healing-hearts Read online

  “Go visit family. They’re always good for the heart.”

  “Yeah, I guess I could. It’s been two years since the last time I was home and my mom has been asking me to visit.”

  After scribbling down a few notes onto his chart, Dr. Hudson headed out of the room, then stopped. “I’ll give this to the nurse who’ll get your release paperwork together. I want to see you in two weeks, before you return to work.”

  “I’ll be here.” Jason walked toward the small closet that held his clothes, preparing to pack up his belongings so he could leave promptly when the nurse brought in his paperwork.

  “By the way, how did you like the health seminar?”

  Thoughts of seeing his family soon occupied his mind. “‘Bout as much as I would enjoy tooth extraction.”

  “Yikes, most of my patients usually have nothing but rave reviews about the class and its instructors. I guess you’re going to hate that I’m giving you a consult for two sessions with her over the next month.”

  “Doc, you’ve got to be joking.”

  Dr. Hudson just smiled and exited the room.

  Jason watched the doctor’s retreating form as he shook his head, bewildered. Strutting over to the nightstand, he picked up the business card for Healthy Fit. “Yasmine Sousa.” He read the name off the card.

  Instantly his mind conjured up an image of the nutritionist. He remembered the smile she had graced him with when he’d entered the room. For a moment it had stunned him, the feelings of unparalleled attraction arrested him unawares. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he made an effort to cover up his reaction to her. When her eyes had followed his movement, he clenched his teeth, trying to keep his arousal at bay. He was used to women being enthralled by him, but it usually didn’t happen the other way around. He had to admit to himself it bothered him that she read him so well when he walked into the room; which was probably what was behind him giving her attitude.

  There was a part of his body saying that wasn’t the only reason.

  “Okay, so she was good looking,” Jason confirmed as he looked down at his hardening crotch.

  His mind chose then to replay the moment in the class when she had turned around to pick-up some pamphlets from the table behind her and he had gotten a full view of the tight curves of her back end. He had become very uncomfortable in his seat with the thoughts that he probably wasn’t supposed to be having as a cardiac patient.

  Now, that’s how I’d like to spend two weeks relaxing.while away two weeks.

  Shaking himself out of his musing, he threw the card back onto the table, then went and pulled his suitcase out of the closet and began to fill it. He chalked up most of those thoughts due to inactivity—no work to keep him focused. He would go visit his parents, and then be back to work and in the swing of his life again.

  ~ML~

  “How did the briefing go?” Leigh questioned, following Yasmine into her office.

  Yasmine put the suitcase on the floor next to her desk and sat down. “It was fine—if you don’t count the touchy executive.”

  “Someone gave you a hard time?” Leigh came fully into the office and took a seat on the corner of Yasmine’s desk, awaiting more details. “So, was he cute?”

  The image of Jason Richardson flashed through her mind. Cute is a great description for a puppy, but it doesn’t define Mr. Richardson at all.

  “What difference does that make? If some guy is sitting directly in your face, arms all crossed and staring straight at you, it’s unnerving regardless.”

  “Unnerved? That good looking, aye?”

  Good looking, definitely.

  “I didn’t say that—” Yasmine defended.

  “Your face did. So, give me the skinny.”

  “Look, just to shut you up. He was about six-two, broad shouldered, muscular, but in a trim kind of way and he had a short dark brown hair—tapered on the side and longer on top—hazel eyes, and if you were to describe his complexion in one of your crazy ways...” Yasmine’s voice took on a sultry dramatic tone. “It was like pale honey being poured slowly with the sun shining through it—liquid gold.” Her voice returning to normal, she asked, “Is that good enough for you?”

  “Oh, yum. Or, maybe the color of coconut butter...smeared all over your body.” Leigh closed her eyes and inhaled an exaggerated breath. “I hope open heart surgery didn’t scar his chest too bad.”

  Yasmine shook her head at her friend’s theatrics. “I don’t think he had it.”

  Both of Leigh’s eyebrows went up, the expression on her face shouting—do tell.

  “He kept his arms crossed practically the whole time. Common sense would say there wasn’t a scar there. Besides, most of the patients who’ve had open heart tend to subconsciously touch the center of their chest. He didn’t show any of those signs.”

  “So, if that hunk of manliness wasn’t enough to disturb you, then...what’s with the nerves?”

  Oh, it disturbed me. However, she’d never hear the end of it if she told Leigh, so she changed the subject. Releasing a slow breath, Yasmine said one word, “Blake.”

  Yasmine watched as all the coy playfulness left her friend’s face. Leigh had been with her through the entire relationship and had been as close to what happened to her in the marriage as anyone could be.

  “What got you thinking about him?”

  Yasmine’s voice lowered. “He called to remind me about the baby’s birthday.”

  Leigh jumped off the desk in abrupt anger and began her normal tirade at the mention of Yasmine’s ex-husband, “That heartless jack a—”

  “Leigh-girl, its just Blake being Blake.”

  “Yeah, I know it is...and that’s what ticks me off.” Leigh plopped down in the chair across from Yasmine. “One day, that man is going to get his. You should have sent him to jail when you had the chance.”

