As Long As We Got Love Read online

  Dilvan tried calling Eden again and again. It was obvious to him now that she was ignoring him so he had to figure out where she was on his own – at least for now without raising alarm. Certainly, if he called Charity to find out, it would spark a panic.

  He drove to her office. Her car wasn’t there, so he knew she wasn’t either. Where could she have gone? To her mother’s? Or had she went by Charity’s? He decided to ride by both women’s houses just to see if her car was anywhere in sight. It wasn’t at either residences.

  He sent her a text message, hoping she’d see it, but what were the chances she’d get it if she wasn’t getting his phone calls? Still, he left a message:

  Dilvan: Eden, where are you. I’m getting worried. Please call me when you get this.

  After he left the message, he headed to the restaurant. He didn’t work yesterday and wanted to show his face today before his brothers started complaining.

  As soon as he walked to the back, Prasad asked, “Did you smooth things over with Eden?”

  “Uh…not yet. Hey, where’s Heshan?”

  “He’s off today so I’m glad you decided to show your face. Grab an apron and let’s get to work.”

  “Yeah…okay,” Dilvan said feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. He’d much rather be out looking for Eden rather than working, but since he was already here, he didn’t want to leave all the workload on Prasad. Reluctantly, he put on an apron and then asked, “What needs to be done first?”

  “Tyson dropped off the dough for the yeast rolls. Get them in the oven as soon as you can, please?”

  Tyson dropped off the bread like no one else knew how to make the batter for the rolls...

  Dilvan quirked up his lips. He hated the fact that his mother gave so much authority to Tyson over the handling of the food or the Food House when he and his brothers were perfectly able to take care of it. But Tyson was a chef and since he had skills he’d learned from years of schooling, that must’ve made him more valuable in their mother’s eyes.

  “Can you do that?” Prasad asked Dilvan when he hadn’t responded to him.

  “Okay. Fine.” Before he started, he checked his phone to see if Eden had responded to his text message. She hadn’t. Then he washed his hands and put on a pair of gloves. Taking two, long non-stick pans, he greased them with shortening then took the batter, kneaded the dough and began taking generous amounts into his hand, rolling it into a nice round shape, placing them on the pan one-by-one. After filling two pans, he slid them into the oven.

  He quickly checked his phone again, but still, there was no response from Eden.

  Chapter 16

  -*- Preston and Tamera | Tyson and Gabrielle -*-

  When they arrived at Tyson and Gabrielle’s home, Tamera walked in and inhaled the delightful aroma of food. Whatever Tyson was cooking immediately had her excited.

  “Come on in guys,” Gabrielle said excited, hugging her sister-in-law. “It’s so good to see y’all. Hey, Preston.”

  “Hi, Gabrielle. How are you, dear?”

  “I’m doing well.”

  “Aw, look at you, big girl,” Tamera said, taking Amryn from her playpen that was situated in the living room. “Hey. Do you remember me? I’m Auntie Tamera.”

  Amryn smiled, her lovable baby cheeks puffed out.

  “She’s starting to look more and more like you, Gabrielle,” Tamera observed.

  “You think so? Everyone says she looks like Tyson.”

  “She does look like her daddy,” Tyson said, emerging from the kitchen wearing an apron.

  Tamera greeted him with a half hug since she was still holding baby Amryn and then Tyson shook Preston’s hand. “Welcome back, family. Make yourselves comfortable. I’m just finishing up dinner. It should be ready shortly.”

  “Where’s T.J.?” Tamera asked Gabrielle.

  “In his room. T.J., you have company,” Gabrielle called out and then he came walking down the hallway in pajamas.

  Tamera, still holding Amryn, leaned forward to give him a hug.

  “Hey, lil’ man,” Preston told him before walking to the kitchen to hang out with Tyson. He pulled out a chair.

  Tyson looked back at him. “Hey, man. You want a beer or something?”

  “Nah, I’m good for now.” Preston stretched. When he and Tamera checked in at the hotel, he’d planned on taking a nap, but Tamera wanted to play around and so they played. Now, he was extra tired. “How’s the restaurant business?”

