When he was done placing the flowers, Jamal headed back through the lobby to the front door. He stopped at the counter, and both Lorna and Lena looked up at him.
“Everything’s done,” he announced. “I’ll be here early with tomorrow’s order.”
They both smiled. “Thanks Jamal,” Lena told him.
“You know I take care of my Sable sisters.” He stared at Lorna. “Especially this one…”
“Go do your other deliveries,” Lorna told him with a soft smile.
Jamal leaned on the counter. “Can we talk after the dinner hour tonight?”
Lena looked at her sister.
“Yes, we can.” Lorna told him, then turned to glance at Lena. “I want to hear about your new business venture.”
Lena smirked and Jamal smiled.
“Okay, I’ll see you tonight, Beauty.”
Both women watched as he walked out of the door, then Lena pinned her sister with a stare.
“For real, what is going on with you two and now this damn singer?” Lena questioned.
“It’s a long story…” Lorna said staring at the closed door, where Jamal had exited.
Lena leaned on the desk. “It’s obvious that you love the man, Lorna. He’s turned out to be hella fine and a real sweetheart. Why do you keep dodging him?”
Lorna smiled to herself. “Jamal’s always been handsome, and in his own way a sweetheart.”
“I mean, I know he was in trouble,” Lena began. “But hell, what else was there to do in Grayling?”
“Jamal had his reasons for misbehaving,”
Both Sable sisters watched as Cassandra came down the stairs. She gave Lorna a look before she headed out the door. Lorna left the desk and went into the meeting room to peek out of the window to see where the woman was going.
She saw Jamal loading up his van before he was joined by the woman who had nearly destroyed his life, in Lorna’s opinion. Folding her arms, Lorna watched from inside…
******
Jamal was packing up the last of his carts and equipment in the back of the van when two arms grabbed him around the waist from behind.
“Whoa!” he said, turning quickly and disengaging himself.
Cassandra smiled up at him. “Damn baby, you grew up to be so fine. I mean you were a cutie as a teenager,”
Jamal watched her look him over before her eyes darkened.
“But now, you’re a full grown man.”
He looked down at her. “Look Cass,”
She bit her lip. “You still remember what you used to call me.”
Jamal rubbed his head. “Listen, I’m happy for you and your success, but I’ve got my thing going on here and I’m straight.”
Cassandra studied his attire. “You’ve got your own little, cute uniform and everything. You look like a real small town businessman. I know you’ve got some hustle on the side.”
He shook his head. “My hustle is growing and selling, plants and flowers.”
“So the bad boy turned good?” she joked, placing a hand on his chest.
Jamal removed her hand. “Yeah…he did.”
“Come and have dinner with me tonight, here at the Inn. We can talk like you promised.”
He frowned. “I’m not eating with you at Lorna’s spot.”
This time Cassandra frowned. “You’re still chasing after that girl? She still don’t think you’re good enough for her?”
Jamal stepped away. “Lorna never felt that way.”
Cassandra looked at him. “She couldn’t see you in public. Her family couldn’t know about you…remember that?”
He ran a hand down his face. “Because I was doing shit that I had no business doing. Shit that sent my ass away…remember that?”
She touched him again. “I’m sorry about that baby. I left town to try to make some money to help you out.”
“You’re eight years too late,” Jamal said closing the door to his van.
“I’m here now,” Cassandra told him.
He shook his head. “I’m not the young dude you knew. That’s done.”
Touching his face, she stared up at him. “You know I loved you, Jamal.”
“You used me Cass, but it’s good, because I learned not to ever let another person do that to me. I also learned that everybody who tells you that they love you…really don’t.”
Jamal moved to close the other door, then looked at her. “Enjoy your stay at the Sable Inn.”
“You think Lorna Sable loves you?” Cassandra sneered. “It’s been eight years for her, too, and she still hasn’t claimed you.”
Jamal paused and looked at her before he heard his name.
“Hey Jamal!”
Looking up, he sighed as Lana’s Book Club members were waving at him.
“Hey ladies,” he called back.
The trio stared at him and the unknown woman before making their way inside. Jamal glanced back at the building and saw Lorna watching from the window. Their eyes connected before she turned and walked away.
“Don’t worry about me and Lorna,” he told Cassandra.
“I’m not just going to give up on you,” Cassandra vowed.
Jamal shrugged. “You did before.”
He walked to his driver’s door and climbed inside. Cassandra stood watching until his vehicle disappeared, then headed back into the Inn.
******
The Book Club members entered the lobby and saw Lena at the desk.
“Girl, who is that woman out there with Jamal?” Debra asked.
Lena shook her head. “Don’t come in here gossiping.”
Tiffany explained. “We were going to check on Lana, but we drove past and saw Jamal with that woman all over him.”
