate a lot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 5

 

“That boy is at it again. I feel like boxing his ears the next time I see him,” Carmella said as she and Ramsey sat down to enjoy an egg white vegetable omelet with berries on the side.

“Which boy’s gotten under your skin now?”

“You know which one. I want to hug him and put him over my knee at the same time. That boy has just gone too far this time.”

Ramsey put down his fork. “What did Ronny do that’s got you so upset?”

“He’s coming to see us today.”

“Now I’m confused,” Ramsey said. “You’ve been wanting to see Ronny for months now. So why are you bothered by something like this?”

“He didn’t call me himself. He had his assistant make the call. She told me to prepare a room for a young lady and her son... what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Maybe he’s finally found the woman of his dreams and is bringing her home to introduce her to us.”

“Then why is his assistant faxing contracts over later this evening?”

Ramsey shook his head. “Oh Lord, I hope this isn’t another prenup deal like Dontae tried to pull on Jewel.

Carmella laughed at the antics of her son, who had stopped putting forever and love in the same sentence the day Carmella and his father divorced after twenty-three years of marriage. “Jewel showed him a thing or two.”

“Well, maybe this woman will show Ronny a thing or two also,” Ramsey said as he leaned back in his seat, with a very pleased look on his face.

 

But a few hours later when Nia and Jarod arrived at the house, Ramsey nudged her shoulder and whispered, “See there, a woman as beautiful as that... I’m sure she caught Ronny’s eye.”

Then Nia asked, “Has Mr. Thomas arrived yet?”

Ramsey puffed out his chest. “I’m the only Mr. Thomas around here.”

Looking a bit out of place, Nia said, “Excuse me, Mr. Thomas, but your son and I aren’t really on a first name basis. Well, he does call me Nia, but since I’m the one trying to get him to invest in my business idea, I think it’s best that I call him Mr. Thomas.”

“If that’s the case, then you can feel free to call me Ramsey.”

Carmella nudged her husband as she said to Nia, “Why don’t you come sit in the family room and tell me all about this business idea of yours.”

“Mr. Thomas hasn’t told you?”

Carmella shook her head. “Mr. Thomas is way too busy to talk with his parents about his business ventures.” That’s what she said out loud; inside she said, or to talk to us about life, how his day went or even the weather.

***

Ronny had almost missed his flight because his business meeting ran longer than expected. That wouldn’t have been good because he was seated next to JT Stevens, a potential investor in a business complex he was putting together a deal for. As he rushed to his seat, he noticed that JT was already there with a copy of Money magazine in his hand.

“I thought you’d forgotten about our meeting,” JT said as the doors to the airplane were being closed.

“I wouldn’t be in business long if I forgot about meetings with important men like you, now would I?” Ronny was smooth like that. He had an uncanny way of reading the men and women he did business with like a book. He knew the ones who needed their success acknowledged and he didn’t mind patting them on the back. He recognized when a certain investor didn’t want to hear anything but the bottom line and he gave them that as well.

Mama-Carmella once told him that God had gifted him with a mind for business. Whether his ability was supernatural or not, Ronny wasn’t sure, but he was thankful that he had finally found his way to his wealthy place. Ronny was now worth sixty-four million dollars, but he didn’t plan to slow down until his business was worth well over a billion. He had a long way to go, but each new deal was getting him closer to the prize he desired.

By the time he got off the airplane, Ronny had secured another deal. He was on a roll. It was just one in the afternoon and Ronny had already made two deals. Now he was on the way to his parents’ house to secure deal number three. If he played his cards right, he could be back in Charlotte for that political function at nine o’clock tonight. Joyce had marked the event tentative on his calendar. But as far as Ronny was concerned, it was a done deal. Yes, sir, wheeling and dealing may as well be his first and last name, ‘cause he was getting it done.

Ronny was feeling pretty good about himself as he strutted into his parent’s home with his chest stuck out, like he was the man that folks needed to step to the side for and recognize. But then Carmella slapped him upside the head with the palm of her hand. “Hey, what was that for?”

“That’s for not coming to see us for over a year.”

“I was just here last Christmas,” he protested.

“And you missed this past Christmas and now it’s February.” She popped him upside the head again. “And that’s for only coming home because you want to talk to us about a business deal.”

“Daddy,” Ronny yelled through the house. “Are you really going to let Mama-Carmella jump on me like this?”

“Better her than me,” Ramsey said as he entered the foyer. “You need your head split open. Maybe you’ll think a little bit more about family if we can get in there and rewire you.”

Ronny ducked as Carmella tried to give him another lick. “Come on, that’s not fair. You all know how hard I work. I don’t mean to stay away so long. But I can’t just put my business on hold. Not when things are going so well.”

Carmella shook her head, Ronny saw the sadness in her eyes as he said, “Why can’t you be happy for me Mama-Carmella? Things are finally going my way.”

“I am happy for your success, Ronny. But you’ve got to slow down and learn to enjoy some of it.”

“I do enjoy it. I’m the luckiest man on this planet. I am actually living my dream.”

Carmella put her hand on Ronny’s arm and gently said, “I just don’t want you to get to the end of that dream and find nobody there.”

“Is that what this is about? You think I’m lonely?” He stepped back, adjusted his jacket as he said, “Trust, I’m not short in the love department.”

“You might not be short on having a bunch of women, but you don’t know the first thing about love.” Ramsey put his arm around Carmella. “If you did...”

“Mr. Thomas, you’re here.” Jarod ran up to Ronny and gave him a hug. Jarod then handed Ronny the rolled up piece of paper he’d been holding. “I made my map. Are you ready for our pirate adventure?”

“Not only am I ready, I brought something for our adventure.” Ronny opened his briefcase and pulled out an eye patch, sword and sash to go with Jarod’s pirate hat.

Nia stepped into the foyer and Jarod turned to his mom with awestruck eyes. “Mom, look.” He held up his eye patch, sword and sash. “I’m a real pirate now.”

“You sure are,” Nia said as she helped her son put the pirate sash across his shoulder. She then stuck the sword in it and then put his eye patch on.

“Come on,” Jarod said as he grabbed Ronny’s hand and headed out of the foyer.

“I’ll be back. I’ve got to help Captain Jarod find his treasure,” Ronny told the group.

“You hurry back because I’m not done with you,” Carmella told him.

Ramsey shook his head as he watched Ronny glance at Nia as he left the room. He then told his wife, “I don’t think we need to say another word.”

“But Ramsey, that boy needs a reality check.”

Ramsey tapped Carmella’s shoulder as he nudged his head toward Nia. “I think our son has found his reality check.”

***

“I hope my parents didn’t talk your ear off before I got here,” Ronny said as he and Nia sat on the enclosed porch out back.

“They were wonderful.”

“Don’t give me that. I know those so-called wonderful people. And Mama-Carmella can’t hold water when something is on her mind.”

“Don’t be upset with them. They worry about you.”

