The Last Husband (16 page)

“You
don’t have to sing it.”

“You
want me to write you a song?” I looked at him in amazement. “Why?”

“The
same reason you want me to write you a song.”

“But
you have talent.”

“I’m
sure you do as well.”

I
thought about it for a moment, and while I didn’t want to accept the challenge,
I did very much want for him to write me a song. “Okay, you’re on. Get ready
for a reggae masterpiece.”

“Reggae,
huh?”

“I
am from Miami.”

“No,
you’re from the South. I was expecting some country. A little something about
me, your pickup truck, and your dog.”

“That’s
messed up, Zane. All country songs are not about pickup trucks.”

“Sorry,
should I clarify it’s a Ford?”

“Idiot.”
I swatted him in the arm. “I do like country. I just really like reggae as
well.”

“Like
Bob Marley, mon.” Zane spoke in a Jamaican accent and I burst out laughing.

“Don’t
ever do that again,” I chortled. “Is Bob the only reggae artist you know?”

“No,
I know his son, Ziggy, as well.” Zane bent down and kissed me on the lips.
“Okay, you do your reggae song and I’ll do my creation.”

“Please
no heavy metal.”

“Wait,
you don’t want me to scream about how I want to love and kill you?
Lucckkkkkyyy, I want you to knoooowwww, that I love you sooooo. Don’t ever goooooo,”
he started shouting in a rock voice and I covered my ears.

“Please,
no.”

“Come
on.” He pulled me up. “Let’s go home and shower.”

***

“I
called Leo, he’s going to come over tomorrow and pick you up for dinner.” Zane
looked up as I stepped out of the bathroom in shorts and a t-shirt.

“Okay.”

“Thanks
for doing this, Lucky.”

“I
don’t even know why this is needed.”

“I
don’t know what Braydon and his lot are capable of. I don’t want to risk
anything.” His voice rose and I groaned.

“Okay,
okay. I don’t want to get into it again.” I rolled my eyes and Zane sighed.

“I
don’t think you understand the seriousness of the situation, Lucky. These guys
aren’t going to care if they have to hurt you.” He grabbed my face. “Please do
not do anything stupid.”

I
shook him off of me, feeling annoyed again. “I’m not a little kid. I don’t want
to have to keep telling you that, Zane. Sometimes you can be so annoying.”

“I’m
just trying to be your protector.”

“I
don’t need a protector.” My voice rose.

“You’re
right; we don’t need to go into this again.” He turned away from me. “I’m going
into my office to do some work. Will you be okay by yourself?”

“Yes.”
I nodded, annoyed at him. “I’ll start making some notes for the documentary.”
And looking up your mom online.

“That’s
good. I’m glad it’s something you love.” He smiled at me sweetly and came over
and gave me a kiss on the head. “Be good, and I’ll be in the study if you need
to talk.”

“Yes,
papa,” I whispered under my breath as I rolled my eyes at his retreating back.

“What
was that?” He turned to look at me with a frown.

“Nothing,
sir.” I stood to attention and saluted him. “Nothing at all.”

Zane
shook his head at me and walked out through the door. I flopped down on the bed
and checked my phone. I had another message from Leeza and I decided to call
her.

“Lucky!”
she answered on the first ring.

“Hey.”
My voice was hesitant and not super friendly as I was still upset at her from
the previous call.

“Evan
and I broke up,” she sighed. “He’s an asshole.”

“I
didn’t even know you guys were dating.” I shook my head and my words were
angry.

“Well,
we weren’t dating dating. We just hung out a few times and had sex.”

“You
slept with him?”

“He
was hot.”

“You
didn’t even know him.”

“I
don’t have your rules, Lucky. Anyway, did you ask Zane if I can come to Los
Angeles?” I could hear her pout over the phone.

“I
thought you said he was creepy.”

“Oh,
I just said that. Evan made me think that, but maybe he’s just sweet. And not a
stalker.” She paused. “Sorry.”

