Yield to Love Read Free Page A

a
fantasy.”
    Marlowe sat on a chintz print sofa beside
her cousin in her posh condo near downtown Miami. It was only
yesterday when the stranger delivered the news that still had her
reeling. The cool March air blew through the sheer curtains of an
open window. She wrapped her fingers around a warm mug of hot apple
cider.
    “ Are you talking about
your fantasy or Olivia’s?”
    Toye pursed her lips. “You know what I
meant. Did you tell Ronnie and Candace?”
    “ How could I? I didn’t
want to ruin their special day. I figure I’ll tell them when they
get back from frolicking in the sun.”
    Candace and Gabe were honeymooning in Fiji.
Ronnie and Vic chose The Greek Isles. Marlowe wished she were
vacationing somewhere exotic instead of agonizing over her dead
mother. Right now, she needed her sisters most, but she had to
handle this burden alone for at least a week.
    She barely remembered driving her shiny, new
red Acura to the reception hall yesterday. In between interrupting
her sisters’ eating and dancing, she’d briefly spoken with them,
but she didn’t bring up the subject of their deceased mother. She
had the good sense to know it was not the day to burden hers
sisters with that news. Especially not Ronnie. Her relationship
with “Reesa” as everyone referred to their mother had been tenuous
at best.
    Marlowe was only eight years old when her
absentee mother passed away. She wished she knew more about the
woman who gave birth to her, but she’d learned over the years that
asking questions only irritated Candace and Ronnie.
    “ You made the right
decision,” Toye said. “Ronnie ain’t trying to hear nothin’ about
Reesa right now.”
    “ Tell me about my mother,
Toye. You were thirteen when she died.”
    Toye sipped from her cup of tea. “You know,
all I remember was Reesa did some pretty outrageous shit. Like the
time she joined a biker gang and sold all of y’all’s furniture to
buy a used motorcycle—when she had no clue how to ride it.”
    “ She was a
biker?”
    “ More like a biker’s
side-piece. She only did it for some married dude she was sleeping
with. But they broke up three weeks later, when he stole the bike
from her and totaled it in a high-speed accident.”
    “ That’s crazy.”
    “ That was mild compared to
some of the other stuff she did. One time she got fired from her
job working at a mental health hospital for smoking weed with the
patients.”
    “ Oh, come on. You’re
making this up.”
    “ I wish. Why do you think
Ronnie gets all riled up whenever you mention your
mother?”
    Marlowe shrugged. “I figured it was because
Reesa was a free spirit.”
    “ It was more than that.
She practically abandoned you guys. Leaving you to fend for
yourselves for days on end. She really was a shitty mother, just
like mine.”
    Marlowe sighed. Reesa’s sister was Toye’s
mama. Both of their mothers were wild. They treated their children
like the inconvenient by-products of having a good time. That’s why
Marlowe vowed never to have any kids. She didn’t want to inherit
any of her mother’s bad habits.
    “ What I don’t get is how
she could be living in that house and none of us knew about
it.”
    Toye’s face grew serious. “Only Ronnie can
tell you that. All I know is the two of them had a conversation and
the end result was not good. She can tell you all you need to know
about your mother.”
    That meant waiting a whole week for Ronnie’s
return. But if there was one thing about Marlowe, it was that when
she wanted instant gratification, nothing short of pneumonia could
stop her. “Nope. I’m going to find out on my own,” she said. She
jumped up and retrieved a business card from her purse.
    “ What are you doing?” Toye
asked.
    “ That guy gave me his
card. I’m calling him to help me put the pieces together.” She read
the name aloud. “Roque Coleman. CEO, Coleman Developers. He spells
his name R-O-Q-U-E. It’s pronounced ‘rock.’”
    “ Roque,” Toye