“They have absolutely no reason to worry. I’m a full grown man. I think I can take care of myself by now.”

Nia stood at the edge of the screened porch, looking out at the tall trees that lined the back yard. She sighed heavily as she said, “I can only speak for myself, but as a mother, I will most likely worry about my son for the rest of my life.”

“Jarod doesn’t need that kind of pressure. The ladies will laugh at him if his mommy is running behind him, wiping his nose.”

“Forget them fast tail girls, I’m going to be there for my son as long as he needs me,” Nia declared.

Ronny tilted his head as he studied Nia. Something in her comment hinted at more than she was saying. He once again had a strong desire to pry into her life, but he told himself that it wasn’t his business. He pulled himself from his seat and moved closer to her. “How did your discuss with Mama-Carmella go?”

“She seemed interested in my concept. She even told me that she had closed her bakery a few months back, because she no longer wanted to sell all of the sugary sweets she had been offering. But that she still has the building because they haven’t been able to sell it yet.”

“I knew they were having a hard time unloading that building. Which is why I thought your idea would be perfect for Hallelujah Cakes and Such.”

A smile from way down deep crept into Nia’s eyes. “I love that name. I can tell that Mrs. Carmella is a very spiritual woman and I would be honored if she would allow me to work with her to bring quality snacks to a generation that has gotten hooked on junk food.”

“Why don’t we go back inside and see what she thinks.” Ronny grabbed hold of Nia’s hand and attempted to lead her back into the house, but a feeling shot through his body that he couldn’t explain, nor had he ever experienced before. He released Nia’s hand and the feeling subsided. He grabbed hold of her hand again and his heart beat like a drum. He was getting nowhere fast like this so he dropped her hand again, opened the door and said, “After you.”

Nia gave him a quizzical glance but said nothing as she entered the house. Jarod was seated at the kitchen counter, stretching his hand out to receive a cup from Ramsey. Nia rushed over and grabbed the cup. “You know the rule, Jarod.”

“But I was thirsty,” Jarod protested.

Nia turned to Ramsey and said, “Thanks for looking after him. But I forgot to tell you and Mrs. Carmella that he’s not allowed to drink soda or juices.”

“After our discussion about healthy eating, we figured as much.” Carmella pointed at the cup Nia was holding. “I just made a smoothie with strawberries and blueberries. We thought he might like to taste it. Was that okay?”

Sighing with relief, Nia nodded. “That’s perfect. Sorry if I overreacted.”

“Not at all. We applaud you for instilling healthy habits in him while he’s young. I wish I had thought to do the same. It took me being diagnosed with diabetes to change our way of eating.”

Nia handed the cup to Jarod; he took a big gulp as she said, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know about your illness. I never would have said all that stuff about how much sugar people consume in a day when we talked earlier if I had known.”

Carmella waved her concern away. “I’m not ill. I said I had been diagnosed with diabetes, but I don’t have it. So you don’t have to watch what you say around me.”

Nia glanced at Ronny and then turned back to Carmella. “I’m confused. I thought that once you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, you would have it forever.”

“That’s what the doctors say, they’re stuck in prehistoric times. But the minute my doctor gave me the bad news, I started praying. I asked God to heal me and then He began directing me, showing me what I needed to do.”

“Go on and testify, Mama Carmella,” Ronny said.

“I’ll testify about God’s goodness in my life every chance I get. After my A1C test showed that my blood sugar was 8.8, the health professionals didn’t think I’d ever be able to get it below 7.0. They thought that I would always have insulin resistance, but my last A1C test showed that my blood sugar level is now 4.9. Which means that I am once again normal, with no diabetes.”

“And now that you have given your testimony, can we go in the family room? We don’t want to bore her to death before we have a chance to talk a little business?” Ronny asked.

“She’s not boring me. Actually, her testimony give me hope.”

Ronny’s head tilted again.

“Why do you keep looking sideways at me?” Nia asked when she caught Ronny staring at her.

“I don’t know... you say certain things that make me wonder.” There were so many things that Ronny didn’t know about Nia, but he found himself wanting to know everything there was to know about this woman he hadn’t yet figured out.

Carmella nudged Ramsey as they all headed for the family room. She whispered to her husband, “She’s the one.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 6

 

“What’s your rush?” Carmella asked as they entered the family room. “Can’t you all sit down to dinner with us before we discuss business?”

Ronny glanced at his watch. He hesitated a moment and then said, “Actually, I was hoping to get back to Charlotte this evening. There’s a function that I had planned to do some networking at tonight.”

Carmella’s eye brow lifted, indicating her disapproval. She plopped down on the sofa as she said, “I can’t make a decision about working with you and Mrs. Brooks in the space of two minutes. I need time, there are things we need to discuss. Nia needs to see the location and determine if it will meet her needs.”

“That sounds wonderful. I’d love to see Hallelujah Cakes and Such.” Nia turned to Ronny and asked, “Do you think we could make time for that?”

Stopping himself from looking at his watch again, Ronny nodded. “Mama Carmella is right. We have a lot to discuss. It was silly of me to think we could wrap this up in a matter of minutes.”

“That’s alright, Ronny, we forgive you,” Carmella said with a sneaky grin on her face. She then turned to Ramsey and said, “Can you get me the keys to the bakery?”

“Sure thing.” Ramsey got up and left the room.

When he returned with the keys, Carmella handed them to Ronny. “You take Nia on over to the bakery. We’ll stay here and keep Jarod company.”

“You don’t have to do that. I can take him with me,” Nia told them.

“Nonsense, you and Ronny have a lot to discuss. And I expect him to take you out to dinner before bringing you back here.”

“You all are being too nice to us. Mr. Thomas doesn’t have to take me out to eat. I’m fine.”

Ronny’s head whipped around. “Who’s Mr. Thomas?”

Nia pointed at him.

Shaking his head, Ronny told her, “Oh no, no, no.” He pointed at his dad. “He might be Mr. Thomas, but I’m Ronny, always have been.”

“Well, okay then Mr. Ronny, let’s go check out this bakery.” Nia stood up.

“Just Ronny or we’re not going anywhere.”

“Can I call you Ronny, too?” Jarod asked.

But Nia quickly responded, “Since you’re only four years old, I think it’s best for you to still call him Mr. Ronny, okay?”

Jarod thought about it for a minute, then asked, “Will Mr. Ronny go on another pirate adventure with me?”

“I sure will, buddy. I can’t wait for our next adventure.”

“But first, Mommy and Mr. Ronny have to go out. And I’ll pop some popcorn so we can watch a movie,” Carmella told Jarod.

“What kind of movie?”

“We have a whole bunch of movies that you might like. Ramsey and I now have three grandchildren so we keep our movie selection stocked with cartoons, just in case one of them comes for a visit.”

“Oh boy, do you have Ninja Turtles or Spiderman?” Jarod’s eyes got big as he asked about his favorite characters.

