We hung up and I scrolled my call log to call Hazel. After the fifth ring she answered and told me she would meet us at the venue. Sienna called it. I told her okay and went back to flat ironing my hair. While I was busy doing my hair, I got a call from Tami. She knew today I was busy and just wanted to call to brief me on a few meetings scheduled for the day. I asked if Shardae mentioned anything about Mr. Carter contacting her and she said she hadn’t. I was looking forward to that being a disaster and planned on checking in with Shardae often.
After I flat ironed my hair, I hurried down the stairs to do a little picking up before Sienna arrived since she only lived about fifteen minutes away. The house wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t presentable neither. The kitchen, however, was a complete mess.
I was about ten minutes into picking up before the doorbell rang. I made my way from the kitchen to the foyer. When I opened the door, I was surprised to see that it wasn’t Sienna, but some man and a little girl wearing a backpack and two pigtails. My eyebrows furrowed a bit, and I tilted my head to the side. She was damn near a splitting image of my baby Sparkle at that age. From the big doe eyes to the button nose, and the little pouty lips. The only difference was, she was about a shade lighter. Iwas stuck there for a minute, confused because… Sparkle didn’t look like me. She looked like Duke and if…
I looked past them at the idling Ram truck in the driveway with dipped brows. Before I dropped the kids off, I noticed it parked across the street and again when I made it back home.
“Hey, can I help you?” I asked after swallowing, running a hand across the back of my neck.
The guy glanced down at the little girl before looking back up at me with a deep breath. “Hey good morning. Duke live here, right?”
I just stared at him with a half smirk in disbelief. I was no fool. Had two working eyes and a brain that worked. What the fuck did he want with Duke? Hm? With this little girl that looked like him? What could hepossiblywant? What could this havepossiblybeen about? Hm?
“Ma’am?” Called the man. “Does Duke live?—
“Yeah… Who’s—who are you?” I asked, as I noticed Sienna pulling into the driveway behind the truck. Shit. My heart raced and tears built behind my eyes.
He looked down at the little girl again and then back up at me before pivoting to turn to face her. Crouching, he kneeled in front of the little girl, said a few whispered words to her, and kissed her on the forehead.
Standing, he turned his attention back to me and said, “I’m Justin. Her name is Diary. And she’s Duke’s daughter.”
1
MAHOGANY
“Miss. Did you hear me?”
I was stuck.
Speechless. Notjustspeechless. I literally couldn’t move. My hand stayed tightly gripping the door while I just… stared at her. The little girl who looked like my little girl, who looked like her daddy. Unmoving. Unblinking. In disbelief.
“Hey,” said Sienna, walking up on the porch. “What’s goin?—”
“You need to leave,” I interrupted, talking to Justin. “You need to leaveright now.”
Justin frowned. “What?—
“I need you to leave before I call the police,” I threatened, as my body quivered and my heart raced.
This…
Nah. This couldn’t be true. He couldn’t have another baby. She—she couldn’t be his. With her big doe eyes, button nose and little pouty lips. Justin had to have the wrong Duke. Duke was a common name. Had he addressed him as Ducati?Mmm, then I’d think yeah, he had my Duke. But no. Justin had the wrong family. Duke didn’t have another baby. He didn’t. He didn’t have a baby on me. Nope. Hedid nothave a baby on me.
“Did you hear what?—”
“Yes, I heard you. Did you hear what thefuckI just said?” I interrupted, with wide eyes, looking at him like a crazy woman.
Justin didn’t say anything—he just looked at me with this perplexed expression on his face, confused. Not as confused as me. Not with as many questions as I had. Impossible.
He took Diary’s hand, looked down at her, looked back up at me, and shook his head. “Tell?—”
“Have a blessed day, sir,” I interrupted again, before he could say too much in front of Sienna who had a puzzled look on her face, too.
Without another word, Justin turned and headed down the stairs. Sienna pivoted to make her way through the doorway. I… I just… I turned around, wringing my shaking hands, with labored breathing.
“What’s—"
“Give me a minute. I just ran down… down them stairs, girl,” I lied, as I hurried away from her to go to the guest bathroom to get myself together.
