Stand By Me (22 page)

The young man smiled and left the room. She sat on the bed whispering to her son. “I can only pray she still loves me.”

Chapter Sixteen

Well this is it. Trial of passage. The castle held a mixed vibe to it having Seamus home and Jonathan in prison. Kenya learned more and more about Jonathan on her trips to the hospital with Seamus for their checkups. She went for her OB checkups, and Seamus went to therapy on his leg, Gretchen goes on every trip. She had to admit she loved that her parents were able to stay until the baby was born, especially having her father back.

Another thing was she'd had more phone sex than she'd ever feel comfortable admitting and her husband was a straight up freak and good at it. He used words she didn't know could be formed with the human mouth the way they vibrated through the phone making her body exhausted by the end of the call.

Walking out of the pub's kitchen she crossed to the back hall leaving Karla, her aunt, in there, she wanted to learn to cook some of the recipes they served in the pub, said she was gonna get one of the Nigerian men when they come to visit the Inn. Pushing the door open, Kenya padded across the stone floor, pressed her forehead to the glass overlooking the parking lot, and stared at Jamie's car out front.

Julia had been back and forth so much over the past six months until Jamie had set her up in a room in the castle. The two had even started to be seen around town together. They made a hot couple.

Three hours before Jonathan's character trial and this could decide his fate and she hadn't been able to sleep all night. A fitful night trying to sleep with the baby playing field hockey with her bladder, she'd gotten up to walk the Inn's halls. The faint echo of the pub being prepped for breakfast, clanking glasses and tables being moved, followed her past the windows of the lounge to the back stairs. Lord she was waddling like a drunken duck with this boy.

She stroked a hand down the front of her belly and rested a foot on the bottom stair. “Ethan, honey, give mommy a break and take a nap, or find something quiet to play with in there. But please stop kicking your mother's bladder. There's ten stairs between us and the bathroom and I'm not counting the walk to our suite.” She slowed hearing footsteps approaching behind her down the hall.

“Kenya, you have a call in the office,” Fiona called coming up to the bottom of the back stairs; her black hair pulled back in a severe ponytail. Kenya held on to the stone banister balancing her wobbly steps.

“Do you know who it is? I wanna take a quick shower before the trial.”

“Aye, I believe it's your mother calling,” she told her waving toward the parking lot. “Carl drove her into town to pick up Steve's wife.”

Kenya shook her head. “No, Carl’s supposed to pick up his girlfriend, she’s coming back to help here in the pub while everyone’s at the trial.” The scent of breakfast filled the air and made her stomach rumble.

Fiona shrugged. “Maybe Steve’s gonna pick them up on the way in,” Fiona offered.

“Where’s he at?” she peered around looking for Steve.

Fiona tipped her chin back over her shoulder. “In the pub with your father, Marcus, and brother, Michael...has been playing darts all night. Seems no one can sleep with the trial in a few hours,” Fiona said hesitantly brushing a hand down Kenya's arm.

She knew the feeling. “Michael went for a run before the sun came up, said he wanted to see the fields before the trial got started.” Michael was always muscular she remembered and it was nice having him there especially after the fire, they'd had long talks at night and she found out he had a fiancé and hopefully a sister in-law in a year. He'd moved to Maryland when he went to school and they barely saw each other after that. Now if she could've gotten through to Morgan she'd feel so much better. She called over her shoulder, “Is the call to the Inn's line? I have to get this child off my bladder.”

Fiona smiled. “I'll send it to your suite; take your time going up the stairs.” Fiona said, Kenya had grown to like her sister in-law since Jonathan's imprisonment. She still watched her not fully trusting her, but things were better.

“Fiona,” she said and watched her cousin's face open with concern. “Be good to him...Randall. He's a good friend and I can only guess a wonderful boyfriend.”

“Kenya, I've wanted to ask you this from the start...” Fiona said prancing from foot to foot closing her arms around her body. Fiona was envious of Kenya's relationship with Randall.

“You're no shrinking violet, Fiona. I can't imagine you haven't questioned him about his and my relationship, and if you don't trust Randall's answer you don't deserve him.”