“Well then I guess we’re about to have a party,” Ramsey said as he walked over to the DVD player. “Because we have a few of those movies.”

“See you two later,” Carmella said to Ronny and Nia.

Nia rushed over to her handbag and pulled out an inhaler. She handed it to Carmella as she told her, “If he starts to wheeze or gets short of breath, give him a couple of puffs of this and then call me immediately.”

“I’ll watch him closely, don’t worry about a thing,” Carmella said as she put the inhaler on the coffee table.

Nia hesitated. “If it’s too much trouble I can just take him with me.”

“I know all about asthma. My mother and brother both had it. When I was growing up I witnessed more asthma attacks than I care to remember. So, I got this.”

Smiling at Carmella, Nia relented. “Okay, see you later. Thanks for keeping him for me.”

Ronny knew that Mama Carmella had something up her sleeve after suggesting that they check out the bakery and then immediately handing the keys over and basically expressing that she had no interest in going with them. The women in his family were notorious match makers. They’d meddled in Ram and Dontae’s love life until they had finally gotten both men to throw up their hands and walk down the aisle. But they weren’t getting him. Ronny liked being a bachelor and having the freedom to work his schedule without the complaints of a wife.

When they pulled up at the bakery, Nia took off her seat belt and asked, “I wonder why Carmella didn’t want to come over here with us. I would have liked her input, but I didn’t want to push her into doing something she wasn’t up for.”

“Oh, Mama Carmella is up for plenty. Don’t worry about going easy on her.”

Nia nodded as she got out of the car and stood in front of the building, looking up at the sign. “Hallelujah Cakes and Such,” she read and then turned to Ronny as if an idea just struck her. “If we keep this name for the business, we can call my Health Bars, Praise Bars, by doing a little play off the word hallelujah.”

Ronny thought about that for a moment, then shook his head. “Angel Bars might work better than Praise Bars because it will make people think that the bars must be good for them if their angelic. But if we call them Praise Bars, I doubt that the buyer would connect the concept.”

“I didn’t think about it like that. You’re really smart, Ronny. I’m grateful to be working with you and your family on this project.”

Ronny’s face flushed as he thanked her for the compliment.

“Did you just blush?” Nia asked as she walked towards him, pointing at his face.

Ronny’s hands went to his cheeks, they were feeling a bit warm, and he just didn’t understand why this woman affected him like this. “I wasn’t blushing. It’s not like I don’t receive compliments all the time.”

The smile left her face as she stepped back. “I didn’t mean to imply that I caused you to blush. I’m sorry if it sounded like that.”

She looked as if she thought she’d overstepped her placed and Ronny didn’t like that look on her at all. “I’m the one who needs to apologize. I did feel some heat in my cheeks, so I probably did blush. I guess I just didn’t want to admit it.”

When Nia didn’t say anything, Ronny took the key out of his pocket. “How about we go inside the bakery and have a look around.”

“Sounds good.”

Ronny opened the door and then allowed Nia to go inside first. He found the light switch and flipped it on. “Here it is, in all its glory. Before Mama Carmella was diagnosed with diabetes this was a flourishing business. She and my dad were in the process of opening a few more stores.”

“I can’t believe she just closed her business down like that.” Nia was awestruck as she walked around the front area of the bakery.

“Mama Carmella has too much integrity to sell food that she wouldn’t put in her own body. So, even though this bakery meant so much to her, she just couldn’t continue pumping sugar into people once she’d figured out how harmful it is to the body.”

“I commend her for that.”

“I was proud of her. I haven’t given up sugar myself, but I certainly understand where Mama Carmella is coming from. That’s why your proposal seemed like such a good fit.”

Nia strolled into the back area and felt as if she was in heaven as she stood in front of the huge prep table. Running her hands over the counter top, Nia told Ronny, “I can see myself teaching classes back here. This is perfect.”

“And you don’t mind relocating to Raleigh in order to get started?”

“You act like I’ve got so much going for myself back in Charlotte. I can leave tomorrow, if need be.”

“What about other family members... will they be okay with you leaving them behind?”

Wrapping her arms around herself, Nia told him. “It’s just me and Jarod. I lost my family years ago. And Jarod’s grandparents on his father’s side aren’t involved in his life.”

“That’s too bad, he’s a really great kid.”

“I know.” Nia gave a half smile as she said, “Their loss, right?”

“Most def,” Ronny agreed and then asked, “Are you ready to go get something to eat?”

“I thought I heard your stomach growl a little while ago. So what’s it going to be, pizza or burgers?”

“Woman, you must think I have a death wish or something. If Mama-Carmella found out that I took you to a burger joint she would skin me alive.” Ronny shook his head. “No siree, I don’t need problems like that in my life.”

“You act like Carmella is so hard, but I can tell that you really love her. The adoration you have for her comes out in your voice when you talk about her.”

“Why wouldn’t I love her, she’s my mother,” Ronny said as if no other idea had ever or would ever enter his head. He then went on to further explain, “After my mom died, all of us kids were kind of lost, my dad included. But when Mama Carmella came into our lives, and helped us to heal we put the past behind us.”

Nia’s eyes filled with tears as she leaned against the counter. “I’m glad she was able to be there for your family. She sounds like an awesome woman.”

“Why are you crying?” Ronny rushed over to Nia, put his hand on her face and gently wiped a tear as it fell onto her cheek.

“It’s just that I’ve lost so many important people in my life, but I’ve never had anyone replaced by someone who could make a difference in my life. So, when I thought about how special that must feel, it just brought tears to my eyes.”

“I’m sorry I said all of that because I don’t ever want to say or do anything to make you cry again.”

Turning away from Ronny, Nia wiped at her face. “I’m the one who should be sorry. We are supposed to be discussing business and here I am crying in front of you. You must be having second thoughts about investing with someone as emotional as I am. But please believe me, I’m not always like this.”

Actually, Ronny was thinking that he had made the best decision of his life when he decided to do business with Nia Brooks. He put his hands in hers, and said, “Come on, let me treat you to a meal that you won’t soon forget.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 7

 

While dining at a five-star seafood restaurant, Ronny and Nia discussed her move from Charlotte to Raleigh. Ronny wanted her back in Raleigh within a week, but Nia was calculating how long it would take to sell her furniture and then put together a yard sale so that she could earn enough money to possibly stay in one of those extended stay places for about a month or two. If the business went well, then she’d be able to move into another apartment... find Jarod a good school and get her life started again.

Cutting into her thoughts, Ronny said, “I can add a moving allowance to the investment package so you can hire a mover to bring your things to your new home.”

“Is that normal?” She wanted to cry again, but decided to save that for later, when she was in her room, on her knees talking to her Savior.

“I’ve provided relocation packages before, when the situation warranted it.”

