Take This Man

Chapter Five



Elyse fell back to sleep after Adam left. When she awoke, much later than usual, she felt off-center and disoriented. She went for a long, punishing run.

When she got back to the hotel she was exhausted, sore, and starving.

Jason occasionally made the not-terribly-original observation that she ran to keep one step ahead of her problems. As Elyse showered and the steaming water pelted her aching muscles, she wondered what she"d been running from this morning. Her decision to take Adam to bed?

No. Even if last night was a mistake, she didn"t regret it. What troubled her now was she wanted more.

But there was too much hurt between them. If she refused to see Adam again, last night could be dismissed as a one off. If she met him this evening at Hanover"s, she"d only be giving him—and herself—

false hope.

It was better this way. She would spend no more time with Adam during the remainder of her stay.

Regardless of how much she wanted him.

Restlessness and hunger drove Elyse from her room. She tapped on Jason"s door, but there was no answer, nor had he left any messages on her cell. He must have spent the night with Coop.

It was past lunchtime, and though she passed several cute cafes, Elyse decided to pop into the local Barnes and Noble. Though Albany had its share of charming independent bookstores as well as chains, it had been a while since Elyse had treated herself to 49

a nice long browse.

She was sitting at a small table with a couple of magazines, a cinnamon scone, and a tall chai when she glanced up. A pretty African-American woman was holding a beverage in one hand and a book in the other, gazing at her.

“Elyse?” The woman"s long slender braids swung against her shoulder as she tilted her head, narrowing her eyes in speculation. “Elyse Zemanski.

It is you, isn"t it?”

“Yes.” Recognition hit Elyse in a flash. “Latisha!

Hi!” “Well, hi yourself.” The woman looked her up and down. “My goodness, it"s been a while, hasn"t it?

Since high school.”

Elyse nodded. She and Latisha Hobbs had become friends when Elyse first came to live with her grandmother. Her mother, Sunny, had sent her there “just for a little while,” when she planned to follow her latest boyfriend out to Hollywood. He was in a band sure to hit it big.

“Hey, before you know it, I"ll be rubbing elbows with all those movie stars,” Sunny had laughed. “As soon as we"re settled, I"ll send for you.” Unfortunately, the boyfriend never hit it big.

Even if he had, it would have made no difference. He and Sunny parted ways before they ever reached California.

The “little while” turned out to be much longer than Elyse, and certainly Grandma Wanda, ever anticipated. Wanda was not pleased to have to care for her irresponsible daughter"s child, but didn"t want the neighbors to think she"d let Elyse go to foster care—“strangers.” But strangers might have been more welcoming than Wanda Zemanski was.

It was a pretty grim household, with Grandma Wanda doling out affection stingily, if at all. The only thing that made life bearable was the 50

friendship of another girl who lived in the neighborhood, and the warmth of the girl"s family.

Latisha was that girl. She was a couple of years older than Elyse, but that didn"t matter when the two girls became friends, during the summer Elyse moved in with her grandmother. When autumn came, they attended the same middle school, and later the same high school. The friendship fell apart when Latisha"s family moved to a different neighborhood and she began attending a private school.

“So what have you been up to?” Her old friend asked, pulling Elyse out of her memories of the past.

Latisha took a seat, and they filled each other in on their current lives. Latisha was a school nurse.

“At our old alma mater—Summit High. Remember that place?”

“As if I could forget.” Elyse rolled her eyes. “But didn"t your dad want you to be a doctor?”

“Oh, yes,” Latisha sighed. “He was pretty angry at me, didn"t even speak to me for a while when I told him I wasn"t going to. But he made his peace with it, and me. And I love nursing. And believe me, it"s never dull at the high school.”

“I"ll bet.” Elyse felt embarrassed as she mentally compared Latisha"s accomplishments to her own lack thereof. Her old friend had a college degree, and a respected career helping others. She was stuck in dead-ends-ville, with neither.


As the two women caught up a bit more, Elyse learned that Latisha"s mother had passed away a few years ago.

“I"m so sorry,” she said. “She was a wonderful lady. I still remember those oatmeal cookies she used to make.”

“Nobody made an oatmeal cookie like my Mama,” Latisha agreed. “You know, I have her recipe, but they just don"t taste the same when I 51

make them.”