“It’s
okay,” I sighed. “And you can come to L.A. whenever.”

“This
weekend?” she asked hopefully.

“I
guess.” I wasn’t really too anxious to see Leeza.

“What
about tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?
You can’t afford that.”

“I
got a ticket already.” Her voice was low.

“Why?
You didn’t even know if it was going to be okay.”

“Well,
Evan and I were going to take a trip, and …”

“And
you broke up, so now you want to come and visit me instead?”

“Yeah.”
Her voice was low. “Don’t be mad at me, Lucky, please,” she pleaded. “I miss
you. I want to see you and make sure you’re okay. You just left Miami so
quickly, and I know you don’t really know Zane that well.”

“You
can come,” I groaned.

“Thank
you, Lucky,” she squealed. “I’m so excited. I‘ve never been to California
before. Can we go to Beverly Hills tomorrow?”

“I
already have dinner plans for tomorrow.” I frowned. “I guess you’ll have to
come.”

“Oh,
I don’t want to interrupt your dinner date with Zane.”

“I’m
actually having dinner with a different guy.” I paused to think if I should
fill Leeza in on all the drama.

“Oh
me, oh my. Are you guys swingers, Lucky?” Leeza’s voice sounded shocked. “I
blame myself, like, I knew this would happen. It always does. You had no sex,
for like, what two years?”

“A
year.”

“And
now you’ve gone crazy. That’s why I just let myself indulge when I feel like
it.”

“Yeah,
that’s why.” My voice was sarcastic. “Anyway, I have to go. I’m getting another
call. Email me your flight info and I’ll see if we can pick you up.” I didn’t
wait for her to reply, and clicked over to the other line. “Hello?” I asked
slowly and cautiously, praying to God that I wasn’t about to hear Braydon’s
voice on the line.

“Lucky?”
Sidney Johnson’s warm voice filled the airwaves and I smiled.

“Yes,
hi, Sidney. How’s it going?”

“Good,
good. Betty just made me some pound cake and tea. I think she’s trying to
fatten me up.” He laughed into the phone.

“That
must be nice.”

“So,
I was just thinking about our conversation the other day,” Sidney continued and
I heard Betty mumbling something in the background. “Well, I told Betty and she
told me to give you some information.”

“Oh?”

“I
told her it wasn’t our place to get involved, but she said she thinks Noah
would have approved, had he been here.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, when we
saw Noah for the last time, he gave me some files, and well, me and Betty never
really went through them before. But today, we had a look and, well, there’s
some information on his mom.”

“On
Noah and Zane’s mom?” My jaw dropped and I lowered my voice. “You mean he found
her?”

“Well,
it looks like he did.” Sidney’s voice was worried. “I don’t really know, but
there’s a number and an address. I don’t know if they are good. But yeah, Betty
thought I should give you the information. Save you some time, if you were
going to look for Zane’s mom.”

“Oh,
Sidney, that would be great,” I gushed with my heart beating fast. “Let me get
a pen and paper so I can write the information down.”

“So
there’s one thing,” Sidney continued. “The address and number, well they’re in
Paris. Paris, France.”

“Oh.”
My heart dropped momentarily. There went my images of a happy family reunion
and a trip to Disney.

“But
we figured you could still call her.”

“Yes,
yes. I’ll call her.” I grabbed a pen and paper and wrote the number and address
down. “Sidney, thank you so much. You don’t know just how much this means to
me.”

“I
just hope it will help.” His voice sounded unsure. “I don’t like to be a
busybody, or in anyone’s business. I know most old people get a bad name for
that.”

“It’s
okay, Sidney. It’s more than okay. Thank you.”

“Don’t
go gushing, girl,” he sighed. “And don’t go getting your hopes up. It may lead
to nothing.”

