Hidden Intentions 2 Read online

  Chapter 53

  “Good morning.” Tory beamed as I locked the front door.

  “The security system is on. Go in at your own risk.”

  “I got my old job back with Irv. He was happy to see me. I started last Wednesday. The team welcomed me back. It felt good to be back.”

  I completely ignored him and got in my car to go to work. After a week of him not showing up, I was sure he wasn’t coming back again. I couldn’t help but wonder how long he was going to keep this up.

  “Happy Friday.” Tory smiled. He had a blueberry muffin in his hand from Starbucks. He knew it was one of my favorites in the morning.

  All I did was look at him.

  “Umm, I have a copy of the program I completed. Please, Nya, just look at it. Plus, I have the name and number of the director of the facility because, knowing how you are, you would call and verify. Hell, you may even want to go to see if the place is legit and standing.” He chuckled.

  I didn’t see anything funny. “Off to work,” I replied.

  Every morning, Tory would stop by the house to greet me before he went to work. Every evening, after he got off work, he would sit on the porch on a lawn chair till one in the morning, hoping I would talk to him.

  Forty-six days later, Tory hadn’t missed one day of the routine. Plus, he would leave cards on my car windshield.

  Leah, Yvette, and Tara were beginning to let up on him and had the nerve one day to offer him leftover meatloaf, mashed potatoes, peas, and a glass of fresh-made tea. He apologized to them and thanked them for being there for me. With him being in a fire, they showed even more mercy on him. Before long, I began to look forward to seeing him in the morning and the evening.

  Matter of fact, he even got the nerve to go to my parents’ house to talk to them about what happened. He sat there with Mommy and Daddy pleading his case and apologized to them. Mommy said pray about it. Daddy said he would stand by me with whatever decision I made, but to keep in mind that “a man’s actions means more than his words.” He said he didn’t want to see me hurt anymore, and that all he cared about was my happiness.

  Today, I got off early, so the plumber could repair the kitchen sink, which had a major clog. I decided to put the trash can down the driveway for pickup tomorrow morning.

  “Good afternoon,” Ms. Susie, my neighbor across the street, addressed me.

  Ms. Susie’s husband had died of a stroke a few years back. Now she clung to her cat Riley for comfort. Oftentimes, I’d see her walking Riley through the neighborhood in a sealed-up stroller.

  “Hi, Ms. Susie. How are you?”

  “Doll, I’m fine. It’s you I’m worried about.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Well, it doesn’t take a genius to figure Tory and you have been dealing with marital problems. He comes here every morning and night just to talk to you. I think it’s so sweet. When I used to get mad at Harold, I wish he’d done the same for me. Whatever he did, I forgave him. I don’t know all the details of your situation, but I hope it has a happy ending just like the Lifetime movies. I’ve got to run. It was nice talking to you.” She got in her car and drove off.

  Soon after, Steven dropped Tory off for the normal routine.

  “Hi, I visited Mom today,” Tory said, walking up the driveway.

  “Hello. How’s Mrs. Sothers doing?”

  “She’s doing fine, trying to feed me anything in the house. The last thing I want is for her to worry about me, especially since I’ve been in a fire.”

  “I’m glad to hear she’s doing well,” I said, ignoring his last statement.

  “Nya, I hope you’ve been reading the cards I leave for you and not throwing them away. I got paid, and Irv gave me some extra money to catch up on bills. Here is the money for the mortgage and car payments for the next two months. I’m sorry if you’ve been struggling lately. I went to the restaurant and saw Rome on my lunch break. He and you have done a fantastic job with the place. I plan to start managing the restaurant in a few months. I got the divorce papers you had delivered at Steven’s house. I guess you figured I’ve been laying my head there. You’re right. He’s been letting me stay with him since he sees I’m trying to get my life back together.”

  “Thank you.” I took the envelope from him, trying hard not to smile. It felt good to hear that he acknowledged everything I’d been doing by myself, holding down the fort since he’d vanished into thin air.

