North Star Read Free Page B

consumed his thoughts, and he wondered if the right one suddenly walked in, and out, of his life.
    As Caresse rushed toward the library’s parking lot, the guy with the sexy smile and humorous eyes lingered in her mind. I thought God stopped making that model . She recalled how his broad shoulders and towering height–a little over six feet—had made her legs weak. His inviting gaze almost made her forget the desserts she had been skimming over. The last thing needed was to get caught up in fantasizing about a stranger.
    Yes, good-looking men were great to gaze at, and even talk to, but anything more was a heartache waiting to happen. Her track record proved that. Somewhere on the road toward finding love, her relationships became a power struggle, with some man wanting her to conform to his idea of perfection. But the last time she’d looked, she wasn’t made of plastic with a Mattel logo stamped on her back.
    As she drove down the side streets to avoid traffic, she thought about her father. He made it a habit to have a father-daughter date once a month to teach her how a young man is supposed to treat his little girl. She remembered having her first fancy restaurant dinner at age seven and going to her first pop concert with her father at thirteen. He took her to movies and even escorted her to her first Broadway play during their father-daughter time. And every night at the end of their date, he would say the same thing.
    “Caresse, I had a wonderful time. Do you think we can do something fun next month?”
    She would be coy and make him wait patiently until she made up her mind. Then she would happily answer , “Yes, I think I’d like that.”
    He told her a real man would never have a lady wondering about his intentions. He would always make another date if he wanted to see her exclusively. If he didn’t, his intentions weren’t honorable.
    She sighed as she wondered if such men really existed. When she was a little girl, her father made her believe in knights in shining armor and princes who slay dragons, but the last time she’d checked, men today didn’t fit that mold. With video vixens heating up the television screens and half-naked models leering from magazine covers, men made it quite clear they wanted the physicality of a beautiful woman. No one clamored for a good woman’s heart and brain, and the lowering marriage statistics seemed to support that theory.
    Caresse shook her head and turned up her stereo. No drama for me. I’m okay with being single , she thought as she neared the community center. My life is full. Very full.
    Mason Community Center was founded by William T. Mason, one of the first black leaders in the Ocean County, New Jersey area, as a haven for any person needing support to achieve their goals. The center’s success relied on volunteers from the community giving their time and energy. Caresse learned about the center from a PTA flyer one of her daughters had brought home from school. Yvette Mason, great-granddaughter of the founder, not only wanted to enroll her children in a few after-school programs but for her to volunteer to teach as well. After two years at the center, she headed the popular Readers/Authors class. Yvette was delighted to sponsor a class that helped the youth learn great works of literature. The class, offered in the summer in conjunction with the Ocean County libraries reading series, delighted parents and teachers of the district.
    Over the years, the ladies had become best friends as their paths crossed at the center. Yvette, once a private woman who enjoyed all the trappings of wealth and privilege, quickly learned money didn’t compensate for true friendship. She was once a woman that only preferred the company of her cat and horses because she never doubted their motives. It took months for Caresse to gain her trust and the title of adopted baby sister in Yvette’s protective family.
    Caresse, on the other hand, had dreamed of a life like Yvette’s