Mamas pearl, p.1
Mama's Pearl, page 1
Mama’s Pearl
Bette Ford
Copyright
This e-book is licensed to you for your personal enjoyment only.
This e-book may not be sold, shared, or given away.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the writer’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Mama’s Pearl
Copyright © 1996 by Bette Ford
Ebook ISBN: 9781625174253
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
No part of this work may be used, reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without prior permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
NYLA Publishing
350 7th Avenue, Suite 2003, NY 10001, New York.
http://www.nyliterary.com
Dedication
To Sarah Gary, whose kindness and help over the years have been greatly appreciated.
To Rosie, a loving lady whom I am blessed to call Mama. To The Moton Sisters, with deep love and devotion for your never-ending support: Aunt Lee, Aunt Nora, Aunt Faith, Aunt Retha, and in loving memory, "Auntie” Susie Moton.
Chapter One
Sarah Mosley Dean had awakened early with a grade-A headache. She didn’t need a doctor to tell her it was caused by stress. She had been back in Oakland, California, outside of San Francisco, for several weeks now. Every day she awoke with the same question uppermost in her mind: Was this the day she was going to come face to face with Kurt Rogers?
Rather than lie in bed, she had dressed and busied herself with tending to the roses in the expansive gardens of her home. Afterward, she prepared breakfast and readied her granddaughter’s things for the day ahead. Sarah was sipping a well-deserved cup of coffee when Mandy raced in.
“Granny, I’m ready.” Mandy Dean’s velvety brown eyes sparkled with excitement.
“You look so pretty. Come here, let me tie that sash.” Mandy looked like the precious doll she was as she ran to her grandmother and guardian. She could hardly stand still in her excitement. “Pretty pink sash for a pretty little girl,” Sarah said, feeling her fatigue slip away. “Would you like me to put pink ribbons in your hair?”
“Please!” Mandy practically jumped up and down.
Sarah laughed. “There. I think you are all set for your first day of school. You’re not going to cry, are you?”
“Oh no, Granny. I’ve been waiting and waiting for school to open. Do you think the other girls will like me?”
“Of course, they will. Just remember to play nice…share toys.”
Mandy nodded, her dark brown braided hair bobbing on her thin shoulders.
“Ready?” Sarah knew that Mandy needed friends. She needed to be around children her own age. The little girl spent far too much time with adults.
“Yes! Yes!”
They had moved cross-country from Washington D.C. to California in order for Sarah and her sister, Cassandra, to get their new business off the ground. There were endless details that needed their attention as the two sisters worked toward the realization of their dream: to convert their grandmother’s old, rambling rooming house into a country inn.
Sarah took only a moment to glance in the mirror. She was dressed in her customary jeans and pink cotton knit shirt. Her small feet were encased in pink canvas sneakers.
Today, Sarah felt every one of her forty-three years. Perhaps it was the reality of her five-year-old granddaughter starting school…starting school without her mother, which had Sarah feeling a little down. No, she would not think of Emily today…dear Emily, her baby, her sweet pearl. Emily had passed away and Sarah was raising Mandy alone. No, not alone. She had her sister, Cassy. What would she have done all these years without Cassy’s loving support?
The sisters had remained close, even though Cassy, six years younger, had chosen to stay on with their grandmother, except for her college years at that fancy eastern culinary arts school.
“Hurry, Granny. We don’t want to be late.”
“I’m coming.”
Sarah followed Mandy down the long central hallway toward the wide, sunny foyer. She paused to glance at the mail stacked in neat piles on the high counter that would eventually serve as the reservation area. Mandy and Sarah shared the two-bedroom apartment in the rear corner of the large, sprawling house. Cassy’s apartment was next door.
“Well, look who’s off to school,” Cassandra Mosley remarked, coming out of the small room off the foyer that they had turned into an office. She beamed at her niece. “Don’t you look pretty. Granny fixed your hair?”
Mandy ran to Cassy and gave her a hug, before she whirled around proudly, giggling with pleasure. “I’m ready, Auntie!”
Smiling, Cassy handed Mandy a shiny red apple. “Here’s something for your teacher.”
Sarah laughed, shaking her finger at her sister. “You’re spoiling her.”
“Children need a little spoiling. How else are they going to know they’re loved?” Cassy gazed at her sister with concern. “You’re looking a bit tired. Didn’t sleep well last night? Want me to take the baby to school?”
“I’m not a baby, Auntie. I’m a big girl.”
“Absolutely,” her aunt agreed quickly. “Sar?”
“I’m fine. Just a small headache. No, I don’t need you to fuss over me. You’ve got enough to do around here, with hiring kitchen staff and waiters for the dining room. How many interviews do you have today?”
“Too many to count. With any luck, I’ll be done before the end of the week.”
“See you later. Come on, Mandy. Oh, Cassy, I plan to stop at the produce and meat markets to finalize the contracts.” Sarah’s degree was in accounting and business.
“Be good,” Cassy called to her niece, wondering if she was wrong for not warning her sister. She knew Sarah was going to be upset. Oh, what difference would it make, anyway? Oakland’s black community wasn’t that large. Sooner or later, those two were bound to run into each other.