  “So you know, I’m not ready to sign the papers. I’m still going to fight for us, Nya. Every day is a new day. Each day, I hope you will talk to me more. Maybe one day you’ll let me back into your heart. It’s ultimately where I belong.”

  “I don’t care what you want. I didn’t want you to leave me, and you did. Besides, I’ve been seeing someone else,” I said back to him, being spiteful.

  “Are you in love with him? What’s his name?”

  “What am I going to tell you his name for? So you can track him down and confront him? Why? For every cause, there is an effect. I painfully realized you didn’t give a shit about me, so I moved on with my life. Deal with it.”

  “Nya, I need to know if you’re in love with him. If you are, no matter what I do, it won’t matter anymore. Please tell me if I’ve lost you for good.”

  “Since you want to pay for it, Tory, you can have the truck. I’ll have it in the driveway ready for you tomorrow morning. Bye.” I slammed the door in his face.

  Chapter 54

  “What’s happening?”

  “Ma’am, my name is Nya. You’re in the hospital. A nice man found you wandering in the park. He saw a bruise on your head, and you told him you had accidentally bumped into a tree and fallen down,” I informed her.

  “Do you know what your name is?” I asked the woman, who appeared to be in her late sixties.

  “No,” she responded, shaking her head.

  “Do you know your phone number or the name of a relative who we can contact?”

  “I don’t know. I’m so confused.”

  “Well, lie back. I’m going to take your vital signs and blood for normal procedure. You’ve got a mild concussion.”

  After two hours of gently probing Jane Doe, her daughter, granddaughter, and husband came into the emergency room on a whim. This hospital was the first one on the list. Her name was Millie Babcock. I wasn’t surprised when the family confided in me that she suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.

  “Dad, we’ve got to put her in a home,” the daughter pleaded. “It’s for her safety.”

  “I can’t leave her. Besides, your mother can wander off in a home too. It’s my fault. I fell asleep because I haven’t got any rest in days.”

  “You haven’t got any rest because you’ve been watching over Mamma like a hawk,” she replied.

  “I’ll do better. We’ll hire nurses to come to the house and tend to her. I love her so much. We’ve been together for fifty-one years,” he said, holding on tight to his wife’s hand.

  In that moment, the only person I truly wanted to grow old with was Tory. For a while, I’d been wrestling with my feelings, which had been keeping me up at night. The truth and reality was, I was still in love with Tory. It hurt me to know he endured being in a fire and I wasn’t there for him. If he ended up a cripple or barely recognizable, I would’ve still loved him. Always. I knew what I had to do.

  I had gone to Vince’s office and waited for all his employees, including Nancy, his nosy assistant, to leave before I barged in. “He came back,” I announced.

  Vince suddenly stopped looking at the invoices on his desk and looked up at me. “Tory came back?”

  I nodded, tears in my eyes. “Yes.”

  “How long has he been here?”

  “He’s been here for a while.”

  “Has he been staying with you?”

  “No. His brother’s house.”

  “Where does that leave us? Please, Nya, don’t give me any bullshit.”

  “The reality is, we got together
on the pretense he wouldn’t come back, but he did. I’ve come to the realization that, even after all this time, I’m still in love with him. Plus, I don’t want to be with you, knowing in the back of my head that I’ll always be wondering what could have been if I had given him another chance.”

  “Nya, you gave him a chance, and he bailed out on you and his rehab program.”

  “So did your mother. Many times. Now look at her. She recovered. Your parents are the spitting image of happiness. Vince, it may not hold a lot of weight with you, but I’m truly sorry for hurting you. I decided to go with my heart and not my head,” I said, gently rubbing his face.

  “I feel as though someone has thrown a brick at my heart. At least you were honest with me from the beginning. I thank you for that. I’m going to miss you. He better make you happy. That man doesn’t know how fortunate he is.” Vince gave me a kiss and a hug.

  “You are a wonderful man, and I wish nothing but the best for you.”

