believe it. There was definitely a connection between them. The only question was: what were they going to do about it?
“Good evening, everyone. Welcome to Hollington’s annual homecoming weekend, and the tenth anniversary of class of ninety-nine,” greeted a voice over the microphone. “I’m Kevin Stayton…”
That was as far as he got before the room erupted into shouts and applause. Even Kevin seemed caught off guard by the response. He quickly put up his hand to quiet the group down and regain control.
“Thanks for that, but the reason why I commandeered the mike from President Morrow is to make sure that everyone is made aware of who is responsible for the important and complex job of organizing this weekend. As it turned out, the best person possible was selected. And she’s one of ours, class of ’99, y’all!”
There was enthusiastic applause until Kevin again signaled for quiet.
“Typical of her, and some of you will remember this from our undergraduate years, she doesn’t like drawing attention to herself. She works quietly behind the scenes but she gets the job done, as all of you will experience during the course of this weekend. Ladies and gentlemen, Chloe Jackson!”
Chloe didn’t move, and then someone took her hand and pulled her forward to be recognized. It was Kyra, using her small hands to encourage the audience to keep up the applause.
Chloe half raised her hand in a shy salute and quickly stepped back behind the president.
Lucius leaned close and whispered, “I wonder what that was all about.”
Beverly just shrugged. She remembered Kevin Stayton, but for the life of her she couldn’t remember ever meeting a Chloe Jackson, but she looked great up there and there was no denying that she’d done a fabulous job with tonight’s party.
For the most part, Beverly enjoyed the evening. After several glasses of wine, she grew more lethargic and hid more and more yawns behind her hand. Still, she wasn’t quite ready to leave just yet.
“Someone is getting sleepy,” Lucius whispered as they rocked to Brandy’s old jam “Have You Ever?”
“No, no,” she lied and then immediately had to stifle another yawn. “Okay. Maybe just a little.” She blushed.
“Then what do you say that we head out of here and go do something that will wake you up?” he asked.
Did that mean what she thought it meant? Beverly’s legs quivered and those delicious tingles returned. Seeing that she came to the reception with him, it only made sense that they leave together—unless she wanted to play hard to get and call a cab. Looking into Lucius’s twinkling hazel gaze, Beverly realized an undeniable truth: she had no desire to play hard to get.
“Yeah,” she answered in a lusty voice. “Let’s get out of here.”
Chapter 5
When Lucius asked Beverly if she was ready to leave, he had meant to extend their evening by going to a nice jazz club or something. But he knew by the look that she’d given him that she had other things on her mind. And he was way too much of a gentleman to disappoint her. As they tried to maneuver through the crowd, Kevin Stayton cut off their escape path.
“Well, I don’t believe it! Lucius Gray!” Kevin declared, thrusting out a hand while simultaneously pounding Lucius on the back. “Nice to see you, you old dog.”
“Kevin, how are you?” Lucius greeted, though truth be told he’d rather put off their reunion for another time.
“I’m doing good.” He glanced around. “You know your old football buddy Terrence is here, too, but you might have some trouble getting to him through his mad fan club.”
“So I heard,” Lucius said. “Well, if you could excuse—”
“Hey, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something. You’re a lawyer, right?”
Lucius cast an apologetic look over his shoulder at Beverly.
“Don’t worry. I need to step into the ladies’ room for a few minutes anyway,” Beverly said with a teasing smile. “I won’t be too long.”
Lucius turned his attention back to Kevin. And though his old friend was delaying his power play, he kept his cool and concentrated on what was being said.
“Yeah, man. The CHRIS Kids Foundation is this great family program that keeps struggling families from collapsing, losing their children and becoming dependent on public welfare, mental health and juvenile justice systems. I was thinking maybe your firm could help them on this. Now, we couldn’t pay you much…”
Beverly smiled and waved her way toward the ladies’ room, but once inside, her smile dropped and she drew in a deep, exhausted breath. “Bev, do you have any idea what you’re doing?” she whispered to herself as she headed over to the long vanity counter to check her appearance. To her great pleasure, her hair was still fierce. Maybe she needed a quick touch-up on her lipstick. She opened her clutch purse and whipped out a pink tube when a weird hacking sound caught her attention.
She frowned. A toilet flushed and a second later, the door opened and an attractive woman in a black sequined cocktail dress stepped out with an awkward smile.
“Are you okay?” Beverly asked, looking at the woman’s reflection in the mirror.
The woman looked up and Beverly instantly recognized Tamara Hodges.
“Hey, Beverly. I’m fine,” she responded. “At least I will be in a few minutes.”
Beverly abandoned her lipstick touch-up and turned to face the pale woman. “Tamara, it’s so good to see you again,” she stated with a sincere smile. “It’s been a while, huh?”
Tamara nodded. “Time goes so fast. You were my first interview for the Atlanta Daily after we graduated.”
Beverly remembered, nodding. “You did a great job on the article, by the way—I don’t know if I ever told you.”
Tamara smiled. “You sent me a nice note thanking me. In fact, I believe I still have it.”
That was sweet, Beverly thought. Then again, Tamara was always such a sweet girl even though Beverly had always detected a quiet sadness about her.
Suddenly, she stopped smiling. Next she put a hand to her stomach and rushed back into a nearby stall.
Beverly frowned again. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked a second time when Tamara walked out.
Nodding, Tamara responded, “My stomach is a little upset.”
Beverly had other suspicions. “I hope I’m not being too nosy, but are you expecting a baby?”
Tamara nodded sheepishly.
“Congratulations,” Beverly proclaimed with bittersweet tears stinging the backs of her eyes. “I—I’m happy for you.”
Lucius glanced toward the ladies’ room just as Beverly exited. Her smile had disappeared and she looked as though she was downright troubled. “Is something wrong?” he asked when she returned to his side.
“Uh, no. I just ran into an old friend.” She glanced over her shoulder, and then smiled back at him. “Are you ready to go?”
Lucius glanced at Kevin and, at last, the brotha seemed to pick up on the hint.
“I’ll holler at you sometime next week,” Kevin said, winking.
“Thanks, man.” Lucius looped an arm around Beverly’s waist and this time he managed to successfully escort her from the party. As they strolled out to his car, Beverly leaned her head against his shoulder. Something had changed and Lucius wondered if he’d have to take a rain check for their promised evening.
He whipped out the car keys from his pants pocket, and quickly