The Eternal Engagement Read online

  Also by Mary B. Morrison

  If I Can’t Have You Series

  If I Can’t Have You

  I’d Rather Be With You

  If You Don’t Know Me

  Soulmates Dissipate Series

  Soulmates Dissipate

  Never Again Once More

  He’s Just a Friend

  Somebody’s Gotta Be on Top

  Nothing Has Ever Felt Like This

  When Somebody Loves You Back

  Darius Jones

  The Honey Diaries Series

  Sweeter Than Honey

  Who’s Loving You

  Unconditionally Single

  Darius Jones

  She Ain’t the One (coauthored with Carl Weber)

  Maneater (anthology with Noire)

  The Eternal Engagement

  Justice Just Us Just Me

  Who’s Making Love

  Mary B. Morrison writing as HoneyB

  Sexcapades

  Single Husbands

  Married on Mondays

  The Rich Girls Club

  Presented by Mary B. Morrison

  Diverse Stories: From the Imaginations of Sixth Graders

  (an anthology of fiction written by thirty-three 6th graders)

  The Eternal Engagement

  MARY B. MORRISON

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  http://www.kensingtonbooks.com

  All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

  Table of Contents

  Also by

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Decisions

  Acknowledgments

  Author’s Note

  PROLOGUE - Mona

  CHAPTER 1 - Lincoln

  CHAPTER 2 - Katherine

  CHAPTER 3 - Lincoln

  CHAPTER 4 - Mona

  CHAPTER 5 - Katherine

  CHAPTER 6 - Lincoln

  CHAPTER 7 - Mona

  CHAPTER 8 - Steven

  CHAPTER 9 - Mona

  CHAPTER 10 - Katherine

  CHAPTER 11 - Mona

  CHAPTER 12 - Steven

  CHAPTER 13 - Lincoln

  CHAPTER 14 - Katherine

  CHAPTER 15 - Mona

  CHAPTER 16 - Lincoln

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18 - Steven

  CHAPTER 19 - Mona

  CHAPTER 20 - Steven

  CHAPTER 21 - Mona

  CHAPTER 22 - Steven

  CHAPTER 23 - Mona

  CHAPTER 24 - Lincoln

  CHAPTER 25 - Steven

  CHAPTER 26 - Mona

  CHAPTER 27 - Steven

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29 - Mona

  CHAPTER 30 - Steven

  CHAPTER 31 - Mona

  CHAPTER 32 - Steven

  CHAPTER 33 - Mona

  CHAPTER 34 - Steven

  CHAPTER 35 - Mona

  CHAPTER 36 - Steven

  CHAPTER 37 - Mona

  CHAPTER 38 - Katherine

  CHAPTER 39 - Steven

  CHAPTER 40 - Mona

  CHAPTER 41 - Steven

  CHAPTER 42 - Mona

  CHAPTER 43 - Lincoln

  CHAPTER 44 - Steven

  CHAPTER 45 - Mona

  CHAPTER 46 - Katherine

  CHAPTER 47 - Lincoln

  CHAPTER 48 - Katherine

  CHAPTER 49 - Mona

  CHAPTER 50 - Lincoln

  CHAPTER 51 - Steven

  CHAPTER 52 - Mona

  CHAPTER 53 - Steven

  CHAPTER 54 - Mona

  CHAPTER 55 - Katherine

  CHAPTER 56 - Lincoln

  CHAPTER 57 - Steven

  CHAPTER 58 - Mona

  CHAPTER 59 - Katherine

  CHAPTER 60 - Lincoln

  CHAPTER 61 - Mona

  CHAPTER 62 - Steven

  CHAPTER 63 - Mona

  CHAPTER 64 - Katherine

  CHAPTER 65 - Lincoln

  CHAPTER 66 - Steven

  CHAPTER 67 - Mona

  CHAPTER 68 - Katherine

  CHAPTER 69 - Mona

  CHAPTER 70 - Katherine

  Cheating Is Never the Real Reason for a Breakup

  Family, Friends, & Fans From My Heart to Yours

  And You Know What It’s Like to Love

  Teaser chapter

  Copyright Page

  Leslie Small,

  Dawn Mallory,

  Richard C. Montgomery,

  and (my son)

  Jesse Byrd, Jr.,

  Thanks

  Special Dedication

  With Loving Memories

  Walter Zacharius

  Eternally grateful that I’m a part of the empire you built and legacy you’ve left.

