We laughed again.
“Mel, have Claudia and the others bring everything down to the lake,” Seth said.
“I see you didn’t ask me if it was okay with me, too, so I guess I will just follow suit,” Melanie replied.
“Huh? You are eating with us? I thought you said you were behind on some things in the office,” Seth said, genuinely sounding confused.
“I am, but everybody has to eat lunch, right?” Melanie was clearly trying to mask her anger.
“Oh, you can eat in your office,” Seth told her.
“But you hate when any of us eat anyplace other than at a table. It has been your pet peeve since I have known you,” she countered.
“Melanie, can you just please ask Claudia to bring the food out? And I know what my pet peeves are. But I am making a special exception for you today, and I am telling you that you have permission to eat in your office today.”
Without a word, Melanie walked away, and we went out the back door and got back on the golf cart to ride to the lake. As we rode away, I looked back, only to see Melanie standing in the door, watching. That girl really gave me the creeps.
“It really is such a beautiful day. Seth, it was such a great idea to eat out here. The water only adds to the tranquility I feel right now,” I said.
He squeezed my hand. “It is my prayer that you feel this for the rest of your life.”
“Mine too,” Ms. Todd chimed in. “I hope you stay around, Allyson, because I am going to need someone I can trust to take care of my Seth when I leave.”
“It’s not like you live that far away from here, Nana. You are only about twenty-five minutes or so away,” I replied.
“No, I mean when I leave to go home—to my heavenly home.”
“Don’t talk like that. You are going to be around for many more years to come,” I told her.
“Yeah, Nana . . . we don’t want to hear you talking like that today. This is a great day to enjoy good food and an addition to our family,” Seth said, looking over at me.
“I am not trying to scare you. But Nana won’t be around here always. One of these days I’m going to leave this ole body behind and go home to be with the Lord. And, Seth, I want to know when I leave here, there is somebody who loves you just as much as me and will see to it that you are taken care of in the same manner in which I have seen to it all these years. That’s all I am trying to say. I’m not predicting my death. I am just saying I don’t want to leave here worrying about you.”
I nodded. “I understand what you are saying, Nana. I can assure you as long as there is breath in my body, Seth will be taken care of. I owe him so much for taking me in like this and helping me until I get established and on my feet. I will see to it that I have his back at all times.”
“Thank you, baby. I believe you. He needs a woman like you in his life. I hope I live to see that happen.”
We arrived at the lake. In the distance I could see two more golf carts heading our way. We would soon be eating, and no one was more ready than me.
“Seth told me about your situation,” Ms. Todd continued. “Back in my day, we would send somebody to go teach him a lesson, but I understand things are so technical now. But too bad you don’t have any brothers to go over there and knock some sense in him. My brothers would have taken him down a dark road and beat the fool out of him, took his clothes and cell phone, and made him walk butt bare naked to the nearest house to get help.”
Seth and I burst into laughter. Ms. Todd was hilarious. “Yeah, I am sure that would have taught him to think twice before he screwed over anyone else,” I said, barely able to contain my laughter. “I wish it were that simple. He refuses to give me a divorce for another four years, but I refuse to wait four years for it.”
“I know that is the truth and nothing but the truth. You need to get rid of that man right quick and in a hurry. He is no good for you or nobody else,” she said.
“We are going to figure it all out over the next couple of days,” Seth assured her. “Because they have a documented agreement, he could sue her for thousands and thousands of dollars if she proceeded with the divorce. He would no doubt contest it based on the agreement. Now that she has left, it is only going to infuriate him all the more. I am sure when he finds out she is no longer at the house, he will begin putting some things in place to try to get revenge.”
“Seth, you better not let that man do anything to Allyson. My heart could not take it.” She turned to me. “I haven’t known you for very long, but I love you like you one of my own. It would just kill me if something happens to you.”
“Nana, I will give my own life before I allowed hers to be in harm’s way or taken.”
Did he mean that?
“I know you will take care of her, son.”
Claudia and the kitchen staff set the table and placed the food down. A couple of them stood over to the side to make sure we would not need anything else while we ate. We made our plates and ate until our hearts were merry. The chicken Alfredo was perfectly seasoned and had the right amount of Alfredo sauce and mushrooms. The breadsticks were hot and sprinkled with garlic salt, and the corn on the cob was a savory, buttery delight. To top it off, we had fresh squeezed lemonade—the kind that my grandmother made when I was a little girl. If anyone had ever had true homemade lemonade, they knew it was almost clear. That yellowish, , artificial lemony stuff they served nowadays in most restaurants was a far cry from the real thing. For dessert, Claudia had made a homemade banana pudding. I made a mental note to ask Seth if he had a home gym. We had done only a tour of the property, but I had planned to take a tour of the house today.
I leaned back into my chair and watched the ducks walk around the lake. They were so content with taking turns going into the water and playing. They had no cares in the world. Why couldn’t life be that simple for humans?
My stomach started turning, and I began to feel sick. “Seth, I need to go back up to the house. I do not feel so well.”
Instantly concerned, he said, “What’s wrong?”
“I feel nauseated. I have not been eating for the past couple days, and maybe I overdid it.”
