Flaws and All

by Shana Burton

“If she wants you to have a gift, she can buy you one, not recycle her used family. Saddling you with her brood sounds more like a curse than a gift anyway.”

  “Sully, Angel loves those girls.” Lawson turned to Angel. “And if you’re honest with yourself, you’ll admit that you love Duke too. Is this something you’re giving serious thought to?”

  “I don’t know. It’s not really up to me. Nobody has asked Duke what he wants. He may not want me involved with them once Theresa dies.”

  Sullivan pressed, “But what do you want, Angel?”

  “You know that I’ve always wanted kids, and God knows that I love those girls with all my heart.”

  “And Duke?” asked Lawson.

  Angel exhaled. “Duke was the love of my life . . . eight years ago. I’m not the same woman he married back then. Plus, I don’t want to be his rebound chick, and I’m not trying to take Theresa’s place with him.”

  “She certainly had no qualms about taking your place!” argued Sullivan.

  “This isn’t about revenge,” replied Angel. “I’ve already made my peace with what happened.”

  Lawson joined her. “Well, it looks like you’ve got some praying to do.”

  “Yeah, I know, and I have been. Not just for me. I pray for Theresa all the time.”

  “I never thought I’d ever hear you say that,” admitted Sullivan.

  “I never thought I’d be doing that,” replied Angel. “She’s really not a bad person. It sounds crazy, but I actually think I’m a better person because of Theresa King.”

  Lawson smiled. “I admire you, Angel. Sullivan, you could learn something.”

  Sullivan frowned. “Me?”

  “Yes, you!” Lawson’s cell phone rang. “Hey, Kina, what’s up?” She moved out of their range of hearing.

  “I don’t trust this fake Mother Theresa, and I don’t think you should either,” whispered Sullivan.

  “Sully, you can’t blame the woman for wanting to get her house in order.”

  “Just don’t forget that she was the one who got your house out of order.”

  Lawson scurried back into the living room and shrieked, “Pull up the city’s Web site! Hurry up!”

  “What’s going on?” asked Sullivan as Angel booted up the computer.

  “We’re logging on now,” said Lawson into the phone. “I’ll call you back.”

  Lawson and Angel crowded around the monitor. Angel’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open when she found the Web site in question. “Oh my God! Sully, you need to take a look at this.”

  “What?” Sullivan peeled herself off of the couch. “Is Willie slinging mud again?”

  “He ain’t just slinging it!” exclaimed Lawson, staring at the monitor. “He’s got pictures to back it up!”

  Sullivan squinted her eyes and studied the screen, “What the—?”

  She couldn’t breathe. It felt like her heart caved in when she saw pictures of her and Vaughn posted online under the heading: SEX SCANDAL SPUN INTO WEBB’S CAMPAIGN. The photographs ranged from snapshots of the two of them hold-ing hands to their kissing in front of his apartment. “Who would do this?”

  “A Tangled Webb,” read Angel from one of the captions. “How apropos.”

  “It doesn’t say who’s responsible for these pictures, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that it was someone from Willie’s campaign,” surmised Lawson.

  Sullivan’s mind flashed back to the smarmy campaign aide who had been slithering around Vaughn’s complex. Her cell phone vibrated in her purse and she raced to answer it. “Hello?” Sullivan shouted, “No comment!” then hung up the phone.

  “Was that a reporter?” asked Angel.

  Sullivan nodded. “Apparently, the newshounds have picked up the story.”

  Lawson winced. “Do you think Charles knows?”

  “I don’t know.” Sullivan threw back her head. “What am I going to say to him?”

  “The bloggers are going crazy with this story,” informed Angel, reading the online posts. “They’re calling for Charles to drop out of the race or divorce Sully. One guy is demanding you make a public apology to the church and the people of Savannah.”

  “Just turn it off,” commanded Lawson. “Sullivan, don’t worry about what they have to say. As long as God and Charles forgive you, that’s good enough.”