“But
it may lead to something.” There was a wistful tone in my voice. If Zane was
able to reconnect with his mother, if he was able to understand why she left, then
he may be able to fully let go of that pain and rejection. He may be able to
love me without being so worried all the time. It was something that could
possibly make our relationship a whole lot better.

“Well,
just let me know.” He paused and I heard Betty talking to him. “Oh yeah, Betty
told me to tell you that we’re going to Chicago next week to visit family, so
we won’t be available for the next few weeks. But feel free to call our
cellular phone if you need to talk. It’s not connected to a wire so we can talk
from anywhere.”

“Awesome.”
I tried not to laugh.

“Technology,
I tell ya,” he chortled. “Well, my dear, I better go before Betty takes offense
that I’m not eating her cake.”

“Enjoy,
Sidney, and have a good time in Chicago. I’ll see you when you get back.”

“We
better see you, girl, Betty’s already planning the outfit she wants to wear to
the Oscars.”

“Ha
ha. You two are too funny.” I hung up with a smile and looked down at the paper
in my hands, my stomach churning with nerves. I wasn’t sure what to do. I
wanted to call the number, but I didn’t want Zane to be upset with me or to
think I was meddling. Without knowing what I was doing, I felt myself pushing
in all the numbers and waiting for the phone to ring with my heart in my mouth.

“Bonjour,”
a man’s deep voice answered, and my breath caught.

“Ah,
Bonjour. Is Mrs. Beaumont there?” I cursed inwardly at the fact that I didn’t
know her first name.

“Allo?”
the man continued.

“Is
Mrs. Beaumont there?”

“No
English.” I heard him put the phone down and I waited impatiently, hoping that
this wasn’t going to be a lost cause.

“Bonjour,”
a woman’s voice spoke and my heart skipped a beat at the slight hint of an
American accent I heard.

“Mrs.
Beaumont?” I asked softly, praying that I had the right number. The phone line
went silent and I could hear music playing in the background.

“Sorry,
who is this?” her voice sounded strained.

“I’m
a friend of your son Zane,” I continued quickly. “Is this Mrs. Beaumont?”

“No,
no. Sorry. I think you have the wrong number.”

“Wait,
please,” I pleaded.

“I’m
sorry, but I can’t help you.” The voice paused and I heard a voice in the
background whispering something.

“It
would help Zane if he knew why you left,” I burst out. “I don’t know why you
did, but he’s your son. You owe him an explanation. If you love him …”

“I
can’t talk to you.” She sounded angry. “Do not call me again.”

“Mrs.
Beaumont,” I cried out. “Please.”

“I
don’t know how you got my number. I don’t go by that name anymore. Please do
not call me.”

“Do
you love your sons?” My voice cracked, not knowing or understanding why she
wasn’t even asking me if her sons were okay.

“My
sons were my life.” Her voice was low and I could tell she was walking. “Noah
and Zane were my life. You will never understand what it took for me to walk
away.”

“Explain
it to them,” I pleaded. “I could go and get Zane right now and you could
explain it to him.”

“No!”
she called out. “I can’t. I won’t.”

“Mrs.
Beaumont, he has never gotten over you leaving him.”

“It
was my life. I had to leave that life. I was suffocating.” Her voice cracked.
“I’m sorry I have to go.” And with that, the line went dead.

I
called her back right away, hoping it had been a bad connection, but the phone
just kept ringing and ringing. My emotions were shot and I lay on the bed with
heavy eyes. The call hadn’t gone as expected. In fact, I felt as if my heart
had broken just a little bit more for Zane. How could a mother be like that? I
clasped my belly and vowed that no matter what happened, if I had a baby, I
would always put them first.

“You
still in here, lazy butt?” Zane entered the room and stared at me on the bed.

“I’m
tired. It’s late.”

“Too
tired for some loving?”

“I’m
never too tired.” I yawned again and we both laughed. He walked over and joined
me on the bed, and I quickly put the piece of paper on the night table under my
phone.