Fiona breathed deep in her chest, relieved letting her gaze slide over the floor before returning to Kenya. “Aye, dinna want any friction between us.”

Kenya grinned to herself. “We're family, Fiona, there's always gonna be some friction, but at the end of the day we're still family.”

“Then I hope we grow to be sisters.”

“Keep communications open and one day we'll get there,” Kenya said making her way up the stairs. Fiona relaxed her arms to her sides starting to walk away.

“Oy, I almost forgot about your call. I'll send it up to your suite.” She hurried off down the hall to the office.

Holding her belly, Kenya climbed the rest of the stairs having resorted to wearing the slippers with the treads on the bottom for traction that Jonathan sent, she felt even clumsier than normal. Ethan was ready to face the world any day now. “I think these stairs have multiplied in the last month,” she said to no one. Spotting Judge on the edge of the rug, she waved him over.

Judge got to his feet falling in step as she penguin walked to their suite. Inside Kenya hit the remote that lit the fireplace warming the space.

In the bathroom, she pressed the speaker button beside the door then grouped her sweater up over her head dropping it to the hamper. Her pants followed after several wriggles of her hips. She stepped into the shower.

“Hey, Momma. I'm on speaker phone, so I can jump in the shower so you have to talk loud. What's up? What did you buy this time?” Hearing nothing, she stuck her head out of the shower past the running water. “Momma, give me one minute let me shower real quick...”

“Kenya...it's Morgan...your sister,” Morgan said softly. The sponge hit the shower floor. Subconsciously Kenya brought her arm down protectively over her baby and peered out over the bathroom out the door to the bedroom, nervously. “Kenya, are you there? Don't hang up...please...I need to talk to you, it may be my last chance.”

Shocked she grasped the glass door and peered around the bathroom expecting to see Brian's henchmen. “Ah...I won't hang up. Last chance—why? Morgan where are you? Everybody's worried Brian's locked you in a freezer somewhere. Talk to me!”

“I thought you'd be pissed and hang up on me.”

“No you didn't or you wouldn't of called. You know I'd never turn my back on family, regardless of how much you deserve it,” holding onto the door she squat down and picked up the sponge setting it on the shelf. “I can't change what happened and sharing your anger just puts my life on hold.”

“You're a better woman than I am, Kenya...you always were.”

“What's wrong, Morgan? Compliments aren't a part of your normal arsenal when speaking to me.” She grasped the sponge squeezing a glob of liquid soap then slapped at her body in a frantic bath then quickly rinsed under the showerhead.

Morgan said, hesitantly, “Too many things need to be said and I don't have time to go over everything and you have to get to the trial. First I think you deserve to know why I was such a cruel sister when you deserved better.”

“Morgan!”

Morgan groaned her voice a solemn plea of shame, “It was envy, not hate. You never knew our father, so him leaving didn't affect you the same. Marcus was the only father you knew and he always treated you like his little girl. Me and Michael...it took him a while to see us as his children and not his niece and nephew.” That was Michael's argument when he and Steve came to the castle. “We had to learn to see him as our father and not an uncle. You were his little buddy from the first day, Kenya. You were never an Erickson as me and Michael were. They adopted us and changed our last name per our father's request. That sucked.”

Kenya waited for some horrific explanation for the years of pain they caused. When it didn't come she balked. “It sucked...are you serious, that's all you got. That's your big reveal?” Kenya grabbed a towel wrapping it around her body tucking in the ends between her breasts. “You were pissed because he changed your name instead of throwing us in foster care?”

“I'm sorry, Kenya. I hurt you, we both did...”

“And when we grew up it got worse, but I dealt with it.” She dropped a shoulder to the wall bracing a hand under her stomach. “Alright, you wanna bring it all out, let's go. You suck, Morgan.” That was childish; she thought and took a moment to collect herself. This might be her last chance to speak her peace so it had to make sense and not just noise. “I needed you growing up.”

“Kenya we were kids and...”

“And it still didn't matter as long as I let you dump your pain and anger on me, didn't matter how much shit I had to carry for the rest of my life,” pacing the room she moved to the dresser and put her watch on. “Every night, crying in my sleep. Every day, standing in the picture window in the living room, hoping this was the day my brother and sister smiled at me when they came through the door from school.” She made a funky noise in her throat. “Did either one of you think of how much that took from my self-esteem, my pride?”