She also mentioned her father was living in Florida now and her brother Juwuan lived there as well. “And don"t think I didn"t know you had a big fat crush on my know-it-all big brother,” Latisha teased.

“Yeah.” Elyse sighed dramatically. She remembered Latisha"s tall handsome older brother.

“But he never gave me the time of day.”

“Sorry to say, you missed your chance. He"s married now, with two little boys. That"s why I"m here today.” Latisha tapped the cover of the book she"d been holding. “My nephew"s birthday is coming up, and I thought I"d buy him a book. He loves dinosaurs.”

Elyse smiled and nodded. She had no siblings, no nephews or nieces to buy gifts for, no family at all except for her mother. Sunny, who still drifted from guy to guy, though they grew tougher to find the older she got. Sunny, who never did send for her daughter the way she promised, who allowed her to grow up in the home of a woman who resented Elyse"s very existence.

“How is your grandmother?” Latisha"s voice was hesitant. Wanda Zemanski had never really approved of her granddaughter being friends with a black girl, though she never came out and directly said so. Instead, she sent many poison-tipped unsubtle hints Elyse"s way.

“Dead.”

Latisha"s eyes widened in surprise, perhaps not so much at the news as at the abruptness of the announcement.

Elyse shrugged in apology. “I know I sound cold.

But I never loved my grandmother, and she never loved me. She only took me in out of ?duty." I find it very hard to pretend I mourn her.” Hard to mourn and harder even to forget some 52

of Wanda"s “loving” comments. “Your mother just takes off and goes on her merry way. Doesn"t even think about how it affects me. No. Nobody thinks about me. You certainly don"t. You"re just like her, a self-centered brat.”

Latisha nodded, her face serious. “It"s sad she couldn"t show you the love you deserved. She must have been a very unhappy woman.”

“I guess,” Elyse said grudgingly. “She sure made other people unhappy.” She noticed Latisha had used the word couldn"t rather than wouldn"t. Was it possible Grandma Wanda had softer feelings, but didn"t know how to express them? Not that it mattered now.

“How were you able to manage after your Gran passed?”

“I"d already moved out when she died,” Elyse answered. “Shortly after I graduated high school. I couldn"t wait to turn eighteen, to legally be on my own. I was working and going to school. So it didn"t much affect me at all. The bank had a lien on her house, she had nothing much to leave anyone, and what she did have, she left to my mom.” She smiled bitterly. “Wanda was always complaining about her heart. I never thought she had one. But I guess she did after all—it was a heart attack that killed her.” They were silent for a moment. Elyse wondered if her friend was shocked by her lack of sympathy.

Latisha came from a warm and loving family—

maybe she couldn"t fathom anything else.

“You and your family were all that got me through,” Elyse told her. “You guys made it bearable for me. After you moved away—” She stopped and bit her lip. What was she doing, dragging up all these hurts from the past?

“I always felt guilty about that,” Latisha admitted. “I mean, I was glad when my dad got the promotion and we moved to a nicer neighborhood.

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But I always felt like I deserted you—”

“That"s crazy,” Elyse scoffed, though in fact she had felt deserted. How stupid. Though she"d made other friends in school, none of them took Latisha"s place. “You weren"t responsible for me.”

“I tried calling, you know. A few times after the move. I wanted to keep the friendship going…”

“You called? I didn"t know.”

Latisha sighed sadly. “The first few times, your grandmother told me that you weren"t home. She said she"d give you the message, and you"d call me back.”

Anger rolled through Elyse in a wave of red.

“What a liar. She never gave me any messages.” Wanda could have easily intercepted those messages. When she lived with her grandmother, she spent as much time as possible out of the house—at school, in the public library, or at Latisha"s house. When she had to be home, she spent most of her time in her bedroom, engrossed in her fantasy novels. In them, she would get lost in imaginary worlds and escape the real one.

The other woman nodded. “I was afraid it was something like that. But then I wasn"t sure—I thought maybe you were angry and didn"t want to speak to me.”

“I can"t believe what she did.” Elyse shook her head, and let out a long breath. “Well, actually I can.” “The last time I called…” Latisha paused, clearly debating whether to finish the sentence.