Thank You, Lord Jesus, thank You. Nia silently prayed, not able to wait until she was alone to give praise to her God for turning things around for her. Just this week she had been trying to figure out how she was going to come up with the money to pay her rent and now she had a relocation package. She shook her head in disbelief as she told him, “God is simply amazing.”

“I think I had a little bit to do with it, don’t you?” Ronny asked as he dug into his lobster.

“Of course you had something to do with the blessings I have received. And I truly thank you for allowing God to use you to work His miracles in my life.”

Ronny put his fork down and leaned back in his seat, staring at Nia.

“What?” she asked when he didn’t say anything.

“I just figured out why I am totally fascinated by you.” He pointed at her. “You remind me of Mama Carmella. I think the two of you will work well together.”

Did he just say she fascinated him and then told her she reminded him of his mother? Nia didn’t know if that was good or bad. She knew that he adored his step-mother, but did that mean he wanted others to be just like her? “Does that bother you?”

“On the contrary. I admire women like you and Mama Carmella. She faced tons of adversity in her life, but she just kept giving praise to God,” he lifted his hands, mimicking praise, “no matter what, just like you seem to be doing.”

“Then why do you sound as if giving praise to God is a problem.”

“It’s not a problem, I just don’t understand how you could do it. Because if I had faced as much adversity as you have, I don’t know if I would still be willing to praise God, especially if I felt like He had fallen down on the job.”

“Kind of like being a few minutes late to an important meeting?” Nia couldn’t resist the jab.

“Okay, maybe I was a little harsh with you that day. But you were late.”

“You would have been late, too, if you had to deal with everything I dealt with that morning. But all’s well that ends well, right?” She lifted her iced tea to toast him.

Ronny lifted his glass and toasted Nia. As their glasses clinked and the water residue drizzled down the glasses he imagined the two of them locked in a passionate embrace that lasted a lifetime. He shook himself, trying to get the thought out of his head. Then he turned the conversation back to what he thought was safer ground. “Back to what we were talking about. Because I know what Mama Carmella would say if I asked her, but I want to know how you’re still so charitable to God... giving Him credit for the good things that happen in your life, but then acting as if He isn’t responsible for the bad.”

With a smirk on her face, Nia sized Ronny up. “You’re one of those types, huh?”

“What type?”

“The type who believes everything has to be perfect or there’s no reason to serve God. With the kind of parents you have it’s hard for me to believe that you’re one of those thorny Christians.”

Ronny had been sipping his cola. He almost spit it out as he said, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“In the fourth chapter of the book of Mark, Jesus describes the type of Christian who’s heard the word of God but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things choke the word and it becomes unfruitful.”

This woman took his breath away each and every time he came in contact with her. He had never done business with anyone who was bold enough to tell him that his riches were deceitful because he didn’t have Jesus, especially, someone who needed him to invest in her business. Nia Brooks took the cake. Shaking his head, all he could do was ask, “Okay, so if I’m thorny, what type of Christian are you?”

Without hesitation she said, “I’m a John 6:68 kind of Christian.”

With a look of confusion on his face, Ronny said, “I hope you’re about to elaborate. Because I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t read the Bible much, huh?”

“These days I’m busy reading financial journals and business books.”

“All of that is good, because you’re preparing for financial success in life. And if you weren’t successful, you wouldn’t be able to help me with my business, but I still believe that the best thing any of us can do for ourselves is to prepare for our after-life. If my parents and my husband hadn’t been ready to meet Jesus when they did, what would have become of them?”

Ronny nodded but said nothing.

“To answer your question, in the book of John, chapter six, Jesus says something that offends a multitude of the people who had been following Him. The people were so offended that they stopped following Him. Kind of like how people stop coming to church after the Lord didn’t move fast enough on a problem they were dealing with.

“After the crowd left Jesus’s ministry, he then turned to the twelve disciples and asked, ‘will you also go away?’ But in verse 68 Simon Peter answered him and said, ‘to whom shall we go for thou has the words of eternal life’.

“That scripture sticks to me and anytime I’m going through something that causes me to doubt my convictions even a little bit, I am reminded of that scripture and I realize that I don’t want to be anywhere but safe in the arms of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

The waitress came to the table and asked if they wanted anything else. Ronny said, “Just the check, please.”

The waitress brought the check to the table, Ronny paid the bill and as they got up to leave, Nia said, “You got quiet on me. I hope I didn’t offend you.”

Holding her hand as they walked out of the restaurant, Ronny told her, “I like a woman who speaks her mind. It didn’t offend me at all to know that I’m a thorny kind of Christian.”

“Sometimes I speak my mind a little too much. I’m sorry for saying that to you.”

“I told you I’m not offended, so don’t you be sorry. Okay?”

Nia nodded, “Okay.”

“I thought that was you,” a woman said as she rushed out of the restaurant behind Nia and Ronny. “Where have you been keeping yourself?”

“Ericka,” Ronny said as he swung around. He’d know that voice from anywhere. And would have hurried along if he had seen her first.

Ericka leaned into him and kissed his lips, leaving the stain of her bronze shimmer lip gloss. “You used to make me all sorts of promises, but now that you’re able to make them all come true, I don’t even hear from you.” She gave him a tsk-tsk as if he had been a bad boy.

“If I remember it correctly, you’re the one who went Hollywood on me. So you can’t be mad if we lost touch.”

“That reality show was just a means to an end, you know how the game is played.”

“I saw how you played it.” Ronny wanted to add... and I didn’t like it or you one bit, but he kept that to himself.

Ericka’s eyes shifted downward as she noticed that Ronny was holding Nia’s hand. She pointed at Nia and as if she was in a Color Purple remake, she said, “Who ‘dis woman?”

Ronny pointed from one woman to the other. “Nia meet Ericka... Ericka, meet Nia.” Then he said, “It was really nice seeing you, Ericka. Wish we could talk further, but Nia and I need to get back to the house.”

“You sound like you’ve got some kids waiting on you or something.” Ericka’s hand was on her hip, as she displayed attitude at the thought of being dismissed.

“We actually did leave the little one with my parents. And he’s a busy one, so we’ve got to get going. Nice seeing you.”

As they got in the car, Nia shook her head. “I can’t believe that you lied like that.”

“I didn’t lie to her.” Backing out of his parking space, Ronny began the drive to his parents’ house. “I never said that your son was mine, I just told her we had to get back because he was with my parents... and that’s true.”

“Yeah, but you let her assume that you and I were a couple.”

As he pulled up to a red light, Ronny turned toward Nia with a mischievous grin on his face. “I know plenty of women who wouldn’t find that such a hardship.”

“I bet you do.” Nia’s eyebrows lifted as she rolled her eyes.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know what I’m talking about. Every time I go somewhere with you some woman runs up to you and practically tries to mate with you in front of me and anyone else who might be watching.”

“Not true,” Ronny said but laughed anyway.

“Oh really?” Nia reached over and wiped the lipstick off of Ronny’s mouth.

