Page 2 of The Way Love Heals

Dramatically, I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Fancy, don’t start.”

“Now, you know every woman in Maven Falls is in love with Diamond. Hell, if Dionte was older, he could get it too.”

If she wasn’t my client, I would’ve slapped her thigh. Since I hit middle school, all I heard about was how fine my older brother, Diamond, was. He was four years older than me and had been breaking hearts for as long as I could remember. We were extremely close, so it was hard for me to not want to cuss women out when they gawked over him. He was happily married now, so they could stop checking for him.

Fancy’s service lasted for about an hour, giving me twenty minutes to prepare for my next client. By the time my day was finished, AJ had called me four times, asking when I would be picking him up. He was at my parents’ house, spending some time with them, so I called and let him know I was on the way.

My parents’ house wasn’t too far from Hands of Gold. They lived off the main street close to downtown, so it took me all of ten minutes to get there with the hectic evening traffic.

“What the hell do they have my baby out here doing?” I muttered to myself as I pulled into my parents’ driveway.

AJ was outside, shirtless, with Diamond and our younger brother, Dionte, with boxing gloves on. He and Dionte were squared up, so I hurriedly got out my car and marched over to them.

“Stop this shit right now,” I warned, knocking Dionte’s hands down before craning my neck to glare at Diamond. “What the hell is this?”

Diamond’s gloves met in the middle of his broad chest. “What? We’re just doing a little boxing.”

“AJ has baseball games coming up, D. He doesn’t need to risk having any type of injury.”

“Come on.” Diamond’s long, two-toned locs hit his face as he shook his head. “You know good and well we’re not going to let anything happen to him, for real. It’s just a little bonding. Ain’t that right, Nephew?”

AJ bounced on his toes and sent a right hook to Dionte’s side. “That’s right, Diamond!”

Dionte jabbed AJ back, and they started going at it. When I had enough, I tried breaking it up, but somehow, they turned on me. All three of them chased me around the front yard as I yelled for my daddy to come save me. Daddy stepped on the porch and cleared his throat. That was enough for them to leave me alone, but leave it to Diamond to sneak in one last punch to my arm.

Daddy jogged down the steps, and Diamond took off running. AJ doubled over in laughter watching them both run around the yard. I yelled my encouragement to Daddy to get Diamond good for me, and he did.

“What I tell you about messing with my baby?” Daddy had Diamond in a headlock. I wasn’t sure how that worked since Diamond was three inches taller than him, but I never underestimated Lucah Abernathy.

“And what I tell you about putting your hands on my boys?” my mama, Felicia, yelled from the porch with her hands on her hips.

I pointed at Diamond and informed her, “He started it. The three of them jumped me, Ma.”

“Did y’all do that, AJ?” Ma pursed her lips together when AJ looked away, biting his bottom lip. It was a habit I’d apparently passed on to him. “Well, I take that back, Lucah. Get all three of them for my girl.”

The front yard went into an uproar, and I couldn’t remember the last time I laughed so hard. Any time with my family was a good time. We were all thick as thieves, and the fighting came from straight love.

Like always, AJ wasn’t ready to leave. I teased him about how he’d called me numerous times to see where I was, but when it was time to go, he didn’t want to.

“Man,” Dionte started, draping his lanky arm around AJ, and those medium, bow-shaped lips curved at the sides. “You know how it is when he’s with his uncles. Let him be great and stay.”

Dionte was the baby, and he was a big surprise to us all. Ma and Daddy were done having kids since they had the best of both worlds with me and Diamond. So, imagine our surprise when Ma came home crying from an appointment, informing us she was pregnant. I was ten years old and was the only one excited about it. Ma’s pregnancy was hard, but we were all blessed with Dionte’s loving spirit.

“Uh, no.” I waved my finger. “He’s going with Asher and Zaina for the summer, and I want to get some one-on-one time with him.”

AJ tossed his little arms in the air before snaking one around Dionte’s waist and leaning into him. “Come on, Ma. It’s not like you won’t see me at all this summer. You know Dad and Mama Z will need date nights, and I’ll be with you. I never get both my uncles on the same day.”

“Britt, leave my nephew alone and go home. Call Pilar and see if she wants to go eat, and I’ll pay for y’all,” Diamond offered, and I realized I had no choice but to take it. They weren’t going to let AJ come with me. It wasn’t like he wanted to come anyway, so I took my loss and accepted Diamond’s offer.

I stayed at my parents for a little longer before leaving and calling up Pilar to see if she wanted to go eat. Of course, she didn’t ever decline food, free or not, so I went home to get ready. She was going to meet me at my house to pregame. Whenever we got together, it was a good time. Neither of us had work tomorrow, and since we were going out on Diamond’s dime, we would get in his pockets.

The weather in Maven Falls was scorching. The winter was harsh, so I figured summer would continue with the pattern. Pilar wanted to go eat at Daily Fix then go out for drinks. Getting cute was the only option.

Once I made it home, it didn’t take me long to get ready. As I stared in the mirror, I had to hype myself up a little. The blonde bundles in my hair complemented my sepia skin tone very well. I was a bit hesitant about trying it since I loved a good jet-black look, but the blonde gave me a little more spice. After curling and styling my hair in a half-up, half-down style, I put on my makeup and lashes. Once I was satisfied with my look, I went to my room to scan myself over in my full-length mirror.

My breasts were about to spill out my tube top, but I couldn’t help it that God had blessed Felicia with some jugs that she’d passed down to me. The older I got, the more I heard how I was built up like the ‘Benford’ women. Only difference was I had some weight on me. My stomach wasn’t flat, but neither was my ass. I carried my weight well, and I looked damn good too.

“Bestie! Where are you?” Pilar’s loud voice filled my house.