"I apologize for my mother," Beck stated as he opened the door to his house.
"No, she was lovely," Cherokee retorted as she walked in behind him.
"Right," Beck rolled his eyes as he loosened his tie and began to take off his black dress shoes. "Well, as I told you earlier, I would give you a room but my mother loves to come here without warning and snoop,"
"Good evening, Mr. Petersen, Chef Baldone has offered baked chicken for dinner," An older woman said as she walked into the living room.
"Ahh yes, Mrs. Sands, thank you that's fine," Beck uttered as he took off his suit jacket and handed it to his head maid. "Oh, and this is my fiance Cherokee Rains,"
"Yes of course, good to meet you, Ms. Rains," Mrs. Sands stated as she nodded her head toward Cherokee.
"You can call me Cherry," Cherokee smiled at the older woman as she slipped off her floral dress jacket.
"Come, Cherry, let's get you settled," Beck uttered as he walked toward his room. "I've had some things removed and made room, you can settle in how you see fit,"
"Mr. Petersen," Mrs. Sands knocked on the door lightly. "Mr. Williams and Ms. Johnson are here to see you,"
"What?" Becket muttered as he turned around with a confused look on his face. "Oh, alright,"
"Hello, old sport, you know I had to come and see for myself, I can't always believe the rumors," Ryan held out his hand as he moved from his fiance.
"Ryan, what the hell are you talking about?" Beck asked as he shook hands with his friend of ten years.
"The rumor of you and Cherokee Rains, proposing and having her move in with you out of nowhere," Ryan leaned closer to Becket. "Ahh, and there she is now, the girl of the hour. How are you Cherokee Rains?"
"Hello, Ryan," Cherokee answered as she slowly walked into the living room. "Abigale, I like your shoes,"
"So, it's true?" Ryan questioned as he moved toward Cherokee and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, dragging her toward Becket.
"Yes, it's true," Beck spoke up as he grabbed onto Cherokee and placed her on the side of him.
"Why?" Ryan scoffed as he turned toward his fiance who was busy on her phone.
"What do you mean why?" Becket knitted his eyebrows together as he shook his head slightly.
"I mean why, you barely know Cherry, and you rushed to propose, I see no ring," Ryan got louder as he pushed Abigale to sit on the white sofa.
"We are getting a ring tomorrow, I didn't want to get the wrong cut," Beck stuttered as he pushed Cherokee behind him.
"Oh, the wrong cut," Ryan laughed as he wiped his nose. "I asked your brother, Kaleb and he said you were genuinely in love with Cherry here. Your cousins, Nicholas and Marcus weren't so forthcoming, they told me to talk to you," He began pacing the tan marble floor rubbing the blonde stubble on his chin.
"You asked and I told, what is going on with you Ryan?" Beck inquired with a hint of worry in his voice.
"Becket," Cherokee touched Beck's back as she began to get anxious.
"It's alright Sweetheart, make your way to the kitchen with Mrs. Sands, and do not come out, no matter what you hear," He lightly kissed her hand as he kept his eyes on his friend.
"Sweetheart, awe how sweet, why am I always the man out?" Ryan started to pull at his blonde locks as he continued pacing.
"No one is leaving you out Ryan, I am making an announcement Friday night of our engagement, I was going to tell you tomorrow so that you could throw us an engagement party," Beck walked closer to Ryan as he grabbed onto his shoulders speaking calmly.
"A party?" Ryan smiled as he brought his arms down. "I do love a good party,"
"Exactly, at the club, Friday night, I fell in love man that's all," Becket assured him smiling as he sat him down next to his fiance who was still busy on her phone.
"See, you got upset over nothing, now let's go. I'm hungry, and that restaurant I like closes in like two hours," Abigale popped her gum getting up from the sofa and heading toward the door.
"Look at what you have to look forward to," Ryan chuckled as he grabbed onto Abigale's hips walking out the door. "You better not marry before me, or I'll assume you knocked her up,"
"I've never seen Ryan like this," Cherokee mumbled as she sat on the bar stool watching Mrs. Sands pick up the last few groceries.
