Flawfully Wedded Wives (11 page)

“So I'm an auntie?” asked Sullivan, cracking a smile.

“Yes. Your niece, Sage, is twelve and your nephew, Chance, is fifteen. Daryl's wife, Sharla, is sweet, real pretty like you. I would like for you to meet all of them one day.”

“I would like that too. Do I have any sisters?”

“You did. Her name was Amber. She was killed in a car accident.”

Sullivan felt for him. “Losing her must have been hard for you. I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to Charity.”

“It was hard on both of us, but we survived.”

Sullivan looked around his office, imagining the kind of life she might've had growing up with her father as opposed to Vera. “This still feels surreal to me,” she confessed. “What about you? What's going through your head right now?”

Samuel exhaled. “I never should've let you go without a fight, but I was a coward, Sullivan.” He folded his hands. “In a lot of ways, I still am.”

“What does that mean?”

“I suppose that a real man would've told his wife the truth about you and your mother by now.”

“Why haven't you?”

Samuel released a deep sigh. “Simply put, I like the way my family looks at me. I like that my wife looks at me like I'm God's gift to her. I like that my boys still look at me like I'm their hero. None of them will ever look at me the same way again once they know the truth. To be honest with you, I'd planned to take this secret to my grave.”

“I think I'm more of my father's child than you realize.” Sullivan could empathize in light of her own paternity situation with Charity. “There's nothing worse than seeing the look of disappointment on the face of someone you love.”

Samuel's eyes fell. “It's hard for me to look at you, Sullivan. I can't imagine what you must think of me.”

“I don't think anything right now. I don't know you.” She hesitated. “But I'd like to.”

Samuel nodded. “I think I'd like that too.”

Samuel's administrative assistant buzzed into his office to alert him that his next appointment had arrived.

“Sullivan, I hate to kick you out, but I really need to take this meeting.”

She stood up. “It's all right. I should be heading back, anyway. I've got a long drive ahead of me.”

He caught Sullivan off guard when he reached out to hug her. “I'm so glad you came today. I really am. I've missed you for twenty-five years, and I thought I'd never get the chance to see you again.” He released her.

Sullivan felt a sense of peace that she'd never had before. “Would it be okay if we exchanged contact information so we can keep in touch?”

“Oh, yeah, definitely.” Samuel hurried to his desk to retrieve one of his business cards. “It has my direct line here and my e-mail address.”

“Thank you.” Sullivan scribbled her telephone number and address on the back of a receipt she found in her purse. “This is my info. Call anytime, day or night.”

“I will.”

“I'll be in touch soon.” On impulse, Sullivan hugged him again. “You have no idea how much this day means to me.”

Sullivan drove home on a high. All her life, she'd been able to snag any man she wanted. It was only now, at age thirty-three, that she had finally found the one man she'd always needed.

—
Angel King

 

Fallen leaves from the live oak and palmetto trees crunched beneath Jordan's and Angel's feet as they toured the grounds of the quaint bed-and-breakfast inn that Jordan had reserved for their date.

“I must say, Mr. McKay, you sure know how to surprise a girl,” said Angel as she and Jordan walked hand in hand, admiring the spectacular view of the Savannah River in the low-country marsh on Cat Island in Beaufort, South Carolina. “When you said you were taking me to breakfast, somehow I imagined us getting the pancake special at IHOP, not crossing state lines to come to a little piece of heaven.”

Jordan laughed. “I'm pulling out all the stops to impress you, lady. I appreciate you being a good sport about it. All I told you was to clear your calendar for the day and bring an extra pair of clothes and a toothbrush.”

“I wasn't worried. I trust you.” Angel sighed. “Jordan McKay, I do believe that what we have here is the perfect date.”

“It's not hard when you're out with the perfect woman.”

Angel stepped ahead to get a closer look at an apple tree. “It's so beautiful here. I almost don't want to leave.”

Jordan wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her on the cheek. “We don't have to if you don't want to.”

“You promise?” She laughed a little. “It's like our own slice of paradise.”

“It can be. In fact, I declare this to be our spot,” he proclaimed.

