Chapter Fifteen
Renee turned off the radio for the drive home. Most of the time she loved listening to music, but some days she really enjoyed the quiet ride. She used that time to think and sort through any issues that may have arisen during the day.
Resting her head on the back of the driver’s seat, she was just about to enter the freeway when her cell phone rang. She pressed the Bluetooth button on the steering wheel to answer.
“What’s up, sissy?”
“Treecie, what’s going on with you?”
“Have you talked to your boyfriend about meeting the fam yet?”
Renee hadn’t forgotten her sister’s request. She just wasn’t ready to introduce Patrick to her family and she wasn’t going to allow Patrice to push her. This phone call, however, was Renee’s opportunity to ask a few questions of her own.
“Treecie, can I ask you something?”
“Don’t try to change the subject, Renee. I don’t know why you’re trying to hide your new man from us. I promise we won’t hurt him,” Patrice said, then giggled.
“I’m not hiding him, I just want to talk about you for a minute.”
“Me?”
“What happened at the doctor’s office?”
The line went silent.
“Hello?” Renee said after she felt there had been more than enough silence.
“I just went in for some tests. No big deal.” Again there was silence before Patrice said, “You know what?”
“What?”
“You can’t tell Jenn a damn thing. That girl talks entirely too much.”
Renee couldn’t tell if she heard true anger in her sister’s voice or if she was just being sarcastic. “Why are you so upset about this, Treecie? We were all waiting for you and she said that you were leaving the doctor’s office and on the way.”
“I’m just saying, she talks too much.”
“Did she tell you that she was pregnant?” Renee wanted to know.
For a moment, Patrice was as silent as the inside of Renee’s car.
“Treecie, you still there?”
“Yes, I’m here, Sissy.”
“See, I wasn’t trying to tell Jenn’s business. I thought you knew that she was pregnant again.”
“Yeah, she told me about the baby,” Patrice said. “I need to take this call, so I’ll talk to you later, Renee.”
“Okay, when you talk to Jenn, don’t be too hard on her,” Renee responded before ending the call.
The more Renee thought about her sister’s reaction, the more disturbed she became. The sisters always shared their secrets. Even though Jennifer had told the others about her and Patrick, she didn’t get angry like Patrice did. That single fact confirmed that there was something going on.
Five minutes later, her cell rang again.
“Treecie, are you okay?”
“No, I’m not.”
“You didn’t get into it with Jenn, did you?”
“No, I haven’t spoken to her.”
“Where are you?”
“At home,” Patrice answered.
“Are you alone or is Jacques with you?”
“He’s in New York working on a fragrance for Fairchild. Can you come over for a while?”
How could she say no? Her sister needed her, so she couldn’t deny her. “I’ll be right over.”
“Thank you, Renee,” Patrice said, hanging up before Renee could say another word.
Patrice sounded like a different person, her voice filled with sadness, and Renee didn’t like it. With her mind working overtime, Renee pushed the negative thoughts away and concentrated on the traffic.
She had to admit that there had been a difference in Patrice’s attitude and her demeanor after she started dating her husband Jacques Germain. He was the first man that Renee saw handle Patrice and her flighty behavior well. Since they’d been married, she had settled down considerably.
Luckily, Patrice’s apartment building was only a fifteen-minute drive from Renee’s place. She pressed the speed dial button on her phone for Patrick. She needed to tell Patrick to come over a little later, so that she could see about her sister.
* * * * *
Renee arrived at her sister’s apartment in record time. She parked her car in the first open parking space she could find, jumped out, and ran to the door. She figured that Patrice had been watching, because the buzzer to disengage the door went off as soon as she put her hand on it.
Stepping inside the apartment, Renee pulled her sister into her arms. She could feel Patrice relax against her. Renee realized this was serious because Patrice was the one who didn’t let anything weigh her down.
Patrice stepped back, and Renee followed her to the living room sofa.
“What happened, Treecie? Did you and Jacques have a fight?” Renee asked, crossing her legs.
“No, we’re solid. He’s such a great guy,” Patrice said.
If the marriage wasn’t the problem, it had to be news from the doctor. Renee took a deep breath to calm her nerves. There was something her sister wasn’t telling her.
“Well, if that’s the case, why did you ask me to come over? Does it have something to do with your doctor’s appointment?”
Patrice covered her face and burst into tears. “I had another miscarriage,” Patrice said, the words spilling out of her mouth quickly.
Renee threw her hand over her mouth, tears filling her eyes. “What?” she said, shocked by her sister’s admission. “Oh my God. Sweetie, I’m so sorry.”
Patrice nodded. “Yes. Can you believe it?” she asked.
Renee could see her sister’s heart was breaking by the look on her face.
There had to be a way to fix the problem. There just had to be. “I think we need to find you a good doctor,” she said to her sister.
“Good doctor, my ass, Renee. I wanted to have a baby the old-fashioned way. I feel like a failure because I can’t give my husband a child,” Patrice said before bursting into tears again.