“Where is Lorna?” Nadia demanded. “Tell her to come and get her man.”
Lorna heard the women in the lobby and went to usher them somewhere they couldn’t be heard.
“You ladies will need to tone that down, please,” Lorna told them when she appeared. “We have very high end clients here this week.”
“You got some chick out there all over your man, that’s what you got!” Nadia told her.
“Come into the meeting room ladies,” Lorna told them and glanced at her sister, who was frowning at the desk.
Inside the room, Lorna closed the doors and headed over to the window. She saw that Jamal’s van was gone and Cassandra was nowhere in sight.
“Who is that woman, Lorna?” Debra asked. “She looked familiar.”
Lorna turned to the women. “She’s Cassidee…that singer.”
Their eyes widened. “How does she know Jamal?” Tiffany asked.
“She’s also Cassandra Riddick.”
Nadia’s eyes narrowed. “Oh hell nah!”
Debra put a hand on her hip. “No, she didn’t come back here after the way she left.”
Tiffany looked confused. “Did she get work done on her face?”
The door opened and Lena entered.
“Who’s at the desk?” Lorna asked concerned.
“Lana’s here,” Lena answered. “She’s feeling better and now she’s talking to the one hit wonder.”
Lena looked at her sister. “What the hell is going on, Lorna?”
“You don’t remember her, Lena?” Debra asked.
“No, who is she?”
Nadia nodded. “That’s right, you left for college. You missed all the drama.”
“Drama? What drama?”
Tiffany looked at Lena. “The Jamal and Cassandra drama.”
Lena looked at her sister. “Lorna?”
******
Lana Sable sat at the desk and watched the woman across from her.
“I’d like to order one of your picnic lunch baskets for two, later in the week.”
Lana shook her head. “If that’s for Jamal, we’re not having that here, Cassandra.”
“Is your sister distressed?”
“Don’t worry about Lorna,” Lana warned. “You’re a paying guest, and we’ll accommodate you as such, but that’s as far as my hospitality goes.”
Cassandra looked around. “So all three of you stayed here in Grayling.”
“It’s our home.”
She glanced at the ring on Lana’s hand. “You’re married?”
Lana nodded. “Yes, and expecting.”
Cassandra smirked. “Who’d you marry? Willie the Night Manager?”
“No, he’s a little younger than Willie.” Lana told with a wink.
Cassandra frowned. “I see Lorna is still playing Jamal, wanting the leopard to change his spots.”
Lana shook her head. “Doesn’t seem like you’ve changed your spots. You should’ve been the one sent away, not Jamal, because you were the problem.”
“When did the Sables start this Jamal Winston lovefest? When your father found out about him and Lorna, he was ready to shoot him on sight.” Cassandra said, folding her arms.
“Whatever happened with Lorna and Jamal is their business,” Lana said firmly. “Stay away from my sister.”
“I’m not here for your sister, Lana.”
Lana nodded. “Then we shouldn’t have any problems.”
“I’m here for Jamal.”
“And if you get him, you deserve him,” Lana said, before looking up at the handsome man in a bowtie coming through the door.
Cassandra saw the stranger in the tailored suit and expensive shoes then gave him a slow once over, as Lana got to her feet and smiled at him.
“Hey baby,” she greeted, lifting her face to him.
He grinned. “Excuse me, I’m not trying to interrupt.” Derek kissed her softly.
Lana touched his face. “It’s no interruption.” She turned to Cassandra. “Cassandra this is my husband, Derek Wells. He’s a Political Campaign Manager in D.C.”
Derek held out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Slowly, Cassandra shook his hand. “You’re Lana’s husband?”
He nodded proudly. “Yes, this is my beautiful wife and she’s carrying our first child.”
“Wow, well congratulations…”
Lana smiled. “See, I told you he was younger than Willie.”
******
“What the hell happened while I was gone?” Lena demanded. “And why didn’t I know any of this?”
Lorna rolled her eyes. “Because I know you, and I know what you would have done.”
“I would have protected my sister!”
“Daddy took care of it,” Lorna told Lena. “And Lana.”
Lena frowned. “Well damn,”
“You were away at school and I didn’t want to bother you.” Lorna explained. “You were so happy to get away.”
Lena walked over to her sister. “You’re never a bother, Lorna. You’re my sister and I love you.”
Lorna hugged her. “I know and I love you, too.”
“What happened Lorna?”
“Jamal got involved with that little criminal thot,” Nadia chimed in.
Tiffany added, “And broke Lorna’s heart.”
Lena stared at Lorna. “You were involved with Jamal?”
“Jamal was my best friend and my first love,” Lorna said softly. “I trusted him with everything.”
The women all looked at one another.
“How did you manage to hook up with him?” Lena asked.
