Rolling my eyes, I held the phone close to my face. “I don’t think you should use ‘fuck’ and the bible in the same sentence.”
“He knows my heart and that I’m only speaking the truth. You’re wearing my favorite T-shirt, showing offmybreasts.” It was a Prince T-shirt that dipped low in the front.
“Your breasts? I believe they’re on my body. I just let you borrow them from time to time.” I giggled.
“No... no... no... your entire body has Carter St. Patrick written all over it.” He raised his shirt, displaying his ripped abs and firm pecs. “Like this has Darren all over it.”
“Aww...I love it when you’re like this.” I smiled. “I know I said I didn’t want to do anything for my birthday, but now I want to get away. Just to a hotel in San Diego for the night or something, because I know you can’t go anywhere far now. I can fly Mama out here to watch the children.”
When he hesitated, I compromised, “We can discuss it later or when you get home tomorrow night. Elle called you anyway to show you this place. I didn’t think to FaceTime you so you could see it. This is it. I can feel it.”
He tucked his hand under his head. “Baby, we may be moving in a few months. It doesn’t make sense to start a pharmacy now. I thought we discussed that.”
My blood began to boil as I tempered my tone. “No, we discussed that we may be moving. Not that I wouldn’t start my pharmacy.”
“It takes a while to start up a business, and that makes no sense if we’re in a different city. Just wait until we’re in Dallas.”
“Every time we get here, you come up with a new reason to wait.Ifwe move, that won’t happen until next summer because we’re not yanking the children out of school. I can start it, hire a manager to run it, and drop in once or twice a month. It’s like a two-hour flight from here to Dallas.”
Carter raised one eyebrow. “Three-hour flight.”
I bit back my annoyance. “Then I'll check in once a month instead of twice. In a couple of years, I’ll start another one in Dallas if that’s where we’ll be.”
“I don’t know why you’re in a rush. You can start your pharmacy anytime,” he replied, still in chill mode, in his hotel suite. Anger rose as every second passed. Carter just didn’t get it or care to understand.
“I was supposed to start it when the twins were two, and then when they were three, once they started pre-school. Then, two years ago, when they began kindergarten. We decided to push it off every time so I could volunteer with the school and still be with our children. They don’t need me like they used to, and I don’t want to wait anymore.” I stopped myself before we began a full-fledged argument and pleaded, “Just look at the place, and you’ll see why I’m excited.”
“No,” he replied quietly. “We’ll discuss this more when I get home, and if we decide that starting a pharmacy now is the best for the family, I’ll check it out.”
I hung up Elle’s phone. He tried to call back, and I immediately muted it. Then my cell rang in my purse at the front of the store. Wanting to curse and scream, I scanned the area. The children chased each other around the store, and my realtor had stepped outside on a call. I had nowhere to go to explode. I knew his refusal now would be a refusal later. I’d allowed him to make most of our decisions because he was the head of our family, and we were usually on the same page. He wouldn’t have the final say this time. We would talk tomorrow night when he got home, and if he refused to budge, I would sign the papers and proceed on my own.
My cell rang again, and I angrily shook my head. He’ll be lucky if I speak to him again until he’s home. I walked to the purse that I had placed on the front counter and pulled out my phone. Expecting to see Carter’s name on my screen of missedcalls, my hands trembled when I recognized Grey’s old number.How did he get my number?
“Mrs. St. Patrick, are we wrapping up, or do you need more time?” The realtor stepped back inside and half-held the door open.
Still staring at my phone, I answered, “Umm...just send me the paperwork. My husband may not have time to see it before I sign, but I do need to review everything with him. We can wrap up for today, and I’ll call you next week.”
I pressed the phone to my now racing heart and announced, “Hey...it’s time to go.”
Ethyn, who was nearest me, said, “Wait, Mama...you have to see this.”
“What?” I looked across the room, and Elle stood with her head leaning forward, her toes facing the front, and her legs apart. Prepared to run.
He looked at his cell. “Go.”
Elle immediately sprinted across the long, open space and hit Ethyn’s hand when she finished. “Mama, she did that in three seconds. She can beat me, and everyone says I’m fast at school.”
“Mama, I think I want to run. I can tell Daddy I found something I like.” Elle jumped around, her eyes bright, looking so much like the man who had just come back into my life. The man who just boldly called me. The man who would want to know that he has a child in this world who wants to run like him.
I sagged against the counter, watching my children jump around happily, oblivious to the storm brewing that could destroy everything they ever knew about our family. And my love for two men placed my children in the center of it.
I caused all of this.
No one’s fault but mine. I chose to have sex with both men without resolving my feelings toward them before I did so. I knew I was falling in love with Carter when I slept with Grey,and I knew that Grey had my heart when I decided to be in a relationship with Carter. I’d been young, selfish, and naïve to think I wouldn’t have consequences for my behavior.
Eight years later, it was all coming back to haunt me, and I had no idea how to stop the ghosts of mistakes past.
“Mrs. St. Patrick, everything okay?”
