Page 46 of The Best Man: Unfinished Business

Chapter Twenty-five

Robyn

At Robyn’s Nest, Robyn carefully counted out the cloves of garlic on the prep counter for Friday’s special.

Mia was doing her schoolwork on a stool at the long family-style table and Haniah was moving quickly from chore to chore, cleaning and arranging all the place settings for the restaurant’s dinner service.

Lately, everything felt much more critical, to get the flavors balanced and the ambiance just right for the patrons.

There wasn’t much financial wiggle room now, with the leak in the roof and the shoddy refrigerator.

It all added pressure to maintain and, better, grow the existing base of customers.

But still, there was no straight-line route to finding a year’s worth of rent anytime soon.

And sure enough, at just about the same time as his regular visit, the landlord, Aboagye, sauntered through the door with his round belly leading the way, followed closely by his bellowing voice echoing through the still empty dining room.

“Hello dere, sweetness,” he called out. Robyn hated that pejorative name. There was nothing sweet about Aboagye or the way he treated her as a tenant. Instead of fixing the issues with the place, he’d opted to hold the repairs over her head. To his greeting, Robyn barely responded.

“How can we help you today, Aboagye?” Haniah swept in from one of the corners to meet Aboagye before he passed the first set of tables. Her tone was pleasant but all business. Robyn perked up one ear to hear the exchange.

“Ah, just checking on my prime real estate today. I understand this past weekend this place was full of high-paying customers with great appetites,” he bellowed. “Business must be good, eh? So you must have something for me, then.”

“Now, Mr. Aboagye,” Haniah said gently, “would you rather come here to fill your pockets, or your belly today? Because we are preparing a delicious rasta pasta, and it demands all our attention.”

Aboagye’s big laugh reverberated throughout the space.

“A meal well-earned by fixing the leak in the roof. And my pockets? My pockets are crying, they are so hungry. Right, little one?” Aboagye directed his voice in Mia’s direction.

Robyn watched Mia turn to look at him, clearly unsure of who he was or what he wanted.

Robyn set the knife down hard on the counter and pulled off her cooking apron.

All the better that her hands were covered in garlic—she’d see if it worked as it was supposed to on vampires.

Swiftly, from the kitchen, she marched into the dining room and took her place next to Haniah.

“Aboagye. This is not a negotiation. You said you’d work with me as long as I showed good faith. I’ve paid through the month. And you know that,” Robyn reminded him.

“I am losing faith, sweetness,” he said. “And I can no longer make exceptions because you make great jollof or smile pretty. This is not America.”

“I know where I am, Aboagye, and you can’t go reneging on your word because you feel like it.

Not to mention I’m still paying for repairs on the food truck you sold me and the roof—if it rains God forbid—it might as well be open.

As the landlord,it’s your duty to make the repairs. You know that and we knowit too.”

He leaned in just as she finished speaking.

Close enough that his large belly almost grazed her hand.

“Perhaps, Ms. Robyn, the repairs could be made for a paying tenant. You”—he pointed a thick finger—“may be moving out very soon. Perhaps even before the next rain.” Robyn averted her eyes and head away from his finger to compose herself, and she caught a glimpse of Mia’s little head perked up and watching the exchange with concern.

Robyn turned back to Aboagye with resolve.

“Are you threatening me?” Robyn leaned in, unsure of what she was inviting as a reply.

Over Aboagye’s shoulder, she saw the unmistakable tall frame of Kwesi walking in, holding a bouquet of flowers, his third of the week, smiling as if all was well with the world.

Aboagye turned quickly, as it was hard to miss Kwesi’s enthusiastic greeting.

“Well, hello there! Am I interrupting anything?” Kwesi walked over to Robyn’s side and offered her the large assortment of flowers that he was holding.

“I’ll take those,” Haniah said, sweeping the flowers into her arms and heading back toward the kitchen. Aboagye sized Kwesi up quickly with a visible swallow and change of demeanor as Kwesi towered over him and looked him in the eye.