  Yasmine leaned back in her chair and shook her head. “That would have just infuriated him even more.”

  “Tsk, I don’t see how.”

  “I don’t want to see how. One day soon, hopefully, he’ll get a life and I’ll be a distant memory.”

  “More like a life sentence.” Leigh placed a broad smile on her face. “Speaking of needing a life, it’s about time for you to start dating. You know what they say, the way to get over an old love by getting a new one.”

  “Huh—no thank you. I’m going to pass.”

  “Come on, Yassi, go out with Mark and me this weekend. His friend Miles has been wanting to holler at you for weeks now.”

  “Isn’t he the one with an ex-wife, two kids and a mouth full of gold?” Yasmine was disgusted.

  “Girl, he also drives a fully loaded Mercedes and has a good job.”

  “But, he lives with his mama.”

  They both laughed.

  “Okay, so he doesn’t have it all together like Mark.”

  “So, you get the cream of the crop and I get the sloppy seconds.”

  “Go to the club with me then, and you can have a better selection.” Leigh stood to leave.

  “No club. No double dating.” Yasmine turned towards her computer and entered her password to begin working, passing on the message that she was finished with the conversation.

  “Well, if you won’t go out, then I’m just going to have to bring a man in for you.” Leigh gave a cheeky smile.

  “Leigh...” Yasmine voice held a warning tone.

  “What?” Leigh responded with a look of innocence.

  Yasmine squinted at her friend, giving her the evil eye. “You better not show up at my house with Miles this weekend.”

  There was an affronted look on her friend’s face. “Who’s talking Miles? Girl, I’m talkin’ Morris.”

  “And the other Best Men?” Yasmine beamed a smile at her friend.

  “Of course. We’ll have an orgy with Morris Chestnut, Taye Digs, Terrance Howard and Harold Perrineau.” Sashaying toward the door, Leigh stopped and turned. “Friday at seven good for you?”

&nb
sp; “Perfeito,” she replied in Portuguese, giving her friend and appreciative look. “Thanks, Leigh.”

  “Anytime.” Leigh exited out of the office.

  Yasmine faced her terminal and began replying to her morning e-mail messages.

  Two

  It was five-thirty in the morning and Jason stared at the ceiling of his old bedroom as he had done every day over the past week and a half since coming to visit his parents. His father had retired to North Carolina. Jason was definitely not a country person. Some people liked waking up to the sound of crickets and birds. Not him. He enjoyed the hustle and bustle sounds of the city.

  He was glad that his brother Theodore, his sister Lisa, and her two kids were coming home today. That would give him just the perk he needed to pass the rest of the time. They were having a mini reunion, all because he had finally made it home and stayed longer than a weekend. He and his family got along well, though his siblings always riled him about being the baby of the family. He loved to remind them he and Lisa were barely ten months apart and went to school together and were in the same grade. They were practically twins, even though they were totally different. He and Teddy were more alike.

  Lisa married her high school sweetheart, Greg, right out of college, and had always known she wanted to be a wife and mother. He and Teddy were both career oriented and driven. At least Teddy had a social life outside of work and had dated his current girlfriend for the last three years, though still not looking toward the altar. He, on the other hand, didn’t have time for anything—just work, which was generally the topic of conversation between him and his mother.

  Even though it made more sense for her to be hounding Teddy, who was closer to getting to a preacher than he could ever see himself in the near future. Of course, he did want a family one day. It was just that they didn’t seem to fit into his current plans. It was times like this when he saw his nephew, Andrés, who was five, and his niece, Cayla, who was nine months old, that he thought about it. Any other time he could just put it out of his mind.

  The one thing he was having a grueling time putting out of his mind was work. He’d lost count at how many times he had talked to his secretary and was tempted to tell her to overnight express some work to him. His boss had taken care of his current jobs that could not be postponed until he got back and had told him to take it easy. It had only been three years since Jesse himself had a heart attack and had undergone open-heart surgery. That was when Jason had made some serious strides in the company. For that reason and many others, he had a pretty good feeling about getting the position of vice-president in the fall when the current one left because of his own health reasons. His only concern was Bellamy.

  Raquel Bellamy was his only competitor in the company for the position. Just like him she had strong drive, was tenacious, and was a barracuda when it came to anything that she wanted. She was single, never married, and didn’t have time for relationships and because of that, like him, she was head of her own division. She was constantly joked about around the office—it was said that she lived the life that most men only dreamed of having. But, there was nothing manly about her—she stood five-nine, with a tight body that she worked hard at the company gym to make sure stayed in shape. Her signature was the snug suits she wore that hugged every curve of her body and stopped barely two inches below being obscene. Her long, ebony tresses she always wore hanging loose down her back and around her mocha colored face, accentuating her light-brown eyes and full mouth. She drove most of the men in the office crazy.

  He himself would have incurred his own ribbing had his co-workers known that he and Raquel had been having occasional sex over the last two years. It was something they had decided to keep secret, especially since the sporadic sexual release didn’t stop them from competing furiously against each other.

  But if he was honest with himself, he had been avoiding Raquel lately. He had lost interest, even though she was quite adventurous in the bedroom—he wasn’t sure what was going on with him. His male co-workers would probably say he was crazy for staying away from a woman who just wanted some no-strings-attached sex.

