The Inheritance (Forever Bound #1) (18 page)

He turned around and went back into the den, where he removed the scrapbook from its shelf. He stared at the cover and turned and left the den. He would take it as a backup, in hopes that reminiscing would make things more comfortable for them. He headed up the stairs and entered his room, where he grabbed a briefcase and put the scrapbook inside, before closing it back up. It was time to take matters into his own hands and be proactive. He had to start somewhere.

***

Charity stretched out her arms and yawned. Her hand brushed against his chest, and she opened her eyes. She smiled when she saw him staring down at her. “What time is it?” she asked, stifling another yawn.

“Five thirty,” he quietly replied.

She grinned, wrapping her hand around his neck and started pulling him down into a kiss. He held back, which caused her to pause. “What’s wrong?” she asked, dropping her hand and pulling herself up on her elbows.

His eyes remained fixated on her. “You’re beautiful and I don’t know how I got so lucky.”

She blushed, not knowing how to take in his simple compliment. “You’re embarrassing me,” she replied with a slight giggle. She dropped her eyes from his.

He touched her chin with his finger and lifted her head up, so she was forced to stare at him. “I enjoy having sex with you, Charity and nothing will change that.”

She grinned. “The feeling’s mutual.” She started to kiss him, but he sighed and kept from kissing her. “Ouch,” she mumbled. She laughed, trying not to feel discouraged by his sudden pull back. “There’s a problem, though, so what is it?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I suppose I do sort of wish you would go on the pill.”

She fell back on the pillow and continuously kept her eyes on him. “I knew that was on your mind. Why?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Call it selfish…call it stubborn…call it whatever you like. It kills the mood when I have to stop what I’m doing to get a condom.”

She laughed. “Kills the mood? Last night it didn’t look like it killed the mood.”

A deep grin appeared on his lips, before it slightly disappeared. “Is it that you don’t trust me? I’ll get tested.”

She looked away from him. “That’s not it.”

“Then what?” he asked.

She slowly brought her eyes back to his. “There’s a couple reasons. First of all…I don’t even have health insurance, so I’ll have to wait until that goes into effect. Secondly…” her words faltered, before she finally spoke the truth. “I’ve never had sex with someone that we didn’t use a condom…not even with my fiancée. To me it’s a big deal and I’m not saying that I won’t ever find myself in a situation where I’m just on the pill, but it’s going to take some time. I’m sorry, but I can’t rush that.”

She surveyed his reaction to find whether he looked upset or understanding. She was relieved to see he didn’t budge. A smile slowly crossed his lips and he nodded with understanding. “I told you…I’m not going anywhere, so I’ll be patient.” He leaned in and brushed a kiss on her lips. She sighed, taking in his scent and pulling it back down to her. No more talks of condoms were in their future and she couldn’t be happier.

***

Derek didn’t get any sleep as he could only think about getting to Ashland. He woke up at six o’clock and after taking a shower and hurrying down the stairs, he was greeted by Mary. “What do you want for breakfast?” she asked.

“Nothing, Mary. I just want to get on the road.” She didn’t let him get away with that, as she quickly handed him a thermos with some coffee in it and a glazed donut.

He chuckled, taking a swig of coffee. “Thank you!” She was a lot like the mother he didn’t grow up with. He couldn’t turn down the coffee and donut, even if he weren't hungry. She eyed over his outfit and for a moment, he thought she was going to criticize his attire, but instead, she smiled. “Jeans and a t-shirt? I don’t recall ever seeing you dressed so casually.”

His goal was to be casual, so he wouldn’t instantly turn Jenna off. “Hey…thought I’d change it up a bit.” He smiled as he held up the coffee and donut. “Thanks for breakfast.” He juggled the two items and grabbed his keys and briefcase and were out the door, not losing any more time. He got in his car and started it, then turned his radio up so he wouldn’t be able to think too loudly. He was off and out the driveway and didn’t look back. He messed with his GPS to enter in Jenna’s address, then followed the directions he heard.

