“That’s what you told him?” Santana seemed perplexed.

“Yeah.”

“And you can write that report in twenty-four hours?”

“I’m old school; you know this. I write with pen and paper first then type up my reports in my processor. The report is done, I’ve just got to type it up. Which is what I’m doing now.”

I sat across from Santana with my netbook in front of me and a yellow legal pad with all my notations copied. We were in the coffee shop across the street from the Houston Report.

“I could take this thing back to him tonight if I wanted to. Julian has emailed the photo’s we are using, so it’s all a matter of organizing this perfectly.” I typed as I talked.

“Julian,” Santana sang batting her eyes. “I’m surprised you got anything done with him around.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Oh, she admits it,” Santana joked. “That’s something new.”

I blushed and rested my fingers across the keyboard. “Santana, I don’t know what happened. I’m… I’m…”

“You’re in love,” she said.

“How’d you know?”

“Oh girl, I’m your best friend. It’s written all over your face, and if Julian is anything like Josiah, then Oh-Behave,” she said mocking Austin Powers.

I burst into laughter. She shook her head up and down steady. A text message chimed, and I pulled my cell out.

I’m taking you to lunch, where are you?

“See that right there,” Santana said. “It’s a dead giveaway.”

“What is?” I said as I texted Julian back my location and informed him Santana was with me.

“That glow happens every time you talk about him.”

I blushed again, and butterflies churned in my belly. Just then Santana gasped.

“What?” I asked.

“Did you guys have sex?”

“Sssh, keep your voice down,” I said glancing around quickly. “And yes, we had sex,” I bit my bottom lip. “Many times.”

Santana squealed, and I closed my eyes and laughed, embarrassed but elated at the same time.

“I’m so glad you got them cobwebs removed girl,” Santana said.

My expression grew serious. “Whatever,” I smirked.

“I’m just saying, for a minute there I thought you would turn into a nun.”

We fell into a heap of giggles and my eyes watered.

“Shut up!” I swatted her. “You make me so sick sometimes.”

“Yeah, well, get used to it because where we’re going, you’ll be seeing me on a regular.”

“I’m so excited about it, too,” I confessed.

“Desiree…”

I whipped my head to the person who’d called my name and froze. After my initial shock, I sucked in a frustrated breath.

“You just won’t let me be will you?”

Before Cameron could respond, my eyes landed on the man standing next to him. Like an apparition, he stood before me, and I’m sure my face drained of all heated blood cells.

“Daddy?” I choked, as the words croaked from my tongue. “Oh… my… God…”

“Baby girl I can explain,” my father started.

I held my hand up to silence him. “You don’t get to call me that. You don’t get to call me anything. What are you doing here and with him!?”

My heart drummed in my chest. These two appearing together had to be the cruelest of jokes. They were both trying to give me heart attacks. Of that I was sure.

“Throughout the years, I’ve been keeping an eye on you,” my father said, “and your sister. It hasn’t been easy since you live in two different states. I hadn’t been able to watch you while I was watching Claudia in Chicago, so I thought you and Cameron here were still together. I reached out to him, first, wanting to reconcile with you. I thought you guys were married, and I knew it would be easier if your husband explained my reappearance before you met with me. If you decided to.”

I was baffled; my mind in utter shock. “Cameron is not my husband,” I said through clenched teeth.

My father nodded. “I know that now, even though he led me to believe otherwise.” This time my father glowered at Cameron.

“I’ve told you, I didn’t mean to. I wanted to reconcile with Desiree as well. I figured we could do it together.”

I tossed my hands up and quickly began gathering my things. I snapped my notebook closed practically throwing it in my briefcase along with my notes. I grabbed my café expresso and stood to my feet.

“Wait, please,” my father said.

I shook my head. “You’ve had over a decade to come to me,” I snapped. “A decade! I looked for you every night for ten years!” I stuttered as tears ran down my cheeks. “Now you want to reconcile?” I pointed first at my father. “No to you! And damn sure no to you!” I said, pointing to Cameron.

“Desiree!” They said in unison.

“Stop, okay just stop it!”

