Your Love Is King Read online

  I nodded. “Mr. Fred, this is Chris King, my fiancé. Chris, this is my stepfather and the sweetest man in the world, Fred Gray.”

  “Fiancé? Well, then you’re family!” Mr. Fred said and then lowered his voice. “Does your mama know yet?”

  I shook my head. “Not yet.”

  “Well, come on in.”

  We followed him through the cluttered house, into the dining room where there was a huge array of food on the table. I looked up at Chris who mouthed “Wow.”

  “Edna!” Mr. Fred shouted, “They’re here. Come on!”

  Chris and I took our seats at the table. “Did you cook all of this, Mr. Fred?”

  He nodded. “Yep. We got bacon, ham, scrambled eggs, grits, toast, pancakes, fried green tomatoes, and fried potatoes.”

  “Aw, man,” Chris said excitedly. “This is great!”

  I grinned. “Yeah, Mr. Fred is the best.”

  My mother finally made her entrance, dressed in a colorful caftan and gold slippers. “Well, hello!” she said. I couldn’t readily tell if she was sober, but she appeared to be.

  I stood and hugged her. “Hey, Mama, this is Chris, my fiancé.”

  “Fiancé!” she shrieked. “Well, congratulations!” She looked over at Chris and I think it finally registered with her that he was white. “Oh, uh, I’m Edna.”

  Chris flashed her a smile, then stood and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

  She nodded with a weird smile on her face. “Well, isn’t this nice. Let’s eat and I wanna hear all about how you two met.”

  Breakfast was actually nice, and my mother behaved herself, much to my surprise. She seemed to like Chris, but then again he was very likable. He was charming and full of personality, and my mother was always a sucker for a handsome man.

  After breakfast, Fred took Chris out to the garage to show him his record collection, and my mother took me into the living room to grill me.

  “So you’re engaged, huh?” she asked.

  “Yes, ma’am,” I said with a smile.

  “I can’t believe you went to St. Louis and came back with a white man. To each his own, I guess.”

  “He’s so good to me; I don’t even see his color anymore. I just see his heart.”

  “Well, he’s nice enough, and he seems to really care about you.”

  I nodded.

  “You love him?”

  “I do, and I truly believe he loves me, too.”

  “And he’s a musician? You think you’ll be okay for money?”

  “Well, evidently so. Money hasn’t been a problem for him so far. I haven’t had to pay for so much as a Tic Tac since we’ve been together.”

  “Judging from that ring, he must have some good credit. That’s a plus.”

  I nodded again.

  “Well, that’s good. How is he in bed?”

  “Mama!”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Well, is he any good? Don’t act like that’s not important.”

  I closed my eyes. I couldn’t believe she was asking me that. “I wouldn’t know.”

  “You haven’t had sex with him?” she asked, as if the notion was absurd.

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “Why?”

  “Mama, really?”

  “I’m just saying, how are you gonna buy the car without first taking it for a test drive?”

  “Um, isn’t that the way things are supposed to go according to the Bible? He’s a preacher’s son, Mama. He wants to try to do things the right way, and so do I.”

  “Yeah, well, I did notice that he has some good equipment down there, and he talks and acts like a black man, so maybe he does other things like a black man.” She was dead serious.

  “You looked at his… his—”

  She nodded. “Yep, I noticed that he has a nice package, so I think you’ll be okay.”

  All I could do was shake my head. Leave it to my mother to notice the “important things.”

  About an hour later, my mother finally released us and gave me her blessing.

  “That wasn’t bad at all, and Mr. Fred is a real cool dude,” Chris said as he backed my car out of my mother’s driveway.

  I nodded. “Yeah, he’s always been great, and my mother’s okay as long as she’s sober.”

  “So, uh, what did your mother have to say about me?”

  I laughed. “You really don’t wanna know.”

  Chris glanced over at me. “Well, does she hate me, like me, or what?”

  “Oh, my mother likes you. You’re a man, and that’s pretty much all that’s required with her.”

  “Okay, I guess that’s good. Well, what did she say?”

  I covered my face with my hand. “Um, that you’ve got a nice package and that since you talk and act like a black man, you’re probably good in bed.”

  “Ooooh. Um, so your mom’s a freak?” he asked with raised eyebrows.

  “Basically, yeah.”

  “Is that something you inherited from her? Because if it is, I’m definitely okay with that.”

  I shot him a sly smile. “I’m not telling. You’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “Yeah, about that. I’m thinking we can go ahead and get married really soon. I’m trying to hold out here, but I ain’t Superman.”