“Kenya, you have a right to have your anger and to have it toward me.”

Silence filled the air as she picked up her bra off the cushioned stool beside the vanity. Kenya tugged it up her arms hooking the clasps, then slipped on her panties, listening to Morgan's words. “I don't wanna be angry with you Morgan. You're my sister, my blood, my family.” She grabbed the bottle of hair lotion rubbing some through her hair then drew the brush through the length to smooth it back off her face. She set the brush down, pumping out a handful of cocoa butter lotion rubbing it over her stomach and as far down her legs as she could comfortably reach. “There's something we need to clear up between us, since we're talking. All my life I thought, I was afraid of you and your hate and anytime you questioned my decisions I changed it to please you. I'd left the best man I've ever met, not knowing how to trust in my gut feeling. Why would he believe me, I'm nobody? At least that's how you treated me. But not only did he believe me he supported me. Since then I've learned my fear was of disappointing Katherine and Marcus. Don't ever think I bite my tongue out of fear for you or Michael. If I had my way, I'd dig your eyes out with a rusty spoon for the way you made me feel, but we weren't raised that way. I accept you out of respect for the parents that took us in as their own and the mother that gave her life so I could have one.”

“You're right,” Morgan said in a weak voice. “I'm glad you have Jonathan, he's a good man and you're a beautiful woman and I'm glad he could see you under the pain.”

Kenya peered out the window to see if the sun had fallen out the sky, because she had to be in black hole spiraling to her death.

“I'm sorry we never had an adult relationship as friends, which was my fault.”

She couldn't have agreed more. “So am I. I feel I need to say this, because it bothers me every time I think about it. A girl learns to become a woman from the women in her life. If not for Katherine and Karla's influence, I'd have cracked your head open until you stopped moving a long time ago. That's the pain Jonathan had to deal with when he fell in love with me, but he stayed and wouldn't let me drown in all that hurt, Morgan.” Her breathing had picked up becoming stressed and uneven, but she felt better.

Morgan said hesitantly, “You still wanna hit me?”

With a chair across the back, but it wouldn't solve anything. “I wanna hug your evil ass, but I'd probably strangle you.” Kenya padded into her room hitting the button on the other phone and started getting dressed. “What's going on with you Morgan? Brian's old enough to be our father and weird enough to make my skin crawl.” She pulled a dress from the wardrobe.

“I need you to listen. I don't have a lot of time, so just listen. Brian found me here in Ireland and brought me back and has had me under surveillance ever since.” Kenya started to speak. “Listen, he’s got two of his men watching me, but one is willing to help me. I have information that'll put him in prison, that's why he was desperate to get me back.”

Kenya froze. “He'll be able to trace your call; you gotta get out of there, Morgan. Where are you? I'll get...”

Morgan cuts in, “Kenya listens to me. There's no time for all that.”

She froze in her waddling rage around the room. “You put me through that and now you're not leaving that freak?”

“Kenya,” Morgan said, her voice held a hint of closure that resembled death sending a chill down Kenya’s spine. She felt a biting sensation in her chest. What was going on? “I can get Jonathan out of prison.”

Kenya dropped the dress in her hand and eased down on the bed, as the bite became a choking swallow of absolute disbelief. “Don't play with me, Morgan.”

“It's important that you just listen. The man that's holding me is outside. A friend is helping me, and yes I've already called Rick and he's on his way from the airport. I had a little boy five days ago and yes, it's Rick's. Brian thinks he looks like you and Julian my son is light skinned like our biological father, Steve.”

“He's looking for you Morgan. Steve's here in Ireland.”

“I know, don't ask how. If Rick doesn't get here in time I'm leaving my son with someone and they'll contact you after the trial.” Morgan's son cried over the line, sending a jolt of pain up her pelvis to her navel. Ethan was becoming restless.

“No!” Kenya screamed pressing a hand to her stomach, bile rising quickly into her throat. She swallowed the moisture pooling. “This'll kill our parents, Morgan, come on, get the hell out of there.”