  Decisions

  influenced by thought

  or the lack thereof

  manifest in melancholy

  or marinate in the magnificent

  dictate direction that

  makes one’s life better

  or bitter

  but for better or for worse

  each decision one deliberates

  will become either

  a compliment

  or a catastrophe

  Acknowledgments

  Thanks to my wonderful fans, I’m enjoying a double tenth anniversary. Some of you have journeyed with me from my self-publishing debut of Soulmates Dissipate in June 2000. The year 2010 marked my tenth anniversary as an author, and 2011 is my tenth anniversary being published by Kensington Publishing Corporation. I refuse to celebrate my success without you, because you are the reason that I continue to write.

  Due to your loyalty, Jada, Wellington, Darius, and Fancy are headed to the big screen for seven films based on each novel in the Soulmates Dissipate series. Be sure to buy the re-release of Soulmates Dissipate and Never Again Once More with their new sexy covers and re-read the entire series before the movies are released in theaters.

  Many of you started reading my novels out of order, not realizing I write in series. It didn’t take long before you caught up on my SMD series, and then you immediately fell in love with the characters—Honey, Grant, Valentino, and Benito—in the Honey Diaries series. That’s love I continue to feel.

  November 5, 6, and 7, 2010, we showcased my first stage production, Single Husbands, based on my HoneyB novel. Packing the house for four spectacular shows, the turnout was the largest attendance at the Malonga Casquelourd Theater (in Oakland) in over a decade. We look forward to bringing Single Husbands to your hometown.

  I have to give praise to my amazing son, Jesse Byrd, Jr. He’s a playwright, film producer, entrepreneur, and, most importantly, a man with great character. I love you. You’re the best. I’m inviting my fans to visit Jesse’s website at www.OiseauChateau.com.

  My mother and father, Elester Noel and Joseph Henry Morrison, are my guardian angels. It takes a lot to rear other people’s children. I didn’t live with my parents, so I give thanks to my great-aunt, Ella Beatrice Turner, and her husband, Willie Frinkle, for welcoming me into their home. And I’m grateful for my earthly mother, Barbara Cooper.

  My brothers and sisters mean the world to me. Wayne, Andrea, Derrick, and Regina Morrison, Margie Rickerson, Debra Noel, and Bryan Turner.

  With all my heart, I thank each of the independent bookstore owners who have supported my career over the years. And I’m blessed to have friends whom I consider family: Felicia Polk, Vyllorya A. Evans, Marilyn Edge, Michaela Burnett, Carment Polk, Onie Simpson, Vanessa Ibanitoru, Brenda Clark, and Malissa Walton.

  I love, love, love all of my Facebook friends and fans, my Twitter peeps, MySpace crew, and my McDonough 35 Senior High fam.

  To my author friends Gloria Mallette, Marissa Mon-teilh aka Pynk, Kimberla Lawson Roby
, and Victor McGlothlin, I wish you the best of everything.

  Selena James, my editor, is simply the best. Looking forward to our next three books with Kensington Publishing Corporation. Adeola Saul, it was so wonderful getting to know you during the tour in Atlanta. To the entire Kensington family, I love you!

  I miss and thank my career-long editor, Karen R. Thomas. Looking forward to working with you on future projects. To my new editor at Grand Central Publishing, LaToya Smith; my publicist, Linda A. Duggins; and to Jamie Raab, I appreciate all you do to make HoneyB a growing success.

  I have two of the best agents in the literary business, Andrew Stuart and Claudia Menza. Thanks for all you do.

  In loving memory of Manie Barron, you are truly missed.