  As I tried to walk out the door, Vince blurted out, “Nya, did you sleep with him before breaking up with me?”

  “Vince, don’t ask questions you really don’t want to know the answer to,” I said and blew him a kiss.

  Chapter 55

  During my lunch break, I contemplated whether I’d just made an enormous mistake choosing Tory over Vince. Only time will tell, I guess. While waiting in my car for Tory to pull up in the driveway, I popped in Corinne Bailey Rae’s CD and tried to relax.

  Just then Steven pulled up to drop Tory off. I almost hit him with the car door when I opened it.

  “You got here before me,” Tory said, his briefcase in one hand and the infamous lawn chair in the other.

  “You want to talk. Here’s your chance.” I led the way into the house.

  “The house still smells the same,” he said after entering into the foyer. “It’s Seaside Breeze by Renuzit.”

  “If you want something to eat or drink, before we talk, get it yourself.”

  “No, I’m ready to talk right now. Believe me, I’m more ready to explode because I’ve been dying to explain to you what happened.”

  “You have the floor. Speak.” I nodded while he sat down in the love seat, and I parked myself on the couch.

  “Well, do you remember my college buddy Todd who came to visit a few times?”

  “Yeah.”

  “He majored in psychology and runs a clinic in Dallas, Texas. The day before I left, he happened to call to check on me after he’d heard from Kevin that my father had passed away and I wasn’t doing too well. I poured my feelings out to him, and he suggested that I fly out there and enter into his program. I passed. Here is the certificate.” He retrieved a piece of paper from his briefcase and handed it to me.

  After talking with Steven, who gave me the name of the facility, I had called to verify that the facility was real. Yes, Tory did know me well. “It seems Wake Forest has helped you.”

  “Yes, it has helped me a lot. I first had to realize that I had to be willing to help myself.”

  “What happened with the fire? How did that come about?”

  “Late one night, I snuck out of the facility to meet up with a guy that had been kicked out of the program. We were at his house and after chugging down three bottles of whisky, vodka, and rum, we were all out of liquor. He went to the store to get some more. I was hungry and went into his kitchen to heat up a chicken and cheese Hot Pockets. Not paying attention, I turned the oven to four hundred and fifty degrees. I passed out on the kitchen floor.

  “The next thing I know, I was in the hospital for burns and smoke inhalation. This is the reason why you see all these scars on my body. I know I may not look exactly the same, but I’m still the Tory you fell in love with.”

  He took off his suit to show me his scars, which I hadn’t noticed the day we had sex.

  “Looks don’t have anything to do with this. I’m not a superficial person. Don’t try to use your major fuckup as a way to get people to feel sorry for you.”

  “I’m not.” He shook his head as he put his clothes back on.

  “You were so lucky to survive the fire.”

  “Yes, I was. Besides aching pain and going through many skin graft procedures, I’m all right. What I’ve learned through all of this is that I’m truly meant to be here. More importantly, the hospital paid for all of my medical bills, courtesy of Todd. His uncle happens to be on the committee board for the hospital.”

  “What did the rehab center teach you?” I asked, poking his brain.

  “It taught me the twelve-step program. At first, I spent months sneaking in alcohol and trying to get other patients to join in my misery. Todd wanted to kick my ass and laid it out plain and simple, saying I had a choice of life or death. He was ready to kick me out of the program. Todd lost his father too, five years ago, so we really connected, as far as our feelings. He went through the same thing as me. I know Pop isn’t coming back. It hurts like hell, but I don’t want to drink myself to death anymore or hurt those who love and care about me.”

  “Why didn’t you bother to call me, Steven, Anne, your mother, or anyone to let us know you were still alive?”

  “At first, I didn’t call because I was too wrapped up into getting my lips around an alcohol bottle. I would have just pushed you away even more. Then, I didn’t want any of you to see me at my lowest point in the hospital. Finally, I had enough of the booze and made a personal stand to focus all my energy into getting better. When I thought about how I hurt you, my mother, and my siblings, it motivated me even more to kick my habit. Not having any contact with anyone was the most effective solution. It’s the reason why I left my wallet with debit and credit cards and cell phone here . . . I knew you would come looking for me. The only thing I did take was my driver’s license.”

