Her Good Thing Read online

  Marshall turned up his nose at the thought of stepping foot inside one more booty-call bar. Through the years, he and Kevin had met a lot of women and had some wild times in one nightclub after the next, but Marshall was thirty-two years old now. And he just couldn’t deal with one more superficial woman in his life. Not after the incredible moment he shared with Danetta...he wanted more. “Maybe some other time, Kevin. I have early meetings tomorrow. I’ll just head on home.” And he had a lot to think about...like the fact that he now wanted more from Danetta than friendship, but for the first time in his life, he was scared to go after what he wanted, for fear of losing his best friend in the process.

  Chapter 11

  “One monkey don’t stop no show,” Surry said as she, Danetta and Ryla sat in the hair salon waiting to get their do’s done.

  “What about two clowns? If both show up to the same party, that can stop a show...especially if one needs gas money and the other keeps forgetting that he’s married,” Danetta said.

  “Yeah, that wasn’t even cool. I wish Marshall had punched that guy in the face, right in front of his wife,” Ryla said.

  Danetta waved off that suggestion. “Girl please, I wouldn’t want Marshall to get into a fight over me.”

  “I dated this guy once who picked fights with any and every guy who even looked my way. It was kind of cute for about a week, then I was over it,” Surry said.

  “It takes you about a week or two to get over every man you date,” Ryla said with a laugh.

  “Well, at least I go out and try to find love,” Surry argued. “You won’t even give a guy a chance, so don’t talk about me, Ryla Evans.

  “Hold on, I thought we were talking about my problems. Can we please focus?” Danetta asked.

  “Girl, quit crying. You emailed us a picture of this guy you’re going to lunch with tomorrow. And let me just say...if he has a brother, send him my way,” Ryla said while fanning herself with her hand.

  Danetta wanted to tell her friends about the kiss she’d shared with Marshall. But she was just too embarrassed to admit that she’d allowed Marshall to lead her around like a cat chasing after a spoil of yarn, only to get to the end of it and find a pity date waiting.

  Men were such jerks, Danetta thought as she sat under the dryer fuming. She entered the dating scene again because she wanted a man to call her own. But all she’d found so far was the ‘can-I-borrow-some-gas-money?’, and the ‘oh-did-I-forget-to-mention-I-have-a-wife?’ kind of men. The two losers she’d been on dates with were seriously making her reconsider giving guy number three a chance. But since she wasn’t about to sit at home and continue dreaming about a man she couldn’t have in the way she wanted him, Danetta was not going to let two losers stop her from taking another chance on love.

  The sun was out and since it was almost seventy degrees in late February, Danetta decided to walk over to the Chinese restaurant that was across the street from her office complex. Her date was waiting on her and Danetta had motivated herself into high hopes for this new guy. But she wasn’t prepared for the piece of eye candy she found herself sitting across the table from. The brother could give Shemar Moore lessons on exploiting his pretty boy face and rock-hard body. “So, Stan.” What was a pretty boy like this doing with a name like Stan? “What do you do for a living?”

  “I’m pretty much a jack-of-all-trades,” he said as he slurped his soup as if no one ever taught him proper soup etiquette.

  “A jack-of-all-trades, huh? So, what company do you work for?”

  He waved off that notion. “I work for myself. I tried working for the man, but it’s just too confining for me...all of this, ‘be on time...no, you can’t leave early’ stuff” He rolled his eyes. “I can’t deal with people like that. So, now I get up when I want to and handle the jobs I want to handle.” He leaned into her and deepened his voice to the point of seduction as he said, “I’m very good with my hands, you know.”

  No, no, no, she thought, trying not to let the disappointment settle in. This man was too pretty to be worthless. This was not happening to her.

  He leaned back in his seat, grabbed a toothpick off the table and picked his teeth. When he looked back at her, he said, “I bet you have real good health insurance with your company.”

  Her sandwich was inches away from her mouth. She put it back on her plate. “Excuse me?”

  “Aw baby, don’t sweat it. You’re looking for a man, I get that.” His eyes perused her body. “I like what I see, so I’m down with the program, but the woman I hook up with has got to have a good health insurance plan on her job.”

  She was so tongue-tied that all she could say was a lame, “Excuse me?” again. Then she looked around the restaurant to see if cameramen were about to pop up from somewhere to let her know that she was being punked. She had seen a reality show on television where the guy would pick up a nice-looking woman, and he’d think he’d just hit the jackpot and then she’d come out of her bipolar bag on him. Maybe this guy worked for that dating reality show.

  “Don’t front, baby girl. You need a man and I need health insurance. I figure we can help each other out.”

  Her cell phone rang, saving her from having to respond to Mr. I-Want-a-Woman-with-Health-Insurance. Without even looking at the caller ID, she hit talk. “This is Danetta Harris.”

  “Ms. Harris, this is Ericka Winston at Memorial Hospital. Sarah Davis is in the emergency room and you’re listed as her next of kin.”

  “Oh my God. What happened to her?”

  “We’d prefer to discuss this in person. Can you come to the hospital?”

  Danetta’s hand went to her heart as she shot up from the table. “Is she dead?”