“Oh? So how do we commemorate it?”

He faced Angel and kissed her. “Like this.”

“We did that in Savannah . . . and on I-Sixteen . . . and when we stopped to eat at the border . . . and after we got here.”

“So you're saying I've got to step it up, huh?”

“You do if you want to impress me.”

“There's only one way I know to make this officially our spot.”

Angel squinted her eyes. “I'm not doing that out here.”

Jordan feigned being offended. “Angel King, is your mind wallowing in the gutter?”

She crossed her arms in front of her. “Is yours?”

“I plead the Fifth.”

She playfully pinched him. “Jordan!”

“Actually, they weren't all gutter thoughts. I had something else in mind too.”

“I'm almost afraid to ask.”

“I think I could really fall in love with you, Angel.”

She reached up and touched his face. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

“So you're okay with spending the night up here?”

“Yeah, we have separate rooms. I think it'll be all right.”

“You know, it gets kind of cold in these parts at night. What if it starts to get chilly in that bed of yours?”

“Then I'll turn up the heater.”

He chuckled. “All right, I hear you. So how would you like to spend the day, Ms. King? A few rounds of golf? Hitting up some art galleries? I saw a few advertisements about the Beaufort Shrimp Festival, which is happening this weekend. We can check it out if you want to.”

“It all sounds perfect, and I'm in excellent company, so I know whatever we decide will be fine.”

Jordan pulled her closer. “Now that we've got the day covered, how would you like to spend the night?”

Angel kept him at bay by reciting, “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” She said it not only for him, but also to keep her own hormones in check. There was definitely a war being waged on her flesh. She could only pray that her spirit would be victorious over her soul and body.

Jordan backed off. “Do you keep scriptures handy like mints?”

Angel laughed. “There's definitely a parallel between the two. You should keep them both on hand, because you never know when one is going to be needed.”

“Don't you ever want to let loose sometimes and do something spontaneous without finding a biblical reason to justify it?”

“Yeah, I came up here with you, didn't I?”

“Yes, you did,” he conceded.

“You seem to struggle a lot more with this celibacy thing than I do,” noted Angel.

“Babe, I'm a thirty-four-year-old warm-blooded alpha male. Celibacy for me is way easier said than done, especially when I'm standing next to a sexy . . .” He kissed her on the lips. “Gorgeous . . .” He kissed her on the neck. “Vibrant . . .”

“See? Now you're trying to get me in trouble,” Angel charged, momentarily indulging in his affection.

He nibbled her ear. “That's not all I'm trying to get into.”

“Okay, I get it!” Angel declared, dragging herself away from him. “Maybe we should focus on some nice nonsexual activities for tonight.”

“I'm sure there's a revival or a baptism going on that you'd like to take part in,” teased Jordan.

She playfully yanked one of his dreadlocks. “Don't be cute . . . although that request would be nearly impossible for you to carry out.”

“There you go, flirting with me again. You're very good at this whole sexy innocence thing.” He smiled. “You know what else you're good at?”

“No. What?”

Jordan intertwined his hands with hers. “Making me happy.”

“The feeling is mutual. I guess that's one more thing we have in common.”

—
Lawson Kerry Banks

 

The sight of Simone's Camry parked in her driveway never ceased to unnerve Lawson. Lawson knew that Simone was simply there to drop off or pick up her son, but it didn't make the scene less distressing.

Lawson crept into the house undetected. She spotted Garrett and Simone hovering over Simon, looking every bit the happy family. She hung back and watched as they marveled over Simon sitting upright by himself on the floor.

“Can you believe he's sitting up?” asked Simone. “Next thing we know, he'll be crawling.”

“That's my boy!” exclaimed Garrett. Lawson had never seen him look so proud, and it had been a long time since she'd seen him look so happy. “He was a little wobbly with it earlier today, but he's mastered it now.”

Simone scooped Simon into her arms and kissed him. “You're Mama's big boy, aren't you?”

“Hey, now, he's Daddy's boy too!”

“Yes, he is.” Simone smiled and placed her hand on his shoulder. He didn't really seem to notice, but it irked Lawson that he didn't mind, either.