Tiffany, Debra and Nadia all listened closely, wanting to hear this part of the story that no one had full knowledge.
Lorna turned toward the window. “You had left for college and Lana was gone already. I was sad and very lonely,” she began.
“One day I went out to the cabin on the far side of the land, just to cry. I didn’t want to bother Daddy because he was busy running the Inn. When I got there, Jamal was inside…” Lorna smiled to herself. “He was smoking marijuana.”
The Book Club nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like Jamal,” Nadia confirmed.
Lorna continued, “I came in and sat down, then we talked.”
“What did you talk about?” Lena asked, when Lorna paused while lost in thought.
“At first about how we both missed our mothers.” She sighed. “How we both had fathers who worked hard to serve people, and how sometimes we missed them, too…even though they were here with us.”
Lena rubbed her sister’s arm. “Why didn’t you call me Lorna?”
Lorna shrugged. “I didn’t want to be a baby. You and Lana had always taken care of me and I needed to grow up.”
She turned to Lena. “Jamal and I began to meet at the cabin whenever we could for over a year, until he started not showing up as much, then finally not at all…and he was getting into all kinds of trouble.”
Nadia smirked. “I bet this is where that thang comes in…” she whispered to the group.
“At first, I didn’t know what the problem was, especially after we’d gotten so close…so close,” Lorna told her softly. “The last time I saw him, I knew something bad was going to happen.”
“He came to the Inn, something that he’d never done. I snuck him into my room and he told me that he had to leave Grayling. He told me that he didn’t want to hurt me, and that he just felt his life had gotten out of control, because he was doing things that he wasn’t proud of and he knew that I’d be ashamed of him.”
Lena listened closely, hearing the pain in her sister’s voice.
“I begged him to stay and just talk to his father, but before I could convince him, Daddy came and put him out. I’d never seen Daddy that angry and I felt so bad. Jamal left, and the next day, he was arrested...”
******
“Would you like to know about our amenities, Cassidee?” Lana offered with a raised brow.
Cassandra looked from Lana to Derek. “No, I’ll be in my room.”
The couple watched her stalk up the stairs and Derek looked at his wife.
“What’s going on with that?” he asked.
Lana sighed. “Cassidee is actually Cassandra Riddick. She’s from Grayling, but she didn’t really grow up here. She came back for high school and started hanging around with Jamal, in addition to being the town menace. She’s completely changed her looks and now she’s back trying to get Jamal.”
“Jamal? Our Jamal?”
She nodded. “Yes, our Jamal.”
“He was with Cassidee?” Derek asked, lifting a brow.
Lana frowned. “Why are you asking like that?”
He smiled. “Like what, baby?”
“Like you’re impressed or something?”
Derek came around the desk and took her into his arms. “Listen, you know that I love my chocolate buffet. I’m just surprised, because I thought that Lorna was Jamal’s only love.”
“She is…”
He looked confused. “What happened?”
Lana looked up at him. “That…only Jamal and Lorna know for sure.” Her eyes narrowed. “But she’d better stay away from Lorna.”
Derek stared down at her. “Don’t get yourself all riled up.”
Lana smiled and placed a hand on her belly. “I’m not, this one is for Lena. I’ve got another priority.”
Lena and the other women entered from the meeting room and gathered at the desk, then Lana looked at Lorna, trying to decipher her mood.
“You okay, Lorna?” Lana asked.
Lorna smiled. “I’m fine, and I don’t need everybody acting like this is some great tragedy.” She shook her head. “Now let’s get to work.”
The desk phone rang and Lana answered. “Thank you for calling The Sable Inn. This is Lana Sable, how may I help you today?”
Everyone watched as she held out the phone to Lorna a moment later.
“It’s for you?”
Lorna blinked, then moved to the desk, taking the receiver.
“This is Lorna Sable,”
“I want you to know that there’s nothing for you to be worried about,”
She turned away from the group and answered, “Jamal, aren’t you working?”
“Yes, but I couldn’t go on with the day without telling you that. I saw you in the window,”
“I shouldn’t have been spying that way,” Lorna told him.
“I don’t have anything to hide from you,” Jamal answered. “Not ever again.”
Lorna smiled. “We both have work to do, I’ll see you later?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there after dinner.”
“Okay, bye Jamal.”
“Bye, Beauty.”
Lorna replaced the phone and turned to the many pairs of eyes on her before turning her attention to the bouquet on the counter. Reaching out, she touched the vibrant petals and thought about the man who grew them.
Seeing Cassandra here at the Inn, brought back some terrible memories. Memories that Lorna vowed would never hurt her again.
******
Upstairs in her room, Cassandra fumed. When she’d decided to return to Grayling, she was coming for one reason. Through the years, Jamal had never left her mind. She might have changed her face and body, but her heart remained the same.