At her touch, Ronny stopped laughing, because the car swerved and he had to regain control of it.

“Sorry about that; I guess I should have warned you or something,” Nia said.

“Your touch just does something to me,” Ronny admitted before he could stop himself. He then pulled the car to the side of the road, put it in park and pulled Nia into his arms. When their mouths met it was everything Ronny thought it would be and more—much more. Fireworks went off in his head as he pulled away from her, he leaned his head against the driver side window and said, “I don’t know what you and your God have done to me, but I got to tell you the truth... I like what I’m feeling.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 8

 

Nia didn’t know if she liked what she was feeling. She was falling for Ron Thomas, a man so unlike her deceased husband that she couldn’t find any similarities between the two. She and Johnny had met in church youth group and Johnny had been humble and kind. She’d fallen in love with those traits and thought that she would always be attracted to a man with the same godly spirit as Johnny. But Ronny was larger than life, a force to be reckoned with and charming all at the same time.

Even though she knew Ronny had been raised in a godly environment, he seemed to have forgotten where his blessing came from. And Nia never imagined herself with a man who could so easily forget to give God praise for the great and marvelous things He has done. She just needed to focus on her work and get Ron Thomas off her mind.

“What are you over there daydreaming about?” Carmella asked as she entered the kitchen and put a sack of almond flour on the prep table.

Nia smiled as she turned toward Carmella. They had been working together for two weeks now. She had gone back to Charlotte when Ronny left. She and Jarod took all of a day to pack of their meager belongings and then Ronny had the items shipped to Raleigh. But it turned out that she hadn’t needed any further assistance with relocation from Ronny because Carmella and Ramsey welcomed her and Jarod into their home as if they were family. But no matter how much Nia wished it to be so, she kept reminding herself that she was not family and would one day soon need to strike out on her own.

But after years of having no one to depend on but herself, it felt good to have make-believe parents. She just didn’t know what she was going to do about the make-believe boyfriend of sorts.

“Aren’t you supposed to be going out with Ronny tonight?” Carmella asked.

“He’s supposed to be coming to town tonight, but who knows if he’ll be able to get away.”

Carmella chuckled. “Oh, he’ll be here. But what I’m worried about are all these Angel Bars we need to get done today. If you keep lollygagging and daydreaming, we won’t get anything done. And then we won’t be able to sell anything at the county fair tomorrow, now will we?”

“Okay, you’re right. I’ve got my head back in the game. I want this business to succeed, so I’ve got to put in the work.”

“That’s right, so let’s get this praise party started and then get to work.” Carmella turned on her radio and danced back to the prep table as Tamela Mann sang, “I Can Only Imagine”.

The two women were a good match. They both loved to praise the Lord and were both determined to live healthy lives and wanted to empower others to do the same.

Nia glanced at the time on her cell phone. “I have to pick Jarod up in a couple of hours, but I’m sure we can get enough product in the oven before I need to run out.”

“How’s Jarod settling in at his new preschool?”

“Considering that they were about to evict him from his last preschool because I couldn’t afford to pay the bill, he better be loving it. I’m so glad your church owns a preschool; they gave me an awesome rate with a scholarship attached.”

“I know how it is, honey. I’ve been there. When my first husband left me, I thought I was going to lose my house and my mind. But God saw me, Joy and Dontae through. He even sent a wonderful man who had five other children for me to love.”

“Weren’t you terrified to love someone again since the first try didn’t go so well?”

“Oh honey, terrified isn’t even close to the way I felt. I had been hurt once and wasn’t about to let another man bring pain like that into my life again. But Ramsey was patient with me and he loved my fear away.”

“Aww... that sounds like a fairytale.” Nia sat down, put her elbows on the prep table and put her hands under her chin as she said, “Since Johnny died, I haven’t considered anything about my life to be fairytale like.”

Carmella waved that comment off. “You’re still young; give God time, child. And you watch what I tell you. He’s going to blow your mind with how much of a fairytale your next love story is going to be.”

***

“I have JT Stevens on the line; he wants to talk to you about that investment opportunity you all spoke about a few weeks ago,” Joyce said.

Ronny had been packing up, getting ready to leave the office so he could make his flight to Raleigh. Nia and Mama Carmella had been working so hard these last few weeks, putting together a product line; he wanted to treat Nia to dinner and a movie tonight and nothing was going to stop him from making his flight. “Tell him that I’ll call him from my car.”

He caught the sharp intake of breath from Joyce and added, “I’m running late for my flight.”

“I’ll tell him.”

Ronny chuckled as he realized that Joyce sounded shocked. She’d better get used to it, Ronny thought as he slung his laptop bag on his shoulder and lifted his briefcase off the desk. As far as Ronny was concerned, the days of not making time to have a life were over. Walking out of the office at four in the afternoon kind of felt like cheating, but for once in his life, Ronny didn’t care, because he had something new to care about. In the past few weeks Nia and Jarod had stolen his heart, and Ronny wasn’t even thinking about calling the police to report the theft... they could keep it.

***

Nia was in a very good mood when she picked Jarod up from school. She and Carmella had perfected a recipe that they were proud to display at the expo and she had a date with a very handsome man tonight. Nia didn’t know what would become of this budding relationship, because Ronny was so consumed with his work that Nia didn’t see where she and Jarod or even God could truly fit into his life.

She reminded herself that she and Ronny were just getting to know each other... just having fun. She didn’t need to pick every part of his life apart at this point. Just relax and enjoy the moment. It felt good to tell herself that, because Nia hadn’t been able to just relax and enjoy any moment in a long, long time.

“How was your day, sweetheart?” she asked as Jarod got in the back and buckled his seat belt.

“Not so good today,” he said with a longsuffering sigh.

“What happened?”

“My owl got moved.” Jarod was frowning as he folded his arms across his chest.

The preschool had a makeshift tree drawn on the wall, each child had an owl and when they followed the rules, their owl stayed on the tree, but if they talked a little too much or acted out in some way, the owl was moved off the tree. The theory was that the child would want to see his or her owl back on the tree, so they would stop acting out in order to make that happen. Nia didn’t know how that system was working for other kids, but her son didn’t like it one bit.

“What happened that your owl got moved?”

“Nothing.”

“It can’t be nothing, Jarod. They don’t just move an owl for no reason, so tell me what happened.”

He hesitated, then asked, “Why don’t I have a Daddy?”

“Honey, you know that your dad is in heaven.”

“But can’t he come for a visit some of the time?”

She tightened her grip on the steering wheel as she prepared herself for this overdue conversation. “That’s not how it works. Once we go to heaven we stay there and praise God.”

“Mom?”

“Yes, Jarod.”

“Did God give my daddy any parents?”

Where was all of this coming from? “Yes, of course, hon. Your daddy did have parents.”

“Are they in heaven with your parents?”

Nia didn’t know how much more of this morbid conversation she could take without bursting into tears. “No, they aren’t in heaven.”

