Page 74 of The Best Man: Unfinished Business

Chapter Forty-seven

Robyn

Robyn stirred awake. Her eyes slowly blinked open, first to the ceiling fan oscillating over her bed.

The second thing she noticed was Harper’s arm draped around her waist, his raw morning wood pressing against her naked backside.

Robyn slept well with him spooning her. They still fit together, even in her bed.

Surprisingly. This was her bed. Not theirs and never had been.

She hadn’t even shared it with anyone other than Mia occasionally.

Yet it felt natural with Harper, at least through the night.

But now she was awake and conscious. The midnight rain had given way to a hot Accra day.

The passion, magic, and emotion of last night had dissipated.

Third, she and Harper were both naked as newborns.

She had to move. She needed to get Mia ready for school, to call to see if Robyn’s Nest had any flood damage from last night’s rain and Haniah.

Oh, Haniah. Her trusted soldier, her confidante.

She needed an answer about moving to the Polo Club.

She felt so bad. Aboagye’s presence had pushed her, and Haniah hadn’t deserved Robyn’s dismissiveness in that moment.

Haniah had been on her side from the get-go.

She was loyal. Robyn had meant to meditate on the entire matter before Harper’s unexpected arrival last night.

Now she could feel his deep breathing on her shoulder.

She turned her head and shifted her body slightly to look at him. He was still handsome, still sexy, but in the morning light and the reality of her life none of that mattered. She not-so-gingerly peeled his arm off her to start her day.

“Harper, come on, wake up.” Robyn turned 180 degrees to face him, conscious of the density of her unencumbered breasts hitting the mattress beneath her.

“You need to get up.” She grabbed his bicep and gave it a firm but gentle shake to stir him.

She hadn’t even looked at a clock, but judging from the sunlight it was later than the usual time she started her routine of ten minutes of morning meditation and coffee.

This morning, she was waiting on Harper, who began to stir with a deeper inhale and a groan.

Robyn shook him a bit more, “Come on. I’ll make you some coffee…

.” Harper slowly opened his eyes. He blinked awake without the urgency Robyn had wished for but at least he was one step closer to being out of her bed. And that’s when Mia entered.

“Morning, Mom…” Robyn had heard her daughter’s footsteps approaching the door and the sound of the doorknob turning but hadn’t thought about her walking in until she actually did.

Mia entering her room unannounced wasn’t forbidden, but it wasn’t routine either.

Robyn instinctively shifted her body and sat up, taking a slight beat to quickly cover her swinging breasts.

But this wasn’t about nudity. Mia knew the difference between nudity and shame.

Fully dressed and coiffed for the day, Mia froze upon seeing her parents sharing a bed, clearly naked under those sheets.

Robyn’s face immediately went hot as she swallowed around her dry throat.

“Mia, what—Good morning—Go pull out the coffee for me, please—” Robyn stammered. Mia’s wide eyes shifted from Robyn to Harper as her lips parted. Out of her peripheral vision Robyn could see Harper calmly propping himself on his elbow.

“Morning, Mimi,” Harper said.

“Hi, Dad,” she replied after a slight pause.

“You sleep good?” Harper asked. What?! Robyn thought.

This wasn’t the time for small talk. There was entirely too much to explain.

We’re not changing for our little girl, Robyn had said clearly.

This was no time to muddy the waters. Enough with this casual shit.

It was all Robyn could do to stop herself from jumping up and ushering her daughter out of the room.

“Uh-huh.” Mia was still in conversation with her dad while she shifted her look back to her mother. It was all so uncomfortable for Robyn. Too uncomfortable.

“Good. Give me and Mom a minute. And check to see if we have all the ingredients for some French toast, okay?” Harper said, like everything was normal. Robyn was mortified.

“Okay,” Mia said.

“Thanks, honey.” Harper shifted to a sitting position against Robyn’s headboard.

Mia took her time before turning away from her parents to exit, clearly capturing a full mental picture of her mother and father before she left.

And did Robyn detect a small smile before she turned away?

Ugh… Robyn considered the notion that Mia was happy with what she just saw, and the confusion that would create.

Robyn shut her eyes to gather her thoughts and contemplate her next move as Mia closed the door behind her.

She could hear Harper sigh and the creak of her bed as he turned to shift his focus on her.

Robyn opened her eyes and twisted toward him, only to witness Harper’s slight grin. What is there to smile about?