Renee scooted closer to her sister and held her in her arms. “Treecie,” she whispered. “Sweetie, it’s going to be okay.”
Leaning back on the sofa, Renee took Patrice with her and rocked her for a minute until she quieted down. There was no reason to try to talk to her while she was upset. The thought that Patrice wanted a child this badly had never occurred to Renee. She always thought that Patrice’s focus was on the family business. But it seemed that Patrice had changed from a career-minded young woman to wanting a family of her own.
“What am I going to do?” Patrice asked.
“We’re going to figure that out,” Renee said, continuing to pat her. She waited a few more seconds after her sister went silent. “Did you tell Faith or Jennifer?”
Patrice removed herself from Renee’s embrace. From the look on her face, Renee knew the answer, but had to ask anyway.
“I almost told Faith the other day,” Patrice said. “I couldn’t bear to tell Jenn, because I didn’t want her to feel bad because she was pregnant and I’d lost mine.”
“So you’ve been keeping this pain to yourself this whole time?”
Patrice nodded. “Yes. I couldn’t tell Momma either.”
Renee rested her forehead against Patrice’s. “Why don’t we call them now?” she asked. She waited patiently for Patrice to answer, hoping she would agree.
“Okay, call them.”
Relieved and satisfied, Renee felt confident that with all of them together, they could use their strength to help their sister through this situation. She hugged Patrice and then reached down to get her phone. She called both Faith and Jennifer, who promised to hurry over.
Chapter Sixteen
“What’s the matter?” Faith asked as she stepped inside the apartment. Renee grabbed her oldest sister and held her tight. Seeing
her face just made things better, and it wasn’t that Faith could perform magic and make all of their problems go away, but Renee loved having her support.
Renee released her and helped her out of her coat.
Leaning close to Renee’s ear, Faith asked, “Where’s Treecie?”
“In her bedroom,” Renee answered.
With her hands on her hips, Faith turned toward Renee as she closed the closet door. “What happened?”
Renee checked her watch. “Jenn should be here any minute, then we can get into everything. Why don’t you go back and sit with Treecie?” she said quietly.
Renee hated being so secretive, especially with her sisters. But she wanted both of her sisters to be in the room when she told them. She stared into her sister’s pleading eyes.
“Is Treecie okay?”
“No,” Renee answered just before the buzzer sounded. She was happy that Jennifer had finally arrived. Now they could get down to the business of healing.
Faith walked to the bedroom.
Renee didn’t wait until Jennifer knocked, she opened the door and stood on the threshold.
“What happened?” Jennifer said, rushing down the hallway.
Renee embraced her instead of answering Jennifer’s question before rushing her inside.
Jennifer shrugged quickly out of her coat. “There wasn’t an accident, right? Nobody’s hurt?”
Renee shook her head. “Oh no, nothing like that,” she answered as she placed the down jacket on a hanger.
They had a similar situation last year with Jennifer’s husband in a coma for several days. Renee hadn’t taken into consideration that incident when she’d asked her sister to rush over.
Grasping Jennifer’s hand, Renee led her down the short hallway to Patrice’s room.
When they entered, they found Faith sitting with her back against the headboard of the king-sized bed, and Patrice lying across her lap.
“Would someone please tell me what happened?” Jennifer said, looking at Renee, then Faith. Renee slipped off her shoes and Jennifer did the same before they slid onto the bed, joining their sisters.
Renee waited for Patrice to say something, but she didn’t, so she did. “Treecie had a miscarriage.”
The whole room was quiet except for the ticking of the small antique clock Patrice kept on the nightstand. Renee glanced at each of her sisters and they all had somber expressions on their faces.
“Lawd have mercy,” Jennifer said finally, before tears spilled down her cheeks. “That’s why you reacted the way you did when I told you I was having a baby.”
“She’s not angry with you, Jenn,” Renee said before glancing at Patrice.
“No, no, no,” Patrice spoke in quick succession. “I could never be angry with you, baby girl,” she said as she reached for Jennifer’s hand. “I’m happy that you’re having a baby. I’m just sad that I can’t have one.”
“Is that what the doctor said?” Faith asked.
Patrice sat up on the bed. “She said that we’re going to have to wait a couple of years and try again.”
“Wait, what?”
“This was my third miscarriage since Jacques and I got married.”
Renee couldn’t believe her ears. She had no idea her sister was going through such agony. And all she’d been worried about was winning a bet with Julia. “How far along were you?”
“The first two times I was eight weeks, this time I was twelve weeks, and lost it anyway.”
Renee and her sisters hugged each other. She hoped that their presence and support would help Patrice get through this hard time.
“I heard that most women have miscarriages because the fetus has some kind of problem with its chromosomes,” Faith said.
“Don’t fret, Treecie, they have all kinds of things they can do now to help a woman get pregnant,” Jennifer added.
“I had a miscarriage,” Renee blurted out.
For several seconds all she could see were her sisters’ eyes on her, yet no one said a word.