  Sullivan buried her face in her hands. “There’s nothing I can say or do that will make anything other than a political nightmare for my husband.”

  “Forget about the campaign,” urged Angel. “What about your marriage?”

  Sullivan’s phone rang again. “I don’t want to talk to another reporter.”

  “Give it to me,” ordered Lawson. “Hello . . . This is clearly a vicious smear campaign on behalf of Commissioner Tucker in order to avoid the issues and distract the voters. Mrs. Webb has no further comment.” She hung up the phone.

  “You handled that like a pro,” complimented Angel.

  “You’d be amazed at what you learn if you put in enough hours watching political scandals on CNN.” Lawson put her arm around Sullivan. “You need to figure out what you’re going to tell Charles. I’m sure he’s caught wind of it by now.”

  “What can I tell him?” Sullivan fell to the floor. “What is there for me to say to him when the truth’s right there for the whole world to see?”

  “Tell him that the pictures were photo-shopped,” suggested Lawson.

  “If I do that, Charles is going to try to move heaven and earth to clear my name. If he tries to sue—and I know he will—it’s going to come out that these pictures are authentic.” The tears began flooding from her eyes. “How could I have let this happen?”

  “Sully, we all tried to tell you that you were playing a very dangerous game,” Angel reminded her. “Now you have to deal with the consequences.”

  “Do you think that Charles is going to leave me?”

  “I don’t know, Sully, but I do know that Charles loves you. He’s a good, patient man. Chances are that his love is strong enough to forgive you regardless of what happens with his campaign. You know how these news cycles run. This whole thing’ll blow over in a couple of weeks,” predicted Angel.

  “I don’t have a couple of weeks,” wailed Sullivan. “The election is in five days.”

  Lawson shook her head. “Forget the election! Angel, what man do you think is going to want to stay married to a woman who’s been banging another man the whole time she’s been sleeping with him? There are some things that the male ego is not structured to handle, and this is one of ’em, especially when it’s plastered all over the Internet. This could very well cost Charles not only the county commissioner’s seat, but also his business contacts, his standing in the church, and in the community.”

  “I expected a little more sympathy, Lawson,” whined Sullivan.

  Lawson reeled back. “Why? Sullivan, you screwed up big time! As usual, you just didn’t think. All you were worried about was your libido, and Charles is going to be one who ends up paying for it. He doesn’t deserve that.”

  “I can’t think with this much pressure on me! I need a drink,” sobbed Sullivan.

  “No,” argued Lawson, “what you need is to face up to your responsibility in this. You have to find a way to make this right, save your marriage, and Charles’s campaign.”

  Sullivan’s phone rang again. “Should I answer it?”

  “It’s probably another reporter,” said Angel. “You’re too upset to talk to them. Just let it go to voice mail.”

  “I’ll handle it,” insisted Lawson, answering the phone. “Hello?” She swallowed hard and passed the phone to Sullivan.

  Sullivan refused to take it. “What are you doing? You know I don’t want to speak to the press.”

  “It’s not a reporter, Sully,” said Lawson gravely. “It’s Charles.”

  Chapter 44

  “Your wife is dying and more than ever, you need to be dealing with reality.”

  —A
ngel King

  Angel heard muffled sounds coming from inside the Kings’ pool house. She cracked open the door and found Duke inside on the loveseat. She joked, “I thought this was my hideout.”

  Duke sat up. “I’m just taking a load off. What’s your excuse?”

  Angel sat down in the recliner across from him. “I needed a minute to clear my head. Do you remember my friend Sullivan?”

  He nodded. “She was your roommate in college, right?”

  “Yes. She did something so incredibly stupid.” Angel shook her head at the thought of Sullivan’s antics. “Don’t worry. You’ll hear all about it on the news tonight. Anyway, I needed a minute to mentally distance myself from her drama before I went into the main house. How’s Theresa?”