“What say, bruv?” Kwesi extended his hand. “Kwesi Emmanuel.”

Robyn breathed a release of tension from her body.

“Kwesi, this is Aboagye,” Robyn said. “He rents us this space for Robyn’s Nest.”

Kwesi’s face lit up with instant recognition. “Ahhh, the man with the plan for fixing the roof, amongst other things I presume. Pleasure.”

Aboagye’s face scrunched up. Robyn had to stifle a laugh.

Haniah had been advocating for Kwesi ever since Robyn told her of his “day after” disclosure following the first night they spent together.

Haniah, like Thema, seemed unfazed to learn about his family life.

“Give him a chance, Robyn,” she’d said. “It’s very helpful to have a good man in your life.

And his situation is not as uncommon as you might believe.

” And true to his word, he’d made it a point to show up daily at Robyn’s Nest, always with a gift for Mia—a book or musical playlist or her favorite, chocolate!

—and most times with flowers for Robyn, plus two helpful hands and listening ears.

Robyn had been enjoying the attention, but in this moment, his presence was appreciated far beyond the visceral attraction she still felt.

Aboagye, obviously uncomfortable, reached out to shake Kwesi’s hand.

“The pleasure is mine, brudda,” he said tersely.

“Well, sweet—Err—Rob—Ms. Stewart, I must be going. I have many other properties to tend to today.” He reached into his pocket to pull out his cellphone, although no one heard it ringing before.

“Oh. So soon? I was hoping we could have a little chat.” Kwesi leaned in, putting his hand firmly on Aboagye’s shoulder.

“I’ll walk you out, bruv,” Kwesi said and extended his arm toward the door.

He looked Robyn in the eye, “Excuse me for a second, would you, Ms. Stewart? Hello, Mia! Fancy seeing you here,” Kwesi called out.

“Enjoy that chocolate! But make sure you ask your mum when you can have it, alright?” Mia smiled and nodded back as Kwesi walked ahead of a much tamer Aboagye to grab the door and escort him outside.

It wasn’t until he was fully gone that Robyn remembered to turn to Mia, who was sitting attentively at the family-style table, attentively examining her chocolate bar.

Aware now that she’d witnessed the whole exchange, Robyn quickly walked over to her daughter, calling out to her.

“Mia, honey, wait until after dinner to eat your chocolate. How is your homework going?”

Mia barely looked up, but put the chocolate bar on the table in front of her. “Fine,” she said, kicking her legs underneath the high stool.

“Do you…want to go into my office and study?” she asked.

She wanted to give Mia agency, to not alarm her if she wasn’t alarmed.

Lately, however, her daughter had become more of a mystery—much less straightforward than the little girl she used to be.

No longer could Robyn assume that her tight-lipped response was all innocence.

No telling how much she saw or what it meant to her when Aboagye addressed her directly.

He had no right. She just hoped that she gave enough openings for communication if Mia neededit.

“Nope,” Mia said, craning her neck toward the window. She seemed more interested in what was happening between Kwesi and Aboagye outside. Robyn stepped over, obscuring her daughter’s view.

“Good. Make sure you check everything twice. And finish up.” Robyn made sure to make eye contact. Mia put her face back in her studies, seeming to find focus in her homework papers again.

“Okay.” Robyn gave Mia a lingering look, but when she began to scribble on her paper in front of her, she felt satisfied enough to turn and walk away.

She’d check on her later. As she walked, Robyn did her best to hide her close attention to the two men outside the window by wiping imaginary dust off the table.

She could see Kwesi gesturing a lot with his hands, calmly but firmly, looking like a man who was accustomed to tough negotiations.

He cut Aboagye off several times, so mostly the other man listened and nodded quickly.

The exchange lasted no more than ninety seconds but spoke volumes.

Kwesi had shown up at the right time, and had been consistent thus far, just as he said he would be.

