A Ghost of the Past

by Mary Goldberger

  Vincent shook his head and scowled, “No, I did not think about documenting it although I did have someone follow her after we were married for a few years.”

  The Sheriff nodded his head, “That only confirms the affair and shows that she does not maintain them which works in her favor.”

  Barry turned to Shay who opened her eyes, “You could have been a cop.”

  “I thought about it once when I was in college, but I enjoyed the idea of cooking more,” she admitted and he laughed as he headed for the door.

  “Shay,” Tad said a few minutes later.

  Shay looked up at him and she quickly got to her feet.

  “My wife would like to invite you and Cordial to dinner tomorrow night,” Tad said. Shay reading his eyes knew that he had talked to her and this was there step forward with her.

  “Okay,” she agreed after a quick glance at Cordial.

  “Around seven if that is not too late,” Tad said with a nervous smile and Shay nodded her head with the same nervousness.

  With a ‘goodnight’ after getting her agreement, Tad walked out the door.

  They listened as the patrol car drove away and another car pulled up.

  Ray and Todd rushed in with worry etched on their faces.

  “Is everything okay?” Ray asked going over to her dad and Todd looked towards Cordial. Cordial nodded his head as Vincent began to explain what happened and Shay headed for the kitchen. It was getting late and they all needed to eat so she grabbed bread from the bread box then turning to the refrigerator, she began to grab sandwich meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and anything else she could thing of that could go on sandwiches. She laid everything out on the counter just as Cordial walked into the kitchen.

  “Our date is put on hold, but not forgotten,” he teased wrapping her into his arms.

  He kissed her soundly and it was getting passionate when someone cleared their throat.

  They broke apart both breathless as Ray said with humor, “Take it up to your room, Brother.”

  Cordial looked at Shay and with a sexy grin, he swung her up into his arms.

  “Don’t mind if I do,” he muttered carrying her out of the kitchen and up the stairs to their room.

  “Cordial,” they heard Shay cry out among her laughter and they all smiled as the door closed off her next words.

  “Since Shay has gone through the trouble,” Todd said rubbing his hands together. “Let’s eat.”

  They began making their sandwiches and sat at the table eating while making conversation mainly about Vincent and his health including their wedding and bets on when Cordial was going to finally pop the question to Shay.

  Ray and Todd went home an hour later without seeing Cordial or Shay. Vincent chuckled as he cleaned up the mess and he turned off the lights walking up to his room. He stopped for a second outside his door to look down the hall towards his son’s room and he smiled, but his eyes were sad.

  As he went into his room, he sunk onto the bed tired and hurting. He put on a brave face for Cordial and the others, but in actuality he would never probably get to see his grandchild.

  The doctor told him at his last visit that he had been having mini strokes for awhile and they had weakened the muscles in his heart, and no surgery was possible. Also his EKG readings were showing a decrease in the functioning of his heart, but he wanted to make sure of one thing for the last year or so that he had left if that. He wanted to make sure that Lucille was no longer a part of his children’s lives.

  He sighed wearily as he got up to get undress and go to bed.

  He suspected that in a few days, Lucille would make a move and come visit them.

  Lucille paced in her bedroom waiting for Dillon to call her, but he never did and she was royally pissed off.

  “If you want something done right,” she muttered to herself, “then you have to do it yourself.”

  It was time that she stepped up and finally laid all her cards on the table.

  The next day, Lucille dressed carefully as she prepared to visit Vincent at Cordial’s house. She smiled with a hint of lust in her lust as she thought about Cordial, but first she had to convince Vincent to reconsider the divorce proceedings. She frowned as she thought about it and then a malicious glint came into her eyes as she thought of a plan to let Vincent have what he wanted and she get what she had been wanting for a very long time now.

  She headed out and did a few errands until she headed over to Cordial’s place.

  Pulling up to the house, she noticed that Cordial’s truck was gone and she clenched her teeth before getting out of the car.

  She headed up the walkway and knocked on the door but she did not wait before turning the knob and letting herself in when she discovered it unlock.

  She noticed that there was some change to the living room and she frowned. Before she could look anywhere else, she heard noise from the kitchen and she headed in that direction not knowing Cordial and Vincent were upstairs in the office.

  Cordial had gotten a phone call early that morning from his father’s doctor and Vincent knew that he could not keep his health a secret any longer.

  “Hello, Shay,” Lucille said as she stepped into the kitchen.

  Shay looked up startled from the cake she was icing, but she said with wariness, “Hello, Lucille.”

  Chapter 43

  Shay finished icing the cake as Lucille made herself comfortable at the table. Shay poured them each a drink after she finished with the cake and covered it.

  “So, Lucille, what can I do for you?” Shay said sitting across from her and drinking her iced tea.

  “I need to speak with Vincent,” Lucille said taking a sip of her drink before setting it down and pushing it to the side.

  “Vincent is upstairs. I can get him for you if you would like,” Shay offered.

  “No,” Lucille said shaking her head once. “I figure we can have some girl talk first.”

  “Really,” Shay said looking over her glass rim at the cool lady in front of her.

  Lucille laughed lightly, “Shay, I have to say I like you.”

  Shay placed her glass on the table and said, “Thank you, Lucille. I guessed I should be honored.”

  Lucille’s eyes flashed with a hint of anger before she masked it although Shay caught the brightening of her eyes before she did so and she smiled slightly.

  Lucille bit her lip as she said, “I guess you know about Vincent filing for divorce.”