Cassandra knew that she’d done him wrong, and contrary to what he believed, she’d actually loved Jamal more than any man in her life. He’d been her partner in crime and made her last return to Grayling bearable.
As a small child, her mother had left the town and moved to Chicago. At fifteen, when Cassandra’s mother could no longer control her, she’d sent her back to Grayling with her father. She’d met Jamal at the high school on one of her first days.
He’d been the coolest boy in her boring class. Cassandra had approached him and asked if he smoked. Jamal had shrugged and answered, “I might…”
“Hook me up with your plug,” she’d told him.
He’d smiled. “I got you.”
After that, they’d hung out at school and all he’d talked about was that damn Lorna Sable. How she was soooo beautiful, and soooo sweet and soooo smart. Cassandra began to hate the girl without meeting her and made it her goal to turn Jamal’s attention to herself.
She remembered the first time she actually did solicit Jamal’s attention. The two were up to their usual antics at her house, where her father was never home, due to his own antics.
Cassandra took a puff and passed it to Jamal. “So is this girl your girlfriend or what?”
Taking a hit, Jamal shook his head. “She can’t have a boyfriend.”
“Why not?”
“Her father is real strict.”
Cassandra frowned. “Don’t they live in a hotel?”
He handed her the joint. “It’s an Inn.”
“It’s weird.” She inhaled. “And why doesn’t she go to school?”
Jamal sat back. “She’s homeschooled and she’s real smart.”
“So what do you do when y’all sneak and see each other?” she’d asked.
“We talk.”
Cassandra laughed. “Talk?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I learn a lot from her.”
She smirked. “I forgot, she’s so damn smart.”
Jamal laughed. “She is…”
“You don’t mind that nobody knows about you and her?”
“Nah, we’re good.”
Cassandra puffed again. “Sounds like she’s ashamed of you.”
Jamal paused. “I understand why we can’t be in public together. Like I said, her father is strict and I’ve got a reputation around here.”
“So you hitting it undercover?”
Jamal frowned. “I’m not hitting Lorna.”
She froze. “You meeting her all the time and you not hitting it?”
He shook his head. “You sound like a dude.”
Cassandra put the cocktail out. “I think you can tell that I’m not a dude.” She moved closer to him.
Jamal watched her as she reached for his shirt.
“Hey, what’s up with that?” he’d asked.
Cassandra came out of her flashback and stared out of the window of the Sable Inn. When she’d gotten the invitation to come here, all of her memories of Jamal had returned. She’d come here for a twofold reason. To get PR and to get Jamal Winston.
Cassandra had found out that Jamal was still in Grayling, running his little gardens, of all things. She rolled her eyes. Although, he professed to be on the straight and narrow, from Cassandra’s experience, a leopard never changed his spots…not for good.
She was now Cassidee, and she had the notoriety, the funds and the face. She’d gotten into Jamal’s head before, and she knew that she could do it again, because Lorna Sable was still the little girl with the strict father, keeping Jamal at an arm’s length.
Cassandra smiled to herself. She was going to show Jamal the life they could have together away from this God awful place. They could travel the world and do all the things they’d dreamed of when they were younger.
Jamal had talked about becoming rich, in order to one day be with Lorna Sable, but Cassandra had inserted herself into that scenario. She walked over to her phone and dialed the number she’d stored in preparation for her visit.
“Winston Gardens,”
She smiled. “Hey Jamal, it’s me…”
He sighed. “Cass, damn…for real?”
“You know I don’t give up easily,” she told him.
“I’m working,”
“I want to place an order.”
Jamal frowned. “For what?”
“A nice arrangement for my room.”
“The Sable Inn already orders arrangements for the rooms,” he told her.
She shrugged and looked at the arrangement on the bureau. “I want a nicer one.”
“That’s the nicest I have,” Jamal replied. “Call another florist.”
Cassandra paused. “When can we talk?”
“I’ll hit you up before you leave,” Jamal answered. “Once we talk, it’s a wrap.”
She smiled. “Okay, baby.”
“Keep that shit up and we won’t talk at all.”
Cassandra sighed. “Fine, I’m not going anywhere.”
“And if you bother Lorna, I will be on your ass. Do you feel me?” Jamal informed her.
“Nobody cares about your little unrequited love,” Cassandra said firmly. “I’m here for you.”
“You should let that go,”
She turned to the window again. “I have to show you how much you really meant to me.”
“Just live your life, Cass,” Jamal replied. “That’s all in the past. Leave it there.”
Cassandra took a breath. “You don’t think of me?”
“No.”
The one word, simply stated without hesitation, stung her long after he’d ended the call. Angrily, she made another call to her assistant.
“Book me here at the Sable Inn for the next two weeks.”