"Mr. Williams has come here several times this way, but Mr. Peterson knows just what to say to calm him down and send him away," Mrs. Sands assured Cherokee as she patted her hand.
"Do you need help with anything?" Cherokee asked as she stood up from the wooden bar stool. "I should have asked earlier, my Agilisi would be furious,"
"Your who?" Mrs. Sands questioned as she turned around raising an eyebrow.
"Ah-gey-lee-see means grandmother in Cherokee," Cherokee giggled as she grabbed an orange from the fruit basket in front of her.
"I see, so you're Native American," Mrs. Sands inquired as she grabbed a rag from the drawer and started to wipe down the counter. "The Petersons must have had a field day with you," She laughed.
"I'm sorry about Ryan, he just took too much cocaine and fuck knows what else," Becket sighed as he made his way to the refrigerator and grabbed two bottles of water, handing one to Cherokee.
"What was the matter with him?" Cherokee asked worriedly opening the bottle.
"He thought we were excluding him, he just wanted to party," Becket scoffed as he helped Cherokee up and walked back to their room.
"I don't understand," Cherokee scrunched her eyebrows together as she began to open her suitcase.
"Mr. Peterson, your..." Mrs. Sands began but she was quickly cut off.
"Oh, no need to announce me, you old hag, Becket your mother is here," Sonya announced as she made her way to their room.
"Ahh Cherry you're awake," Becket began as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "I do apologize once again for my mother's behavior." "You apologized enough last night, she isn't a bother," Cherokee said as she took a cup from the cabinet and poured herself coffee. "Are you off to work this morning?" She asked as she looked down at his shorts and dark blue robe. "No, with Mother sleeping here, I'm not sure when she'll go home and I don't want her asking too many questions." Beck pulled out the wooden stool as he reached for the newspaper sitting down. "What do you have planned?" "We are going on a little girls' shopping trip!" Sonya spoke loudly as she barged into the kitchen. "Becket do fix mommy a cup of coffee," She recited as she walked over to the kitchen table to have a seat. "You're not going on a shopping trip, Mother," Becket uttered as he closed his robe and moved toward the cabinet to fix his mother a cup. "Oh no?" Sonya muttered as she raised her thin eyebrow in his dir
"Are you sure this is all worth it?" Lucky asked as she helped her zip up the sixth dress. All that happened to be picked out by Tonya and Sonya. "What do you mean?" Cherokee questioned as she brushed down the invisible wrinkles on the wedding gown. This one in particular was quite tight around the bosom and covered in beads."They are clearly racist, and you're just putting up with it," Lucky said as she looked at her best friend through the mirror. "Is this all worth it?""Not here, I don't want them to hear," Cherokee whispered as she opened the curtain leading to the showroom. "We'll talk about this later," She plastered a smile on her face as she headed through the last curtain to the two women waiting on the sofa."No, I thought I liked it, but turns out I don't," Tonya uttered as she squinted her eyes."No, I'm in agreeance, it doesn't suit you. But don't worry, we will find you the right one," Sonya muttered as she lifted her glass to be refilled."Hello, all!" Came a voice f
"Yes, Lucky, Beck left for work this morning," Cherokee stated as she threw the covers off of herself. "So, he just left?" Lucky asked as she switched her cell phone to the other ear. "After everything that happened yesterday?" "Yeah, I mean I'm fine." Cherokee lied as she tossed her silk pink robe Becket had picked out at the boutique earlier that week. "I know that he has work. Besides, I'll get some much-needed time to explore this enormous house." "You haven't seen the house yet?" Lucky questioned as she pulled up a pair of tight jeans over her hips, struggling as she buttoned them up. "Ugh, I think I'm gaining weight," "No, I haven't. His mom came over the day I moved in. She was drunk and sort of kept us up before she passed out on the sofa." Cherokee opened the bedroom door and made her way to the kitchen where the maid was making breakfast. "What do you mean, you're gaining weight? Lucky, you're super skinny!" "Good morning, Ms. Rains," Mrs. Sands announced as she plopped