  “Um, so is that why you’re marrying me? You tryna get me in bed.”

  He shook his head. “Naw, baby. I’m marrying you because I love you.”

  I leaned over and kissed him. “I love you, too.”

  “So I was thinking that you could go ahead and move your stuff into my place like next week, and we could be married right after that. Or we could do it today if you want to, ‘cuz I’m ready.”

  “Wow, um, really? You don’t want a wedding?”

  “Not unless you want one. If you want one, we can have the biggest wedding in the world. But honestly, I don’t need all that. I just wanna marry you and be with you.”

  “Well, okay then.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  He pulled my car into the driveway at my house and leaned over and kissed me. “I love you so much.”

  “Mm, I love you, too, Chris.”

  I walked around to the driver’s side of the car and he leaned over and kissed me again.

  “Oh, and by the way, there are some things I do even better than a black man.” He winked and then headed off to his truck.

  I smiled and climbed into the driver’s seat of my car. As I trailed Chris’s vehicle onto the highway, I couldn’t stop smiling. I couldn’t have been more content with my life, and I was so thankful for Chris’s love.

  Eighteen

  “Is It a Crime?”

  I sat on the couch next to Carla and watched as Chris and a couple of his bandmates carried boxes out of our apartment.

  Chris paused next to the couch on his way out the door. “Dang, baby. How’d you manage to accumulate this much stuff in so little time? You were only living here a few months. This is the sixth box.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Some of that stuff is from my house back in Arkansas and you know it. And besides, you’re a big, strong man. That’s what those muscles are for. You can handle it.” I patted his arm.

  He gave me a sly look as he walked toward the door. “I can handle more than that.”

  “Really now?” I said.

  “Really, but I can show you better than I can tell you. I mean, this is the ‘show me state,’” he said as he closed the door behind him.

  Carla nudged me. “Oooo, you’re gonna get it!”

  I shook my head. “He’s a mess, really. He talks more game than an NBA announcer.”

  “Uh-huh, and he sounds like he can back it up, too.”

  I smiled. “Oh, yeah, I think he can.”

  “So, y’all are actually gonna do it? You’re gonna get married, for real?”

  I nodded. “Yep, we are.”

  “Well, I’m excited for you, Marli. I really am, but it just seems so sudden. I me
an, y’all have only been dating for a couple of months. You sure you’re not rushing things?”

  “Carla, I love that man. And he loves me. No one has ever made me feel so loved, so special. I didn’t even know love like this really existed before him. For the first time in my life, I’m doing something I know is right. Chris and I belong together.”

  “Well, good for you, girl.”

  “Thanks, Carla. So… have you decided what you’re gonna do yet?”

  Carla sighed. “I’m gonna finish these three months, and then I’m going home to my boys. No matter how things end up with me and Bryan, I need to be with my kids. I don’t know what was wrong with me before, but I really miss them now. I miss being a mother.”

  I smiled. “You just had a little selfish spell, that’s all. It happens to the best of us. I’m just glad you came around, and I really hope you and Bryan can find a way to work it out. You know, my marriage sucked toward the end, but I have to admit that for a while there, I was really happy. It was nice having someone to share my life with. I’m looking forward to having that with Chris.”

  “Chris really seems like a good man. I pray you two will make it.”

  “Oh, we will. I really believe this is the man God made just for me.”

  ~*~

  Chris sat on the sofa in his living room, staring at me as I placed the photos of Tiffany on the bookshelf.

  “What are you looking at?” I asked without turning around to face him.

  “The Bible says, ‘Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing.’ I was just looking at my good thing.”

  I grinned. “I’m not your wife yet.”

  “One more day.” He patted the sofa seat beside him. “Come sit down.”

  I placed the last photo on the shelf and then joined him on the sofa. “Yes?”

  He reached for my hand. “I missed you.”

  “Chris, I was just across the room.”

  “But you weren’t next to me. I like having you near.”

  “Well, I’m here now.”

  He kissed me softly on the lips. “Mm-hmm. You want something to drink? You hungry?”

  “I’m okay and if I want something, I can get it myself. This is my home, too, now. Right?”

  “It is. I just want you to be comfortable.”

  “I am comfortable. But you’re gonna have to do something about this.” I pointed to the papers scattered about the granite-topped coffee table.

  “Aw, that? It’s just some bills and stuff.”

  “That’s a mess. Can I at least stack it up neatly?”

  He leaned over and kissed me again. “You can do whatever you want to do. Like you said, this is your home now.” He stood from the couch. “I’ma get me something to drink. You sure you don’t want something?”

  I shook my head. “I’m fine.”

