When Love Comes Around (Love Conquers All) (31 page)

Trina hurried out of the stall as if she needed to be somewhere. Laying her purse on the countertop, she washed her hands with just as much urgency. Picking up a cloth hand towel from the wicker basket, she dried them. Reaching into her purse, she was startled by Hurricane Starr blowing out the stall in full force.

Her eyes widened in horror as she dropped her new tube of Mac lipstick on the floor. She immediately recognized Starr’s reflection through the mirror. Swinging around she tried to back up, but had nowhere to go. Starr had closed in on her, and was now standing toe to toe with her. She was so close in her personal space, their noses nearly touched. Trina could feel the fire Starr was breathing from her flared nostrils.

If she hadn’t been so angry, she would have laughed. So this was the infamous Trina up close and personal? She didn’t seem so big and bad now as she swallowed and her eyes darted to the door contemplating how she was going to make her escape.

Now that she had her where she wanted her, she wanted to lash out at her for trying to come between her and Kevin. She wanted to tell her to keep her funky thongs to herself. And if she
thought
about dropping them on her doorstep again, she would wrap them around her neck and choke the life out of her. She was itching to threaten if she so much as walked on the same side of the street as her husband, she’d experience a wrath the likes of Hurricane Katrina.

No, she didn’t have to go there. She was the one Kevin wanted and loved, not Trina. She was the one he wanted to keep his name and have his babies, not Trina. No way would she give this chick the satisfaction of thinking she was remotely a threat to her marriage.

Yeah, Starr’s man didn’t want Trina and that was cool. However, before leaving out of this ladies’ room tonight, she would never again make the mistake of messing with Beverly Dawson.

Stepping back a bit Starr wanted to look Trina boldly in the eye. She wanted her to see how serious she was and meant every word she was about to say to her. But before she could get a word out, Trina straightened her spine and glared at Starr like she was about to jump bad.
Oh really?

Hearing heels clicking against the hardwood floors on the other side of the door, a cocky grin curved Trina’s lips. Her cousin Keisha was in a hurry to get back home to go out to the movies with a group of her friends who were home from college for the holidays. She was certain the clicking heels belonged to her cousin coming to rush her out of the ladies’ room. The show the girls wanted to see started in an hour.

As soon as Keisha saw Starr all up in her face, she would be ready to pounce. Trina wasn’t a complete idiot. No way could she take Starr down on her own. But she and her cousin could take her with no problem.

“Look, Starr…that’s your name right? I can get Kevin back anytime I want to.” Looking Starr up and down, her lip curled in disgust as she taunted, “I didn’t know he was into chunky now. Can you even
move
with all that weight? ” Tossing her head back, she laughed. “It doesn’t matter. Because when he gets ready for a slim goody again, I’ll be waiting.” Digging in even deeper she taunted, “I’m very
flexible
. Just ask him.”

Trina knew Kevin would never be hers again. He had painfully made that plain the day she showed up at his office. However, that didn’t mean she couldn’t have some fun being spiteful. The hurt that briefly flashed in Starr’s dark eyes fueled Trina’s nastiness.

Hands balled in fists at her side, Starr wanted to punch Trina dead in the face. Heat crept up her neck as she goaded her about her weight. She had become extremely self-conscious of her recent rapid weight gain. However, she wasn’t about to give this little tramp the satisfaction of knowing her words stung.

Shaking off the insults, Starr was back on her square and ready to attack.

“Yeah…well… whateva. I’m not going to even give you the satisfaction of responding to your babbling. You’re downright pathetic.”

“Look who’s talkin’” Trina smirked sure Keisha would be coming through the door any second.
What’s taking her so long?

Stepping back into Trina’s personal space, Starr had had enough of this trick. Lifting her finger, she poked Trina so hard in the forehead her head snapped back. The deer-in-the-headlights look on Trina’s face was priceless.

