Chapter 3
Three years earlier
“Girls hurry up and get your jackets. Your dad’s plane will be landing in an hour.” After 10 long months, Cartier was finally coming home. Each time he left, my whole entire world seemed to come to a complete stop. I know I should’ve been used to him leaving, but I wasn’t.
“Mommy, I can’t find my camera,” Sahara said as she ran downstairs.
“Check in my office.”
A few moments later, she yelled, “Found it.”
Normally we weren’t all over the place, but I guess we were excited. He was only going to be home for four days, and something was happening each day. Tonight was family time with me and the girls. I had the steaks marinating to throw on the grill. The girls had drawn him pictures and I had him a little welcome home gift, too.
“Come on ladies,” I yelled as I was heading to the garage.
“Mommy, I think we need to get daddy some doughnuts,” Sarabi told me as she climbed in the car.
“We’ll grab some if we have time.”
By the time we arrived at the airport, Safiya and Gourni were sleeping. And, Sahara and Sarabi were focusing on their iPads.
Twenty minutes later we were lined up with the other waiting families to greet our loves. “Who are you waiting on,” an older woman asked.
“My husband.”
“How wonderful. I’m not meeting anyone. I just like to come out and welcome them home. My husband was a Tuskegee Airmen.” She even gave the girls a batch of homemade cookies to take home. I thanked her, then turned my attention to the stairs that Cartier and the others would be descending.
“Daddy, daddy,” Safiya started yelling.
My heart skipped a beat when I laid my eyes on him. We made our way through the crowd to greet him. He kissed each of the girls then, it was finally my turn. “Welcome home solider,” I said before planting my lips on his.
We didn’t hang around the airport long because I was ready to get my solider home. We only had four days, and I needed to make most of our time together.
When dinner was over, it was time to put the girls to bed. “I’ll take care of the girls, if you tackle the dishes,” Cartier said.
“Deal.” Dishes were going to be much easier than putting a 3, 5 and 9 years-old, jacked up on doughnuts, cookies, and juice to bed.
An hour later Cartier emerged from upstairs, looking like it was a walk in the park. “How did you do it,” I asked.
“Strategy my dear,” he replied as he walked over and wrapped his arms around my waist.
“Well please teach me your strategy because I took them to Tyler’s birthday party last weekend, and it took me two hours to get them to sleep. Even after a hot bath.”
“I’ll be happy to teach you,” he said before he started kissing me on the neck. My entire body was tingling. Cartier’s touch was gentle and sensual. It always was, from the very first time we made love.
“Umm, you want to take it upstairs?”
“I was thinking about taking it out back to the pool house. We’ve never given it our special touch.”
Cartier had never been shy in the bedroom, and I wasn’t surprised when he insisted we start in the hot tub before making our way to the pool house. I grabbed two bottles of wine and followed behind him. He made every hair on my body stand up, and I did the same for him.
“I missed you,” he whispered in my ear as we showered off before heading back into the main house.
“Same here.”
Instead of going inside, we decided to lay out beside the pool and talk. “I’ve been thinking about what’s next for us.” I looked over at him because I wasn’t sure where he was going. I had been praying for him to retire, but I wasn’t going to push him.
And, then have him back home unhappy.
“You’re ready to retire?"
“No. I was thinking about becoming a contractor.”
I turned to get a look at him in the moonlight, “So, you would still be away from home for long periods of times.”
“Yes and no. More like three to six months at a time. Then I could be home like two months. Plus, if I have my own company, I’ll be in-charge.” Then, he sat up, “And, you can start your own company.”
“What company,” I laughed.
“Your fashion line. You thought I forgot.”
I just glared at him because honestly I had forgotten about it myself. On our first date, I had told him how I wanted to start my own fashion line. My grandmother was a seamstress and had taught me everything she knew. But, instead of going to school for design, I decided that marketing was the better way to go. And, it was. I was up for a promotion as VP of the marketing department.
“We can build your studio right there.” He was pointing to the area right behind the pool. “And, you could hire that nanny you always talked about.”
The idea of us owning our own businesses was music to my ears. As we were talking, his phone rang. I looked over at him to see who was calling him at two in the morning.
“Flynn,” he turned his phone around for me to see.
“I’ll go in and check on the girls,” I told him.
Flynn was his buddy that started with him when he took the position with the black ops team.
The girls were still sleeping. All in Sahara’s bed. That’s how he got them to sleep, but I wasn’t going to start doing the same thing. I was heading back downstairs when, I heard the garage door going up. I grabbed my phone and called him. “Everything alright?”
“Flynn needs me to pick him up. He going to chill in the pool house until we head back out.”
I didn’t think anything about it and headed back upstairs. I tried to stay up and wait for him, but it didn’t work. I don’t know what time he came home, but when I woke up he was beside me.
“Good morning,” I whispered in his ear before I started nibbling on it.
“Good morning.”
The chemistry we had, was undeniable. If becoming a contractor would allow him to be home more often, then I was all for it. After, our morning session, I jumped in the shower to prepare for the house full of guests I would have in a few hours.
The girls were already up, and downstairs with my mother-in-law. “I figured you and my son would be busy this morning. So, I decided to come on over and get the fish ready.”
His family was throwing him a fish fry, and about seventy Ebony’s would be swarming my house. I thanked her and started helping prepping the food.
“I thought Flynn would be home with his family,” my mother-in-law stated. I knew she was trying to get information out of me. I shrugged my shoulders and finished prepping the corn on the cob for the grill.
The rest of the day went exactly as planned. Family, friends and food. I was busy making sure everyone felt at home, that I didn’t have time to even eat. Let along spend time with my husband, who seemed pre-occupied to whatever he and Flynn had going on.
“Roe, we’re taking the kids with us,” my mother-in-law informed me as they were getting ready to leave. “I’m cooking Sunday dinner, so I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
My mother-in-law could be overbearing at times, but other times she was a God sent.
“Thank you.”
“No problem. I know you want some alone time with Cartier. And, my daughter wants to be alone with Flynn. She’s been flirting with him all day.”
I laughed as I walked them to the door and kissed the girls.
“Where are the girls?”
“Your mom took them.”
“That’s what’s up.”
“Where’s Flynn,” I asked.
“He’s staying with my sister tonight."
“Those two are finally, getting together.”
“Yep.” He kissed me on the cheek, “I’m going to run upstairs and jump in the shower. And, I would love for you to join me.”
That was right up my alley. Having Cartier all to myself was a dream come true. And, I was enjoying every moment.
“Baby, I need you to do me a favor.”
“You know I got you,” I told him.
“I know you do.” He got out of bed and walked over to his closet. “I need for you to keep this for me. I’ll let you know when I’m ready for it.” When he came back he was carrying a duffle bag.
“What’s that?”
He unzipped the bag, and all I saw was stacks of money. It was another bag inside of it. “Can you do that for me?”
“Where did you get all this money?”
“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. I just need you to put it up until I’m ready for it. And, don’t tell me where you put it.”
“Ok, but first I need to know that it’s not something that will bring trouble to our front door.”
“I promise you it won’t. I just need you to keep it safe until I need it”
“Is this why Flynn is staying with us?”
He nodded. “I promise you nothing is going to happen to you.”
I took his word. Since day one he had been a man of his word. So, I grabbed the bag and put it in my closet until, I could come up with a place to hide it. I didn’t know what Cartier had gotten himself into, but I didn’t like.
