Magdalena Lopez-Hall

 Graham Hall

Chapter 12

Her mother spotted her as she stepped into the store a blast cool air soothing her heated skin and a smile broke out over Magdalena’s lightly tanned face when she saw her daughter, her big brown eyes brightening.

“Hello niña, did you see Keturah? She was looking for you.” She said coming around the counter to give her a hug.

She wore a yellow t-shirt emblazoned with the store logo and jeans and her long dark hair was up in a ponytail under a yellow baseball cap. She didn’t look old enough to have two grown children twenty seven and nearly twenty four years old with her slim, toned figure. Rielle was extremely proud of her sexy, strong mother.

She was especially proud of her mother because at the same time that Gabrielle had been going off to college her mother had been diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer. Her parents had chosen not to reveal the fact until she came back for Christmas break and had encouraged her to return to school when she would have stayed home at the end of the break. They had insisted that her mother was getting the finest care on the island at the hospital that had some state of the art equipment and physicians.

Magdalena had had a partial mastectomy and several chemotherapy treatments all without letting either one of their children know what was going on in the first three months of her diagnosis. Her fighting spirit had been bolstered by her husband's unconditional love. She was a four year survivor and the family had grown closer and stronger during and in the aftermath of that frightening ordeal.

The Halls were one of the driving forces of a breast cancer walk on the island and her mother often spoke at schools and to different organizations on the island to other women about her experience. They were actually sponsoring a female team of survivors and their friends in the triathalon to raise money for the cause.

There was no doubt that Magdalena was the heart of their family and without her the family would have fallen apart. The couple had married when Magdalena was eighteen and Graham twenty-four and just ready to be drafted into the NBA. They had been through ups and downs in their relationship and fortunately that had only served to make them a stronger team.

Gabrielle and her mother were very close now and the two women often went shopping together. Rielle could only hope that she had inherited her mother's strong character to withstand the trials that life put a woman through. She and her mother spoke on the phone almost everyday and she made a point of spending time with both of her parents but espcially her mother. They also went to a yoga class two nights a week at the gym in the Regency Mall not too far from the airport.

“Hi mama yes I picked up my potions and lotions. I can’t stay too long I’ve got some fish here I want to get home and season. Where is Daddy?” she asked looking around the busy store and waving to her teenaged cousins Lisa and Cathy who helped out on Saturdays.

“He’s in the back getting the passion fruit ice cream out of the freezer. Are you going to be playing at Sandy Beach tomorrow after church?” she asked her only daughter who was peering into the showcase.

“Yes, we are actually starting up the beach volleyball tournament next weekend. Lisa can I have a quart of the pina colada ice cream and also the lemon please?” she requested just as her father came out of the back room.

Graham Hall was a strapping cinnamon skinned man with hazel eyes who had gone to college on a basketball scholarship and played in the NBA for twelve years before a knee injury had sidelined him. He proudly wore the championship ring he had won with the Savannah Sentinels, one of the two teams he had played with during his professional career.

He had instilled in both of his children a love of sports and they had both played collegiate sports. Rielle had loved volleyball but Christopher was a numbers man and he had earned his degree in finance and economics, basketball was something he now played to stay fit.

Graham’s hazel eyes lit up at the sight of Rielle and she got a big bear hug.

“How’s my baby girl?” he asked looking down at her with a big smile.

“I’m good Daddy, I just came in to say hey and grab some ice cream. I’ve got to get going or my fish is going to start smelling up the store. I’ll see you at church tomorrow okay? Love you guys.” Rielle said waving to her parents as she collected the ice cream containers and hurriedly left the cool of the air conditioning.

The bright blue sky was broken up by fluffy clouds floating in the sky and once again she could only think again that she was happy to be back home with her family and friends. A smile pulled up her mouth and she passed several people on her way back to her car, saying good morning in greeting. Her mother had always told her manners took you all over the world.

She had a Styrofoam cooler in the back of Martha with some icepacks and dropped the ice cream and fish in for the journey home. Rielle got home and changed into a pair of white shorts and a colorful tie dyed t-shirt before starting a load of laundry and unloading her purchases She quickly seasoning the cleaned fish with kosher salt, pepper and fresh herbs before putting it in a Ziploc bag and placing it in the fridge. 

She had called K.C. shortly after she arrived but was determined not to change her routine so had told him she was home and then started her chores. Living alone made cleaning up easy because though Gabrielle wasn’t the neatest person in the world she did believe in putting things back where she got them from. She had a chance to straighten up the house before  K.C. got there and was making fresh squeezed lemonade when she heard her cell phone ring which she had left in the living room.

“Hello?” Rielle said trying not to let on that she was panicking about his coming to her house.

“Hello Ms. Hall, I’m parked outside your gate.” Came his warm voice and Rielle licked her lips as she unwittinglly broke into a smile.

“I’ll open it and you can back your car in ok?” she told him and he agreed. She knew having a strange vehicle parked outside her gate would be cause for speculation and on the island gossip travelled fast.

She was happy her older brother was off island because he would have been all up in her business. Christopher could be very overprotective and pretty bossy even though she lived on her own and paid her own bills.

Rielle didn’t get to change her clothes only had a chance to look in the mirror and tuck in a stray loop of hair that had escaped her ponytail before she went to open the gate.

He had gotten a gray Range Rover with a great stereo system and she heard Kem singing about love calling before he turned off the engine. K.C. got out dressed in a grey polo shirt that hugged his broad shoulders and denim cargo shorts.  He wore dark sunglasses so she couldn’t see his electric eyes that rivalled the sky.

"Hi.” She said shyly as she looked up at him realizing how tall he really was now that she was wearing flip flops and not heels and his hair gleamed in the sun.

“Hi.” He replied his voice deep.

K.C. was barely able to keep his eyes off her lithe figure in the hip length t-shirt and long light brown limbs that he could imagine having wrapped around his waist.

He was going to have to keep his mind on the mission of the day which was to get her to go out on a date with him. That objective would not be accomplished if he was throwing off ‘I want to jump your hot gorgeous body.’ vibes. He pushed the sunglasses to the top of his head and nearly got mesmerized by her green-grey almond shaped eyes.

“I was surprised by how many people go to the market; it reminded me of the one I’ve  gone to in Denver. I managed to get some fresh fruit and some really nice mahi-mahi. So did you get all of your shopping done?” he asked.

He wouldn’t tell her that he had actually looked for her at the market. That would just make him seem like a creepy stalker and that was not the image he wanted to project. He had left Michael and Jarrod at the market and made his way back through town and the neighboring parrishes easily. The only thought in his head to see Rielle again and to stay on the correct side of the road.