“That’s right I’m talking and you better listen. First of all, just to let
you
know, my
husband
isn’t going anywhere. He loves all of this, every ounce of this voluptuous size fourteen.”
Okay, size sixteen but that ho don’t need to know that.
Poking her forehead again with her finger, “Second, you better keep your narrow behind away from my mother-in-law.” Speaking through clenched teeth, she threatened, “I swear if you go anywhere near I will─”

Hearing the door to the ladies’ room slowly creak open, Trina was relieved help had arrived. Swatting Starr’s poking finger away from her face, she was ready to pounce on her the second Keisha crossed the threshold. As soon as she was about to tell Starr that she wasn’t going to do a darn thing but get her behind kicked, in walked Karen, Ava and Summer. The first thing they saw was Trina hitting Starr’s hand away appearing as if she had hit Starr in the face.

“Oh, hell no! She didn’t just hit my sister!” Karen started taking off her gold hoop earrings ready to do battle. “Nobody put their hands on my baby sister! Nobody!”

Eying the three women closing in on her, Trina’s cockiness went up in a puff of smoke. “I…I didn’t hit her. I…I just smacked her hand from my face,” Trina stuttered, explaining her actions.
Where the hell is Keisha?
Trina was shaking in her shoes as she envisioned the beat down she was about to get.

Easing up behind Karen taking the gold hoop earrings from her hand, Summer said, “Please tell me you didn’t hit my friend.”

“Our friend,” Ava corrected, growling at Trina.

Shaking her head, Starr smirked, “She got better sense than that. I was just about to tell her before y’all came in that if she goes near Momma Beverly again I will beat her into next week.”

Ava flicked off invisible lint from the sleeve of the baby blue cashmere sweater she wore. “Mmmm-hmmm.” Lifting her gaze from her arm, she zeroed in on Trina who wasn’t so tough anymore. “And I’ll be right there with you.”

“What’s going on?” The young woman inquired looking from her cousin to the four women around her. They looked like they were ready to do some serious damage, especially the two women who looked alike.
Oh snap! Trina done messed with somebody’s man…again.
Any other time she would have had her cousin’s back, but not this time. Keisha wasn’t a fool. These sisters look like they could throw down. She wasn’t about to get beat up when she had to look good tonight.
Shoot, I might meet somebody tonight while out with my girls.
None of the women acknowledged the younger woman’s presence as the one standing closest to Trina hissed, “Remember what I said.”

Not bothering to wait for a response, the posse turned leaving a shaken Trina with her cousin.

Once the coast was cleared, she snapped at her cousin, “What took you so damn long? They were about to jump me.”

Rolling her eyes, Keisha thought,
you should leave people men alone then.
Besides, if they really wanted to do bodily harm to her they would have done so. From where Keisha was standing, they just wanted to send Trina a message. Waving her hand making light of the situation, “Girl, they weren’t gonna do ‘nuffin to you.”

“Oh yes they were! That was Starr and her gang of witches coming up in here flying on their brooms!” Trina snapped again, stooping down to pick up her tube of lipstick.

Keisha’s mouth formed into a circle. One of them was Starr and the other must have been her sister.

“Come on let’s go!” Trina angrily gritted out, stomping out of the ladies’ room.

On her heels, Keisha giggled mumbling, “Serves you right.”

Spinning around Trina screeched, “What you say?”

Stopping abruptly to keep from plowing into Trina, the younger woman lied. “Nothing. I didn’t say nothing.”

“I didn’t think so. I said come on!” Trina had never been so mad and frightened at the same time. Blowing out a breath of disgust, Kevin wasn’t worth her getting beat down to the ground over. She was too pretty for all of that. Next to her scantily dressed body, it was her pretty face that drew men to her like a bee to honey.

Needing to get away from the joyous crowd, Starr slipped off to her bedroom for a few moments of peace and quiet. She dearly loved her niece, nephew and godchildren, but all the squealing, ripping and running was bringing on a headache. If she got a good thirty-minute power nap, she’d be ready to go again.

Kicking off her shoes, she stretched out on the comfy California king size bed closing her eyes. A smile touched her lips as she could still faintly hear her family and friends downstairs.

I am beat.
Preparation for her Christmas Eve dinner had begun the night before. Wanting to do everything herself, she refused help from her mom and sister. She had stayed up nearly all night, and was up again at dawn to finish her preparations.

