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Chapter 12
Essex
I’m at this meeting, but mymind is with Quintessa. The only reason we’re here is because Walbridge’s lawyers think ten years is too long for our contracted tax services. They want five years instead – want us to prove ourselves before they make a long-term commitment. I wanted ten years out the gate – was adamant about ten. Yielding to their request wasn’t an option for me, but today, I don’t care what we do as long as I can get out of this meeting, get on to the next one and get back to my girl. Besides, after Mr. Walton sees how good we are here, they’ll want to sign for another five years. That’s why when Mr. Walbridge asks if we have a deal, I say, “Sure. We have a deal.”
After we sign the contracts, I reach across the table to shake Mr. Walton’s hand and his lawyers’ hands and it’s a done deal. One meeting down, three more to go before I’m free to be with my woman.
Quintessa texted me the address to her parent’s home like I needed it. As far as she knew, I did, but I made it my business to know where her parents lived around the same time I was trying to locate her. I pull up to see her car is already in the driveway. I’m anxious to see her – to see if she still feels the same way she felt in my office this morning, or now after everything has sunken in, has her desire for me waned. I hope it hasn’t. I have big things in store for us. There’s no turning back now.
I know Quintessa is inside but I still ring the doorbell and wait. Her father answers the door and says, “There he is—”
He reaches for a handshake. I accept and he lets me inside.
“Quin is back there in the kitchen with her mother.”
“Okay. It’s good to see you again, Amos.”
“You as well. I see you’ve finally told her.”
“I did. You don’t know how much your daughter means to me, Amos.”
“Oh, I certainly have a good idea. You know how I know?”
“Enlighten me.”
“I see how much you mean to her. That smile on her face when she walked through these doors a half hour ago says it all. She’s complete with you.”
“I’m happy to hear that.”
“I’m going to go get cleaned up for dinner. You’re welcome to go on back there.”
“All right. Thanks.”
Amos walks off. I don’t go to the kitchen right away. I hang out in the living room, looking at old pictures of Quintessa on the wall. It’s like her mother dedicated an entire wall to her only daughter – a gallery wall, Quintessa called it. I see Quintessa’s graduation picture – from high school and college. I see our group prom photo – one of the happiest days of my life. There are so many pictures of her from when she was a baby all the way up to after college. And in every picture, her beauty speaks through her eyes and contagious smile.
This woman, this woman…
She has no idea what she does to me.
“Are you just going to stand there and stare at pictures of me?”
I turn around to the voice of my lady. I can barely swallow as I gaze upon the sheer beauty of her. She clearly went home after work, changed into a strapless white dress with pink flowers and curled her hair. I love it when she lets it hang around her shoulders. It’s easier for me to grab that way. My eyes trace her collarbone down to her chest – to cleavage that leaves me breathless. Around her neck, she wears two dainty gold layered necklaces that match the small gold studs in her ears. My eyes trace her pink-gloss-covered lips until they form a smile.
She takes a few steps closer, closes her arms around me and stays there, flush against my body.
“I missed you, too,” I tell her.
Her mother walks in and says, “And there he is.”
Quintessa moves away from me to make room for her mother to come through for a hug.
“How are you doing, Mrs. Slyvie?” I ask as she envelops me in a hug.
“I’m doing just fine. I knew there was something about you. I just knew it! I could feel it.” She takes a step back, looks me up and down, and says, “My, how you’ve changed.”
“I have.”
“And what name do you want to go by? Stewart or Essex? Or does it not matter?”