“Tell me, please.” She steeled herself to listen, even as she dreaded what she might hear.

“She told me to stop bothering you, you didn"t want to hear from me anymore, and she was glad my family had moved so her granddaughter wouldn"t have to spend any more time with someone like me. ”

“My God.” Elyse shook her head, sick with 54

disgust and shame. “What a bitch.” She had no doubt what her grandmother meant by that remark.

“I"m so sorry.”

“Afterwards I was so angry, I made up my mind never to give that woman another opportunity to humiliate me. So,” Latisha looked down at her cup,

“I never called again.”

Elyse was so angry at her grandmother, and so ashamed, it was difficult to speak. “I"m sorry, I—” Latisha held up her hand to forestall any further apology. “It wasn"t you—it was your grandma. Like I said, she must have been a very unhappy woman.”

Latisha had more sympathy for Wanda than Elyse did. She didn"t think she would ever forgive her grandmother for helping to destroy the friendship.

But Elyse had done her part, too. Time to face it.

“I never even tried to call you. I know it"s dumb, but I did feel…deserted when you moved. It brought back a lot of bad feelings, like when my mother dumped me off with Wanda. I guess I was mad at you, and mad at myself for caring.” She shook her head, remembering the resentful girl she"d been.

“I"m sorry.”

“It"s sad things happened the way they did,” Latisha said. “But it"s not all bad. Who"d have thought we"d ever reconnect like we have, here at Barnes and Noble?” She lifted her cappuccino in a toast.

Elyse raised her own cup of chai. “Who"d have thought?”

Suddenly Latisha"s eyes lit up, as she looked past Elyse"s shoulder and waved to someone. Elyse turned to see a tall curvaceous redhead standing inside the bookstore entrance.

The redhead lifted her hand in acknowledgment and headed to the table. When she reached them, 55

she gave Latisha"s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Hi, babe.” She nodded at the dinosaur book near Latisha"s elbow. “Find something nice for Lonnie?”


“Yep. I think he"ll like this.”

“Good.” Her hand drifted down Latisha"s arm.

She looked at Elyse and smiled. “Hi.”

“Tania, this is a friend from my old neighborhood—Elyse Zemanski.”

“Hey, how are you?” Tania pulled out a chair and sat down, her brown eyes full of mischief. “So you knew my girl back in the day, huh? Ooh, I can"t wait to get all the details.”

“No details,” Latisha responded, giving the redhead a quelling look. “Elyse, this is my partner, Tania Talcott.”

It took a moment for the full meaning of that term to click with Elyse. She hoped she didn"t look too surprised. “Hi. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you,” Tania responded. If the word partner wasn"t enough of a clue to the nature of the women"s relationship, then the expression on Tania"s face when she looked at Latisha, and the soft but possessive touch on her arm, surely was.

“What are you drinking? It looks good.” Tania stood, swinging her purse over her shoulder. “I"m going to get myself something. Be right back.” The other two watched her head up to the counter. When Elyse looked at her friend, Latisha was smiling.

“So. Have I shocked you?”

“Shocked? No,” Elyse said. “I guess a little surprised. I never realized you…”

“Neither did I,” Latisha admitted cheerily. “At least not back when you and I were friends.”

“So how long have you two been…?”

“Almost two years,” Latisha answered, a sigh in her voice and a dreamy look on her face that Elyse envied. Latisha lowered her voice. “We"re talking 56

about making it permanent.”

“That"s great.” She was happy for her friend, but at the same time thinking, two years. Two years ago Latisha found the love of her life, just as Elyse lost hers.

Latisha quirked an eyebrow. “You sure are thinking hard about something. Care to share?”

“I don"t know, I guess I wish I was as brave as you.”

“I don"t think I"m especially brave. What do you mean?”

“Well, you know, being with a woman, and people judging you…”

“Oh, people might talk about you for a minute, but they"re more interested in their own lives,” Latisha said. “They forget about you soon enough. As far as judging goes, last I heard that"s God"s job, no one else"s.”

Even back in the day, Latisha Hobbs had never been a coward. She lived her own life, and didn"t let fear rule her.

Elyse wished she was as fearless. If only she were brave enough to reach for what she wanted.

Without fear of making a mistake. Fear of being hurt.

If only…

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