“Get out of this house!” I pushed Jacob toward the door. He struggled to stay inside, but he didn’t put up much of a fight. He obviously was waiting on Destiny to defend their love that I was sure had come to an end.
“I’m warning you to keep your hands off me, Montie,” Jacob said, as his eyes traveled to mine. “She’s not unconscious anymore, so she can speak for herself.”
“She sure can. Tell him to take his ring and get out of here, Destiny! He’s clearly hard of hearing.” I raged toward her and stood face to face with the woman who seemed incapable of defending my honor. “Tell him, Destiny.” I stopped short of pleading with her.
“Montie, I can handle it!” she said and moved away from me.
And Destiny did handle it. She tossed me out and allowed Jacob back in. I never thought I would be able to view that day in a favorable way until I was blessed with the sight of Lissa McDaniel’s smile. Her face as I drove her to what she thought was just another business meeting confirmed that she was sent into my life to be my peace in the storm. My worst day set up the best day of my life. The day I would ask the woman that was the glue to my broken heart to be my wife.
Justine was sentenced to twenty-five years in the murder of her ex. DNA evidence and her lipstick being found on the scene was the nail in her coffin. I waited for six months for her to produce the child that she claimed to be three months pregnant with when she revealed it to me. According to the prison, she wasn’t even pregnant to begin with.
Destiny moved back to Atlanta, giving me more time with my children. It hurt me to see her so sad about Jacob’s indiscretion. I did everything in my power as a friend to cheer her up. I took the kids more often than weekends, which Lissa loved. I figured giving Destiny time to heal without having to be caregiver to our children was what she needed most from me.
A few times when I came over to pick up the children, I saw Jacob staked out in front of her house. He’d get out and jog up to the door behind me hoping she would talk to him. She always slammed the door in his face without giving him a chance. He told me the story about how Justine tricked him into thinking he was making love to Destiny. I don’t know why, but I believed him and prayed that he would be able to get through to Destiny. Now that my heart wasn’t intertwined in their relationship, I was able to admit that I understood the love they had for each other. An even deeper burning desire for Lissa lived in me.
I pulled into a parking space at Holistic Medical and hopped out. I opened the door for Lissa. “Honey, this is everything I’ve ever dreamed of. We’re going to go in here and make the biggest deal of our lives. I hope you’re ready to have the world at your fingertips,” I said.
“I’m ready for it all. We deserve this,” she said, picking up her briefcase and striding beside me confidently.
We entered the building and went to Mr. Bromage’s office. Indeed, we signed a five-million-dollar deal to design medical software that would be distributed to all Holistic Medical offices and their parent company. When the contracts were signed, Mr. Bromage asked if we could go into the testing area and look at a glitch he had encountered. “I have it loaded on this computer, so I can show you best,” he said, pointing to the computer in the center of the room.
I pulled the chair back for Lissa to sit down and she moved the mouse. The screen saver had the word “WILL” in all caps, but the screen would not change over.
One by one workers from Holistic Medical walked in with shirts that read: YOU. MAKE. ME. THE. HAPPIEST. MAN. ALIVE. AND. MARRY. ME. LISSA?
When she realized what was happening, she turned to me and I was on one knee.
“Lissa, I love the way you handle the less fortunate. It’s exemplary of how you handle my heart, which was so depleted when I met you. Your past roughened you around the edges, so you didn’t even know what to think of our relationship back then. I’m just glad I could capture the beautiful passion within you and bring it out for you to enjoy again. We deserve to relish the spoils of our love for the rest of our lives. We are the example of a power couple, because we powered each other up…rebooted the love that we both tried to bury within. So today I’m asking will you, many years from now, still handle my heart with care that restores it? Will you, in years to come, allow me to live to bring that beautiful smile to your face? Lissa, will you marry me?”
Her head nodded vigorously as tears flowed from her eyes. I stood and kissed each tear away.
“Yes! I will marry you, Montie. I will marry you,” she exhaled as the room erupted in sniffles, applause and ye
lls.
THE END, for now.
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Excerpt from Breathless 5: Loving Jacob
Chapter One
Destiny
Like You Used To…
I looked at the old, run-down building Tasha had called a lounge and shot a disgusted look in her direction. “I don’t know why I let you talk me into coming out here. I should be in bed after the long day I had with Junior’s game. I have to get up and take care of my family tomorrow.”
I had no clue what it would take to make the latter come true. With the raging feeling in my gut that Jacob had done the unthinkable with Justine, I wouldn’t rest well until the truth was unveiled, or the nagging thought got put to bed, once and for all.
“It may look a little worn on the outside, but trust me Destiny. This is exactly what you need right now,” she assured me. “And, you’ll see it’s not a bad place when we get inside,” she added as she strutted ahead of me wearing a pair of cute, six-inch heels and with a head of curls cascading down to her ample bottom. My cousin, Tasha Baker, had dolled up like she stepped off the pages of a fashion magazine, just to take a walk through the pearly gates of hell.
“Tasha, I don’t want to be here!” I protested.