“Granny, will there be lots and lots of kids?”
“Yes, darling, lots and lots.”
Emily would have been so proud of her baby, her sweet pearl, Sarah thought as she blinked back the tears. It still hurt to think of Emily, although she’d been gone for five years. Sarah didn’t start the engine until they were both strapped into their seats in her bright red van.
“Will there be lots of toys?”
Sarah smiled fondly. “Yes, and you’re going to have so much fun. Just think, you’ll be able to play and sing and draw pictures and maybe even paint one,” she reassured Mandy gently, her gaze traveling lovingly over the familiar landscape.
The property was conveniently situated within walking distance of Lakeside Park. The renovations to the huge old house were going even better than expected. Both sisters had sunk their life’s savings into the project, knowing it was a big gamble, but they were determined to succeed. Their Parkside Garden Inn would bring the beauty and tranquility of the country to the heart of the city.
The years had been kind to Sarah. They’d given her the self-confidence and poise she’d lacked as a girl. She had left Oakland brokenhearted. Thank goodness that was all behind her. She was determined not to look back. The past was in the past and couldn’t hurt her anymore.
Nevertheless, there was one person whom she never again wanted to see. Unfortunately, time had not let her forget the hurt and pain Kurt had caused. Bitterness and resentment lingered in spite of her best efforts to put it behind her.
“We’re here!” Mandy sang, her little face alight with glee.
“Yes, we are,” Sarah echoed, reluctant to go inside the impressive single-story brick structure.
They’d driven past the elementary school every day so that Mandy would be comfortable with the setting. It was Sarah who was feeling a little sad. She didn’t want to leave her granddaughter in the care of strangers. Since Mandy’s birth, they had never been apart. Sarah had cared for this precious grandchild as lovingly as she had cared for her dear daughter Emily. Mandy needed to grow intellectually, emotionally, and socially in order to reach her full potential. While Sarah’s intellect told her one thing, her emotions were relaying a different message. She could tell from Mandy’s enthusiasm that she had done an excellent job of preparing her granddaughter for the separation. Had Sarah overlooked herself?
Kurt Rogers stood on the steps welcoming the students and parents back for the new school year. He’d known most of the adults his entire life. Many of them had gone through school with him, while he had taught some of the others during his nearly twenty years in education.
California was home. Kurt had spent most of his forty-three years in and around Oakland. He’d only left California when he’d entered Kentucky State and later gone into the military. He’d done his postgraduate work in administration and eventually been appointed principal of Frederick Douglass Elementary School.
“Hey, Kurt”
“Morning, Jill.” Kurt offered an easy smile. “Hi, Tommy. Glad to be back in school?” he asked Jill’s eight-year-old son. The boy took after his mother in looks, but his father, Thomas, Sr., in disposition. He was always in the principal’s office for one prank or another.
“Yes, sir,” Tommy said with a decided twinkle in his brown eyes.
Jill and Kurt exchanged amused smiles before mother and son moved on into the building.
“Mornin’, Kurt” Barbara Lang beamed up at him with a flirtatious grin as she led her twin nieces toward the school. Kurt and the petite black beauty had dated a few times, nothing serious on his part. Kurt knew she felt differently.
He was well aware of the fact that he was considered by some to be a great catch. He was not in the marriage market however, having for many years derived comfort from his single status. Kurt had his reasons for not exposing himself to the kind of vulnerability and emotional pain that could accompany love.
“Did you have a nice summer?” Barbara quizzed in an effort to prolong the conversation.
“Busy one.” Kurt smiled down at Latausha and Lanetra. The summer was the time he indulged himself. He was able to devote his complete attention to his horse ranch. Breeding and raising quarter horses had always been a passion of his. He was proud of the reputation his ranch held for producing some of finest animals in the state.
Glancing at his watch, Kurt mentally organized the duties that awaited him. Greeting the students and their parents was a task he particularly enjoyed. He absently watched a youngster skipping alongside a tall, shapely woman. They were half a block away. There was something in the way the child held her head that stirred his memory. A memory of the beautiful teenage girl with the sweet smile...a girl who had sent his heart racing and his blood pressure soaring whenever she was near. That girl had been Sarah Mosley. The same girl who had broken his heart into so many pieces he never thought he’d feel whole again. As he watched them approach, he realized it was the woman who caused his heart to skip a few beats and his breath to lodge in his throat. The hair was different. The body was now ripened and womanly.
As she approached, Sarah mouthed a hasty “Good morning” to him. It took Kurt a few seconds to realize his imagination had not been playing tricks on him.
“Good morning, Sarah. It has been a long time.”
Having recognized him the moment she’d gotten out of the van, Sarah had hoped to pass by undetected. No way on earth could she have forgotten the tall, muscular man who had fathered her child and broken her adolescent heart.
“How are you, Sarah?” His voice was deep and gravelly. He couldn’t help it, for his lungs felt as if he’d forgotten to breathe.
“Kurt,” she acknowledged. It felt strange, but she managed a smile. His deep bronze African good looks, lean middle, and broad shoulders had not changed. His thick, black close-cropped natural had grayed at the temples; his black eyes and wide mouth were still as engaging. Did the females continue to fall all over themselves to get next to him? Did he…?