Cameron stepped in front of my father. “You can’t keep this up,” Cameron said reaching out and grabbing my arm. “You have to listen to me!”

“Get off of me!” I yelled. Our raised voices brought the attention of the waiter and manager.

“Excuse me, I’m sorry for the confusion but I’m going to have to ask you all to leave,” the short, stocky brunette said.

I pushed off Cameron, wiggling my arm free. “Don’t ever touch me again!”

“Desiree—”

“You heard the lady.”

Everyone turned to stare at Julian. He past Santana approaching like a brooding bull with brows knocked together and flared nostrils. He stepped in front of me, and Cameron took a step back. So, did my father.

“Don’t ever fuckin touch her again,” he said through a locked jaw. The distress I felt just moments before diminished like it had the last few run-in’s I’d had with Cameron.

“Baby,” I laid my hand on his shoulder to calm him. “I’m okay, let’s go, I can’t stand here another minute.”

It was true. Although Julian had completely consumed my madness, I was still on edge. I turned making sure to slip my hand in his and pull him away as I walked.

“Oh wait,” I stopped and turned back for Santana who was right behind us.

“I’m here, go,” she said shooing me forward. We exited the building going for the parking lot.

“Bella.”

I stopped my escape and looked up at Julian expectantly.

“I once asked you if you wanted to see your father again, and you said you weren’t sure.”

I sighed and leaned my weight into a hip. “And?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to reconcile?”

“How much did you hear?”

Julian pulled me into his arms. “Bella, I love you…”

A heavy flutter spread over me. “I want to be with you,” he continued, “but you need closure.”

My pulse quickened.

“Now’s your chance to get it.”

I was shaking my head no. “I can’t.”

“You must.”

Tears stained my eyes, and I buried my head in his chest as he held me securely.

“I don’t know if I can.” My voice was shaken. I’d had many conversations in my head about what I would say to my father if I ever saw him again. But now that I had the opportunity, the words wouldn’t come to me.

“You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to,” Julian’s dark, soothing voice beat through my ear. “But for your sake, not his, listen to what he has to say. He may just answer some of the questions you have.

I calmed, like a child who’d been given a pacifier. Silently, I agreed.

“Stay here. I’ll be right back okay?”

I watched him walk away.

Santana stepped to my side. “If at any time you want to pass out, I’ll try and catch you. I ain’t making no promises though.”

I smiled and looked at her, tossing my arms around her shoulders in a snug hug. She hugged me back and we had a laugh. I turned back anxiously just as Julian reappeared with my father by his side. I breathed easy even though my gut tightened. They stopped in front of me and Julian moved to the side of me. I scanned my father’s face. The years had not aged him gracefully. Stress lines sat on his forehead and beneath his eyes. His skin appeared to be dry and rough. I inhaled and exhaled even breaths. My father attempted a smile but it was more of a faltering crack of a grin.

“Thank you for speaking with me,” he said. “It has been too long since we’ve been apart and I know, that’s no fault of yours.” He swallowed before moving forward. “To plainly put it, back then when we were a family, I’d gotten mixed up in a gambling ring.” My eyes stretched but I didn’t say a word. “The year before my disappearance—”

“You mean the year you left,” I said sharply.

“Yes, that’s what I mean.”

“You called it your disappearance as if you were kidnapped. And you weren’t, you left on your own accord and didn’t look back.”

“You’re right, it was the only way to keep my girl’s safe. I would’ve never just left without reason.”

“What do you mean to keep us safe?”

“I’d got into some business dealings with some shady people. At the time, I didn’t know they were shady. I thought we were all just brothers tryna come up in the world, you know? I had you guys and your mom to look after. The late nights and early mornings at my job were coming between your mother and me.” He paused then pushed forward. “The situation I’d gotten into escalated. I was giving money from our savings to one of these so-called friends and they were hustling me when I thought they were paying off my debt. When I found out I still owed every single dime, I went after this friend, but he was in the wind, and I was stuck with a bill I couldn’t pay off.” My father blew out a deep breath. “I know you want to know everything but some things are better left unsaid.”