  Wishing each of you peace and prosperity. Feel free to hit me up at:

  Website: www.MaryMorrison.com

  Facebook Fan Page: Mary Honey B Morrison

  Twitter: marybmorrison

  Author’s Note

  As promised, I’m still going to write the prequel to Soulmates Dissipate entitled Our Little Story.

  FYI, in Darius Jones, I’ve brought together the main characters from both series.

  Below I number both of my series in reading order:

  SOULMATES DISSIPATE SERIES

  1. Soulmates Dissipate

  2. Never Again Once More

  3. He’s Just a Friend

  4. Somebody’s Gotta Be on Top

  5. Nothing Has Ever Felt Like This

  6. When Somebody Loves You Back

  7. She Ain’t the One

  8. Darius Jones

  HONEY DIARIES SERIES

  1. Sweeter than Honey

  2. Who’s Loving You

  3. Unconditionally Single

  4. Darius Jones

  PROLOGUE

  Mona

  May 2000

  “Promise me you won’t get upset.”

  Why did he have to say that, knowing she’d ask, “Upset about what?”

  “I’ll tell you in a minute, but first you have to promise me,” he insisted.

  Graduation day they sat in the empty stadium at their high school. The two of them. Alone. Surrounded by the morning’s humidity and sunshine, they were draped in their royal blue gowns and caps with dangling golden tassels. The plastic-plated 2000 charm symbolized the end of their preadult years.

  Batting her long lashes, she stood and gazed out over the field. Football season was over for him. Dating him was over for her. There were no new beginnings for them. Just old memories.

  Licking the same soft, drizzling vanilla, their tongues would circle the sugar cone until their lips met. His kisses were sweeter than the melted yogurt she’d suck from his mouth. As they talked all night on the phone, his voice comforted her. Making love for the first time to Usher’s “Nice and Slow” made the little girl inside her feel all grown up. The way Lincoln had moved his body—teasing, grinding, pleasing, winding, thrusting, easing his way inside of her—made her cry.

  When you’re a teenager, you think all there is to love is a feeling. A feeling that’ll never end. You believe your world is perfect and you’re invincible. No worries about having your heart broken. No cares about partying all night, where your next meal would come from, gas money to cruise around town in your bucket with your friends, or how your college tuition is going to get paid. Those worries were for parents, not children.

  Their relationship had ended when he’d started showing interest in another girl. She knew there was someone else when he began looking through her, not at her. His walk was a little taller. Smile was a lot wider. He laughed louder than usual at things that weren’t meant to be funny. Wow, there was another girl that excited him more than she had. She’d never imagined that happening. But it had. That’s when they’d become friendly. The first day of eleventh grade, her friendship with him was never the same.

  “Lincoln, how do I know if I’ll be upset if you won’t tell me?”

  “Mona Lisa, please,” he begged. “Just promise me.”

  If only he knew how many times she fantasized about walking down the aisle with him. She’d have the whitest white wedding dress with a train so long, two people would have to carry it. Going to his college football games would make her beam brighter than the panels of lights illuminating the field. She pictured what their babies would look like with his eyes and her nose. His hair and her smile. He was the only boy, soon to be a man, who had made her feel pretty inside and out. He was her first love, first lover, first real boyfriend. Steven Cunningham from the second grade didn’t count.

  Funny how the first could never be anything except. No one came inside of her before him. No one made her daydream in class, cut class, or have sex in an empty classroom, locker room, or backseat of her bucket, before him. She still loved him. Probably would always be in love with him.

  He kissed her, then said, “If I don’t tell you now, I won’t be able to tell you after we walk across the stage.”

  His large, light brown eyes pleaded more than his words. His dark, short curly hair was twisted into perfect coils. One stood out atop his head. Gently she fingered it into place.

  Standing before his six-foot-four-inch, one hundred ninety pounds, she held the back of his head, pressed his cheek against her stomach. She held his face there, this moment she’d cherish forever. She tried to sense if his news was good or bad. Not really sure, she opened her eyes, and whispered, “Then don’t tell me.”

