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  THE WINTER REUNION

  Rhonda McKnight

  The Winter Reunion

  Rhonda McKnight

  ~~~

  Copyright © 2016 Rhonda McKnight

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior consent of the author, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Any references or similarities to actual events, real people, living or dead, or to real locales are intended to give the story a sense of reality. Any similarity in other names, characters, places and incidents is entirely coincidental.

  Elevated Press

  P.O. Box 164

  Morrow, GA 30260

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Images from 123RF.com

  All Scripture is taken from the King James Bible unless otherwise noted.

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Discussion Questions/Bible Study

  Available Now!!!

  About the Author

  More from Rhonda McKnight

  Also by Rhonda McKnight

  __________________

  Samaritan Woman Series

  An Inconvenient Friend

  What Kind of Fool

  Righteous Ways

  Almost There

  Shame On You – Jan 2016

  Jordan Family Series

  Give A Little Love

  Live A Little

  Love A Little

  Laugh A Little – Summer 2017 (Cade’s story)

  Second Chances Series

  Breaking All The Rules

  Unbreak My Heart

  Other

  When She Loves

  A Woman’s Revenge

  Secrets and Lies

  Paige – Coming Spring 2017

  __________________

  Dedication

  For Tia McCollors

  I believe this story to be one of the best I’ve written. For that reason, it should have your name attached to it, because you my friend are a walking, talking, example of His excellence.

  Thank you for being my friend and accountability partner. I appreciate and need your advice, concern, love, and support more and more each day.

  I thank God for knitting our hearts and spirits together for His purpose.

  Acknowledgments

  My children, Aaron and Micah…you love me and overlook much as I write. You also inspire me to be my personal best. I love you!

  My parents, Bessie and Jimmie McKnight, and siblings, Cynthia and Kenneth McKnight…thank you for the encouragement, love, and support.

  My destiny-sisters, Sherri Lewis and Tia McCollors. Love you both for encouraging me/cheering me on/checking me in love and for listening to all those long Voxes. Muah!

  My writer-friends at Black Christian Reads, you inspire me, teach me, and hold me accountable in ways you’ll never know. Thanks for allowing me to call you sister.

  Thanks to all My Readers for loving my books. You have challenged me to deliver my best with each story. I appreciate your love and support.

  The Winter Reunion

  ____________

  Rhonda McKnight

  God, your God, will restore everything you lost; He'll have compassion on you; He'll come back and pick up the pieces from all the places where you were scattered.

  ~ Deuteronomy 30:3 (Message Bible)

  Chapter 1

  “You’re fired.”

  I frowned. “You can’t fire me.”

  “Actually, I can.” My boss, Eva Stanford, dropped into her chair. She folded her arms over each other on the desk. That position meant business. So did the steely glare in her eyes.

  “You can’t.” This time my voice held the question. Could she?

  “I’m the managing editor. I can fire whomever I want.”

  “But I have a contract.”

  “You sure do. Have you looked at it since you signed it? There’s a part in the legalese that says you have to do the stories that are assigned to you.”

  I hadn’t looked at my contract in years. I never had a reason to. I was happy doing the stories that came across my desk. I didn’t have aspirations of becoming some big time reporter. All I wanted to do was pay my bills and keep pecking at the novel I’d been revising for three years. But now paying my bills might become an issue.

  “I can’t do a story about Stephen Pierce. I don’t know anything about sports.”

  Eva picked up her cell phone and shoved it in my direction. “You may not know sports, but you know him. I’m pretty annoyed that you kept that from me.”

  I took the phone and looked down at an Instagram photo of myself and Stephen. The blood drained from my face. Pain constricted my heart. He was going to be the death of me. “This is my prom picture.”

  “That’s obvious.” Eva rolled her eyes. “One of the interns brought it to my attention. He recognized you.”

  I squinted at the picture. My head got light. I was glad I was sitting. “I can’t believe he posted this.”

  “He’s on his way to your reunion. I guess he’s feeling nostalgic.”

  I continued to stare at the picture – at him really. I hadn’t seen this picture in years. I didn’t even have my yearbook or any of the memorabilia anymore. My exasperated sigh filled the momentary quiet. “It’s not my reunion. It’s a thing they do. It’s for all classes.”

  “Small school stuff. I get it.” Eva unfolded her arms and pressed her back into her plush, leather chair. “You’re thirty, right? So it’s been eleven – twelve years since prom?”

  I nodded.

  “Did you go to this thing last year?”

  “I don’t go to my reunions.” I pushed the offending phone across the desk to her.

  Eva cocked her head. “I’m sure there’s a story there. Does it involve Pierce? Do you ever talk to him?”