  “What do you want now?”

  “I want to come back home and have us start all over again. I don’t want to go back to the way it was before my father died. I know it will never be the same. I just want our love and our relationship to grow stronger. All I know is, I want to do the right thing and live my life. I take it day by day. It’s not going to be easy, but I want you by my side.” Tory kissed my hand and looked to me for approval to rebuild our relationship.

  “I love you too. If I see or even think you’ve had a drink, it’s over. I can’t take living my life in misery. I’m proud of you that you got help. Steven and Rome have been making it a point to text me about your progress at work and the restaurant. I agree, let’s take it day by day and concentrate on rebuilding our marriage. I’ll be right back.” I ran to the bedroom. I went to my dresser and drawer and found exactly what I was looking for. I ran back into the living room. “Now put the wedding ring back on my hand.” I handed him my ring with a big smile on my face.

  After he put it on my finger, I asked him, “Where’s your wedding ring?”

  “In Texas. I pawned it for liquor.” Tory lowered his head.

  “It’s all right. Thank goodness, I have insurance on it.”

  He grinned. “You’re always a step ahead.”

  “True. Are you hungry?”

  “A little.”

  “While you stop by Steven’s house to get your clothes and shoes, I’ll make fajitas. Which would you prefer, steak or chicken?”

  “Can we have both?”

  “Sure.” I nodded and hugged him.

  “I’m glad you chose me. I promise not to hurt you ever again.”

  Later on that day, while listening to Stevie Wonder, I helped Tory put his belongings back into our closet. Even though, I was uncertain about the future, I felt as though I’d made the right decision.

  Chapter 56

  Two months had gone by, and so far, so good. Mommy suggested we have a party with our friends and family to celebrate, but I declined. I was too concerned with Tory and me focusing on having a normal life.

  Tara, Rob, Nelson, Leah, Jarvis, and Yvette all welcomed him back with open arms. It took a while, bu
t Daddy accepted him back into the family. Last Sunday, when we went over for dinner, Daddy made it a point to shake and squeeze Tory’s hand extra firm.

  “Next Thursday, will you be able to make it home by four o’clock? The Terminix Company is coming out to do a preventive treatment for termites and other bugs. Since the commercial kept coming on, I thought it would be a good idea to get it done. Plus, you know I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night with bugs flying around here. I tried to get time off, but three nurses will be out that day.”

  Tory continued rubbing my feet. He nodded. “Yeah, I can.”

  “Hmm. Why do you have so many cuts and scars around your face?”

  “Aah. One of my many self-inflicted accidents at the rehab place. It had a strict curfew policy. One night, while sneaking out to grab a bottle of Bacardi rum, I hopped out of the window from the second floor and landed on my face. I ended up needing ten stitches.”

  “Oh, I bet that hurt. Any other mishaps you need to tell me about?”

  “Nope.”

  “You were definitely a bad boy. If it wasn’t for your friendship, Todd would have kicked you out of the program.”

  “That’s correct. Have you thought about leaving this area and relocating to Charlotte, North Carolina?”

  “No, we’ve talked about it before and agreed we would stay here.”

  “I know, but I’m talking about retiring there. Oh well, it’s just a thought.” He let my feet go and placed a gentle peck on my lips. “Let me rub you down.”

  “All right.”

  Tory sat me in the bed and took off my T-shirt and panties. “Your body is still as beautiful as the first time we made love.”

  “The first time was so romantic and exciting.” I giggled.

  “Yeah. Remember we were on the beach? The moon was looking down on us. I chased you in the house—”

  “No, we went to the beach on our first date,” I corrected him. “The first time, we had sex, you snagged a room at the Odyssey Hotel filled with rose petals, fruit, and romantic music. I will never forget that night.”