  “No use staying in bed, I’m not going to get any sleep.” Jason pushed himself up from the mattress and headed for the shower. He knew his parents would be up shortly and he would give his mom a hand in the kitchen, fixing breakfast.

  ~ML~

  “Mizz Yasmen.” Joshua’s sweet quiet voice called her.

  “Hi, sweetie, what’s up?” Yasmine knelt down eye level with the little three-year-old boy, who moments before tugged on her pants leg to get her attention.

  “Can you tell Jessica not to take m-why ball from me, peaz.”

  Jessica, his twin sister and the first-born by a minute, came stomping down the hall in all of the righteous indignation her little body could muster. “I didnent take it. We were shar-wing. It’s white to shar, white Mizz Yasmen?”

  Yasmine had to bite down hard on her bottom lip not to start laughing at their disagreement. It had been a year since Yasmine had begun to visit Angelic Refuge Orphanage. When she and Blake had separated, she had needed something else in her life to focus on—the children had become what she needed. Especially, Joshua and Jessica - “the twins”, as the house lovingly called them. They had been there for three months and had warmed their way into her heart from the beginning. Their mother had them young; she was sixteen and decided to keep them instead of following her family’s suggestions to abort them. Her parents had become angry and had kicked her out of the house while she was in the hospital after delivering. She struggled over two years with them and finally one day dropped them off at the orphanage saying she couldn’t do it any longer and asked the staff to find them a good home. This was where they had celebrated their third birthday.

  It had been tough for a child to get adopted, especially since all of the new drugs and medical treatment were now out to assist couples in having a baby of their own. It was heartbreaking for Yasmine to come here week after week and see hope mixed with sadness on the children’s faces—especially on the twins’ faces. They had wormed their way into her heart. Because of them she had begun to come more frequently over the last few months. She prayed daily that they and the other children would find a good home.

  “Yes, sweethearts, it is right to share, but we also need to be respectful of other people wanting to play with something alone.” She laid a hand on each child’s shoulder. Conversations about toys were always difficult at the orphanage, since all of the toys belonged to the house; so it left the children to fight for some sense of belonging or owning something. Bringing individual children gifts was strictly forbidden. “Now, Joshua, would you like to play with your sister? Maybe the two of you can roll the ball to each other. Or play in the back yard and bounce or throw it together?”

  Joshua looked down at the ball, then at his sister. “Jessica, you cun play vif me.”

  “What do you tell your brother, Jessica?”

  For a moment Jessica tilted her head up as if she were considering what to do next. “Joshua, thank you four shar-wing and I’ll wet you throw first.”

  The twins spoke in unison. “Bye, Mizz Yasmen.” Then quickly ran outside to play.

  Smiling at the two of them, Yasmine stood and grabbed her purse off the counter where she had placed it before stooping down to speak with Joshua. It was her lunch hour and she need to get back to work.

  “Miss Yasmine, it’s a surprise to see you again this week,” Miss Andrea, a social worker and the house coordinator, said as she passed Yasmine on her way out the door.

  Yasmine felt a little guilty, not because she was doing something that wasn’t permitted by the house, but because she wondered if other people were starting to notice how attached she was becoming to the twins. To cover up her fondness for them, she made sure she spent just as much time with all the children.

  “I was in the area running errands and had a little time to kill, so I figured I would stop in.” Lord, don’t strik
e me dead for lying.

  “Great, the children love when you come by. They talk about your games and reading to them for days afterward.” Andrea Baxter was in her late thirties, petite with skin the color of ground nutmeg, jet-black hair and warm, toffee brown eyes that reflected the smile she always wore for the children and visitors.

  “I’m glad they enjoy it. I love spending time with them.”

  “Well, you know you’re always welcome.” Andrea continued on her way.

  Yasmine made a beeline out the door and to her car. She was giving herself the same speech she always did, that it was not healthy for her to see the twins as much as she did, because when they got adopted she would be heartbroken.

  Driving back to work, she listened to an old eighties group called Atlantic Starr singing a duet about love and family and wondered if that would ever come true for her. Immediately she brushed the thought away and changed the CD, knowing that it wasn’t possible for her in the near future.

  ~ML~

  “So, Jason...when are you going to settle down and give me grandchildren?”

  Jason looked around the dinner table at his family. It was his last night with his family, tomorrow morning he would be driving back home and, thank God, back to work. He was really hoping he had slipped through his vacation without this conversation coming up—but no such luck. “Mom, you already have Cayla and Andrés. Plus Teddy and Crystal are on their way to providing you with grandchildren.”

  “Hey, wait a minute, Jay, don’t try and brush this off in my direction.” Teddy pointed his fork toward him.

  Continuing to deflect, Jason countered, “Teddy, you’ve been dating Crystal for years, didn’t you just tell me you all had talked about getting married?”

  “You two have set a date?” his father asked his brother, suspiciously.

  “You wait until now to tell us there’s going to be a wedding?” his mother accused.

  “Uncle Teddy is getting married,” Andrés chimed in.