“Then why don’t they come visit me? Tyler’s dad and his grandparents came to school to eat lunch with him today. But my dad and grandparents never visit me.”

Mystery solved. Jarod must have acted out in school today because he was upset by the absence of his grandparents. Now Nia wanted to act out as well, because she didn’t understand it nor could she explain such a thing to a four year old.

By the time she pulled up in the Thomas family driveway, Nia was no longer excited about her date. What she really wanted to do was to drive to Durham, NC and tell her ex in-laws exactly what she thought about them. How could they blame Jarod for their son’s death? Yes, the two events did occur on the same day. But Jarod didn’t kill his father. Johnny had type 1 diabetes and was always sneaking into the sugar. He was only injecting his insulin once or twice a day, even though the doctor warned that he might need at least four injections per day.

Nia had loved her husband. But over the years she had come to realize that he hadn’t been a good steward of his health. She had been determined to do things differently with Jarod, which was the reason she’d become so passionate about finding ways to eat better and live a healthier life. Jarod wasn’t always appreciative of her efforts, but he would thank her as he grew older and had no more health issues, other than the asthma he currently dealt with.

Nia put a snack of celery, carrots and veggie dip on the table for Jarod and then went upstairs to get ready for her date, but her heart still wasn’t in it.

By the time she came back downstairs, Ronny and Jarod had super hero capes on their backs and were running around the family room with Spiderman, the Hulk, Iron Man and Superman action figures. “What in the world happened in here?” Nia’s hands went straight to her hips as she demanded an answer from her two boys.

“Mommy, Mommy, look at my new toys. I’ve got a whole bunch of super heroes.”

Nia shook her head as she looked to Ronny. “You are spoiling him rotten.” Last week, a pirate ship came to the house on a UPS truck, and now he had brought all these super heroes. “You need to slow down,” she warned Ronny.

“Why? Jarod and I are having fun. If you’re too old to appreciate these things, that’s your fault.”

Nia grabbed hold of Ronny’s arm and pulled him to the side. “I don’t think you understand what I’m saying. You’re going to confuse Jarod if you keep doing these things.” She and Ronny weren’t serious... there was no ring on her finger, so she didn’t want her son getting big ideas, especially now that he was asking questions about other things that she could do nothing about.

“We’re just having fun, Nia, relax.”

She wanted to shake Ronny in order to get him to open his eyes and see what was happening, but Jarod tugged at his pant leg and brought Nia’s concerns to life.

“Yes?” Ronny said as he turned from Nia to Jarod.

“Can you be my daddy?”

Coughing and stepping back an inch, Ronny looked to Nia for help.

But she folded her arms and put an I-told-you-so look on her face.

“I don’t know,” Ronny finally said. “That would be up to your mommy.”

Nia clenched her fists wanting to punch something. She had wanted to teach Ronny a lesson by not coming to his rescue, but he had thrown everything back to her anyway.

As Carmella and Ramsey entered the room, Jarod started jumping up and down. “Ooh Mommy, say yes, so that Mrs. Carmella and Mr. Ramsey can be my grandparents.”

“Hold on.” Ronny put a hand up. “I thought this was about me being your dad. But really, you just want them.” Ronny pointed an accusatory finger towards his parents.

Jarod ran over and hugged them. As they bent down to take in his hug, Jarod told them, “Ronny’s going to be my daddy so that you can be my grandparents.”

Nia couldn’t take it anymore. She grabbed her son and escaped with what little dignity she had left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 9

 

“What just happened?” Ronny asked his parents as they all looked confused.

“I’m not sure, but maybe you should go see how they are doing.” Carmella suggested.

Ronny could handle business and board meetings with the best of them. But he was like a deer caught in highlights when it came to figuring out a woman. He’d rather face down a lion or a bear than deal with an emotional woman. But he headed up those stairs and knocked on Nia’s bedroom door anyway.

“Now is not a good time,” she said after his second knock.

“Look Nia, I know you’re upset. If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. I just came up here to see if you and Jarod wanted to hang out and watch a movie or something tonight.”

There was silence behind the door for a long moment, then the door opened. Nia leaned against it, looking at him with sorrowful eyes. “You didn’t fly over here just to sit and watch a movie with me and Jarod.”

“I really don’t care what we do, Nia. I just want to be with you. And if you’re not up for a night on the town, then I’m okay with hanging out here. We can do whatever you want. Let’s just do it together, okay?”

Her eyes softened as a bit of the sadness left her eyes and joy crept its way into her heart. “Honestly, I feel like throwing on some sweats and hanging around the house tonight, but you didn’t fly all the way over here for this.” Taking a deep breath as if settling a matter within herself she added, “Give me thirty minutes with Jarod and then I’ll be ready to go.” 

The wheels started turning in Ronny’s head, he smiled at her. “Okay, meet me downstairs when you’re ready.”

Ronny rushed back downstairs to find Carmella. When he reached her he said, “I need your help, I want to surprise Nia.”

“Sure, what do you need me to do?”

“Do you think you can make a nice meal in thirty minutes and have the table set as if we’re at a 5-star restaurant?”

Putting her hands on her hips, Carmella said, “Boy, who do you think you’re talking to? You know I can make that happen.”

Kissing her on the cheek, Ronny said, “I had no doubt. I’ll be right back.” Ronny jumped in his car and made it to the mall in seven minutes flat. This was supposed to be a quick trip to Raleigh and then he planned to be back home, back to business, so he hadn’t brought any of his workout or casual clothes with him. But if lounging around in sweats would make Nia feel better, then he was all about it.

Running into a sporting goods store he found a clerk and told him that he was looking for his and hers matching jogging suits. The clerk came back with a nice blue, green and white jogging suit that Ronny thought would look good on him and Nia. He purchased those, but then had a thought that caused him to purchase one more item. Ronny changed into his jogging suit before leaving the store and then raced back to his parents’ house.

The table was set when he returned. Grilled salmon was on top of a bed of spinach with a sweet potato casserole highlighting the plate. “Now I know you didn’t make all of this in,” he glanced at his watch, “twenty-seven minutes.”

“The sweet potato casserole is from last night’s dinner, but everything else is freshly made.” Carmella then gave him a quizzical look. “I thought you wanted the table set like a 5-star restaurant. Why’d you put on a jogging suit?”

Before he could answer, Nia entered the room dressed in a beautiful creamy colored dress than made her carmel skin tone sparkle. He admired her for a moment, but then handed her the bag and said, “You’re overdressed. Please go change.”

“What’s all this?” she asked as she looked into the bag and at the kitchen table.

“You said you felt like lounging around in sweats and just watching a movie.” He pointed towards his outfit and the table. “Your wish is my command.”

“So you don’t care if we just stay here and watch a movie?” Nia couldn’t believe what she was seeing or hearing.

“Can I watch a movie, too?” Jarod asked as he came up behind his mother.