“Naturally, I’d heard you were back in town,” Kurt continued, breaking into her thoughts. “I assumed it was just for a visit with your sister. How is Cassandra?”
“Just fine,” she murmured.
“Was I wrong? Are you back to stay?” he asked, his heart pounding loudly in his own ears. She wasn’t wearing a ring. Perhaps it was true that she was divorced.
“Yes. Cassy and I are converting the old place into a country inn.”
Annoyed by the delay, Mandy tugged on Sarah’s hand. “Granny, we’ll be late,” she said in a loud whisper, shifting from one foot to the other.
The warmth and love in the smile she offered the child caused his pulse to quicken. She was more beautiful than he remembered. While he had remained a confirmed bachelor, she had gone on to marry and have a child. He hadn’t heard about this pretty little baby doll. She looked just like her grandmother.
“Excuse me. Mr. Rogers, this is my granddaughter, Mandy Dean. Mandy, Mr. Rogers.”
Kurt bent down and shook the little girl’s hand. She blushed prettily, trying to hide behind her grandmother. “How old are you, Mandy?”
“Five years old. I’m going to kindergarten,” she announced proudly, clinging to Sarah’s hand.
“Well, I may see you again. I am the principal of this school.”
“Princ…What is that?”
“I help Mrs. Penn. She’s your teacher. You’re going to like Mrs. Penn. She’s very nice.”
Mandy blinked. Her large brown eyes sparkling with excitement, she smiled sweetly up at him for the first time.
Kurt realized with a start that Mandy Dean would one day follow in her beautiful grandmother’s footsteps, breaking men’s hearts wherever she went.
Sarah had aged gracefully, he decided. There was not a bit of gray in her thick, black sculptured natural. Her skin, a flawless peachy brown, looked as soft as it had when he’d fallen in love with her back in high school. Her large, expressive eyes were as velvety brown as the child beside her. Her figure had changed, however. Her breasts, though still high, were full and temptingly lush, while her hips were shapely. And her waist was so small that he was sure he could still span it with his hands. Goodness, those sexy long legs that had once opened wide for him and held him sweetly were unfortunately covered by denim. Kurt swallowed a groan. He found himself responding to her in the natural way a man responds to his woman. The trouble was, she was no longer his.
So many years had passed since he’d last seen Sarah, since she had walked out of his life. He’d never forgotten the sheer pleasure of being deep inside her, of loving her. One thing evidently had not changed: He was still as dangerously attracted to her as he had been as a randy teenager. Unfortunately, he had been more than hungry for her...he had been deeply in love with her. Sarah had taken his heart, stomped on it when she left town without a word, then crushed it when she married another man soon thereafter.
“It was great seeing you again, but I must hurry. I don’t want Mandy to be late on her first day.”
Kurt nodded and found himself saying, “Stop in my office on your way out. We can catch up on each other’s news.”
Before she could respond, someone called his name, diverting his attention. Sarah took advantage of that moment to hurry away.
Once she had Mandy happily settled in her classroom, Sarah hurried from the building, careful to avoid the school’s administrative offices. The last thing she wanted was to reminisce with Kurt Rogers.
Of course, she had known they would eventually come face to face. But why today of all days? She didn’t need this! Why hadn’t her sister warned her? Cassy had found the time to tell her that he was still unmarried.
Kurt was a member of one of the most prestigious African-American families in the area. He had broken her heart and left a teenage Sarah to cope with her pregnancy and care for their child alone. No, she and Kurt didn’t have a damned thing to discuss at this late date. She had raised and lost the child he had never known. What in the world did they have to talk about?
Her hands were trembling so badly that it took her a moment to calm down enough to start the van. She was more shaken than she cared to admit. An elementary school principal. Mandy’s principal. Why hadn’t Cassy told her?
Sarah sighed wearily, knowing she had no right to blame her sister. She had been the one who refused to discuss the man. The few times his name had been mentioned, it had been by Cassy, never by Sarah. No, none of this was Cassy’s fault. Sarah knew she had only herself to blame, for she had failed to put the past behind her.
She managed to conduct business that morning, but with a great deal of difficulty. “Forget him,” Sarah told herself over and over again as the day progressed. With their grand opening approaching, there was so much that needed to be taken care of. Every detail had to be checked and double-checked. The inn would be born out of love and the years of happiness the sisters had known in the grand old house.
They had spent many a weekend scouring the area, looking for just the right pieces that would create the homey but comfortable country look they desired. They attended garage sales and estate sales, and visited antique shops up and down Interstate 580. Rather than hire a landscaper, the sisters themselves lovingly cared for the extensive garden that had been their grandmother’s pride and joy.
Grandmother Mosley seemed pleased by the changes they had made. Rather than let them buy the house, she had given it to them when she decided to move back down south to live with her daughter, their aunt. Adding enough bathrooms and remodeling the kitchen had been the most costly expense. They had sent loads of pictures showing their progress, but so far Grandmother Mosley would not budge from the comfort of North Carolina.