  I fought hard to keep my face from telling my truth. “He was a prom date, Eva. It was a lifetime ago. I have no idea what he’s doing now.”

  Eva extended a manicured fingernail and tapped the screen. “Hmmm…the caption over his Instagram is evidence that he’s curious about what you’re doing. He put the same thing on Twitter.”

  I sighed again. I could tell by the look in her eyes that I was not getting out of this. I harnessed my irritation. “I can’t believe you’re going to make me do this. I haven’t been to Pine since I finished high school.”

  Eva reached for a lipstick-smeared, latte cup. “Stephen certainly seems to love it. It looks like he spends a lot of time there.”

  Easy for him to do. I resented that.

  “Do you have family there?” Eva probed.

  I shifted in my chair. “Some.”

  “They’ll be glad to see you.” She pushed the button to boot up her laptop. “People get old. They die. I can’t stand my family either, but I visit every few years or so.”

  I stood. The booting up of her laptop meant I was dismissed. “Eva –”

  “It’s settled, Anne. I need a good story. We’re going
to run this for February. Try to find out if he’s dating someone. Something romantic for a Valentine feature.”

  I shook my head. “You know how private he is. He’s not going to tell me that.”

  Eva cocked an eyebrow. “I won’t push. You know what I need for a cover story.”

  I turned to leave the office.

  Eva called to me. “Any truth to that rumor about him? The one about the video.”

  I swallowed. “That old story?”

  “Nothing is really old. I’ll have to see if we can dig up that video. Ask him a question or two about it.”

  “Asking him about the video is not going to endear him to me. He really won’t talk to me then.”

  “You’re right, but you can ask. I know this isn’t what you normally do, so I’ll send you a few questions. You always ask the hard stuff after you get the easy stuff.”

  “I know how to do my job, Eva.”

  She lowered her eyeglasses and peered down her nose at me. “You’re acting like you don’t.”

  I resisted the urge to fight with her. She always won. “I need to take the afternoon off. I wasn’t planning to go, so I don’t have anything to wear.”

  “Fine. Expense it. Expense a trip to the hair salon, too. You need it. Donna has your itinerary and some other details.”

  I walked to the door, grabbed the handle, did a half turn and looked back at her. “I guess this is just as good a time as any to tell you this, because it’ll probably come out now that I’m going to the reunion.”

  A disconcerting look came over Eva’s face. “Spit it out.”

  “Anne Ferguson isn’t my real name.”

  Chapter 2

  “Her name is Tamar Johnson.”

  Clyde Stowe rubbed the back of his neck. I felt his eyes following me around my bedroom. He was speechless. He hated surprises and what I’d done today shocked him, miserably.

  “Okay and who is she exactly?”

  I opened my valet, chose a pair of cufflinks, and put them in a travel case. I tossed it next to my tuxedo. I delayed answering Clyde as I mentally checked off the short list of things I needed to take with me. I was running late. Pine, my destination, was only a ninety-minute drive. It was nearly as far from my house as it was from the nearest airport, so I never bothered to fly.

  “Can you stop for a minute? You’re making me dizzy.”

  “I can’t. I need to get on the road. It’s going to snow.” I nodded to a chair in the corner of the room. “Have a seat. It’ll stop your vertigo.”

  As a sports agent, Clyde had to deal with a lot of messy stories. He had to put reputations and relationships back together that no glue should have been able to mend. He was the closest thing to a best friend that I had because aside from my family, he knew everything about me.

  “Pierce, you have to answer my questions. You put her on social media and that’s not your style. I like to get in front of problems.”

  “I couldn’t think of another way,” I replied, filling my suitcase.

  “Another way to do what?”

  I stopped and gave him my full attention. “It’s…hard to explain. I needed to reach out to her. I was hoping our reunion would make her think about me and that she would come.”

  “She’s probably been thinking about you for twelve years. Wishing she’d been Mrs. Pierce.”

  I shook my head. “I doubt that. If she wanted to see me, all she had to do was show up in Pine. Everybody knows how much time I spend there.”

  Clyde nodded. “What’s the story on this woman?”

  I sighed. “It’s complicated and embarrassing.”

  Clyde grimaced like I’d stabbed him. “For the love of God and all the angels, please don’t tell me this has to do with that video.”

  “Yeah, the video that wasn’t me.”

  Clyde shook his head. “Pierce, you can’t do this. You can’t let that resurface.”

  Clyde didn’t have to tell me what I was doing was crazy. “It’s never really gone away.”

  “It’s quiet enough and you have a lot on the line right now.”

  I closed the suitcase. “I have to talk to her. I need to make things right.”

  Clyde stood and closed the space between us. “But the timing isn’t good.”

  “It’s really bothering me, Clyde. It’s always bothered me. I can’t put it off anymore.”