“Of course you can, buddy, but you’ve got to change into your sweatsuit first.”

“But I don’t have any sweatsuits.” He turned to Nia and asked, “What’s a sweatsuit?”

“You do now, your sweats are in the bag that your mother is holding,” Ronnie told him. “You two go and get changed and I’ll set an extra plate on the table.”

Smiling like she knew a secret that no one else had figured out yet, Carmella said, “Ramsey and I have decided to go out for that dinner and movie that you and Nia are passing on. So, don’t wait up for us.”

“You ain’t slick,” Ronny told her. But then gave her a hug. “But I do appreciate what you’re doing.”

“Enjoy yourself, but not too much. This is still my house and not yours.”

“I gotcha, Mama-Carmella.” Ronny sat down at the table and waited.

When Nia and Jarod came back into the kitchen, she pointed at him and started laughing. “We look like triplets. You do know that no one does this kind of thing anymore.”

“You do realize that you’re laughing and smiling again, right? So, I don’t care what anyone else does, if having the three of us dress alike puts a smile like that on your face, then we’re doing this every day.”

“I doubt if I’d be smiling if you made me dress like you and Jarod every day. So, let’s just have fun with this tonight and then we can all be our original selves by morning.”

“I don’t see what’s so bad about dressing like me and Jarod. But if you’ve got issues with it, then I guess it’s your loss. Right, Jarod?”

“Right,” Jarod said as he sat down next to Ronny.

After dinner Ronny popped some popcorn and the three of them went to the family room and put on a movie. First up was Veggie Tales. Halfway through the movie Jarod fell asleep. Ronny picked him up and took him upstairs to his room. When he came back Nia had already changed the movie to a romantic comedy. He sat down next to her and pulled her close, kissing her on the neck he asked, “Feeling better?”

“Much. I’m sorry for what happened earlier. I overreacted.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Aren’t you tired of me burdening you with my problems yet?”

“Never,” he said as he puffed out his chest. “I can handle anything you throw at me.”

“I wish I didn’t have to throw so much.” Nia sighed with the heaviness of the situation, then said, “Jarod has never seen his grandparents. My parents died before he was born and Johnny’s parents blame Jarod for their son’s death, so they have refused to be a part of his life.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Ronny had never heard of anything so absurd.

“I wish I was. But they think that Johnny wouldn’t have had a heart attack if he hadn’t been rushing to the hospital because I was in labor. But the truth of the matter is that Johnny was a type 1 diabetic who refused to take care of his health. His doctors warned that he needed three or four injections of insulin per day, but he would only do one or two. He ate whatever he felt like eating and his blood sugar levels were high most days.”

“Is this why eating healthy and teaching others to do the same is so important to you? You’re doing this for Johnny?” Ronny felt a tinge of jealousy as he asked the question. He wanted to kick himself for being jealous of a dead man, but he couldn’t help the way he was feeling.

Nia shook her head. “It’s too late for Johnny. I’m doing this for Jarod. I want him to learn early on how good healthy food can be so he won’t feel the need to load up on things that will just end up sending him to an early grave.”

“He doesn’t have type 1 does he?”

“Thankfully, no. And my prayer is that it stays that way. He has enough to deal with from inheriting asthma from my side of the family.”

Ronny put his hands in Nia’s and began rubbing her palms with his thumbs. “It’s a shame that so many awful diseases and health problems plague the world. I wish for a world where there is truly no more sorrow.”

Nia took one of her hands away from Ronny’s and pointed upward. “Those days are promised to the believer. Once we are in heaven, we won’t have to deal with the cares of this world ever again.”

Smiling, Ronny pulled Nia into his arms. “I feel at home when I’m with you. You’re the first woman that has ever made me want to just sit and do nothing but gaze into your eyes for hours on end.”

“You’d get bored and you know it. The great Ronald Thomas wouldn’t be able to sit still for two seconds without thinking about the next deal to be made.”

He leaned over and kissed her long and hard. The desire he had for her was overtaking him and he couldn’t control himself any longer. He didn’t ever want their kiss to end, but she pulled back and stared at him with questioning eyes. Softly he told her, “The only deal I’m thinking about making is one that includes me and you and some let’s-stay-together kind of music.”

“You do understand that I don’t believe in sex before marriage, right?”

His eyes widened, as if that was a new concept he hadn’t heard of. “Actually, I didn’t know that. I mean, it’s not like you’re a virgin.”

“Watch your mouth, boy. I may have been married before and had a child, but for the last four years I have lived like a virgin and intend to continue doing so until God sends the man I am to marry.”

As far as Ronny was concerned that no-sex-before-marriage thing was a whole ‘nother reason why he wasn’t trying to be all Christianized. That junk was bananas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 10

 

Since Ronny had never been fond of cold showers and Nia wasn’t talking what he wanted to hear, he left Raleigh and went to Washington, DC. This trip was for business but traveling to DC always put a smile on his face because the trip afforded him the opportunity to see Raven. Mama-Carmella got on his case about being too busy for family, but Raven could use a talking to, also. His kid sister was a high powered fixer like that Olivia Pope chick, except for the fact that Raven was way too saved to sleep with one of her clients.

With Raven he mixed business with personal, because his sister had all sorts of connections these days. She helped him clear red tape on building permits more times than he could count. So, taking her to lunch or dinner whenever he was in town was the least he could do.

They normally talked a mile a minute, knowing that both of them had busy schedules and wouldn’t be able to linger long, but today was different. Ronny had the virgin Nia on his mind, wondering if she was truly feeling him like he was feeling her. Or if he was just wasting his time with a woman who was still stuck on her deceased husband.

Raven was quiet also, and Ronny couldn’t figure that one out. His sister had mastered the art of conversation, but not so much today. “What gives, little sis, you seem distracted.”

Raven had been looking off into the distance, her eyes slid back to her brother. “What do you mean?”

“Just what I said. Something is up; you’re not yourself.”

She waved his concern away. “I’m fine.”

The waitress came to the table with their food. After putting their plates down she then put a Mint Julep in front of Raven and said, “The gentleman at table six said this drink is your favorite and asked that I bring it with your meal.”

Raven turned scornful eyes towards table number six and then told the waitress. “Take it away. I don’t drink alcohol.”

“Forgive me, miss. I was just doing what the gentleman suggested.”

As the waitress picked up the drink and hurried away from the table, Ronny’s eyebrows went up. “What gives, sis?”

Raven lowered her head as she massaged her temples. “Why is this happening to me?”

Ronny turned to the table; the man hadn’t taken his eyes off of Raven. “Is he bothering you? Do you want me to take care of this matter?” Ronny moved his napkin from his lap to the table and started to raise up from the table.

Raven put a hand on his arm. “Don’t go over there. He’s a client. I just don’t want to be bothered right now, is all.”

“Since when are you bothered by your clients? The Raven Thomas I know lives and breathes for the clients on her roster.” 

