you, but Mom didn’t even ask me when she snatched my arm and dragged me into the office.”
Cynthia dismissed the duo with a flick of her hand. “It’s all good. My baby girl is healthy. Nothing else matters.”
“Amen.” Alan raised a hand in response.
Dante became aware of his surroundings. “What are we doing out here? Let’s pick Ryan up and party.
How does McKnight’s sound?”
“Delicious.” Cynthia smacked her lips. “I could use some soul food I didn’t cook myself.”
Clasping his palms, Dante set the plan in motion. “Great. How about you and Alan get the hyperactive child and meet us there? Vanessa can drive my car.”
Vanessa’s emitted screeches had Dante concerned for his eardrums. “You’re going to let me drive your Lamborghini? Really?”
For once, he’d relinquish control of his beloved custom-tailored car. “Today is the day to rejoice, and you mean more to me than the car ever will. Since you’ve been hounding me about it since I bought it two years ago, I figure today is as good a day as any.”
Vanessa’s giddiness as she tackled him in a hug solidified Dante’s decision, making his heart swell even further.
Alan nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”
Cynthia extended her arms to her daughter, and Vanessa stepped into them without question.
Dante watched the touching scene. The family had been through hell and back since Vanessa had been diagnosed. Now life would go back to as normal as it could be, with the threat of cancer always hanging over them.
Vanessa broke the embrace and walked to Dante with her cake in one hand and the other palm up with her fingers wiggling. “The keys.”
He fished the keys out of his pocket and handed them to his niece with one warning. “Be careful.”
“Of course I will, Uncle D,” she said as she waved her dessert parcel. “I didn’t make it this far to let it all go for some speed.”
The cake brought to mind the mystery woman he’d met in the cafeteria. Other than announcing he’d lost a beautiful Nubian princess over the hospital speakers and saying she should hightail it back to the cafeteria, there was nothing he could do to find her. Shaking his head at the regret of having to wait to start his search for her, he hooked an arm around his niece’s shoulders and led her to his car.
The sudden scream put Lanelle on full alert. Taking in her surroundings, she wished she’d had her driver drop her off at the meeting instead of insisting on driving herself.
Four rows across the barrier where she’d parked, an older and a younger woman hugged. Lanelle spied on the pair, wondering what had happened to make them embrace in the middle of a parking garage.
Considering the lot belonged to a hospital, morose thoughts of death and illness came to mind. Perhaps one was comforting the other.
Slipping herself out of the imaginary world she’d created for the people she’d never meet, Lanelle opened her door and slid behind the wheel of her favorite, yet least ostentatious, car. She sparked the engine of the navy blue Volvo S80. With the press of a button, the seat’s massaging system eased the tension from her lower back.
After a few moments of bliss, she pulled out of her parking space. As she rounded the corner where the women had embraced, she noticed a tall, dark-skinned man standing in the middle of the aisle. How could this be when she’d done such a good job escaping him earlier? Distracted, she slammed on the brake.
Realizing too late she’d drawn their attention, Lanelle pressed the gas in an attempt to ease past without being seen. Although the side windows were tinted, anyone outside the car had full view of her through the windshield.
Fate. Kismet. Destiny. All words of impossibility Lanelle didn’t believe in shuffled themselves around in her head. What had been the chances of ever seeing Dante again when she’d given him her name? Obviously, the odds had been pretty darn good.
The attempt to make herself invisible by scrunching low in her seat failed. He disturbed her in a warm-feeling-at-her-center kind of way. The last thing she needed in her life was to be attracted to someone.
Lanelle knew the moment the cake stealer recognized her. Waving her down, he stepped over to her window. For a split second she thought of zooming past so she’d never have to listen to the deep timbre of his voice again. Isn’t that what I thought when I left him in the cafeteria?
From the impression she’d gotten of him earlier, Lanelle figured Dante was the kind of man a woman could have fun with but never tie down. She wasn’t in the market for either.
His broad grin sent a flutter skidding through her belly. “Hi. Funny meeting you here.”
Uncanny, but stranger things had happened. She’d have been out of the parking lot a good five minutes ago if she hadn’t forgotten her briefcase in the boardroom in her dash out of an adjourned meeting for chocolate cake therapy. “If you find it even mildly amusing, then you have a weird sense of humor.”
“I’ve been accused of it a time or two.”
She smirked.
“You have a pretty smile.”
Yes, the man’s a charmer. She straightened in her seat, thinking she might feel more comfortable if he didn’t tower over her. Whom am I kidding? The man’s a giant. He’d dwarf her even if she was standing in three-inch heels. “Thank you.” Keeping things light and polite would be the easiest way out without hurting his ego. “Nice seeing you again. Take care.”
“Wait.” He motioned to the young woman she’d seen hugging the older one. “Vanessa, come here.”
Lanelle’s mouth watered as the girl brought her chocolate cake closer. Good to know he hadn’t been lying.
“Vanessa, meet Lanelle. The woman I almost got into a fight with to make sure you got your cake.”
Lanelle put the car in Park and eased her foot off the brake. Reaching out the window, she extended her right hand to the young woman. The dimple she displayed in each cheek brought out Lanelle’s own smile. Her test results must’ve been good. “Nice to meet you, Vanessa.”
“You, too.” Vanessa gave Dante her attention. “What do you mean about the cake?”
Dante’s light brown eyes gleamed as he focused on Lanelle while answering his niece. “This gorgeous woman was on the cusp of initiating a takedown over the last piece of chocolate cake in the cafeteria.”
Lanelle’s face flamed as Vanessa turned to her with an openmouthed stare. “You’ve tried the cake,” Lanelle defended. “Tell me what you would’ve done.”
Vanessa nodded. “Snatched it and run.”
Lanelle liked Vanessa’s honesty. “Exactly.”