  “No, ma’am,” the nurse said quickly. “She was alert enough to provide us with your information. But you may want to get here quickly.”

  She heard the words as if they fell out of her mouth in slow motion. Danetta looked around the restaurant as if someone there could change the reality she was currently dealing with.

  “Are you able to come to the hospital?”

  Jolted back, she said, “I’m on my way.”

  She hung up the phone and started walking away from the table, then she remembered that she wasn’t alone and turned back to her date. “I have to go.”

  He stood up. “That phone call sounded serious.”

  A look of compassion crossed his handsome face and at that moment, Danetta wondered if there was more to Stan than his pretty-boy looks and carefree lifestyle. She didn’t have time to explore it, so she shoved the thought aside. “My aunt’s in the hospital. I have to go see about her.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Go see about your aunt, I’ll take care of things here.” He sat back down and waved toward the waiter.

  As Danetta rushed to the front of the restaurant tears streamed down her face. She was not prepared for this at all. If Aunt Sarah died, Danetta would be devastated. Danetta’s thoughts drifted back to the other night when her aunt complained of numbness in her arm. Why hadn’t she taken her to the emergency room right then and there? Please be okay, Aunt Sarah, just please be okay.

  As she reached out to open the restaurant door, someone touched her shoulder. Danetta thought it was Stan and was a bit annoyed, because he knew that she was in a rush. She brushed the hand off her shoulder and said, “I can’t talk now, Stan,” and kept walking.

  “Danetta, Danetta, it’s me.” He grabbed her shoulder and turned her around to face him.

  “Marshall! What are you doing here?” she asked while wiping the tears from her face.

  Looking a bit sheepish, he told her, “I like the food here. Why are you crying? Did that guy do something to upset you?”

  Danetta saw the look of cold hard anger on Marshall’s face and immediately tried to dispel his anger. “No, my date was okay. It’s
Aunt Sarah.”

  “What’s wrong with Aunt Sarah?”

  Tears broke through once again and ran down her face. “I don’t know. I have to get to the hospital.” She walked out of the restaurant, headed toward her office building.

  Marshall caught up with her. “You’re in no condition to drive. Leave your car at work and I’ll take you to the hospital.”

  She glanced at the street. Traffic was heavy. Danetta knew she’d probably have to wait a good five minutes before the light changed so she could cross the street. That was too long to wait. But she didn’t want to impose on anyone either. “I can’t ask you to do that.”

  “You didn’t.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her toward his car. “Stop trying to be superwoman and let me help you.”

  Grateful for the help, Danetta allowed Marshall to lead her to his car. They sat in silence as Marshall broke the speed limit to get them to the hospital. He pulled up at the emergency-room entrance and Danetta jumped out while he parked the car. The emergency-room doors opened and Danetta rushed in.

  She hadn’t been in a hospital since her mother died, but as the smell of the place hit her and she scanned the unchanged room, it was as if she were seventeen again. Her mom had been so weak and ill by the time they arrived at the emergency room, that Danetta had had to get a wheelchair and push her up to the admittance window. Her mother had been hooked up to an IV and then wheeled from one testing room to the next. And with one simple word their lives had changed forever...cancer.

  Pauline Harris hadn’t complained about her lot in life, not even when the doctors told her that the cancer had spread throughout her body and there was nothing they could do. All she’d done was ask that they bring another bed into her hospital room. She wanted to spend her final days with her daughter. And that is what Danetta had done. She spent every single night in that hospital, laughing and joking with her mother. Praying with her, getting her water and ice, and feeding her when Pauline’s arms and legs had stopped functioning. Once her mother had passed, Danetta made a vow to never step foot in that hospital ever again. She had kept that vow until today. But she hadn’t really broken her vow yet, because Danetta hadn’t managed to walk any farther than the entrance of the emergency room before she felt herself hyperventilating.

  “Danetta, what’s wrong?” Marshall asked as he entered the hospital.

  She turned to him, feet still stuck in place. “I can’t go in there.”

  He put his hand on her arm, guiding her forward. “Come on, D, we need to check on Aunt Sarah.”

  Danetta smiled. From the time she introduced Marshall to her aunt during their college days, Marshall had begun calling her Aunt Sarah—as if she were a part of his family, too. Danetta had met Marshall’s family also, but she had never been as comfortable with them as Marshall was with Aunt Sarah. She allowed him to move her over to the admittance window but she couldn’t get her thoughts together enough to speak.

  “We’re here for Sarah Davis,” Marshall told the woman behind the glass partition.

  She keyed the name into her computer. “She’s in bed four,” the nurse said as she hit the buzzer for the emergency-room doors.

  The doors opened and Marshall ushered Danetta in. Tears flowed down her face as she passed each room. She was thankful that her aunt’s room was so close, but that didn’t stop her waterfall. They entered the room and Danetta had to put her head between her legs as she tried to breathe again. Marshall rubbed her back and soothingly said, “It’s okay, D. Aunt Sarah is right here.”

  But that was the problem. Her aunt was hooked up to an IV, tubes and wires were all over the place. An oxygen mask was over Aunt Sarah’s face. Danetta stood back up. Her aunt’s eyes were open. She looked weak, but hadn’t died, thank God. Danetta rushed over to the bed and put her hand on her aunt’s arm.