Renee had never uttered a word about the child that she lost. She was planning to take it to her grave.
Renee watched as Faith jumped off the bed and went around to the other side where she was sitting. “When did this happen?”
“When I was in college, I got pregnant. I was worried about what I was going to do about it,” she said, watching their reactions as she spoke. “And yes, I thought about abortion, but couldn’t go through with it.”
“What happened to the child, Renee?” Jennifer asked.
“Two weeks later, I lost it.”
“Just like that,” Patrice said.
Renee nodded. “Yes. I started having severe cramps, so I asked Cara to take me to the emergency room.”
“So Cara knew you were pregnant?” Faith asked.
“No, when the doctor came in to talk to me, she went into the waiting room. So the only people who knew were me and the doctor.”
Renee reached over and squeezed Patrice’s knee. “The doctor told me that it probably happened because the embryo wasn’t perfect.”
It was clear that her sisters hadn’t gotten past the shock of her revelation. They were as quiet as church mice, and the McClendon sisters were never quiet.
“I hope you guys aren’t upset with me for not telling you. I actually was going to take this one to my grave.”
“Why tell us now?” Patrice asked.
“Because you shared, and I hoped that by me revealing this to you it would make you feel better, and realize that it’s not just you. You’re still a beautiful and vibrant woman, but these things happen.”
Jennifer got up and hugged Renee. “I could never be angry with you for living your own life by your own rules. The truth is, none of us have to tell each other anything about our personal journey if we don’t want to,” she said, smiling. “But I’m so glad you did.”
The rest of them nodded in agreement.
“What am I going to do?” Patrice dropped her head then looked away.
A short silence followed, because Renee had done all she could. The rest would have to be up to Patrice.
“You’re going to go and wash your face, so that we can have a sister night,” Faith said, standing and walking to the door.
Both Renee and Jennifer slipped their feet in their shoes and followed her down the hall to the living room.
“I actually have some work to do tonight,” Renee said.
“I need to get home myself, because I haven’t been feeling too well lately,” Jennifer added.
Patrice walked over to Jennifer and enveloped her in her arms. “You better take care of my little niece or nephew, Sissy.”
“Are you having twins again?” Faith asked.
“No, just one this time,” Jennifer said with a smile. “Why don’t we get together at my house on Saturday? I can whip up something and we can talk about the gala too,” Jennifer suggested.
“Sounds good to me,” Renee said, taking a few steps to the sofa to pick up her handbag from the floor.
Swinging it over her shoulder, she walked to the closet near the door to get her coat. “Are you going to be okay here?” she asked Patrice.
“She’ll be fine,” Faith said. “I’m going to stay here with her for a while.” Faith held the door open for Renee. “I’ll call you later.”
Renee embraced all of her sisters before she walked out, headed for her car.
* * * * *
All the way back to her apartment, Renee could think of nothing except Patrice. She wanted Patrice to be encouraged and not give up on being a mother. Parking her car, she jumped out, and hurried inside as the weather had shifted.
As soon as she kicked off her shoes, removed her coat and laid her phone on the table, the buzzer sounded.
“Patrick,” she said out lo
ud. She’d forgotten about him coming over after all the drama with Patrice. Renee believed in her heart that one day her sister would join the motherhood club. She’d just have to find the patience to wait and do everything the doctor had advised.
Although she always kept her apartment neat and tidy, she gave the place a quick once over to be certain everything was in its place. Renee had embraced the fact that her sisters called her a neat freak, but she just liked things to be in order in her apartment.
The final touch to her quick cleanup was lighting the huge scented candles her sister Patrice had given her from the family’s aromatherapy business. She inhaled deeply as she looked around the room once more.
As she walked to the door, Renee realized that she hadn’t had time to change out of her work clothes. She couldn’t do it now, because she’d had Patrick waiting outside long enough. She rushed over and hit the buzzer.
Taking a deep breath, she waited for him to come up. Renee felt anxious about seeing Patrick; after their night together, she felt even closer to him.
He had been very encouraging about the situation with Julia, so she couldn’t wait to tell him about what had happened.
* * * * *
Patrick was happy to finally be able to get over to Renee’s apartment. He’d started to cancel since she had to go and check on her sister. He had business to attend to himself, as he’d tried to sort through the information in the folder Kathy had given to him. But the more he read over the travel itineraries, limo receipts, opera ticket stubs, and other proof of monies being spent on entertainment, it just left him with more questions.
Robert had a lot of explaining to do, though Patrick knew his brother would never be honest with him. The burden of proof would have to be on him, and then he could confront his brother with it. Not to mention, he had to be sure the evidence was concrete before presenting it to his father. It couldn’t be anything that Robert could explain away.
Patrick prayed that his revelation wouldn’t be detrimental to his father’s failing health, especially after James had told Patrick about his relationship with his own brother.
Patrick pulled his cap down on his head, as the wind was whipping. He waited for Renee to buzz him in and took the elevator up to her floor. She surprised him when she opened the door and fell into his arms.
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