  Duke dropped his head and, without warning, succumbed to his grief and tears. “She’s dying, Angel. My wife is dying and there’s nothing I can do to fix it and nothing I can do about it. I don’t get it, you know? Why her? Why now? She’s so young and vibrant and beautiful. Why did this have to happen? How do I get my little girls through the pain of losing their mother?”

  Angel rushed to his side. “God is still in control, Duke. I know it doesn’t feel like it right now, but He is. And you are doing something about it. You’re making sure she’s comfortable and that she has everything she needs. You’re taking great care of the girls, so that’s one less thing she has to worry about.”

  “The girls?” He looked up at her through his watery eyes. “What am I supposed to tell them? They think I’m some kind of superhero, that Daddy can do anything. How do I explain to them that their superhero can’t save their mother? How do I break their hearts and tell them that they’re never going to see her again, not on this side of heaven? How do I make them understand what I barely understand myself?”

  “You tell them the truth, Duke. They need to know that Mommy’s sick, but she’s going to a place where she’ll never have to be sick, in pain, or hurt again.”

  “I tried that, and you know what Morgan told me? She said that she wanted to die too, so she could be with her mother. It broke my heart.”

  “She’s four. She doesn’t have a real concept of death or know what she’s saying. I’ll talk to her and try to help her understand.”

  Duke seemed to take some comfort in that. “If anybody can get her to understand, it’s you. Morgan is crazy about you, you know?”

  Angel smiled. “The feeling’s mutual. You have two beautiful, special little girls. I can see why you and Theresa are so proud of them.”

  “As much as I love my daughters, I can’t help but think about the child we lost,” he admitted. “I’ll never forgive myself for playing a part in your miscarriage.”

  “Duke, this is not the time for you to be dwelling on that. Right now, your focus needs to be on Theresa and the girls and getting through this as a family.”

  “None of us would even be going through this if I’d just stayed married to you.”

  “That might be true, but you wouldn’t have Morgan and Miley either if you’d stayed married to me. I know you wouldn’t give them up for the world.”

  Duke shook his head. “Things would’ve been so different if I hadn’t been so stupid. Remember all the dreams we had about the kind of life we wanted and how we’d raise our kids?”

  She laughed a little. “We were going to have twins—a girl and a boy—and live in a cottage on the beach and collect sea shells and build sand castles with our babies.”

  “You would’ve been a great mother,” he said.

  Angel felt uncomfortable and moved away. “Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this.”

  “Doing what?”

  “Playing ‘What If.’ Your wife is dying, and more than ever, you need to be dealing with reality.”

  “I have more reality than I can take right now. I just want to sit here and forget about it for a minute.”

  She sat down and rubbed his back. “You’re tired, aren’t you? I spend so much time worrying about Theresa and the girls that I forget that you need a break too.”

  “You’re a good woman, Angel. I don’t think I deserved you. I know I don’t deserve your help and your kindness now.”

  “I try not to worry about who deserves what and when. Theresa doesn’t deserve what’s happening to her, neither does your family. I’m no better than you all are.”

  He sighed. “Reese is the one who holds our family together. As the head of the household, I know I’m supposed to be this big tough guy, but I can be strong because I know she’s got my back. She’s fearless, and she loves her family more than anything.”

  “Even in her fragile state, she’s trying to make provisions for you to make the transition easier.”

  Duke nodded. “Well, I know that she arranged her funeral some time ago. She’s already written down the mortuary home she wants to use, the dress she wants to be buried in, and even the songs she wants played at her funeral. She didn’t want her parents and me to have to worry about any of that.”

  “That’s not all she didn’t want you to worry about. She asked me to take care of you and the girls. She even went so far as to say she wanted us to remarry and raise the kids together. That’s how much she loves her family.”

  “Angel, I know that my wife had the best intentions, but you’ve got your own life to live. You have your business, your family and friends. I don’t expect you to keep looking after the girls and me.”

  “Looking after you guys is something I want to do. Besides, I promised Theresa that I would. You guys mean everything to her, and she wants me around to make sure that you all are okay. That’s her dying wish.”