He sang along to the music, pretending he was just the average Joe and was out on a road trip. Since he left early, he didn’t have to battle much traffic, but he also didn’t count on getting to Ashland so early. He weaved through several dirt roads until he hit the heart of the city. Driving down Main Street, he was sure to go slow. It was just past nine o’clock, and the city was just coming to life, and he wasn’t sure where his next turn would bring him. Just past a green light, he got the notification to take a right. He had made a few more turns before he spotted the sign that stated he was on the right road.

He drove along, ending up at a dead end and the GPS told him his destination was on the right. He glanced up at the house that was in front of him. It was a modest two-story home, nothing fancy, but also anything but mediocre. He glanced at the driveway and saw there was no car in front of the house. He hoped that the car was simply in the garage. He sat there for a moment, unsure whether he should park and go up to the house or come back when it was later in the day. He silenced the radio and just stayed there.

His eyes stayed on the house, watching…and waiting…he didn’t know what he was watching for, perhaps some signal of life inside. Yet, he found nothing. “This is stupid. I’m stalking her!” He undid his seatbelt and got out of the car.

He took a deep breath and headed up her driveway, slowing his pace, he walked to the front door. He knocked loud on the door and waited. When two minutes passed, and he heard nothing, he rang the doorbell. Again, he waited…only, this time, he waited five minutes for some sort of response. When he didn’t hear anything, and she didn’t answer, he walked to the windows. He peeked through the large glass window to see if he could see anything. He was left with no sign of life.

Wondering if she was just not answering because she noticed it was him, he walked around the house and up the rest of the driveway. He glanced around to see if anyone was watching. Convinced they weren’t, he shaded his face and peered through the windows in the garage door. No car was inside. “Dammit,” he mumbled. She wasn’t home.

“May I help you?”

He spun around and found an elderly woman standing in the driveway. Her brow furrowed, and she glared at him. “Um…” He moved towards her. “Yes, I’m looking for Jenna Bradshaw.”

The woman raised an eyebrow. “It seems to me you were doing more than just looking for her. Are you some sort of freak?”

He chuckled lightly, admiring the woman’s tenacity. He looked down at his attire and figured his
Kiss
t-shirt and jeans did make him appear to be kind of freakish. “I’m an old friend of Jenna’s, and I’m looking to catch up with her.”

The woman snickered. “Some friend…you don’t even know you’d have to be looking pretty hard to find her here.”

“Excuse me?” he asked. “I found her address on the internet. Are you saying she doesn’t live here?”

The woman crossed her arms in front of her. “Mister, do you believe everything you find on the internet?” He stood there, speechless. She had a valid point, but the phone number seemed to be correct…at least for a little while. “She only lives here about a week out of the year. Usually, she’s in California pursuing her modeling career.”

“Modeling?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow. The last he knew she was going into fashion design. He didn’t know anything about modeling.

“Just what I thought…some friend,” she replied with a smirk. “You might as well go. Who knows when she’ll be back.”

He moved closer to her. “Do you know where I can reach her?” he asked.

“Do you think I’d honestly tell you?” she asked.

He didn’t expect her to, so he reached for his wallet. He opened it up and removed a card with his contact information. “If you hear from her will you at least tell her I stopped by?”

She looked down at the card, peering at it through her bifocals. She looked up at him and snarled. “Mayor?” she asked with a cocky grin.

He nodded. “Please just tell her I stopped by.”

She slipped the card into her pocket. “Will do! Goodbye, Mayor.” The way she said
Mayor,
it sounded like a dirty word. He walked back to his car and got into the driver’s side. It was then that it dawned on him that it was possible Jenna was with her mom in California or visa verse, but either way, he might be closer to finding out something. He started to dial up Calvin’s number, but he spotted the woman still staring at him. He put his phone down on the passenger seat and pulled into the driveway. He turned around and headed away from the house.

When he got back on Main Street, he pulled into a parking lot of one of the restaurants. He grabbed his phone and dialed up Calvin’s number. Knowing with the time change, it was only a little after five o’clock in the morning, he didn’t expect him to answer. However, he did. “This is Calvin.”

“Cal…sorry for bothering you so early, Man.”

“No worries. I usually get up at the crack of dawn,” he sarcastically said. He then laughed through a yawn. “What’s up?”

“I’m assuming you haven’t talked to Victoria yet, right?”

“That would be correct. I’m going to check today to see if I have any luck, then we might have to go a different route.”