  “But you are about to sign the endorsement deal of your career and let’s not forget the award.”

  If Clyde thought he had to remind me that I had five million dollars on the line with Nike or that I was in the running for the prestigious Paul, an award bestowed upon athletes who honored the Lord with their witness for Christ on and off the field, he was mistaken.

  “You don’t understand. It was bad.”

  “I get that, but this could spin in a lot of different ways. You need to protect your brand.”

  “The truth is my brand.”

  “I don’t pretend to understand this Christian celibacy stuff, but I don’t think it’s a crime to not be a virgin.”

  I left my bedroom and entered the kitchen. Clyde was on my heels. “I never said I was a virgin. You know that’s not what I’ve been…hiding. And being a Christian is not a brand. It’s who I am, but without the truth – without making amends – it’s a lie. I’ve been lying for a long time. I’m tired of it.”

  I reached into the refrigerator for two bottled waters and extended one to Clyde. He declined, whining, “But Nike, Pierce.”

  “I want the Nike deal, but if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. Let’s not act like I’m not already rich.” I cast a glance his way. “And you, too.”

  “You’re young. Money goes.”

  I shook my head. Clyde knew what I had. “Not this kind of money unless you’re a fool.”

  “I’m just saying. It’s been a long time. I hope Miss Tamar hasn’t changed. She could be a completely different person.”

  I couldn’t argue with that. “She could be, but I’m hoping she’s not worse for what I did.”

  Clyde sighed. “Have you reached out to her on social media?”

  “She’s not on anything. Not under her name.”

  “Thirty years old and not on social media?” Clyde washed his face with his hand. “She could be a nutcase.”

  I chuckled. “Or she could want the privacy being the Video Virgin stole from her.”

  “If she’s not crazy, a woman that fine is probably married with two or three kids, driving a minivan, and going to soccer games.”

  I downed my bottle of water and tossed the empty in the trash. “Soccer Mom wouldn’t be a terrible thing,” I lied, jealousy rising. “At least she’d be living a normal life. But I don’t think that’s the case. I’ve tried to talk to her father. He won’t tell me anything about her, but his heart is broken. I can see it in his eyes.”

  Clyde groaned. “He’s probably still mad at you.”

  “That is a definite.” I chuckled, but it wasn’t laughter. “If she’s not there this year, I’ll hire a detective to find her. I should have done that a long time ago.”

  “Long time ago when? Not when you were engaged to Debra. Let that barracuda know you were looking for another woman and…” Clyde ended his statement with a long whistle.

  I laughed. “You’re right about that.”

  “Yeah, good thing you dodged that bullet. She’d be waiting for the first mess up so she could find a way around the prenup.”

  I shook my head at the reality. “Debra wasn’t just interested in my money.”

  “Oh, yeah, I know. The challenge of breaking Stephen Pierce’s record of celibacy.”

  I laughed again. “I can’t believe I actually proposed marriage to that woman.”

  “Well, with a body like hers, you probably had the end of your dry spell in mind. You didn’t marry her and that’s all that counts,” Clyde said. “Look, if she’s not a bitter video vixe
n, maybe finding old girl from high school will be for the best. You can marry her. At least you know that she liked you when you were nobody.”

  Clyde instantly regretted the video vixen thing. The look I pinned him with took care of that. “It wasn’t a casual relationship. It wasn’t casual sex. She wasn’t the only one losing…” I paused. Clyde’s eyes widened.

  Too much information.

  “I loved her. I was young, but Tamar was going to be my wife one day. I have no doubt about that. The video cost me a lot.”

  Clyde shrugged repentance. He walked into the foyer. He pulled his coat from the rack on the wall. “I hope your little social media thing doesn’t backfire. You’re a standup guy. You deserve that Paul Award.”

  “I don’t know about that, Clyde. All I know is, I don’t want it if I have to lie to get it.”

  “I hope that you don’t lose everything you worked for.”

  “Everything I’ve worked for is nothing if I’m not cool with Him,” I said, pointing heavenward.

  “Okay, you testifying hard now.” Clyde slid on his coat.

  “Better than testing a lie.” I laughed.

  Clyde laughed too. “All this Jesus talk makes me want to have a drink.” He slapped me on the back. “No matter how it goes, I’ll be here for you. Text me and let me know if she shows up. Send a picture if she’s wearing a dress like the one from the prom. My old heart could use a little excitement.”

  I let him out the front door before returning to my bedroom. I grabbed an old photo album and my prayer journal, unzipped my bag and slid them in. I picked up my keys, stepped in the elevator that led down to my garage and climbed into my SUV. The door opened and the wind carried a light flurry of snowflakes into the garage and onto my windshield. The weather forecast guaranteed us a white Christmas, but was it going to be a “right” Christmas for me? I closed my eyes to pray for safe travel and whispered, “God, make it so.”