  “Angel, nobody expects you to give up your life for us. She shouldn’t have put you in this position.”

  “She only did it because she knows that I love those girls just like they came from my own body.” Angel paused. “And she knows that I love you.”

  Duke faced her. “She knows that I loved you, too, in my own way. As incredulous as it sounds, I love both of you. The love is different, but it’s love nevertheless.”

  “In her mind, she is the one who tore us apart, so she wants to be the one who brings us back together.”

  Duke smiled. “That’s Reese for you. She always tries to make everyone else happy. She knows what an incredible woman you are, Angel. You’re amazing. I don’t know why I couldn’t see it before.” He hugged her, and she let herself wallow in his solace. It was nice to be in his arms again.

  As they were pulling away, there was a moment when their eyes met. She felt the way she used to whenever he looked at her, and she could sense that he felt it too. Duke touched her face and slowly drew Angel into a kiss.

  The guilt set in as soon as she realized she was kissing him back. She dragged her lips away from his and whispered, “We can’t do this.”

  He pressed his forehead against hers. “I need you, Angel.”

  “You don’t want to do this. You’re hurt and you’re confused.” She rose. “I can’t let you do something that you’re going to regret.”

  “There’s still something here between us.”

  “Of course there is. We were in love, and we were married. But you have a new wife and a family now. They need to be your only focus.”

  He stood before her. “Am I supposed to just ignore how I feel?”

  Angel shook her head and crossed her arms. “You’re doing it again, Duke! It’s just like when we were married. You feel trapped and you feel the pressure mounting, so you look for an escape. First it was with Theresa, now me.”

  “That’s not what I’m doing.”

  “That’s exactly what you’re doing. You can’t run away this time. You have to face this. Your wife is dying, you’ve got to accept that. Within the next few weeks, those beautiful girls are going to lose their mother. You’re going to be a single father, and those kids are going to be totally dependent on you. You’ve got to accept that too.”

  “You’re right.” He nodded. “I need t
o grow up and take responsibility whether I like it or not. Forgive me for over-stepping the boundaries like that. I know that you’re not the kind of woman who would help a man break his vows.”

  She touched his shoulder. “I know it may feel like it right now, but you’re not alone, Duke. You’ve got family and friends.” Angel cupped his face. “You also have me, but don’t try to turn this into something it’s not. That won’t help either of us.”

  “I know,” he conceded. “It just hurts so bad, Angel. It’s hard to come to terms with the fact that she’s leaving me.”

  “She’s not leaving you,” said Angel. “She’s going home.”

  They heard Morgan and Miley right outside of the door, calling his name.

  “Duty calls,” Duke said and stood up.

  “You want me to take them to the park for a while to give you some time to get your head together?”

  “No. If I’m going to get used to facing my responsibility, I may as well start now.”

  Angel put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m glad to hear you say that.”

  He opened the door for the girls and let them in. “What have you two munchkins been up to?”

  “We were looking for you, Daddy,” answered Miley. “Are you hiding from us?”

  “I was,” he said, then looked at Angel. “But I’m not hiding from you anymore. From now on, you never have to worry about where I am.”

  “What if you get sick like Mama?” asked Morgan.

  “Then Miss Angel will take care of us, stupid!” Miley looked up at Angel. “Won’t you, Miss Angel?”

  Angel nodded. “Yes, I’ll be around whenever you need me.”

  “See, I told you,” assured Miley. “Miss Angel’s going to be our new mama, aren’t you?”

  Angel stooped down to her level. “Sweetie, you already have a mama who loves you very much. She loves both of you girls, and nothing brings her more joy than being a mother to you.”

  “But when she goes to heaven, you’re going to be our new mama ’cause she told us,” revealed Morgan.

  Duke stepped in. “Girls, you can’t just ask somebody to do that.”

  “Yes, you can,” insisted Morgan. “Don’t you want to be our new mommy, Miss Angel?”