The moment softened Robyn’s resolve, allowing her to take it as a sign that maybe she should give him a chance, to stop writing the future from her own American mind or what was left of that part of her, and to let things unfold as they would, here in her new home.

After all, she had come here for a new life and the new experiences that came along withit.

Aboagye and Kwesi shook hands and Aboagye swiftly moved along.

Kwesi watched him go. Quickly, Robyn retreated to the bar and busied herself.

As Kwesi returned inside the restaurant, she made eye contact and summoned him over.

Kwesi headed toward her, passing Mia’s table with a smile, and settled in at the bar.

Robyn poured him a beer and leaned over the counter to speak to him intimately.

“Well, I’d ask you how’s your day, but—” he began.

“It’s better now,” Robyn interrupted him. “I’m glad you came by.” She smiled at him, heart warm and open. “So…what did you say to him?”

“I just told him that I thought he was taking advantage where he didn’t need to.

And if he didn’t know a person to fix the problem, that I do.

I also told him that I’m a real-estate developer and we will certainly cross paths again when I’m looking for building managers. He should do the right thing.”

“What’d he say?”

“He was noncommittal, but I told him he should come back when he has a plan and not before. That’s all.”

Robyn smiled at the sound of that.

Kwesi’s smile got just a bit sexier as his mouth turned up slyly at the corners. “I don’t like the idea of anybody trying to take advantage of you. And so I wanted to do what I can to make sure that doesn’t happen. I’m here for you. And my offer still stands to help you with the rent.”

Robyn drew in a sharp breath.

“You know the answer to that,” she reminded him.

“I do.” He nodded resignedly.

Robyn smiled a tired smile at Kwesi. His words and actions were appreciated, and she wanted all that he was offering, just…

“I’m…scared, Kwesi,” she said, not quite meaning to be so blunt.

“I…just can’t afford to make any big mistakes.

I don’t want to be played for a fool.” She looked him in his eyes.

His expression softened and he reached for her hand, taking her fingers in his.

“I know that where you’re coming from, everything about me probably all sounds very complicated.

But it’s not. I’ve dated many women, Robyn.

But no one has been in my home, not like you have.

Nor has anyone been invited to share in my world, to meet my family.

You have an open invitation. Anywhere I go, you are welcome. ”

“What is it…about me, specifically?” she asked him. What he’d said and done for her, it was all enticing, but she was grown and had the scars to prove it. She needed to know.

He took a pause, then a deep breath. With his thumb he caressed the top of her hand.

And his eyes held hers for a beat before he spoke.

“Robyn, you are nurturing and loving and selfless. You give to everyone around you. You raise and uplift your daughter; you teach her to be kind. You are feminine and beautiful. And you’re smart, but still vulnerable.

Like a sunflower. Even the sunflower—with its strong stalk and plentiful seeds—it still needs to be watered and cared for or it will wilt under the weight of everything that everyone else needs from it, trying to reach for the sun. ”

“That’s…what you see?” she asked with a tone of disbelief.

It was an infrequent delicacy to feel seen.

He smiled and nodded. His words had made her breathless.

Like he’d reached into the core of her and touched upon some buried truth that needed air.

She felt weary, but here, with him, she had a sense of ease and peace that she experienced nowhere else.

It was easy to feel hopeful. Was this what she wanted?

Robyn let her fingers wrap around his. When their eyes met this time, her lips parted, just slightly.

And slowly, the distance between them shrank.

They were drawn by gravity until they were so close to each other that she could feel the heat of his lips next to hers.

There was almost no distance left between them, then the moment their lips touched, she let herself be swept away in the kiss.

“And so…you have another week…before you leave?” Robyn asked when they finally parted.

Kwesi smiled. “Yes, another week…and we’ll make the most of it.”

Robyn smiled. Yes, yes…we will, she thought. And then, seeing a motion over Kwesi’s shoulder at the back of the room, she focused in time to see the quick swivel of Mia’s head, back toward the tabletop with the scattered papers of her assignments as if she’d been looking down there all the while.