AllFreeNovel
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The Future
Two and a Half Months Later
ChapterEleven
Choyce
Choyce: When are you coming back home? I got new skates and I want you to come play with me.
After sending Lavender a text, Choyce checked the time and made sure his realtor hadn’t called him. He was meeting her to do a final walkthrough of the building he was going to buy for Lavender. Though Lavender hadn’t said when she was returning to Memphis permanently, it was happening soon, and Choyce wanted to be prepared. Because she loved cooking, there was no way he would allow her to come home and not be able to open her own restaurant. Whatever she needed, he was ready to provide. It had been hard as hell not telling her about the building since they shared everything with each other, but Choyce wanted it to be a surprise.
For the past couple of months, they alternated trips to see each other, but Lavender preferred to come to him so she could see her sister as well. The long-distance thing was cool, but Choyce was ready for more. Lavender had always been his person. The woman he felt safest with. Seen with. Normal with. Everyone else had been slot fillers over the years, and Choyce was ready to start his forever with her.
At the sight of Kensington’s car pulling up, Choyce got out of his Cadillac. His businesses, legal and illegal, afforded him a life of luxury—but Choyce preferred to keep things lowkey. Over the years, his guilty pleasure had become cars. It didn’t matter if they were new or old, cheap or expensive, luxury, sport, or compact, Choyce loved cars. So much so that he purchased an acre of land and had it converted to a lot for his cars. Oftentimes, he drove a different one every day, enjoying his ability to switch them out as quickly as he did his clothes.
“Hey, Choyce,” she greeted, meeting him between their cars.
“Hey. How are you?”
“I’m well, thank you. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting long.”
“Nah. I was just early.”
He’d stopped to grab a matcha latte with vanilla syrup from Starbucks on the way and ended up getting a panini for lunch, too.
“Well, I’m hoping the changes the owner made when they vacated the property are to your liking so we can put a contract on this today.”
Choyce only nodded. It didn’t matter what they’d done, this was the property he wanted for Lavender. The location was perfect, it was large, and the building was in a shopping center that didn’t have any other soul food cafes, which was what she would offer. That, and her amazing cakes.
As they entered the building, Choyce smiled. It looked twice as big now that everything had been moved out. The first time he saw it, Choyce was unsure the old diner would be big enough for Lavender’s needs. He was confident that her restaurant would become a huge success, so she needed all the space she could get. The only reason he hadn’t built a building from the ground up or chosen one that wasn’t inside of a shopping center was because she mentioned how she loved being able to connect with other business owners nearby. While she wouldn’t have called any of them her friends, they gave her conversation and companionship while she was out and about.
Once they were done viewing the building, Choyce told Kensington to go ahead and draw up the contract. He promised to head to her office within an hour with a cashier’s check. When his phone vibrated in his pocket, he pulled it out skeptically. Not too many people called him back to back on his personal phone so their calls would go through, so it had to be important.
At the sight of Mercy’s name, Choyce answered with, “What’s up?”
“Jasmine is in labor. Can you call Lavy for me?”
“I got you. Y’all at Baptist East?”
“Yeah.”
“Aight. I’m on my way.”
Choyce quickly excused himself, then headed out. He opened his text thread with Lavender, smiling at the sight of her reply.
Boo: Two days. That’s not the only thing you’ll be playing with when I get back ??
Instead of texting back, Choyce called her, cursing under his breath when it went straight to voicemail…