"So, Lucky, how long do you plan to grace us with your presence?" Becket asked his fiance's best friend as he studied the interaction between the women seated on the sofa. It had been three days since Lucky showed up in his house without an invitation. He didn't get many guests, but for those he did have, he required them to ask beforehand. There were the occasional run-ins with his drunk friends or his meddlesome parents, but even his brother and cousins had the decency to give him a heads-up. He watched Cherokee push herself sideways so she could look at him and her friend gave him the awful expression, as if he dared to ask her that question. "Is it a bother for her to be here?" Cherokee snapped. Something Beck did not expect to happen. The times that he had been around his new fiance, she was sweet. Full of hope, kind, and not at all like the display of raw emotion he just witnessed. "No. Not at all. I was just inquiring." Becket brought his attention back to his phone and tried
"Cherokee!" Lucky shouted as she ran up to the long raven-haired girl standing barefoot under a tree. "Lucky!" Cherokee smiled as her best friend came running up to her. "Is something wrong?" She asked hugging her tightly. Her mahogany hair blew freely in the wind and Cherokee's butter scotch-colored skin seemed to always kiss the sun the way it showed in the day. "Girl, did you forget?" Lucky punched her shoulder playfully as she interlocked their arms. "We're going to Owen's Bar in the city tonight." She dragged out in hopes her friend of twenty-two years would get the slightest clue the slower she spoke. "Oh, no, I forgot, sorry," Cherokee apologized as she rested her head on Lucky's shoulder as they continued back into the reservation where they lived. "We still have time, come on!" She pulled her down the dirt-covered road to the third trailer on the right. The Rez as it was commonly called by those who lived there, those who are registered Native Americans to be exact. "This
"So, sorry I didn't come last night, the guy at the bar was just too cute, I couldn't pass on that opportunity." Lucky laughed as she walked through the front door of their shared trailer. "It's okay, the guy you left me with was kind of rude," Cherokee stated as she put her empty cereal bowl in the sink. "Who, Becket?" Lucky asked as she picked up Cherokee's bowl and filled it with cereal making her way to the plastic round table. "Yeah, he's like that, his brother, Kaleb is so much nicer, but Beck wins in the looks department. So, I got a text from Nick and he wants us to come back tonight." "Oh, I don't know, I was planning on just relaxing at home." Cherokee turned on the television while sitting back on the older brown sofa. "Cherry you do that every day, it's Saturday, it's time to let your hair down yeah." Lucky grabbed the bowl and headed to the sofa where she plopped next to her best friend. "Come on, the only person that won't be there is Kaleb, he's got some modeling gig
"What are you talking about?" Lucky asked as she drew closer to Cherokee rounding the small kitchen table. "I don't want to go," Cherokee plopped down on the worn-out sofa. "We have been going every night, and you always leave with some guy. Not shaming, just saying, and Beck has to give me a ride every time." "And, you like Beck, I've seen it with my own beautiful brown eyes." Lucky giggled as she sat on the sofa next to her. "Why do you think I've been asking him?" "It doesn't matter that I think he's beautiful, intelligent, or his blue eyes sparkle," She gazed away before clearing her throat. "He barely says one word to me, at the bar or on the way home." "You don't see what I see," Lucky wiggled her eyebrows. "Every time I glance toward him he is always passing looks at you." "Yeah looks of embarrassment maybe." Cherokee sighed as she began looking for the remote. "Hey, don't think that way, you are a strong gorgeous native, we are dine and we are fire." Lucky spoke out as sh
"Hello, son," Todrick spoke out as he opened the door to his son's office. "Father, I wasn't expecting you," Becket replied as he rose from his chair, and nodded toward the honey-blonde woman leaning on his desk. "Uh, thank you, Ms. Carver," "Still at it, I see," Todrick retorted as he made his way to the brown leather chair in front of the large oak desk. "Son, need I remind you that you are still under a probationary period, this is still my company to take back as I see fit." He grabbed a handful of cashews in the marble bowl in front of him and he brought them to his mouth. Becket and Todrick were the spitting images of each other, it was as if someone copied Todrick and gave him a different name. "What are you talking about, Father?" Beck asked as he sat back down in his chair across from Todrick. "Ms. Carver was just bringing me the Connecticut file," "Yes, among other things, last time I walked in here, she was laid out on top of your desk, sprawled out like some animal." To