I stared at him understanding his reference but wanting to wave it off at the same time.

“I had to leave,” his eyes pleaded with me for sympathy. “I couldn’t have you girls in harm’s way, so I left to work off my debt.” I opened my mouth to speak but my father cut me off. “Somethings are better left unsaid.”

“You lied to me.” I was holding steady, but didn’t know how much longer I could. “You told me, you’d be back later that night. You lied to my face knowing you had no intentions of coming home.” I folded my arms across my chest.

“Desiree, I’m sorry. I couldn’t tell you what was going on. I had a hard-enough time as it was dealing with the fact that I had to leave you all.”

“Oh, you had a hard time dealing with it, huh,” I said, my response snarky. “What about the hard time I had, dad? Dealing with the fact that I was the oldest, my mother was distressed, my sister was confused, and I had to lead us when I had no idea how to do so? I had to become tough even though I was weak most times. It resulted in me constantly picking at my sister whenever I felt like she wasn’t doing something perfectly.

I felt it was what she needed. I pacified my actions by calling it tough love. But you know what, in actuality, I was unerringly picking on myself. I saw myself in Claudia; the little girl who wanted to get things right to please my family. So, I picked on her like I silently picked on myself. And once I realized what I was doing, I did one of your numbers daddy and I left. The pressure I felt after your departure was too much for me. So, I ran like the wind.”

My eyes traveled from my father to the front door of Starbucks. It opened, and Cameron traipsed out the door with a coffee cup in hand. He saw us standing in a circle then his eyes landed on me.

“Shortly afterward, I fell in love with someone. We dated, and decided we wanted to be together. He gave me promises of forever and I believed that’s what he wanted. “My eyes misted over and I clenched then unclenched my jaw. “But it wasn’t. I had to find out the hard way, and it tore me apart.” I wiped the tears before they fell and looked away from Cameron back to my father.

“My trust in men has been at an all-time low. I honestly never thought I’d love one again. But this year, I had the pleasure of meeting someone who connected with my soul on a level I’ve never known before. When he’s around, my spirit is refreshed on a supernatural level. I know without a doubt we belong together.”

I reached out and grabbed Julian’s hand. When our fingers met, the clandestine heat that always pooled over me didn’t disappoint. It saturated my bones and I breathed in a soul snatching breath.

“You know when I said I wanted to be with you,” Julian said grabbing my full attention. “I meant… forever…” A single silver box was produced. It sat beautifully in satin material wrapped in an elegant bow in the palm of his hand.

My eyes popped, and I gasped instantly. My hand flew to cover my mouth. Concurrently tears sprang to my eyes, and I cried profusely like a newborn baby.

“You’re killing me, Bella,” Julian said. “I had other plans in mind to ask you this, but right now seemed like as good a time as any.” He shrugged and pulled his lip between his teeth. “Besides, I was out of patience anyway. I want you… I need you to be my wife, mi Amor.”

Julian popped the top and the three-diamond trilogy ring sparkled. That didn’t help his chances of getting an answer because I was crying harder now. Everything about this instant was crazy, but at that moment, there was no caution in sight. Heartily, I nodded back and forth.

“Is that a yes,” he asked.

“Yes!”

“Excuse me,” the Starbucks restaurant manager took that time to interrupt us. “Is there a problem out here?”

“No,” my father said. “My daughter here just accepted a marriage proposal. He smiled brightly, pride affluent in his eyes. Surprisingly I didn’t feel scolded by his use of the word daughter.

“Oh, congratulations to the lucky bride!” The manager rejoiced.

“On the contrary,” Julian said, “I’m the lucky one.”

Julian stepped forward, sealing us so close friction popped between us. When his lips landed on mine, I hurriedly kissed him back. He laughed against my mouth at my hungriness, and I found myself the aggressor.

“If you keep this up, Bella, we’re going to give our guests an eye full.”

I heard him, but I couldn’t move away from him and I was glad when he didn’t either. Standing there in the parking lot of Starbucks, with my father, Cameron, Santana, and the manager looking on, we kissed, forever sealing our destiny’s together for all time.