Page 20 of Five Midnight Moment
“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you.”
"Alright, everybody,” Dwayne called out. “This beautiful woman is Valencia Townsend. For all my single cousins, she’s mine. That means a polite hello and a handshake. That’s it.”
Laughter broke out and a few of them yelled out comments.
“You’re lucky you said something.”
“I guarantee she’ll like me better.”
Valencia placed her hand on her hip. “Are you out of your mind?”
“Yep. Out of my mind in love with you.”
She had no comeback for that one. A young woman dressed to kill in a body-hugging red dress, shot Valencia a glare and stormed out of the room. She opened her mouth to ask Dwayne about it and her cell chimed. She dug it out of her pocket and read the text from her friend. “Leah is outside.”
“Okay.”
They went to let her in and another round of introductions ensued.
Leah whispered to Valencia, “Girl, there are so many fine men here.”
“Yes, there are.” But she only had eyes for one. She chatted with his sister and brother-in-law for a few minutes, then Dwight came over.
“How’s it going, Valencia?”
“Good. You have a big family.”
Dwight glanced around the room. “We do. I’ve never seen my brother so happy. Whatever you’re doing, don’t stop.” A grin tilted the corner of his mouth.
His smile took her by surprise and softened the usually hard lines bracketing his handsome face. “He makes me happy, too.”
“I know you’re not over here hitting on my woman.” Dwayne draped an arm around Valencia’s shoulder and kissed her temple.
Dwight just shook his head and walked away.
“You two must have done that to a lot of girls growing up.”
“I plead the fifth,” he said with a straight face.
Valencia laughed.
“Let’s go outside on the deck for a minute.”
They left through the kitchen’s sliding glass door and stood at the railing overlooking a huge backyard with a gated in pool on one side and outdoor kitchen on the other. The temperatures had warmed to the sixties, so it wasn’t too cold. Dwayne stood behind her with his arms around her waist. “Your family is off the hook.” The love that flowed between them was evident.
“We are a lively bunch, but I wouldn’t trade any of them for the world.”
Valencia glanced up at him over her shoulder. “And the woman in the red dress?”
“Her name’s Leticia and she’s a family friend. I’ve known her practically all my life and she’s like a sister. In fact, she and Shelby are best friends.”
“Does she know that?” She recalled the hurt and angry look on the woman’s face.
“Yes. I’ve never led her to believe that she was anything but a friend. I’m sure she’ll be okay after I talk to her.”
She doubted it would be that easy, but since he knew the woman better, she’d let him deal with it. They fell silent and she was content to stand there with him. She didn’t know how much time had passed before he stepped back.
“Valencia.”