  “It’s good. I have no complaints. Well, I have a few, but what’s the point of complaining about anything?”

  Preston chuckled. “You’re right about that.” He admired Tyson Alexander because he’d mastered the art of being a businessman and a family man. Like now – he was in the kitchen cooking dinner for his family, and that’s after he spent the day solving problems related to his own enterprise and volunteering. How did he juggle it all?

  * * *

  When dinner was ready, they all gathered around the table eyeing up the spread that Tyson had prepared: smoking hot garlic chicken penne, thick baby red mashed potatoes, honey-drizzled fried chicken, biscuits and a fresh garden salad topped with strawberries and sunflower seeds.

  Amryn was squirming and reaching for the basket of biscuits.

  “Shame on you, Tyson. Got Amryn hooked on bread already,” Tamera said. “You know bread goes straight to women’s thighs. Poor Amryn.”

  Gabrielle giggled. “She loves her father’s cooking.”

  “Tamera, if you can’t handle this, there’s no need to show up at Padma’s tomorrow,” Tyson warned. “You know she hired four chefs.”

  “I heard. I’m surprised you didn’t insist upon cooking.”

  “Not this time. I figured I’d let someone else do the cooking so I can enjoy my time with the family,” Tyson said as he made a plate for T.J.

  Tamera offered to fix a plate for Preston, but he told her he’d do it himself.

  “This is so nice,” Tamera mumbled through a mouth full of food. “I love this house. What’s better than a home-cooked meal and the sound of ocean waves crashing outside? It feels so raw and natural. Feels like home.”

  “We’ve gotten used to the sound,” Gabrielle said. “Sometimes, we don’t even hear it.”

  “That makes sense. Every time I come here, it makes me feel like moving here—not that I’m going to,” she said quickly, glancing at Preston. “It’s just so peaceful.”

  Gabrielle nodded. “It is. The kids love it.”

  Preston glanced over at Tamera and saw her beaming in sheer joy. Her eyes nearly rolled back in her head when she tasted the chicken penne. Gabrielle was helping T.J. with his food. Tyson had just finished stuffing his plate to the brim and Amryn was happily gnawing on a biscuit that she had locked in a death grip in her fist.

  “So, how’s life in the big city?” Gabrielle asked, looking directly at Tamera.

  Tamera shrugged. “It’s busy. We’re always into something. I’m working. Preston’s working. We stay busy with—you know—work.”

  “We do too, sis,” Tyson added.

  “Yeah, I’m at the shop with my father most mornings and Tyson is at the Food House,” Gabrielle said. “If he’s not there, he’s on the phone with managers of the restaurants assisting them with emergencies and stuff.”

  “It gets hectic,” Tyson added, “But we make it work.” He winked at Gabrielle, prompting a smile from her.

  “You make it look easy,” Preston said.

  Tyson grinned. “Trust me, there’s nothing easy about it. But when it comes to family, you do what you have to do to make it work.”

  Preston nodded. “Lately, I’ve been thinking more long-term about my life.” He looked at Tamera and clarified, “Our lives.” Returning his attention back to Tyson, he continued, “I had an epiphany about it, actually.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah, man. I want it all. Honestly, I didn’t know there was this person inside of me who wanted a wife, ch
ildren and just to be this all-around family man. I want to be the kind of man whose children would be proud to have him as a father. I want the kind of life where my wife would know I’d do anything for her because right now, I don’t—” Preston paused. “I don’t think she knows that.”

  Tamera frowned and looked at him. Where was this coming from? “Preston—?”

  “I’m sorry, Tamera. I know you don’t like talking about things like this in the presence of family but it’s how I’ve been feeling for the last few months. I want this,” he said gesturing around the table at Tyson’s family. “And I don’t know how to get there because all my life, Charlotte Recreational has been my main focus. Now, I have you and I don’t want us to be one of those couples who have to make time for each other because they’re otherwise busy—caught up in their careers. I want to be the couple who are there for each other because we’re just—there.”