“Morning,” Harper said. He was studying Robyn’s face. “Sorry about that. I’ll start breakfast.” As he started to swing his legs out of the bed, Robyn grabbed his arm.

“Wait. What are you going to tell her?”

“I’m not going to say anything other than ‘Where’s the vanilla, eggs, bread, and a bowl,’?” Harper replied far too casually still.

“What if she asks?”

Harper shrugged. “I’ll say it was late and Mommy and Daddy had a sleepover.”

“Harper…” Robyn said.

“Look, we should get her to school. The rest we’ll figure out after drop-off. Okay?” Harper calmly pulled his underwearon.

Robyn turned her face away from him before she responded. “Yeah. Okay. Fine.”

Harper then pulled on his pants before he exited, making Robyn grateful he’d at least had the wherewithal to gather their clothes off the living room floor before they went to sleep.

When he closed the door behind himself, Robyn buried her face in her hands and shook her head, wondering only why?

She yanked the sheets off her naked body like a Band-Aid on a wound, swung her legs over the side of the bed, and pushed herselfup.

Once dressed, Robyn entered the kitchen to hear laughter from her daughter and ex-husband, who were enjoying each other and their choice of morning music.

Though it made Robyn happy to see that bright smile on Mia’s little face, she knew it was largely the result of something that couldn’t be sustained.

What would be on the other side once reality set back in?

For so long, Robyn just let everything happen “like it’s supposed to.

” She let nature take its course. But now she was feeling more like she had to be proactive about how things worked out. Especially this thing.

All three of them loaded into her RAV4 to run Mia to school.

Mia offered her dad shotgun, but Harper gladly took the back seat, sitting between the gaze of his ex-wife and his daughter.

Despite her discomfort, Robyn managed to crack a smile and even break into laughter at Harper’s imitations, silly riddles, and quick jokes.

To the outside world they looked like a happy family.

And for a few moments it felt that way to Robyn too.

As they pulled to the front of the school Mia commanded, “Come on and walk me in, Daddy.” Robyn was surprised because Mia hadn’t wanted to be walked in since she turned eleven. At least not by Robyn.

“You cool with that, Mom? It’ll only take a few seconds,” Harper asked.

“Sure.” Robyn was not going to deny her daughter the pleasure of her dad’s company.

It hadn’t occurred to her until now that Mia probably took pride in showing her daddy “all the way from America” off to her classmates and teachers.

Robyn noticed that Mia walked taller and prouder holding her father’s hand as they moved down the pathway to the school.

She’s a big girl now, but she is always going to be daddy’s girl. She sighed.

Robyn blew Mia a kiss from the car. Standing with her at the door of the school, Harper bent down to kiss her.

“Bye, Dad,” she mouthed and smiled at him before turning to scamper inside.

Seeing Mia so happy, and watching Harper look back at their daughter with pride as he headed back to the car, Robyn sighed heavily again—the familiar knot in her stomach was growing. She had to do something.

Harper returned to Robyn’s RAV4 where she remained pleasant, but mostly silent. He opened the passenger-side door for himself and the two of them sat without speaking.

Finally, Harper asked, “You okay?”

“Mm-hmm.” Robyn’s response was terse. In her mind she knew this can’t continue.

“She didn’t really ask anything about this morning,” Harper reported. “She was mainly talking about a quiz she was a little worried about. That’s all.”

“Uh-huh,” Robyn said absentmindedly. Her phone rang then, and Kwesi’s name popped up on her screen.

Clockwork. He always checked in after drop-off.

Robyn stared at the display. She felt Harper’s eyes looking between her and the screen.

After the phone’s third ring, Robyn hit the decline button.

“I want to take you somewhere,” she said.

Before Harper could say “okay,” Robyn put the car in drive and took off.

“Where are we going?” Harper asked.

“Labadi Beach.”

“Beach day,” he said with a smile. “Okay.”

“It’s not exactly that, but it’s beautiful,” Robyn informed him. “I give thanks and tribute to the ancestors. And I think it would be good for you to do so as well.”

“I’m down.” Harper smiled and seemed good-natured, along for the ride.

“Good,” Robyn replied. “I think it would be good for you to honor them…and Solomon.” Harper became completely still.

Robyn looked over at him. The smile had vanished.

She turned back to put her eyes on the road.

From her periphery she saw Harper tilt his head down.

She turned to look at him again and he began to nod.