Stronger Than Ever (My Best Friend) (15 page)

“I don’t know what else to say, but you need to talk to her about whatever caused you to leave.”

The phone rang and Jason walked back to his desk. John got up from his chair. “I’m heading to court, I’ll call you later.”

“Sir, you have a Mrs. Carter on line two.” Elizabeth, the new secretary—married secretary—told him.

“Put her through. Good afternoon.”

“Good afternoon, Jason.”

“How may I help you?”

“You don’t know who this is?”

Her voice sounded familiar, but he was get
ting
annoyed. “No, I don’t, and if you keep playing the guessing game, I’m going to hang up.”

“No, don’t. It’s Kimberly. I’ll be in town next week and I need to see you.”

Jesus, why now? Why her, of all people, the girlfriend from hell
? “I haven’t heard from you in years, and now you want to meet with me. Why?”

“I understand your suspicions but I really need to see you. I’ll let you know when I’m in town.”

“Fine.”

After she hung up, he wondered what she wanted. The last time he saw her, she had come to their house to tell him Kay was cheating on him, a story that had turned out to be a lie.

Kimberly walked in wearing a navy blue pantsuit. She’d gained some weight. Her brunette hair was pinned up and her green eyes showed signs of sadness as she took him in.

“Thank you for meeting me.” She sat down.

“It’s been a long time. You look great.”

“Thank you.”

“Kimberly, what’s on your mind?”

She was about to answer when his focus shifted to the entrance. It was Ka
y, and
she was wearing a white long sleeve shirt, black pencil skirt showing her curves, her hair was pulled up into a bun. She had Jeremy with her and behind her was a tall Spanish guy in a dark suit. The man’s hand was on her back.

Jason stood up abruptly. “Excuse me, Kimberly, I’ll be right back.” He hustled across the restaurant toward Kay, who was clearly surprised to see him. “Kay,” he said, staring at the guy. “Hi
b
oo
bear.” Jeremy giggl
ed
when he saw his father.

“David, this is Jason Anderson, Jeremy’s dad.”

“Her husband.” Jason extended his hand.

The man named David shook his hand. “I’ll give you two a minute.” He walk
ed
to their table.

“Who is he and why is Jeremy with you?”

She ignored his first question. “He was being very fussy this morning, but I have a lunch meeting. I decided to bring him along and my client didn’t have a problem.”

“He doesn’t look fussy,” he said, playing with Jeremy’s fingers.

She smiled. “I know. I guess he wanted some time alone with mommy.”

He stared into her brown eyes. He missed her smile. “I’ll take him.” He reached for Jeremy and was surprised when she snuggled the boy into his arms. “Enjoy your lunch.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. See you when you’re done.” He walked over to his table, where Kimberly was waiting for him.

Kay passed by the table Jason was seated at and stared him down. She was pissed. He could see it in her eyes. She sat at the table with David.

“Oh my God, Jason, he’s so beautiful. I didn’t know you had another baby.”

“Yes, this bundle of joy is my son, Jeremy.” He turned him to face her.

“He looks like you.”

“He does. He’s my mini-me.” He raised Jeremy up and kissed his chubby cheeks. He stared over at Kay’s table and saw her smiling.

“Jason.” Kimberly tried to get his attention.

He looked at her. “What did you want to talk to me about?” Jeremy
started
fussin
g, and
Jason pulled out his bottle and feed him.

“After you broke up with me, I was a mess. I moved away, trying to get my life in order.” She grabbed a napkin and dab her eyes. “But I’ve kept something from you and now I see you with your son.”

“What did you keep from me?”

“I have a son, too.”

“Congratulations.” He found himself staring at Kay. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her.

“His name is Jacob.” Kimberly said, touching his hand. “Did you hear me?”

“Sorry.” He gave her his full attention.

“His name is Jacob.”

“Jacob, like my dad?”

“Jason, he’s your son.”

He looked at her with a blank expression. “What? That’s not possible, Kimberly. I didn’t have unprotected sex with you and we didn’t have sex for two months before we broke up.”

“Condoms do break. I wasn’t with anyone else.”

“So you say. You came to see me to tell me Kay was cheating. Why didn’t you tell me then?”

“You slammed the door in my face, if you recall. I don’t have a reason to lie.”

“Look, Kimberly, to be honest I don’t believe you, but we’ll get to the bottom of this. I want a blood test.” Jeremy fallen asleep with his bottle in his mouth. Jason pulled it out and set it on the table.

“Did you ask your wife for a blood test on your daughter that doesn’t even look anything like you?”

“Kimberly, we’re talking about you. I know my daughter is mine.”

“Do you? I’ll give you a fucking blood test.” She placed a picture of her son on the table.

“Don’t curse in front of my son.” He looked at the picture. “I want to get the test done as soon as possible.”

“I’ll let you know when.” She stood up, grabbing her purse.

“If I am his father, I will step up and I’m going to want see him.”

“I’ll be in touch.” She walked away.

***

Kay watched while Jason talked to Kimberly. What the fuck was he doing with her, out of everybody out there?

Her cell phone rang. “Excuse me, David. Hello?”

“Hello, Mrs. Anderson. This is Doctor Ford. The test results are in for your daughter. I’m sorry it took so long, but I was waiting to see if we found someone else.”

“Is she a match?”

“No, your daughter is not a match. I’ve also been trying to get in touch with your husband for a while, but I guess my nurse wrote down the wrong number.”

