Page 2 of No Ordinary Love

"They were expecting you an hour later," Jerome informed me in explanation.

"My flight landed early."

I had flown back from a conference in Chicago where I'd presented. I'd been on such a high all the way back to Charleston because it had gone so well. I knew that if I kept publishing the way I was, I'd get my tenure sooner than later. I'd been dying to share my success with Lucas, which was why I didn't text him. I wanted totellhim to his face.

I'd parked my car at long-term airport parking, which was what I drove to Battery in, which was a blessing, as I could get the hell outfast. My suitcase was still in my car, thank God. If I'd brought it in, Jerome would have taken it upstairs by now and left it in Lucas's room, where we were going to stay for the weekend to celebrate Rena Covington, his grandmother's seventy-fifth birthday. That would have only added to the trauma.

"Mama, let it go, will you?" We both heard Lucas snap, loud enough for the voice to carry all the way down the expansive hallway. "Amara is my girlfriend, and that's that."

"But you don't love her, and honestly, Lucas, none of us like her. She's so blue-collar and doesn't fit into our world," Patsy cried out. "She doesn't know how to dress, how to behave. Look at her and Kath, can you seriously tell me you can't see who's right for you, for the family?"

My father, Marcus Gallo, retired as a sergeant from the NYPD. I was proud of him.Verymuch so. He'd worked hard to put me through university, and it meant the world to him (as it did to me) that his daughter held a PhD in Health Communication &Public Relations from the University of Maryland. Blue-collar, we might be, but we worked hard to make our lives what they were.

We hadn't inherited fuck all. Our success was based onsweat and blood.

"Damn it, Mama," Lucas's voice was distinctly higher, frustrated.

Jerome looked at me, silently asking, "Do you really want to hear more of this?"

"Admit it, she doesn't fit!" Patsy shouted angrily.

"Fine, she doesn't," Lucas roared.

We heard the sound of something crashing.

"Get rid of her, son."

"I don't want to hurt her."

"You'll hurt her more if you continue this. Don't you see?"

Jerome was right. I didn't need to hear any more of this. I walked to the main door.

"Professor," Jerome called out as I stepped out onto a beautiful Charleston spring day. "Youdofit with Lucas."

"It's just the rest of the Covington family, then?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

"And Lucas is a Covingtonfirst, isn't he?"

"Yes, Professor, he is."

"Thank you, Jerome. Can you not…," I knew it was foolish to ask him not to tell Lucas I was here and what I'd overheard because I knew where the butler's loyalties lay, "Can you give me a head start? A couple of hours?"

"Yes, Professor, I can do that."

My hands shook as I drove to our townhouse, the one we'd lovingly bought and moved into just four months ago, right at the start of the New Year.

I had insisted that I pay my half of the townhouse. Lucas had not understood, saying we could get a much nicer place if I'donly let go of my pride. I hadn't. Now, I'd have to ask him to buy me out. I'd sunk all my savings into the down payment and all my heart and love into living with Lucas.

We'd both contributed to the art on the walls; his pieces were more expensive than mine. Most of the furniture was his, too. He had refused to consider any of my so-called IKEA pieces, even though they weren't actually from IKEA. He had agreed to live in the city instead of Battery, where the Covington Estate was—so in return, I'd accepted his designer furniture. It had been an easy compromise.

I called Basil Dearden, a close friend and a colleague. I'd need a place to stay until I sorted my life out.

"I thought you were going to be with Mister Fancy at the Covington hoopla this weekend," he chuckled when he answered the phone.

"Can I stay with you for a few days?" I asked, finally noticing my tears because I needed to wipe them off to see the road. How long had I been crying?

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