  Still frowning, Tamera lowered her fork on her plate. Tyson’s food was delicious, but suddenly, Preston’s revelation had her appetite fading. If he was bringing this up again, then maybe she should’ve taken the time to hear him out earlier instead of putting off the whole baby issue.

  “Excuse me for a moment. I’m sorry about this,” Preston said, standing.

  Tyson looked up at Tamera and saw the confusion on her face after Preston walked away.

  Not knowing what else to say, Tamera said, “Um, sorry y’all. Let me—”

  “Wait,” Tyson said, stopping her from going after Preston, especially since he got the hint Preston could use a good man-to-man talk. “I’ll go talk to him. You stay here with Gabrielle and the kids.” Tyson wiped his mouth then stood up and walked towards the front of the house. He found Preston standing on the porch with his hands in his pockets, lost in his thoughts.

  “It’s a lot to think about when you get married, huh?”

  Preston glanced back at Tyson and said, “Yeah. It is. I love your sister. I do, and I know she thinks I’m losing my mind because I’m not the person she married. I mean, I am, but I’m sure you understand what I’m saying.”

  Tyson nodded.

  “Marriage has me thinking about a family and the things I want to give Tamera and my children. It has me wanting to do more to be there for her. For the last few weeks, the magazine has been slammed with stories. I’ve been working from seven in the morning all the way up until ten at night for about three weeks straight. Every time I came home late and saw Tamera in bed sleeping without me, I felt a little more guilty. It made me stop and look at myself and ask if this is the man I’m going to be? It’s definitely not the man I want to be. I want to be there for her. I want to help her with her goals and not be so wrapped up in my own company that my family’s well being falls by the wayside. That’s why I was curious about how you juggle it all. You have a wife, two kids, all these restaurants and yet, you still make time to volunteer and get in the kitchen with an apron and whip up dinner for your family.”

  “That’s because I have special powers,” Tyson quipped. “Tamera didn’t tell you?”

  Preston chuckled.

  “Just kidding. I get what you’re saying. It’s not easy. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication and sacrifices to live this kind of life.”

  “Is this the life you wanted?” Preston asked.

  “It is. While I knew I had a successful business and was happy being single, I also knew that a special woman would come along and have me questioning everything I thought I wanted out of life and replace all of it. I can’t imagine not having my lady and those two kids. They are my life. Without them, I’m just Tyson Alexander, a man who’s measured by the success of his businesses. I don’t want to be measured by the number of good reviews I get or the amount of income I make. I measure my success by seeing a smile on Gabrielle’s face. Seeing my daughter laugh. Being there to play ball with my son. Letting my children play on the beach. Making memories. Five years from now, I want to look back and reflect on the time I spent making my family happy, not my bank account. You get what I’m trying to say?”

  Preston nodded. “Yeah. I got it. I see I have a lot of thinking to do.”

  Tyson pat him on the shoulder. “You’ll get it straight. One thing I am proud of is the fact that you’re the man she chose. You’re a good man, Preston. I couldn’t ask for a better husband for my sister.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  While the men were still outside, Tamera looked at Gabrielle and said, “I don’t know what’s come over him lately. It’s like all of a sudden, he’s on this kick about having babies and a happy family life. Don’t get me wrong, I want those things too, and we are happy, but I think it’s too soon for us to be having children. He seems to want them now and being that he brought this up again after bringing it up earlier in front of my parents, I feel bad for telling him I wanted to wait. That we weren’t ready. I think he’s serious, Gabrielle.”

  “He probably is. They say men have biological clocks, too, you know. How old is he, anyway?”

  “Thirty-seven.”

  “And you’re twenty-nine. Your ages are good.”

  “But our life isn’t. Gosh, I—” Tamera sighed heavily. “I was all excited about starting my business and getting it off the ground. I pushed having children to the back of my mind. Meanwhile, my husband has them at the forefront of his mind and I had no idea. What does that say about us as a couple? What does that say about me as a wife? Am I doing this all wrong?”