“Jenna’s in California,” Derek stated.

“She is?” he asked in disbelief. “Strange! I’ve been surveying the rehab Victoria’s in, and I haven’t seen anyone fitting her description. Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure. I’m in Ashland. I came to the address that I found on her and talked to a neighbor of hers. She said she’s in California pursuing a modeling career. Unless she isn’t in Beverly Hills, but she was always a family-oriented woman, and I can’t imagine her not visiting her mom daily.”

“Alright! I’ll keep it in mind.”

Before he hung up, he continued. “Oh, and Cal…”

“Yes?”

“Call me if you learn anything new.”

“Of course!” Calvin replied with a laugh. “Goodnight!” Calvin was the first to disconnect the call, and Derek slowly let the phone fall from his ear. Every time he felt a little closer to getting this done, he felt like they took two steps back. He couldn’t wait until it was all behind them, but it seemed like that would never happen.

By the end of the weekend, Charity found herself energized to begin a fresh new week at the office. She had Damian to thank for that, and he never brought up birth control pills again, but when he did mention about seeing the location he’d been looking at for his catering business she weaseled her way out of that. He didn’t even seem upset by it or confused as to why she dissed the idea.

She slept in her own bed on Sunday night and got to work earlier than Derek. It felt strange using her own key, but she felt like she really belonged. She got to her desk and put away her purse, then immediately went to the coffee maker and put on a pot of coffee. She went back to her desk and turned on her computer. After it had come back up, she pulled up her email messages. She had three messages asking to confirm various appointments Derek had, so she printed the emails off and put them in a pile, then pulled up Derek’s calendar. She was skimming through the current week when she heard the elevator open.

She looked up and smiled. “Good morning, Derek.”

He slowly walked off the elevator and gave her an inquisitive look. “I thought I was making it here early.”

She shrugged. “Wanted to get a head start on my day. Do you need anything this morning?”

“Just my coffee,” he muttered, brushing past her desk.

“It will be right up.” Her eyes followed him to his office. He shut his door, which she never recalled him doing and she got up from her desk. She went to the coffee maker and poured him a cup of coffee. She walked it to his office and instead of barging in, she knocked on his door.

It was quiet, but she heard him softly say, “Come in!”

She opened the door and walked into his office. He was pouring two pills into his hand, from a bottle. He then quickly took them with a bottle of water and slipped the bottle into his desk. “Not feeling well?” she asked, placing the cup in front of him.

He looked at her. There was no expression on his face. “I have a headache,” he simply replied.

“Oh!” She stepped back from his desk. “Anything else I can do?”

“Bring me my calendar and I’ll go over it.”

“Alright!” She stepped out of his office and hurried to her computer. She printed out his calendar for the week, then grabbed a pen and took it back to his office. She sat down in front of him, and he pulled up his phone calendar.

“Go ahead!” he sternly said.

She looked down at the calendar. “At 9:30 there’s the staff meeting.”

“Cancelled,” he said, interrupting her.

“Oh!” She frowned, looking down at the calendar. “I didn’t have that.” She crossed it out when he spoke.

“With all due respect, Charity…how could I have a staff meeting at 9:30, when we have the Donor Breakfast at 9:00?” He stared at her, and she felt like crawling into an unknown hole.

“Right! Sorry!” she mumbled.

She glanced down at the calendar and noticed that the Donor Breakfast wasn’t even listed on her calendar. She cleared her throat. “Next, you have a lunch meeting with Frank Clawson to go over any new financial developments with the project. The appointment is set for noon.”

“Cancel it! No new information to pass along.”

“Okay!” She crossed it off the list and made a note to make sure to cancel the meeting.

They finished off the rest of his appointments for the day, only leaving one appointment intact. When they got to the next day of appointments, they were able to keep everything as scheduled. However, he seemed preoccupied with thoughts to really get farther than the next morning. “That should do it for now,” he said. “Thanks!”

She nodded and headed out of the door. She wasn’t going to bother closing his door until he asked her to do so. She hesitated, but then slowly closed the door behind her. She made her way back to her desk and got set on canceling the appointments she needed to.

She sent out a mass email to the company, as Lily had advised her on how to do. She told them the meeting was canceled, in case anyone planned on showing up. She had just hit send on the email when his door opened, and he came out of his room. “Are you ready?” he asked.

