Page 12 of What She Deserves
5
After dinner laughter filled the living room of Rashad’s friend and business partner, Alex Barraza. His wife, Sherry, who also worked at the company, sat on the chair opposite, next to Alex. The couple married six months ago, in August.
They’d both been crazy about each other from the moment Sherry started at Newmark Advisors. In the beginning, neither had acted on the very powerful attraction between them. Rashad was glad they’d finally worked out the secret Alex had been keeping from her. Sherry was a good woman, and her relationship with Alex had brought Rashad closer to her, as well.
Sherry, whose light brown skin always glowed like she’d recently come out of the sun, placed a hand on Alex’s thigh. “I’m feeling kind of tired, so I’m going to leave you two alone and head to bed. Rashad, you have to give me the recipe for your coffeecake.”
“I’ll email it to you when I get home. I found the recipe online but tweaked it a little bit and added my own secret ingredients.”
“Yes, I get to know the secret ingredients.” Sherry rubbed her hands together, which elicited a laugh from both men. “Can’t wait. Have a good night.”
“Good night,” Rashad returned.
As Sherry stood, Alex’s fingers held onto hers, their touch lingering. Tonight they’d shared their great news with him. Sherry was three months pregnant, which wasn’t obvious yet and easily hidden beneath her loose-fitting blouse.
After she slipped from the room, Alex said, with amusement in his eyes, “She’ll be out later after you’re gone to finish off the rest of the cake. She was being polite earlier.”
Rashad chuckled.
Alex was not only his closest friend, he considered him a brother. They’d known each other since they started college at eighteen, bonding over the fact that neither had any close family they could depend on. Alex had traveled from Colombia to attend school in the States, and Rashad had more or less been fending for himself for a large portion of his life.
Forced to grow up fast, a stint in foster care taught him that he was better off on his own, and by the time he was sixteen, he lived alone, renting a room in a boarding house while working part-time and going to school. In college he met Alex, and they formed their own family with a third member—Heather. He still missed her, but she was in a better place now.
Back when they’d been roommates, Alex would do the cooking and Rashad baked. He learned to bake from his foster mother and was really good at it. People saw the finished product as art, but for him the best part was in the creation. The need for precision in baking made him concentrate and had a calming effect, something his foster mother had noticed early on. So she’d continued to teach him, and he’d found a hobby that not only filled his belly but calmed him when he was upset.
“Can I get you anything else to drink?” Alex asked in accented English, eyeing Rashad’s empty bottle of beer on the table beside him.
“No, I’m good. What’s the word on Lion Mountain Vineyards?”
Rashad had been the one to suggest they start Newmark Advisors, and now they were likely on the cusp of another business venture—one that Alex had suggested.
Alex sat forward, his hazel eyes brightening with excitement. “They’re not going to let anyone know they’re selling the place for at least a few more months, so we have time.”
The owners of Lion Mountain Vineyards were retiring, but neither of their two children were interested in taking over, which presented an unexpected opportunity for Alex and Rashad.
Alex and Sherry had visited the award-winning Georgia winery several times, and on one of those visits his friend learned about the owners’ desire to sell. Though neither he nor Rashad had any experience in wine-making, they believed they could manage the property as long as the employees remained, which by all indications they planned to.
“Excellent. That gives us time to do a little research and get our finances together.”
Alex nodded. “When can you get up there?”
“Not for a few weeks, at least.”
With tax season coming up, a lot of their clients were reaching out for ways to maximize tax advantage savings by contributing more to their IRAs and 401k’s. Newmark Advisors was also busy providing information about trading losses and gains from the previous year for clients not savvy enough to download the data from the company site themselves.
“They don’t know me, so I’ll go up there as a customer and check the place out.”
“Good idea, but I’m sure you’ll like it. Might be the kind of place you can take one of your women,” Alex teased.
Rashad gave a short laugh and brushed imaginary lint from his jeans. He was used to being teased about his reputation as a ladies’ man, but tonight the joke didn’t quite land because he wasn’t in the mood for that kind of ribbing. Not after what happened between him and Layla last week.
Concerned eyes trained on Rashad’s face, Alex asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Come on, it’s me. You’ve been off this week, and tonight too. It’s Friday night and you’re eating dinner at the home of your married friends.”
“We haven’t hung out in a while outside of work,” Rashad said with a shrug.