“Julio,” Seth called to the one of guys waiting over to the side. “Escort Allyson back up to the house.” He turned back to me. “Your things are in the closet on the third floor like before. If you look next to the light switch in the guest room, there is a white button that looks like a decorative flower on the wall. It is actually a button for the intercom system. If you get really sick and need some medical attention, just press that button and we can hear you all over the property. It was installed for an emergency in case something happened on the third floor. I have soundproof walls up there, so if you were screaming or crying out for help, no one would hear you. Sometimes my phone signal goes out on the property, so if you have an emergency, that button is there.”
“Oh, I am sure it isn’t that serious,” I said as I got on the golf cart.
Once I got in the house, I went straight to the elevator. The food was going to come up; there was no doubt about it. I silently prayed I would make it to the bathroom before that happened. I rode the elevator to the third floor and practically sprinted to the toilet. I hugged the porcelain god as I regurgitated everything I had eaten. As I sat on the floor, trying to determine what had caused my sudden bout of sickness, it dawned on me exactly what it was . . . stress. Finally getting the strength to lift myself from the floor, I got a washcloth, ran some cold water on it, and placed it on my forehead. I went into the closet where my bags were. I wanted to change into a sundress. The skirt and top I was wearing were not doing it for me anymore. When you felt sick, everything seemed wrong.
I thought about the fact that the walls were soundproof. It must be exhilarating to get your freak on and know you can’t be heard by the staff or anyone else who lived or visited here. I giggled at that thought. I did not know what the future held for me and Seth, but if we were to ever get married, I would take full advantag
e of testing out the walls. To know I could scream and my voice would get lost in the walls was a turn-on.
I looked farther down the closet and realized there was a part of it I had not seen before. It actually wrapped around in the direction of Seth’s room. I followed the closet to its end and noticed a little peephole in the bottom right corner of it. Curiosity got the best of me, and I got down on my knees to see what I could see through the peephole. It was a direct view into Seth’s bathroom. I had not seen it when I was here before, but from what I could glimpse now, it was almost an exact replica of the bathroom on the guest-room side. The colors of the decor were different, the shower appeared to be slightly larger, as did the tub, but as far as I could see through the tiny hole, those were the only differences. Just as I was about to get up, I noticed a reflection in the mirror. I could not see who it was, but I smiled because I knew Seth would not stay by the lake knowing I was up here sick. I got up from the floor and headed toward his bathroom. But the voice I heard stopped me dead in my tracks.
Melanie? What is she doing up here?
I made a mental note to find out from Seth how to lock the elevator for the times when I was going to be up here by myself. I got a little closer to the doorway that connected the bedroom and bathroom. Melanie was deep in conversation with someone on her cell phone.
“What do you mean, they found some evidence at the scene? I thought they had closed that part of the investigation. Listen, you are the attorney. Fix this.” She paused and waited for the other person to speak. “I do not care how you fix it. This was supposed to be over by now. Everybody was supposed to be dead.... No, no one is listening. I am on the third floor. You know these walls are soundproof. Seth, his beloved grandmother, and his new tramp are down at the lake, eating.”
I almost walked over and showed her just how much of a tramp I was, but something told me to stay put.
“Lance, you and I would be living in total bliss right now if you had dotted your i’s and crossed your t’s. First of all, this all went wrong when you did not double-check Seth’s schedule. If you had, you would have known he was in Atlanta that morning. I did my part. I organized the protestors, and your only other job was to make sure your bomber showed up to detonate the bombs. But you couldn’t do that, either. So I had to go in there and do it myself. I had no idea I had left something behind. So since I held up your end and mine, you make this go away. Because I am not going down for this.”
I almost fainted. Melanie was behind the bombing?
I knew something was not right about her!
I had to figure out a way to let Seth know. There was no way she was going to get away with this.
“The only way we are going to get access to any money now is to follow through with our plan to kidnap Mama Todd. Seth will pay any amount of money to protect his dear grandmother. The only problem we might encounter is this new, semipermanent houseguest. Her name is Allyson Ward. I have to call and get the four-one-one on why she is back here, but I will be rid of her in no time.”
Kidnap Nana? What in the heck?
“Lance, I need to get back downstairs. I do not feel like hearing Seth’s mouth if he catches me up here. Speaking of which, he is calling me now. I will call you later.”
Thinking she was going to get on the elevator and then take Seth’s call, I walked out of the bathroom to go sit on the bed and think this through. But she didn’t and she saw me.
“Hi, Seth,” she said, glaring at me as she made her way into the bedroom. “You want me to check on Allyson? Okay, I will go right up and check on her.” She disconnected the call.
“You are going to pay for what you have done,” I shouted. “You just wait until I tell Seth what I heard,” I said as I stepped toward the door.
She blocked me from exiting the room. It was cute. I stood at least a foot over her.
“You will not be telling Seth anything.” She lifted the skirt of her suit and pulled a small handgun from a holster. “This property is huge, and a girl can never be too safe when her job consists of going back and forth on it all day to make sure everyone is doing their job. Dangerous animals could pop up. Nosy girlfriends could overhear the wrong conversation. You understand, right?”