Letting out a deep breath, she was thrilled she made it through her first big production. Excitement fueled her all day as she floated around putting her special touch on everything. To her delight, all had turned out almost perfect; actually, better than expected. She beamed all day from the praises coming from everyone. She and Kevin had beautifully decorated their home for the festivities. The atmosphere created was cozy and welcoming to their guest.

Sheer happiness flowed through Starr as their guest began to arrive earlier this afternoon. Though she loved everyone in attendance, the icing on the cake was Donna and Patrick’s arrival. Getting misty eyed, she still could not believe her mom was home for the holidays. She was so blessed to have such wonderful friends and an endearing mother-in-law who warmly embraced her mother and new stepfather.

Starr sensed Donna and Patrick were a little nervous about being introduced to everyone. She could only assumed her mother was worried about what her friends and new mother-in-law thought about her staying away for so many years. And then having the nerve to show up with a man she was shacking up with.

Starr wanted to hug Nick so hard until he was breathless when he came into the living room playing with the controls on his new remote control Hummer, a gift picked out by NJ and Autumn. Not paying attention, he maneuvered the toy vehicle into the leg of the coffee table. Lifting his attention from the controls, he gave Starr a boyish sheepish grin as if to say
ut-oh.
The boyish grin quickly faded to a brilliant smile of recognition. Nick’s entry into the room had been the icebreaker from heaven, dissipating the couple’s nervousness.

“Well, I’ll be a son of gun! Patrick Wahl in the flesh!”

When Kevin mentioned to Nick Starr’s mom was going to marry some guy named Patrick Wahl, he hadn’t given it much thought. What would be the chances it was the same Patrick he became acquainted with ten years earlier?

“I don’t believe it! Nicholas Stiles!” Patrick boomed excitedly in his deep baritone, bringing the other adults into the room looking on as the two men greeted one another in a masculine embrace and friendly slaps on the back.

Turning his attention to Donna, Nick took her small hand in his. Leaning down he kissed her on the cheek. “You must be Donna, Starr and Karen’s mother.”

Proudly smiling, the tension easily rolling off of her as she acknowledged, “Yes, those are my girls.”

“I see where they get their beauty from.”

All the women in the women rolled their eyes when Nick flashed his devastatingly, handsome trademark smile and then winked at Donna.

On Beverly’s lead, Joan, Nita, Summer and Ava gathered around Donna. “Don’t pay that big flirt any mind; he’s been that way since he was boy. But if he gets out of hand with you, I got a strap for ‘em.”

Everyone in the room laughed as Nick ducked behind Patrick.

After introductions were made, the men migrated back to the den with the children in tow to finish watching the football game, while the women congregated in the kitchen getting acquainted with Donna. Donna was pleased that Beverly truly adored her child. Of the many tragedies in her marriage, a meddling mother-in-law who thought her son could do no wrong had been one of them.

Not only was Beverly kind, but the other women also made her feel welcomed and part of their tight knit group. She enjoyed how the older women shared their wisdom. What she found even more impressive was how the younger women were attentive and respectful of what the older ladies had to say. They discussed everything from dating, to raising children, to marriage, and sex. Yes, sex! Donna wished she had brought her note pad. That Joan and Beverly was a mess! They could recite a number of positions from the Kama Sutra! The easy going discussion and bantering between the generations was refreshing. Just knowing that her girls had wonderful friends and older women who’d become surrogate mothers to them made her heart happy. Later over dinner, Patrick and Nick explained how they’d met years ago. Both their companies were trying to take over a small failing international cargo shipping company in New Orleans. Being from the area and coming from a family in the shipping industry since the early eighteen hundreds, Patrick had the advantage. Nick had been a formidable opponent. If Patrick’s family business hadn’t been stable and well versed in shipping and Nick had the resources back then that were at his fingertips now, Patrick didn’t doubt he would have added the small, failing company to his growing empire. After all was said and done, the men parted amicably, each respecting the other’s professional and business integrity.