  His grandparents were well known throughout their community. They had raised him well. He was a true gentleman. She hated that he’d broken up with her two years ago, but she had to respect the way he’d done it. He hadn’t embarrassed her after a game, in front of his teammates, or at a gathering with their friends. Hadn’t called her out of her name or acted as though their breakup was her fault. One Sunday afternoon he’d come to her house, sat on the front porch with her, held her hands, looked into her eyes, then told her, “I’m going to ask Katherine Clinton to be my girlfriend. And if she says, ‘Yes,’ then our relationship has to end.”

  Lincoln grabbed her hand, the same way he’d done two years ago. He scooted back on the shiny metal bleachers, pulled her toward him. “Mona Lisa, please.” He sat her down beside him. “I wanted to say I’m sorry for breaking up with you, man. You were nothing but good to me. I was stupid for that. Kather—”

  Removing her cap, she placed it in her lap, then lamented, “Do not mention her name to me. You’ve been with her for two years. I’ve moved on. You got who you wanted.”

  Her pride said she’d move on. Her heart begged to differ. Lincoln was different from the other football players. He was the starting running back. He held the school’s record for the most yards and the most touchdowns. He could’ve scored with any girl in Selma, and a few moms too, if he wanted. But he didn’t. He stayed faithful to her until Katherine accepted his offer. Then he came back to her house, sat on her porch, and let her know his new relationship was official.

  Squeezing her hands, he said, “But that’s just it. I don’t have who I need. I need you. I need you to pray for me. Pray for me every day. Pray I don’t get killed. Pray I return home safe. I love you, Mona Lisa. I really do.”

  His kiss on her cheek was warm. He gently stroked his thumb over the spot he’d kissed. Like when they were a couple, everything Lincoln had done was passionate and deliberate.

  “Why do you love me so much?” she asked him for the first time.

  She knew her unique beauty wasn’t what the girls consider commercially appealing. The bridge of her nose aligned with her forehead. No dip between the eyes like most people. Her nostrils, so close to the bridge they almost blended. Her upper lip was full and wide with a tiny V that pointed to a small bubble centered in her top lip. Her mother had told her, “That was no accident. God made you that way.” He also divided her lower lip with an indentation, making it seem like two halves instead of one whole. Her cheeks were flat. Nothing a little blush could
n’t redefine. Ears flat as though fading into the sides of her head instead of standing out. Nothing her hair couldn’t conceal when she wanted.

  Individually, her features could have made her appear freakish. But Lincoln loved kissing her succulent mouth. She didn’t have a curvaceous ass, big breasts, or thick legs. She deemed herself a goddess worthy of royal treatment by all guys, but Lincoln was the one who mattered the most.

  Tears dampened the cap covering her thighs. She fingered his gold tassel. Somewhat understanding what he meant by not getting killed and returning home safe, silently she said a little prayer for him. Prayed he hadn’t done what some of the other graduates had done.

  “I turned down all my D-1 football scholarships. I signed up for the Marines. My recruiter is coming to get me right after I accept my diploma.”

  Suddenly, her tears were accompanied by a downpour and an outburst. “Why, Lincoln? Why did you join the military without checking with me?” she cried. “Oh, my gosh, they brainwashed you into not taking a full ride? I would’ve begged you, told you to wait. Wait until we graduated from college, got married, had a few babies. That way you wouldn’t be leaving me alone.” She smothered his face with kisses.

  “What am I going to do without you? It’s not too late to change your mind. Take one of those scholarship offers and go to college with me like we’d planned. That way we can be . . .” Her Southern drawl faded with sadness as her words trailed off.

  For a moment she’d forgotten he wasn’t hers.

  The dream she’d dreamt for them ended two years ago. But it still felt like their breakup was yesterday. She tightened her lips, blinked to force back new tears.

  Lincoln shoved his hand in his pocket, pulled out a silver band. “I won’t be gone for long. I’ll be back in four years. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I want to serve my country. My grandfather said enlisting means more than football. And you mean more to me than her. This here is an engagement ring. Promise me no matter what happens, we’ll be friends forever. Promise me, Mona Lisa Ellington, that when I come back from the military—” He paused, held her hand in his as he slid the silver band on her left ring finger and asked, “Mona Lisa, will you marry me?”