  “Okay, be right back.”

  I smiled and watched him leave the room then started stacking the papers on the table. It was mostly bills and store receipts, but then I came across the bill of sale for his Navigator. Ticket price $55,000. I shook my head. That’s ridiculous for a car, I thought. I read further down and noticed that it said, Financed amount: $0. Balance paid in full. He paid for the car outright? No financing? I laid the paper on the table and stood up. How could he have paid cash for that truck? Where did he get the money?

  I was still standing next to the sofa when Chris returned to the living room holding two drinks in his hand.

  He sat down. “I brought you something anyway.”

  I looked down at him but didn’t say a word.

  “Baby, you all right? You look like you just saw a ghost,” he said.

  “I… I just saw something that I don’t understand.”

  He stood up and placed his hands on my arms. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  “The bill of sale for the Navigator. You paid cash for it? Fifty-five thousand dollars cash? How could you afford to do that?”

  Chris reached down and picked up the paper. He looked at me and shook his head. “It’s not what you think.”

  I backed away from him. “Don’t tell me you saved fifty-five thousand dollars or that you saved the money for this ring or this apartment. Where did you get the money, Chris? I can’t marry you if you’re gonna keep lying to me.”

  “Okay, okay, listen. I haven’t been totally honest with you about some things. The truth is that I really don’t make that much money with the band.”

  “Then what are you doing, Chris?” I asked, my voice raising an octave.

  “I’m not doing what you think. I’m not selling drugs.”

  “Then what are you doing?!”

  “Sit down.”

  “No. I’ll stand.”

  “Come on, Marli. Just sit down, baby,” he pleaded.

  I sighed. “Chris, just tell me.”

  “I will. Come sit down, please.”

  I hesitantly slumped onto the couch and folded my arms.

  “Okay, so um, when my parents died they left me some money.”

  “Some money?”

  He dropped his head. “Well, a lotta money, actually.”

  I frowned. “Really? How much, Chris?”

  “Um, enough that we should never have to work or want for anything for the rest of our lives.”

  “How much are we talking here, Chris? Three hundred thousand? Four hundred thousand? A million? Because that won’t last the rest of your life in this economy. Especially the way you’re spending it.”

  He shifted on the couch and cleared his throat. “No, those would be gross underestimates.” He picked up a pen and an envelope from the table. He jotted down a figure and handed the envelope to me. “More like that much.”

  I was glad I sat down.

  “What?! What in the hell did your folks do for a living? Rob banks?”

  He shrugged. “It’s old money. My real father’s family owned a bunch of oil wells in Texas and the Gulf. You ever heard of Russell Oil and Fuel? Well, I’m Russell. I’m the only surviving heir, so it all belongs to me. Plus, I took some of the money and invested it—bought some businesses.”

  “Businesses?” I felt dizzy. I just couldn’t believe my ears. I was happy and sad at the same time—happy because, well, he was rich. Sad because he’d kept it from me.

  He shrugged again. “Um… yeah, I own a couple of Taco Bells, um, a McDonald’s, a Mercedes dealership, and—”

  “Chris?! Why didn’t you tell me?! Better yet, were you ever gonna tell me?”

  “Yeah, I was gonna tell you… eventually.”

  “What were you gonna do? Hand me a prenup to sign during the ceremony? Don’t you think this is something I needed to know?”

  Chris sighed. “Well, yeah, but in the past when I told people, they’d start acting all different. I stopped telling people long ago. I never even told Russell’s mother. I just didn’t think that it really mattered.”

  “Chris, if you didn’t trust me enough to tell me this, why would you want to marry me?”

  Chris sat up and shook his head. “No, baby. I trust you. I… I don’t know what I was thinking. I guess I was afraid it would change your perception of me.”

  “To what? I love you, Chris, no matter what your bank account says, and I certainly wasn’t gonna be mad at you for having money. I’m just not sure now if you really love me.”

  Chris leaned forward. “Wait… wait, don’t say that. I love you. I love you with all my heart. You know that.”

  I shook my head. “No, I don’t know, Chris. Maybe we’re rushing things. Maybe I shouldn’t have moved in here. I mean, how well do we really know each other? I… I don’t want another failed marriage.”

  Chris grabbed my hand. “I know you’re sweet and caring and beautiful and sexy. I know you like cupcakes, and you like to sing along with the radio. You like to hold hands, and your smile brightens my day. I know I love you. I know that without a doubt. And I know that you love me. We won’t fail.”

  I shook my head.
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  “Okay,” he said, “Ask me anything. What do you want to know?”