  Aunt Sarah reached up and tried to wipe the tears away. She pulled the mask from her face, and with a husky voice said, “I’m sorry.”

  Danetta closed her eyes, willing herself not to be such a baby. When she opened them again, she said, “Don’t you worry about me. You just need to concentrate on getting better.”

  Aunt Sarah looked toward Marshall and said,

  “T-thanks for being with her.”

  Marshall stood behind Danetta, putting his hands on her shoulder. “I wouldn’t be anywhere else, Aunt Sarah.”

  Aunt Sarah smiled as she put the oxygen mask back on and closed her eyes.

  An orderly stepped into the room. He looked at Sarah and said in a soothing manner, “I’m going to take you for a little ride, okay?”

  Aunt Sarah nodded.

  “Where are you taking her?” Danetta demanded.

  “The doctor ordered a couple of tests.”

  Danetta knew all about tests and the bad news that came afterward. She marched to the nurse’s station and told the woman behind the counter, “I need to speak with my aunt’s doctor.”

  “The patient’s name?”

  “Sarah Davis, she’s in bed four.”

  The woman reviewed her information and then said, “If you can just have a seat in the waiting area, the doctor will let you know something as soon as we get the test results back.”

  “I’d rather wait for my aunt in the room.”

  “That’s not possible. The doctor has strict orders for limited visits at this time.”

  Danetta was getting ready to argue with the woman, but then Marshall put a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, Danetta. I’ll sit out there with you.”

  Marshall’s hand was in the small of her back as they walked back into the waiting area. She was a nervous wreck, but with Marshall’s reassuring presence, she began to relax.

  They sat down and then Marshall asked, “Are you okay, D? I’ve never seen you so frazzled.”

  Marshall was used to her take-charge, take-no-prisoners attitude in business, but this was personal. She put her hands in her lap as her shoulders slumped. “I used to live in this hospital.”

  His brow lifted at that puzzling statement.

  “I spent the night here with my mom for about thirty days straight. She died in this hospital.”

  He pulled her into his arms and held on to her for a long moment. When he let her go, he asked, “Is that why Aunt Sarah apologized to you?”

  She nodded. “I haven’t been in this hospital since my mom’s death. All of that happened thirteen years ago. But when I walked through those doors, I was seventeen all over again. I never thought I’d be back here.” His cell phone rang. It was his secretary, Mallory Daniels. He answered and told her to only transfer important calls to his cell phone. For anyone else, he was unavailable.

  When he hung up, Danetta said, “You don’t have to stay here with me. Go on back to work.”

  He stared into her eyes. “I’ll do no such thing. I’m here as long as you need me.”

  “I know I seemed like a hysterical fool earlier, but I’m calm now. So, you don’t have to worry about me. And anyway, I’m sure you have better things to do than hang around a hospital.”

  “Do you remember what I told you when you joined me at Windham Enterprises?”

  Was he kidding? She remembered almost everything about this man. “You said, ‘From now on, it’s you and me against the world.’”

  His eyes softened as he took her hand in his and leaned back into his seat. “I still feel that way, D. I could no more leave you now than I could forget to breathe.”

  His eyes were closed as he leaned his head against the back wall. She took that opportunity to stare at him. Marshall had no idea what his words meant to her. For so long Marshall had only thought of her as a friend, or a little sister... but wasn’t acting like that now. Could he really want something more from her? Would he ever kiss her again?

  He patted her hand. Danetta averted her eyes
as he said, “Aunt Sarah is going to be all right. She’s got too much life in her to give up now.”

  Danetta could feel her eyes begin to water again. “Can we talk about something else, please?”

  Marshall sat back up in his chair. “Yeah, there is something I wanted to ask you.”

  “What?” she asked, grateful to be able to think about something else.

  “Where’d you meet pretty boy?”

  “Who?”

  “Don’t play dumb. Where did you meet that guy you went out to lunch with today?”

  She smiled despite herself. “Oh, Stan.”

  “Yeah, Stan. He said the name as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. “Did you meet that bozo on the internet, too?”

  She shrugged. “He emailed me after seeing my photo on a matchmaking website.”

  “You looked pretty good together when I saw you at the restaurant.”

  “Is that why you suddenly decided to have lunch at a Chinese restaurant when you don’t even eat Chinese food? Were you spying on me?”

  “I like shrimp fried rice.”

  Giggling for the first time since she’d received the call about her aunt, Danetta said, “You like shrimp fried spying.”

  “Whatever,” Marshall said without confessing to anything. “Just tell me...do you like the guy or not?”

  “Stan is looking for a woman with—” she did quotation marks with her fingers “—‘health insurance’, so he can keep working his flex hours. I don’t think things will work out between us.”

  “He told you that?”

  “In so many words.”

  Marshall laughed.

  She shoved him. “It’s not funny. I honestly don’t know what’s wrong with men these days.”

  “Okay, well I know that Mr. VP of Sales was a loser, but what about the guy who drove the girly car?”

  She rolled her eyes. “He asked me for gas money.”