“I'm glad we were here to see it together,” said Simone. “It seems like whenever Simon reaches a new milestone, either I see it and you miss it, or he's over here and I miss it.”

“I know, but thank you for letting me spend as much time with our son as I can.”

“Garrett, you're his father. I'm not one of those baby mamas who want to hold the kid hostage. Simon needs both of us, not just me.”

“I want you to know how much I appreciate it.” He lifted Simon into the air. “I love having this little guy around.”

“I'm glad at least one of you does,” grumbled Simone.

“Lawson will come around, Simone.”

“I'm not holding my breath.” She shook her head. “How can anyone, especially a professed Christian, hate a baby?”

“She doesn't hate him.”

“Really?” Simone was doubtful. “Does she ever play with him or change him? I've never so much as seen her hold him. She didn't even bother to come to the hospital after he was born.”

“It's tough on her, you know? She doesn't see Simon as my child or her stepson. To her, he's a reminder that I broke our vows. I'm not going to press her on the issue. She'll come around in due time.”

“It's not fair to Simon, and it's certainly not fair to you. Does she plan to hold our fling against you forever?”

“Lawson is doing the best she can right now. I have to give her credit. A lot of women in her position would've bounced. She's hung in there with me. She's tried to be supportive.”

“Supportive?” Simone frowned. “Is that what you call making you feel guilty for loving your son and for not acting like he doesn't exist? You'd never treat her son the way she's treated yours.”

“It's different with Namon. She didn't cheat on me.”

“Keep telling yourself that.” Simone slipped Simon's shoes over his feet. “I've got to be honest with you, Garrett. I don't like Simon having to be subjected to this hostile environment that your wife has created. Babies can pick up on that kind of stress. It's not as bad now, because he doesn't understand, but what about when he gets older and it becomes obvious that she doesn't want him here?”

“I'm not worried about that. Lawson is an excellent mother.”

Simone shook her head. “You'd think that knowing how much your son means to you would be enough to make her do better.”

Garrett stood up. “All right, that's enough about Lawson.”

Simone joined him. “What's the matter? Truth hurt?”

“No, I . . . I shouldn't talk about my problems with her with you. That's kind of how we ended up in this scenario.”

She nodded. “I understand, but please know that I'm here for you to talk to or vent to, or whatever else you need.”

“Thanks. I appreciate that.”

“Oh, and before I forget, one of my coworkers invited Simon to her son's birthday party next Saturday. You can come with us if you'd like.”

Garrett considered it but changed his mind. “I probably shouldn't.”

“Why not?”

“It wouldn't look right, and it wouldn't be fair to my wife.”

Simone sighed. “Somebody ought to tell that wife of yours how lucky she is.” She reached up and kissed him on the cheek.

Garrett smiled. “I think she knows. Let me go back in the bedroom and pack up Simon's stuff.”

“I'll come with you,” Simone offered. “Four hands are better than two.” Simone trailed Garrett to Reginell's old bedroom.

Lawson emerged from the shadows. Garrett had invoked her name at least five times, but if her friends and the Bible were to be believed, what a person said didn't matter. It was what was in his heart that counted, and it was there, she feared, that her name received no mention at all.

Simone and Garrett returned to the living room, armed with Simon's bags with toys.

“Hey, babe. When did you get here?” Garrett kissed her.

“Just now.”

“We were just leaving,” Simone explained, before making a quick exit with Simon.

“Was she in our bedroom?”

“No, of course not. She was helping pack up Simon's stuff, that's it.”

“Garrett, are you still attracted to her?”

“Why would you ask that?”

Lawson huffed. “When you answer my question with a question, it makes me feel like you're trying to avoid the answer.”

“No, I'm not attracted to her at all. She's Simon's mother, nothing more or less.”

“Are you still attracted to me?”

“Absolutely. I love you, Lawson. You're the only woman I've ever truly loved.”

He embraced her. Lawson wanted nothing more than to believe him, but it had been much easier to do so before Garrett gave her every reason to doubt him.