“Oh, Kay, I am so sorry that you’re going through all this. It sounds terrible. And I’m glad that Eduardo has been there for you. I miss him but I know you need him now too.”
“Thank you, Chloe, but I’m fine. I’ve got my mama and my sister is coming in next week to see the kids and help us out. We’re planning on making it a real fun time. Lord knows I could use something to lift my spirits. But I’m okay. Bishop Soto needs you. He has been as glum as could be ever since you left. He misses you like crazy and well, I should probably let him tell you, but I’m afraid he’s in a heap of trouble.”
“What?”
“Yeah. These men on the vestry have accused him of all sorts of things. I know they’re not true, but they’re being quite nasty about the whole thing. Bishop Soto dictated a letter to his attorney to me this afternoon and then he left.”
“Oh, my God. It sounds like I need to find him.”
“I hate for you to have to come all this way, Chloe, but I think it might be a good idea. I’m afraid he’ll do something rash. Please talk some sense into him.”
“I’m making a reservation as soon as we hang up. Thanks, Kay, and if you see him before I do, tell him I’m on my way.”
***
Three hours later I was on a flight to New Orleans.
Along the way I found myself making bargains with God. “If I can just have Eduardo back I will quit this TV nonsense and go back and just do the bakery. If I can just be his wife and we can live together and see each other every day I will go to my bakery that I’ve wanted for so long and be happy about it. Please God, and I promise I won’t be distracted by crazy visions of grandeur brought to me by his new family. If he doesn’t want me to see his new family I won’t. I will listen to him, be more sensitive to his needs, not be so selfish.”
Then I added, “I’ll even start going to church regularly. That’s something I should have done from the beginning, been more supportive of his world and less focused on my own.”
How could I have been so self-involved?
What had started out with me using a really nice guy for a way out of my previous life had turned into something else. Somewhere along the way I’d fallen in love with the guy.
Eduardo was probably the finest human being I’d met in my entire life, and he loved me. Me, with the sordid past and the questionable motives. Despite all of those things, he loved me enough to support me in any endeavor I chose. He might not have been happy about it, but like Lucinda pointed out he could have stopped it from happening and he didn’t.
What had I ever done to deserve such a man? The kind of man who, even though he married me so he could sleep with me, didn’t even try to consummate our relationship on our wedding night. In fact, he took care of me for days while I was sick before even alluding to having sex. That was a patient and caring man.
A man who loved me enough to let me go so I could pursue my dreams.
I only hoped now I wasn’t too late. Whatever was going on with his church, it was something he neglected to tell me about. And that made me feel even worse. I was his wife, and he should be able to confide in me.
But of course he didn’t. Why should he trust me with his troubles when I was so selfishly consumed by my own stuff? He probably thought I wouldn’t care. Superstitiously I crossed my arms and legs and prayed I wouldn’t be too late to save my marriage.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Eduardo
Thursday night I took the last flight out of New Orleans, but we were delayed so I didn’t arrive at LAX until well past midnight. On the flight I realized I didn’t have my phone with me, must have left it at home or in the church office somewhere. Oh well, I could get a phone the next day in LA.
Not wanting to bother anyone at Lucinda’s house in the middle of the night, I checked into one of the airport hotels and waited until the next morning to go over there. Chloe had given me the address when I’d been supposed to go to the party the previous weekend.
After I woke up, I got my bag, grabbed a cup of coffee, and hired a car to drive me to Lucinda’s.
I hadn’t told Chloe I was coming because I wanted to surprise her. Now, because I was phoneless, it looked like I was going to surprise the whole household. Honestly, I figured Lucinda would be thrilled to see me anyway so I didn’t think it would be a problem if I showed up unannounced.
I was excited about my decision to come to LA and take Lucinda up on her offer, and I should have been taking in all the sites now that I’d made it to Cali, but I was so freaking exhausted after the past couple of days, I zonked out in the backseat and didn’t wake up until the driver told me we’d arrived at my destination.
Looking out the window, a big Spanish-style house topped with a barrel tile roof and accented with purple bougainvillea stared back at me. Lucinda’s Hacienda. It suited her.
After I swiped my card to pay the driver, I thanked him, then carried my bag to the front door.
The first thing I noticed were the cameras trained on me above either side of the door. I guess when you’re a celebrity you couldn’t be too careful.
A few minutes later a woman I didn’t recognize opened the door.
“Hola. May I help you?” she asked.
“Si, I’m Reverend Soto, Mrs. Barnes’ . . .” I paused. I’d been about to say son, but that wasn’t right. “Um, I’m a relative of Mrs. Barnes. My wife is here, I believe—Chloe Soto?”
She eyed me suspiciously. “Ms. Chloe isn’t here. And Mrs. Barnes didn’t tell me she was expecting anyone. Do you have ID?”
With a gulp, I dug in my back pocket for my wallet, and I was just handing it to her when a female voice called out from inside the house. “Well, my goodness. If it isn’t my long-lost brother!”