“Maybe I need to do a little less living and breathing.”

“You didn’t take the drink,” a deep and commanding voice said.

Both Raven’s and Ronny’s heads swung around to face off with this tall and athletically built man who dared to enter their space.

Ronny saw by the look in the man’s eyes that nothing about this interruption had to do with business. This was all the way live personal and he was going to stop this stalker in his tracks.

“Look, I don’t know who you are, but I know what you want. And I’m here to tell you that my sister doesn’t do business like that. Okay, are we clear?”

“This is not a good time, Senator,” Raven’s head was still low, refusing to look in his direction.

Ronny’s mouth went slack. “This man is a senator?” He turned back to the man and asked, “Do your constituents know that you spend your free time stalking women who want nothing to do with you?”

The senator turned to Raven and asked, “Is that the way it is, Rav; do you want nothing to do with me?”

Raven stood as she told Ronny, “I’m feeling ill right now; can we just go?”

Ronny threw a few bills on the table and then rushed his sister out of the restaurant. But as they were leaving, with the full knowledge that his sister never answered the senator’s question, he realized that Raven might have more in common with Olivia Pope than he ever dreamed. 

“Are you sleeping with that man?”

Raven lifted a hand. “I can’t deal with this right now, Ronny. Please change the subject.”

Ronny didn’t want to change the subject. He thought that his Christian sister was just as much the virgin Mary as Nia was, but something had happened to change that and he wanted to know what that man had done to her.

Before he could drill his sister any further, his cell rang. It was his dad, so he answered immediately. “Hey dad, I’m standing here with Raven. Do you want to talk to her?” Maybe hearing her father’s voice would get her to start thinking clearer.

“I’ll call her back. I need you right now.”

“Okay, what’s up?”

“There’s been an accident, son.”

He immediately thought of Nia. “Tell me she’s okay, Dad.”

“Who, what?” Raven asked, now trying to get closer to the phone.

“It’s not Nia. Jarod had an asthma attack at school and they couldn’t find his inhaler in time. It doesn’t look good, so if you care anything about Nia, you need to get back here now.”

“Where is Jarod?”

“He’s in the hospital, but you need to hurry.”

No, he wouldn’t believe it. Not Jarod. His cool little buddy would be all right; nothing was going to stomp out his light. “I’m on my way.”

***

Nia was wringing her hands in despair as Ronny walked into Jarod’s room, and he could see why. Jarod was hooked up to a ventilator. His dad had warned him about that before coming into the room... said that it was there to help the little guy breathe since he was in a coma.

Ronny couldn’t believe the words that had come out of his father’s mouth. How could that sweet little kid who just wanted to play pirates or be a super hero be forced to lay in that bed, not moving, not jumping around, not communicating with anyone? It was more than Ronny could take, but he tried his best not to let his feelings show in front of Nia. He wanted her to be able to lean on him and not the other way around.

“It’s going to be all right, Nia. Jarod is only four right now. His best days are yet to come.”

With tears in her eyes, she turned to Ronny. “He’s all I’ve got.”

He rushed to Nia and put his arms around her, comforting the hurt away as best he could. She sobbed but held on to him as if he was her life preserver. “I’m here, honey, I’m here for you and Jarod. He is going to make it.”

The nurse came in the room and suggested that they give Jarod a few minutes to rest and then come back in. Ronny helped Nia to the waiting area where they sat down with his parents. Mama-Carmella put a hand on Nia’s shoulder and said, “It’s time for us to go pray. God hasn’t forgotten you or Jarod, I can promise you that.”

Nia popped out of her seat. “You are so right. I’ve been standing around here crying and depressing myself, and haven’t once thought about going into prayer for Jarod.”

“The chapel is down the hall. Let’s go there and pray,” Carmella suggested.

Ramsey stood and look to his son, “You coming?”

Ronny wanted to ask them what happened to all the other prayers they had sent up to God. Shouldn’t all the years of prayer before have stopped such a tragedy in the first place? But who was he to take their hope away. They could have it, but he was going to get busy trying to help Jarod on his own. “You all go and pray. I’ve got a few things to take care of.”

As they walked away he caught the look that Nia gave him. She wasn’t happy with his decision, but she’d be loving him if he was able to get a doctor over to this hospital who could help Jarod. He pulled out his cell phone and called his assistant.

The moment Joyce got him on the phone she started in. “Where have you been, boss? It’s a mad house over here. One of the buildings didn’t pass inspection and two of your investors want you to fill them in on the next project we’ve got going.”

“I don’t have time for any of that right now. I want you to take care of the inspection issue tomorrow, but for today I need you to find a pediatrician who specializes in asthma.”

“What does that have to do with the projects we’re working on?”

Ronny didn’t mean to, but he snapped at her, “What does that matter? I asked you to do it, so I must need it done.”

“I apologize. I shouldn’t have questioned you.”

Ronny took a deep breath, reining himself in. “No, I shouldn’t have yelled at you. It’s just that Jarod is in a coma and we’re all scared right now.”

“Oh my good Lord. I’ll get on your request right away. Is there anything else I can do?”

Ronny thought about that for a minute. His mind drifted to the one thing that he knew would put a smile on Jarod’s face and just might bring him out of his coma like state. “I need you to locate someone.” He gave her the details and then hung up the phone.

Ronny then opened his laptop and began doing google searches for ways to help Jarod. After about fifteen minutes of searching, his cell rang. He saw that it was Joyce so he picked up immediately.

“I found a doctor. He’s a few hours away, though.”

“Get him a flight. Tell him we’ll pay three times, heck, he could quadruple his fee if he wants to. Just get him here ASAP.”

As he hung up the phone, Nia and his parents were rounding the corner. He stood up to tell her the good news but she was pointing an accusatory finger at him as she said, “You came here to work?”

He saw that his laptop was still open and figured she must have assumed that he was doing his thing rather than being concerned about Jarod. He opened his mouth to tell her she was all wrong. But she started screaming at him.

“Get out of here, Ronny. I don’t want you here. We’re all praying for my son and you’re busy working. That’s all you care about so go back to your big corporation and leave us alone.” She stormed past him as she went back into the ICU.

Ronny was about to run after her, but his father stopped him. “Give her some time, son. She’s hurting. If you go after her right now, you’re just going to make it worse.”

“Then what am I supposed to do, Dad? She’s got it all wrong. I want to be here for Jarod just as much as anyone else.”

“Just come back later, Ronny. Don’t upset Nia any further,” Carmella told him.

He shook his head at the absurdity of the situation. But he relented. “Okay, I’m leaving, but tell her to make sure that those doctors take Jarod on and off that ventilator so that you all will know when he is breathing on his own. The longer that ventilator stays on it can cause pneumonia to set in.”

“We’ll tell her, son.”

“I’ll be back,” he told them. “And I’m coming with some people who can help Jarod. I’ll show Nia what I was concerning myself with. She’ll see.