“About?”

“He wasn’t a match, either.”

“What do you mean he wasn’t a match?”

“Your husband also got tested to see if his bone marrow was a match.”

Her heart stopped. After everything, he’d gotten tested. Jason was incredible. She said goodbye to the doctor and finished her lunch meeting with her client. He walked her over to the table where Jason was and said his goodbyes.

“May I?” She pointed at the seat. “Or is your date coming back?”

“She wasn’t my date, and no, she’s not coming back.” He play
ed
with Jeremy’s hair.

“Angel wasn’t a match.” She grabbed his hand. “Neither were you. Why didn’t you tell me you got tested?”

“Does it matter?”

“To me it does, Jason.”

“I did it because I care. He is just a kid,” he said, looking away from her.

“When are you coming back home?” She tightened her grip on his hand.

He wanted to say now, today. He missed her so much, but he had to take care of his situation with Kimberly. “I can’t Kay
, I swear,
it’s not you, or what you did.”

“Is it her? Did you find someone else?”

“No, Kay. I would never.”

“Forget it.” She removed her hand. “Let me have him. I’m leaving.”

“Kay, I’ll explain later.”

She picked up Jeremy and the baby bag and walked out.

“I love you,” he whispered to her retreating frame.

Jason rang the doorbell to his parents’ house. His dad answered.

“Hey, son.”

“Dad, I need to talk.”

“Your mom is in the kitchen. Let’s go to the study.”

“Let me say hi to mom first.” Jason walked into the kitchen and hugged and kissed his mother.

“Hi, son. Have you come to your senses yet?”

“Mom, please. I don’t want to get into it with you.” He backed away.

“Jason, your kids need a full-time dad. Kay is hurting.”

“Mom, you don’t think I know that? I want to be with my family, but I don’t want to hurt her again.” He stared out the window.

“What do you think you’re doing now? You could work through anything together. I see her side, and yours, too. But Angel wasn’t a match, so what’s the problem now?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Son, you’re her daddy no matter what the world thinks. I don’t care about genetics and DNA. She’s my granddaughter in every way possible.” She grabbed his hand and kissed him.

He leaned back and stared at her. How, when did she find out? “That’s not the point. She kept what she did from me.”

“And you’ve never done that.” She gave him an inquisitive stare.

He walked out of the kitchen, past the living room, and entered his dad’s study. “Dad, why did you tell her?”

“Son, your mother knew Angel wasn’t your biological daughter since she was about five months. At first it hit her hard, but she loves that baby too much. I couldn’t keep the secret from her any longer. She took Angel to her doctor’s appointment and she saw Angel’s blood type and it didn’t match up, and you know how nosy your
m
om is. She made me swear not to tell you guys that she knew. When you moved out, do you know how hard it was for your wife to tell your mom about Angel?”

“I thought you said you told her.”

“I did, years ago. Your mother wanted to know why you walked out. It was out of character for you. She knew there was something more beside you needing space, so when Kay picked up the kids one night, she told your mom everything.”

“That must have been hard for her. Why didn’t she tell me?” He moved his hand over his face.

“Son, you two hardly see each other. When it’s your turn to have the kids, you pick them up from here.”

“Dad, I didn’t want to leave my kids or Kay, but I was so mad…and once the words left my mouth, I couldn’t or didn’t want to take back what I said, so I left.”

“So you let your pride get the best of you?”

“I guess. When I saw her last week with that guy I just wanted to knock him out.”

“What guy?”

“It was nothing. It was just a business associate.”

“I was going to tell Kay that I wanted to come home, but I saw Kimberly that day too, and she had some news for me.” He walked over to the window. “She says we have a son together.”

“Do you believe her?”

“No, I don’t believe her. Why would she have waited so long? I mean, she wanted to ruin my relationship with Kay. That would’ve been perfect. That means she was already about two months pregnant when I broke things off, and when she came to the house to tell me about Kay, the baby would have already been about three months old. She could have told me either of those times. But if he’s mine, I’ll step up.”

“Son, I know you’ll do what’s right. First things first, get a blood test and you need to tell Kay.”

“I don’t want to hurt her any more.”

“I don’t know what you did to deserve her, but she loves you and stands by you no matter what. She can handle it. You need to trust her. Imagine how she’ll feel if she finds out that you knew.”

Jason entered the nightclub. He was pissed. It was his day and night with the kids, but he’d had to wake them up and drag them to his parents’ house in the middle of the night. An hour earlier John had called and told him he needed to come because Kay was acting a fool.

Jason spotted John and the others and walk
ed
toward the
m, as
he was getting closer, John nodd
ed
his head, pointing with his lips to the dance floor. Jason turned to see what he was pointing at. He felt a blow to his hear
t when he saw
Kay was dancing on some tall, black guy. Worse, she looked beautiful. Her hair was longer now, with curl
s.
S
he wore a black strapless dress shirt, tight jeans, and black pumps. He couldn’t stop staring at her. His disloyal dick
started
throbbing.

John stepped in front of him. “Dude, don’t do it. Go get yourself a drink and calm down. She’s been drinkin
g, and
you know what happens when you mix emotions and liquor.”

Jason ignored him, then thought better of it and walked over to the bar and ordered. He took two shots. When he turned to look at his wife, he noticed the guy leaning in on her neck. He rushed over to the packed dance floor.