The door flung open wide and dressed in a silk robe was a beautiful dark-haired woman I recognized from pictures on magazine stands at the grocery store.
“Dynassy?” I hadn’t expected to see her.
“You’re Eduardo, aren’t you?” she asked.
“I am.”
She brushed past the woman in the doorway, gave me a quick hug and ushered me inside.
“Ester, this is my half-brother. He’s a bishop,” she stage whispered.
“Well, not anymore . . .” I said, immediately regretting it.
“What? Come on in. I’ve been dying to talk with you.”
She pulled me outside into the backyard with her. “Let’s have a seat over here,” she said pointing to a cabana next to a gorgeous infinity pool that seemed to drop off the side of a cliff.
The view was amazing. You could see for miles and miles. Not a bad way to live.
“So, you came all the way out here to see your wife?” Dynassy asked.
“That and to take Lucinda up on her offer to do a church show.”
“Oh no! You don’t want to do that,” Dynassy insisted.
“I don’t? Why not?”
“Trust me. Speaking as one of her children who knows, if you aren’t just dying for a show, you don’t want to do it. Are you just dying to be on TV?”
“Not a bit.”
“Then don’t do it.”
“What about Chloe? Does the same advice apply to her?”
“Probably, but with her it’s different. I’ve seen her and Mom. They connect on a creative level. It’s just different. Lucinda may be manipulating her at times, but it’s more collegial than familial, if that helps.”
“I don’t know that it does. I can’t make decisions for my wife.”
Dynassy smiled. “I like you, bro. You sound like a good husband.”
“Thanks.”
“How about we have a drink?”
“That would be nice. Thanks.” She picked up her phone and sent a text. I assumed it had something to do with the drink offer.
“There’s something I’d like to talk with you about. I think I’ve got a better idea than Lucinda’s show.”
Not only was my sister Dynassy beautiful, but she was intriguing as wel
l. “I’m all ears.”
“I don’t know if you are aware, but Bridger and I are in the sex toy business. We make, um, devices.”
I nodded. “I’m familiar with the machines.”
Her eyes widened. “You are?”
I shrugged. “Google.”
She pressed a manicured nail to her plump lips. “Ah. Same. You’re pretty impressive, you know that?”
“Same,” I replied.
She winked at me.
Ester brought us a tray with a pitcher, ice, and some glasses. “Thank you,” Dynassy said sweetly.
“You’re welcome, Miss Dynassy,” Ester said before going back into the house.
“Lemonade?” Dynassy asked. “It’s still kinda early, but I prefer it to orange juice.”
“I’d love some.”
She poured as elegantly as if she were having tea with the queen and handed me a cup.
“Thank you,” I said then I waited until she’d poured herself one before taking a sip. It was delicious.
Ignoring her drink, Dynassy continued. “Do you have a problem with what Bridger and I do? You know, morally?”
I shook my head. “I tend to favor the church’s teachings that sex should be within the confines of marriage. However, I have no problem with sexuality. It’s a healthy part of life. And if your machines increase people’s enjoyment of it, I see nothing wrong with it.”
“You are quite progressive for a bishop.”
“I am no longer a bishop, at least I won’t be as soon as my resignation goes through the various church channels.”
“You quit? This is news. Why?”
“In some ways I was pushed out, but in other ways I feel like I was pulled here. Chloe’s desire to come out here has made me realize that I want her to be happy, and finding out that I was a Barnes could actually turn out to be a blessing. It took me a while to figure that out, but with the influence your family has, I might be able to do more good working with your family than I could on my own in my parish down in Louisiana.”
“Are you no longer a bishop because you resigned?”
“I wasn’t exactly de-frocked, if that’s what you mean. But no, you should probably call me Reverend Soto until the higher ups figure out whether or not I’m going to be stripped of the title of bishop.”
“Will you be upset if they do?”
I shook my head. “It was never about the title or the prestige.”
“What was it about? I’m sorry, but I can’t imagine being a priest.”
“It’s about helping people, and I’m starting to see I don’t have to necessarily do that inside the confines of a specific organized religion.”
“It is so good that I came across you before my mother got a hold of you. She’d have you evangelizing on TV and raking in even more money. But what I want to do is start a foundation. Bridger and I already have more money than we can spend. You wouldn’t believe the amount of money there is in the sex toy industry. I guess the sex industry in general, I mean Bridger made a fortune creating porn before we sold that portion of the business and started focusing on the machines themselves. But what we want to do is give back, in a big way, and we could use someone with the face and background like yours to help us get the respect we are looking for so people take us seriously.”
“Sounds interesting.”
“And not just to improve my public image.” She laughed. “Though that would be nice, but Bridger and I really want to help people.”
“Tell me more . . .”
She went on to tell me her vision for the foundation which would include charitable works in the United States as well as abroad. One of her main goals was to eradicate hunger in the U.S. and build wells in other countries.
“Basic food and water should be available to all people, don’t you think?” she was saying when her phone binged.
