The Heat Seekers

Tempest almost choked on her own saliva when she saw the ring. The diamond had to be at least six carats. She finally managed to utter, “It’s gorgeous.”

“Give me your hand.” Geren took it before she could offer it, pulled the ring from the box, and placed it on her finger. “Say yes.”

“Geren—”

“Say yes, or my life is over.” He kissed each one of her fingertips, kissed her gently on the forehead, and whispered in her ear, “Save my life, Tempest. Don’t force me to live in a world without you. I could never do that.”

She was still trembling, so Geren gathered her up into his arms. “You’re sure you don’t mind adopting, Geren?”

He brushed her hair back out of her face and gazed at her lovingly. “Say yes!”

“Yes!” Tempest finally yelled out, grinning from ear-to-ear.

Geren kissed her on the lips. “Thank you!”

“For what?” Tempest asked.

“For saving my life.”

They made love for the remainder of the afternoon on the hood of his car and then went home to start making calls, informing their friends and family of the good news.

CHAPTER 27

you’ve got a friend in me

tempest glanced across the table at the Florida Avenue Grill and noticed Janessa had barely touched her fried chicken wings and fries. “Janessa, you’ve go to eat something,” she implored.

“I’m not very hungry.” Janessa put her elbows on the table and held her head. She was battling a serious migraine. The stress from the unwanted pregnancy had really gotten to her.

“But you need to maintain your health, Janessa. Especially during your pregnancy.”

Janessa sucked her tongue and snapped at Tempest, “Sis, I don’t need you to remind me that I’m pregnant. It’s all I ever think about.”

Tempest slammed her glass of iced tea down on the table. “Well, shoot me for being concerned.”

Janessa looked at Tempest, who was sitting across from her, pouting, and realized she was taking her frustration out on the wrong person. When Tempest had showed up at the Brentwood Post Office to take her out to lunch, Janessa was very rude to her and almost refused to go.

“I’m sorry, Tempest. I didn’t mean to cop a ’tude with you.” Janessa reached over and patted Tempest lightly on the hand. “You know I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Tempest responded, intertwining their fingers. She noticed that the older, gray-haired sistah behind the counter was staring at them as if they were dykes and pulled her hand away. “Have you at least been keeping up with your ob/gyn appointments?”

“Yes, like clockwork.” Janessa picked at a chicken wing and put a morsel into her mouth in an attempt to make Tempest happy. “I’ve got a great doctor at the Columbia Hospital for Women.”

“Oh, yeah?” Tempest was glad to know Janessa was at least seeing a doctor. From her experience at the center, she was all too aware that a lot of young women neglect to go to an ob/gyn in hopes that the pregnancy will just miraculously go away. “What’s his name?”

“Her name is Tamika Brown. I made it a point to request a female doctor because the last thing I want is another man, any man, looking in the direction of my coochie.”

“Tamika Brown?” Tempest chuckled. “Now she’s got to be a sistah!”

“Yes, she is,” Janessa confirmed. “She’s one of those African-American women who got through the hard times, went for the golden ring, and made it.” Janessa stared at Tempest with envy. “Just like you.”

Tempest took a bite of her cheeseburger and looked out the window. There was a young girl, probably no older than fifteen, struggling to get up the steps of a Metrobus with a baby in her arms and a toddler holding on to her pants leg.

“Too bad I won’t be able to do the same,” Janessa continued. “I really wanted to become a pharmacist. Instead, I’ll be stuck in the postal system until I’m old and gray.”

Tempest took a deep breath and decided it was time to reveal her plans. “Not necessarily, sis. In fact, that’s the main reason I invited you to lunch.”

Janessa raised a curious eyebrow. “Oh, yeah?”