  “No, Tamera. It’s just a learning process. You’re older than me and I’m managing two kids, a handsome beast of a husband and a job. I think you’ll learn that marriage is all about compromise. Working together. I know I couldn’t do all of this alone. I learned early to trust Tyson and I know and understand the kind of person he is. He makes sacrifices for our family, so I look for ways I can make him happy. I think as you grow together in marriage, you’ll better understand what the other person wants.”

  “I thought I knew what he wanted. I guess I have to figure it out.”

  “No. You have to talk to him. Preston looks like the kind of man that’ll tell you what he wants.”

  Tamera smiled. “He is.”

  “Then, you know what to do, girl.”

  “Yeah. I do.”

  * * *

  Shortly after Preston’s dinner interruption, they had dessert – fudge molten lava cake. While it was delicious, it hadn’t been much of a distraction to the tension that had settled in the room. Now, Preston and Tamera were on a quiet ride back to their hotel. Every time Preston glanced over at Tamera, she looked bothered, so he made sure not to say anything about family or babies – things she didn’t want to talk about.

  He glanced over at her again, tempted to lay his hand on her thigh but resisted the urge. “The food was good, huh?”

  The sound of his voice took her out of her thoughts. “Yeah. It was, but you can’t expect anything less when my brother is preparing the meal.”

  “Of course.” After a few passing moments, he said, “Look, I know I said I wouldn’t talk about family concerns, but Tyson’s a family man and I thought he would understand my position.”

  “I get it. There’s no need to explain, Preston.”

  They pulled up at the hotel and Preston shut off the car. “There is. I said I wouldn’t do something and I did it, anyway. I owe you an apology.”

  “Actually,” Tamera said, shifting her body to look at him. She took his hands into hers and said, “I’m the one who needs to apologize to you. I haven’t been listening to you, Preston. I haven’t been what a wife is supposed to be. I’ve been more defensive than supportive and for that, I’m sorry. I want to be there for you and I realize now that we need to make these family decisions together. It’s not what I want anymore. It’s what we want, and if you want a baby, we need to make it happen. Well, I know you definitely got what it takes to make it happen,” she said, then grinned. “We just need to talk about the timing and everything.”

  “Whoa…
slow down, woman. I didn’t say I wanted to get you pregnant tonight.” He chuckled.

  “That’s how you were sounding.”

  “No. I just don’t want us to get so caught up with careers that we miss the opportunity to have a family.”

  “We won’t. I’m one-hundred percent on board.”

  Preston narrowed his eyes at her. “Really?”

  “Yes. Really.”

  “And what made you change your mind so suddenly?”

  “I had a good talk with Gabrielle. She may be younger than I am, but she has more experience than I do with marriage.”

  “She must’ve given you the talking of a lifetime, then,” Preston said.

  “Something like that. Now, come on. Let’s get out of this car.”

  “Yeah. Let’s go,” Preston said. “I’m not trying to make a baby tonight, but I wouldn’t mind getting in some practice.”

  Tamera laughed. “We’ve already practiced one time today.”

  “Then you should be good and primed for a few more pounds—I mean—rounds.” He chuckled.

  Tamera laughed as she pulled the door handle to get out of the car.

  Chapter 17

  -*- The Reunion, Day 1 -*-

  Padma had her home decorated like a grand ballroom. Strings of lights hung from the ceiling and draped the staircase. She’d hired a DJ who’d set up and was playing jazz tunes for now, but was open to requests. The chefs were busy cooking while servers walked around with appetizers – shrimp cocktail, cheese balls, cheddar olives, salad on a stick and many other variations of food.

  Destiny stepped inside and said, “Whoa. This is spectacular.”

  “It is,” Carmen agreed. “She went all out.”

  “Nice. I had no idea it was going to be like this. I feel underdressed,” Henry said.

  “Dad, we’re all dressed casual,” Carmen said. “According to the program, today is casual day. Tomorrow, we have to dress up for the family photo.”