I nodded my agreement.
“Excuse me,” she said, looking down to read the screen. Then she said, “Hey I’m not sure if you know this, but Chloe didn’t show up for her meeting today.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Eduardo
“I missed you,” Chloe said.
She’d never looked more lovely than when I met her at the airport this afternoon. She wore a pink top that made her skin glow and a short skirt that really showed off her shapely legs. I couldn’t wait to get her back in my arms. I was so eager to take my wife without interruption that rather than drive all the way to Lucinda’s, I checked us into the bridal suite of the nicest hotel by LAX.
We’d just entered our room, and she kept talking. “Being away from you like that made me realize that out of all the exciting new things in my life, you are the best thing, and of course the reason for all the other things like the bakery, the TV show—all of it.”
I smiled. So, she did appreciate me after all. I hoped one day she would, but I never expected it would happen so soon. “I want to make all your dreams come true, Chloe. And your dreams may not always dovetail with mine.”
“I know. Like the TV show. I’ve already sent Lucinda an email telling her I quit.”
“You did? When?”
“When my flight landed in New Orleans.”
“Hang on.” I got out my phone and sent Lucinda a text.
“What are you doing?”
“Sending Lucinda a text.”
“Saying what?”
“Just telling her not to open any emails she receives from you today.”
“But, why would you do that?”
“Because I can tell you like doing the TV show, and I want you to be happy. You don’t need to quit for me.”
“But I can’t be away from you so much. I’d rather just come home and build a life with you there.”
“What if I don’t want a life in New Orleans anymore?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I’ve resigned from the church. They wanted me out, and after a great deal of prayer, I decided it wasn’t worth it to me to fight to stay where I wasn’t wanted.”
“But, that’s just a few people. The rest of the congregation loves you. I’m sure ninety-nine percent of them want you to stay.”
I brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “That may be, but the few that want me out are determined. If I win this battle, they will come back for round after round, and it’s just not worth it to me.”
“You can’t just give up like that and let them win!” Chloe fumed.
I loved the feisty side of my bride, and it warmed my heart that she was ready to join my fight with Crawford Banks and his minions on the vestry.
“I felt that way too at first.”
“You don’t anymore?” She looked puzzled. “Why not?”
“Because after I prayed and prayed about it, I realized God has been leading me in a different direction.”
“Whoa.” She sat down on the hotel sofa with a thud. “What direction?”
I began to pace the floor while I talked. “When I was a teenager, the man I thought of as a father, Reverend Morley, my role model, was a priest.”
“Right,” she said.
“So, when I had a crisis of faith, I turned to the church for comfort.”
“What do you mean ‘crisis of faith’?”
“One night when I was in college friends of mine and I were out drinking and partying and we wound up getting in a pretty bad car accident.”
“That’s terrible. What how bad was it?”
“Pretty bad. One of my friends died, one of them is paralyzed for life from the waist down and the driver went to prison for vehicular manslaughter. I was the only one who walked away from it without life-altering consequences. I’ve been feeling guilty about it ever since.”
“So that’s why you became a priest?”
I nodded. “I think so. I didn’t have any place to go with my guilt and I wanted to make my life count, you know? I might not have done the time in a wheelchair or in prison or by losing my life and I felt crappy about that. I felt like
I should have to pay just the way they did.”
“But Eduardo, that’s not how it works. Lots of kids do exactly what you did and they escape getting caught or hurt and they just go on with their life. I guess they’re the lucky ones.”
“Maybe, but I think that’s what started me down this path, then of course with Reverend Morley having been like a father to me, the priesthood just seemed like the perfect place to go. Don’t get me wrong—I do feel called to do God’s work. It’s not that I don’t want to be a priest anymore, I just feel like I might be able to do more with the backing of my father’s family. I mean, who has more influence than the Barneses?”
“The president?” Chloe laughed.
“That’s about right. Which is why I told them I’m going into the God business with them.”
“Eduardo, you are not going to do Lucinda’s church idea are you? You hated that idea.”
I chuckled. “You’re right. I did hate that idea, and I came out here to say yes to it so that we could be together.”
“You did not!” She looked horrified.
“I did, but fortunately Dynassy got to me first and pitched an idea that suited me much better.”
“What’s that?”
“I am going in with Dynassy and Bridger to form a charitable foundation where we will plan charitable projects not only domestically, but also internationally.”
“Oh, Eduardo, that sounds wonderful. And so needed. Sometimes it feels like everyone wants to help the people all around the world, but I’ve seen firsthand how many people need help in our country as well.”
“You’re right. That’s why we will have a United States branch as well as an international outreach program. Leo and Ivy are already thinking of other musicians who can join them for a project to help us raise funds.”
“Oh, that just sounds tremendous. I know that you loved your parish in New Orleans. I’m sure you will miss them and they will miss you, but you’re right, an organization like that will be able to help so many more people exponentially.”
The Barnes Family Romances: (Books 1-3) Page 47