“Ready?”

He stood at her desk, impatiently staring at her. “The breakfast. If we don’t leave now, we’ll be late.”

“Oh…of course.” She stood to her feet. She didn’t think she was supposed to be going. She grabbed her purse out of the desk drawer, and they headed to the elevator. They kept silent on the ride down, but when they reached the first floor, she was anxious to know if they were going together or separate. Choosing not to ask him, she dug into her purse and grabbed out her keys.

He didn’t even look at her, but when they got outside, he answered her unasked question. “You don’t need those keys.”

She slowly slipped them back into her purse and followed him to his car. It was going to be an awkward ride to the hospital, but she was glad they could spend a few moments in silence without any expectations.

***

Derek sat at his desk and attempted to look busy, but periodically he found himself staring at Charity’s desk. Once they got back to the office and his headache was nearly gone, he kept his office door open. It wasn’t until then that he realized why he liked to keep his door closed. He didn’t get a lot done when it was just Charity and him in the office. He was extra hard on her that morning, and she seemed to take it with a grain of salt. In fact, she didn’t bother pointing out he was a jackass. There was one problem, though. He couldn’t explain why he found himself watching her. She picked up the phone, and he was sure she was calling yet another person to cancel their meeting.

However, a few minutes later, she was buzzing him in his office. He fumbled with the phone. “Y…yes…” he stammered, realizing how distracted he was.

“There’s a Ms. Holly Davenport on line one for you.”

He frowned. “Holly Davenport? I don’t know any Holly Davenport.”

She paused on the line, before replying, “She said to say she’s the pie lady. Does that ring a bell?” She chuckled.
Pie?
At first he didn’t have a clue what she meant, then it slowly dawned on her. “I can tell her you’re busy and will call her later.”

He almost took her up on that, but then realized he wanted to get it over with. It’d been over a week since he met the waitress at the restaurant and she conveniently passed her phone number off to him. “No, I’ll take it. Thanks!” He hung up the call, then pressed the line to answer her. “This is Mayor Worthington.”

There was a breath on the other end that sounded, before she started to speak. “Hello, Mayor Worthington…this is Holly Davenport. I was afraid you wouldn’t remember me.” She laughed on the other end of the call. He was about to say something along the lines of he was too busy to talk, or he couldn’t be bothered. Or, he could’ve said something else that wasn’t quite as easygoing, but then his eyes wandered out to Charity’s desk. She was in conversation with Jesse and he chose a different route.

“Of course I remember you. The lemon pie was amazing!”

She giggled. “I’m relieved to hear you say that. After I didn’t get a call from you, I thought maybe it had made you sick.” She laughed hard on the other end of the line and he snickered. His eyes never left Charity’s desk. She was laughing with Jesse and it made him question why. He turned away from the desk, losing the distraction.

“I’ve just been really busy. I’m sorry I didn’t call you, but now I don’t have to. You already made the effort and it’s perfect timing. My noon appointment has been canceled. Are you available to meet up for lunch?”

There was some hesitation on her end, before she happily agreed and they set up to meet each other in twenty minutes. He hung up the call and turned back around to see Jesse still had her in deep conversation. He grabbed his keys and headed out of his office. When he got closer to her desk, Jesse and Charity both looked up. “There’s my BFF,” Jesse replied with a chuckle.

Derek placed a smile on his lips. “I’m glad to see Charity has some free time to chat. I thought maybe I worked her too hard.” His eyes went to Charity and her face turned red. She looked down at the computer. Even Derek wanted to call himself out. That was a jackass move. He turned back to Jesse and Jesse raised an eyebrow. “What’s going on?” Derek asked.

Jesse cleared his throat. “I thought maybe we could go grab a bite to eat. I have court at one, but that should give plenty of time.”

“I can’t. I already have plans,” Derek stated.

“Oh…business meeting?” Jesse asked, questioning him.

Derek shook his head. “Nope…not business.” Even out of the corner of his eye, he could see Charity look at him. “Have to do it some other time,” he quickly stated.

“Okay, no problem.” Jesse commented. “Charity…want to grab a bite to eat?”