My heart was beating so fast, I could barely breathe.
“When Seth passed me up a few years ago to become engaged to that other woman, I was heartbroken. I was so in love with him. I would have done anything for him, but he fell in love with her, she got pregnant, and I was distraught. I convinced her to have that abortion, and that was all it took for her to be out of our lives. And then he started that stupid abortion clinic, and he spent more time there than he did here. I hardly ever saw him. Our relationship suffered.”
“So you wanted him dead because he chose someone else over you?”
“Sounds crazy, huh? And it went from being someone to something. I can’t seem to win for losing. I realized he did not want me and that I probably would never have him, but guess what? Nobody will have him if I can’t.”
I knew she wasn’t quite right, but I had no idea she would go to this extreme. Just press that button and we can hear you all over the property. Seth’s words came back to me, and I knew my only hope of surviving was tied to that button on the wall. I took a swing at her, pretending that I was going to hit her, but instead I purposely missed and hit the wall.
She laughed at what appeared to be my clumsiness. “Why are you here, Allyson? Why couldn’t you just stay in Atlanta, where you belonged? You have a husband. But you just had to have Seth, and now I am forced to kill you. I knew the first day I saw you, you would be trouble for me. After we bombed the clinic and realized Seth was not in there, I was supposed to be the one to comfort him. But, no, you flew in here on your broom and saved the day. Well, at least I will be here to comfort him when he discovers you died from an accidental gunshot wound.”
“He will not believe you, Melanie. If you wanted Seth, why didn’t you just tell him? Why did you get rid of his other fiancée? Why do you walk around fixated on being his wife, and yet try to kill him? If he had not been in Atlanta that day, he would have died!”
“Seth has started getting distant again, and I knew some woman was the cause of it. I was fed up trying to show him how much I loved him, only to be overlooked time and time again. Do you know I was the first person to sleep in this room after his fiancée left him? Yep, it was me. I treated him like a king that night. I catered to him in every way, and he soaked up all the attention, but do you know he had the nerve to still refuse to sleep with me.” She laughed and lowered her head. “Do you know what rejection feels like, Allyson?”
“Every woman has been rejected, Melanie, but that gives you no reason to become infatuated with someone and to try to take their life because they don’t want you. You are a beautiful woman. You could have had any man you wanted.”
“Except the man I wanted.”
“Melanie, you should have just moved on.” I eyed the gun. If she lowers her head one more time . . .
“You should have never come here. I had this all under control until you popped up on the radar. Seth has been walking around here like a kite without a sail since you left. I knew from the moment I saw you two in each other’s presence, he was in love with you.”
“And you cannot change that. Even if you kill me and it is ruled an accidental death, there will always be some woman you will be trying to get rid of. He is never going to want you, and you should not want to be with a man who does not want to be with you, no matter how much you love him. You have to value yourself and know you deserve to have a man who dotes over you and who would rather die than spend a single day without you.”
She lowered her head just as the elevator opened. When she turned her head at the sound of Seth’s voice, I tackled her to the floor. The gun went off, and a bullet went flying into the ceiling. I managed to take the gun from her as Orlando, the security guard, rushed to hold her down on the floor and handcuffed her.
“Dr. Carson, the authorities are on the way,” Orlando said.
Seth looked very disappointed and hurt. “Thank you, Orlando, for responding promptly.
“No problem, Dr. Carson.”
“Seth, you are the only man I’ve ever loved,” Melanie cried and pleaded.
Seth shook his head. “Save it, Melanie.”
Orlando picked her up and put her on the elevator.
“I should have listened to you,” Seth said. “I am so sorry. When I heard the conversation over the intercom, my biggest fear was not being able to get here fast enough. The thought of something happening to you almost killed me as I tried to get here.”
He pulled me into his arms and held me so tight, I thought he would squeeze my last breath out of me.
“I love you, Allyson. And I am going to spend the rest of my life taking care of you, defending you, providing for you . . . loving you. I am never going to let you go.”
He could not see them, but tears fell swiftly from my eyes.
It was not just his words that moved me—because words meant nothing without the attachment of actions—but my spirit bore witness with his, and I knew in that moment I was standing in the arms of the man God had created for me.
It had taken me going through hell and back in order to get to him, but for this outcome, I would do it over again.
Chapter Twenty-one
“Shatrice, how are you?” I said as I walked up on the lady I had seen at my house that day.
“I am fine. Thank you. I appreciate you for agreeing to meet me.”
We had agreed to meet at the Augusta Mall. I figured if she wanted to meet me, she had to come to my turf. I had been in Augusta now for almost a month and was slowly forgetting I had ever had a life in Atlanta.
“I will admit I was skeptical about this. But when you told me you could help me get out of this situation with Byran, I was inclined to hear what you have to say.”
“I did not want to speak to you over the phone, because these days you can never be too careful, and one time, a long time ago, Byran bugged my phone. I have been paranoid ever since. I should have known then he was not anybody to be involved with. But, anyway, I want to help you because I wish somebody had helped me before I gave my heart to a man who really had no regard for it.”
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