Derek’s mouth opened as Jesse just asked Charity out to lunch. He turned around and saw Charity was about to answer, but he was quick to halt her. “Charity has way too much to do to go out for lunch.”

Charity closed her mouth and slowly nodded. “Derek’s right. I’m swamped with work, but thanks anyway, Jesse.” She smiled and Derek looked at his friend.

Jesse simply looked between Charity and Derek. His face was filled with confusion and Derek could only imagine what he was thinking. “No problem…some other time, perhaps?” She smiled and looked back to her computer.

“I could bring you something back,” Derek quietly stated.

She looked up and shook her head. “No thanks. I have lunch.” She looked back down and he said goodbye and headed to the elevator. Jesse joined him and when the door closed, Jesse was quick to mention how he wasn’t pleased by Derek’s attitude.

“What the hell was that?” Jesse asked.

Derek pressed the button for the lobby and glanced at Jesse. “What do you mean?” Derek asked.

“You were awful in there. What’s next? Are you going to tie her to her desk and tell her that you’ll bring her some water?”

Derek rolled his eyes. “Stop being so dramatic.”

“I mean it, Derek. You snidely made her feel awful for taking two minutes out of her day to talk to me, when I was the one that stopped her front working. If you want to be mad at someone, then be mad at me.”

The elevator door opened and they stepped out into the lobby. “I’m not mad at anyone,” Derek said, walking towards the front door.

“Could’ve fooled me. It was almost like you’re the schoolboy that has a crush on the playground. Just don’t pull her hair…I don’t think she’d appreciate it.” Jesse laughed as they stepped outside.

“You’re way out of line, Jesse. This doesn’t concern you and frankly…you’re making way too much out of it. I simply have to have some kind of order in the office and if that means cutting off Charity from going out to lunch, then so be it.” He didn’t even buy his words, but his goal was to get Jesse to leave it alone.

“So, your sudden irritation isn’t because you’re finding yourself just slightly attracted to her and that bothers you…just a little?”

They stopped beside Derek’s car. That was exactly his issue, but he couldn’t present that card to Jesse. Derek simply shook his head. “Have you been watching the Hallmark channel again?” He patted Jesse on the shoulder. “That network has gone to your head.” He winked at his friend and opened up the car door. “Now…if you don’t mind, I’m going to be late for my date.”

Jesse chuckled, stepping back from the car. “Date?”

Derek looked up at Jesse and he nodded. “See…I’m not pining away for my assistant. I’m starting to get out there and socialize with the women. Who knows? Maybe I’m heading to meet my soon-to-be wife.” He closed the door, finding Jesse’s face to be amusing. That’s all he needed to say to get Jesse to drop the notion about Charity. Going out with Holly was the best choice he could make and he hoped he’d finally wipe any thoughts of Charity being someone he wanted to get to know out of his mind.

***

“Stop it…you are not going to cry again,” she silently urged herself. She wiped away another tear as it threatened to fall down her cheek. After Derek had left for lunch, she found herself in the bathroom and crying. She was never one of those women. She never cried when she was angry, but suddenly she couldn’t stop herself. He humiliated her and what was worse…he didn’t seem the least bit compassionate about that.

She took a bite of her sandwich and dialed up another number, hoping to distract herself enough that she wouldn’t get caught up in another teary mess. Charity dialed up another number and waited for someone to answer. “Hello, you’ve reached the voicemail of Marty Jacob’s office. Please leave your name, number, and a short message, and I will return your call. Thank you and have a nice day.”

She swallowed her sandwich down and waited for the beep and then went through her spiel. “Hello, this is Charity Parker from Mayor Worthington’s office, and he, unfortunately, will be unable to keep your appointment on Wednesday at 9:45. We will be in contact with you as soon as we can reschedule. Thank you and have a great day.” She hung up the phone and crossed out his name.

She grabbed a drink of water and moved down to the next name. He didn’t answer, because he was probably at lunch and screening his calls. He wasn’t working during his lunch hour, just so he could get out of work at a decent hour. She stared at the names she still needed to call and relaxed against her chair. She closed her eyes and yawned. She just wanted to get through the day, so she could leave and do anything to get rid of her stress. She didn’t even hear the elevator door open, then he cleared his throat.