  “I do,” Shay agreed without hinting at anything else.

  Lucille shielded her eyes as she studied the woman in front of her and she mentally frowned as she could not read her.

  “I do not know why Vincent filed for divorce,” she said with a hint of sadness and tears in her eyes using her acting abilities to the limit.

  “You don’t?” Shay asked with a surprised look on her face and Lucille thought she had her.

  “Well,” Lucille said slowly as if she was thinking about something. “He may have learned that Cordial hit on me and tried to seduce when we first got married.”

  Shay masked her anger as she said with pretend shock, “Cordial hit on you?”

  “Yes,” Lucille said shaking her head as she hid her inner glee. “He was eighteen and I was flattered, but I had to turn him down of course. He never really gave up on me though.”

  Then she said, “I wonder if Vincent is filing for divorce for his son. You see although I turned Cordial down, I did it because I thought he was just a little too young at the time even though he was eighteen. I have loved Cordial since then and I know he felt the same way about me for longer. Maybe now we can finally be together with Vincent’s blessing.”

  She looked up with a challenge into Shay’s green eyes and Shay played with her glass.

  “So I guess you don’t mind sharing him then,” Shay said thoughtfully and Lucille just frowned at her not understanding what she meant.

  Upstairs, Cordial sat in shock at what his Dad just told him.


  “Is there anything we can do?” Cordial asked in a subdued voice.

  Vincent shook his head as he watched his son’s eyes fill with tears at the news.

  “Okay,” Cordial said softly as he got up and walked over to the window looking out but not seeing the nice scene before him.

  “Dad,” he said turning around. “I know that you don’t want to hear this but you need to tell Ray. She needs to know about your health.”

  Vincent sighed, “What about Todd and Shay?”

  Cordial frowned, “Ray and I can tell them.”

  Vincent sat in the chair thoughtfully for a few minutes and then he shook his head slowly.

  “I will tell them all together,” he said with a smile. “If I plan on telling Ray, then I should tell the others too at the same time.”

  Cordial nodded his head in agreement and Vincent looked at him shrewdly.

  “I would like one thing though,” Vincent asked.

  “Only one,” Vincent teased somewhat with difficulty.

  Vincent laughed before he said, “I would like to see both of my children married especially as I have a grandchild on the way by one of them.”

  Cordial smiled smugly as he walked back to his desk and opened a drawer. He took out a ring box and handed it to his father.

  Vincent opened it up to reveal a pretty emerald cut engagement ring with a simple design something Cordial knew that Shay would like.

  Vincent looked up at him with excited eyes and asked, “So when are you going to ask her?”

  “I was going to do it last night, but we never made it for our date,” Cordial admitted ruefully.

  Vincent chuckled and handed back the ring box which Cordial looked at before closing it and placing back in the drawer.

  Vincent was about to say something as he walked over to the window, but when he looked out and noticed Lucille’s car, whatever he was going to say got lost.

  “Cordial,” he said quietly. “Lucille is here.”

  Cordial was at the door and out of it before Vincent spoke another word. Vincent hurried after him although he was not as fast as Cordial. He met up with Cordial as he stood outside the kitchen and his fists where clenched as Vincent caught the tell-end of what Lucille was saying… “Maybe we can finally be together with Vincent’s blessing.”

  Vincent’s eyes widened at what Lucille just hinted at and Cordial started to walk into the kitchen when Shay spoke.

  “So I guess you don’t mind sharing him then,” Shay said, and Vincent watched a smile cross Cordial’s face as his body relaxed. They walked quietly forward until both of them were in the kitchen but neither woman knew that they were there.

  “What does that mean?” Lucille demanded. Then she changed tactics quickly saying with confidence, “I don’t share and Cordial only needs one to satisfy his needs.”

  “True,” Shay said leaning back in her seat.

  She was actually enjoying this bantering with Lucille and it made her shake her head at herself.

  “So,” Lucille continued after her agreement. “We won’t be sharing him and you can believe me when I tell you that I can satisfy every one of his needs.” She licked her lips as lust filled her eyes and Shay was disgusted.

  If she only knew it, so was Cordial and Vincent as they stared at Lucille with surprised and disgusted eyes. Still the ladies did not know that they were in the room as they were focused on each other and the conversation that they were having.

  “You do realize that you are older than him,” Shay pointed out.

  “Only by seven years, honey,” Lucille said with a smirk.

  Shay just shook her head as she said, “Well to get back to what we were discussing. You see I am sure you can satisfy Cordial’s needs in everyway in the bedroom, but I seriously doubt that he will give up his child so you will have to share him.”

  Lucille blanched at her words, “A child?” she repeated.

  “Yes, Lucille a child,” Cordial said making his and his father’s presence known.

  Then Cordial’s silver eyes turned thoughtful as the women turned their heads to look at them, one in shock and the other in surprise.

  “Dad,” Cordial asked without actually putting what he was thinking into words.

  “Do it,” Vincent advised knowing exactly what his son was thinking. Cordial smiled as he turned and dashed back upstairs to his office.

  He was down just as fast and Shay began to stand up in surprise wondering what was going on, “Cordial…” she began.

  He laid a finger against her lips after he walked up to her and she looked at him with confused green eyes. He dropped to one knee as her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open a little bit.

  “Shay Montgomery, I love you” Cordial said. “And no one else because you are everything I have been looking for in a woman. You and Charity may have been sisters, but in my eyes Charity was the replacement in my search for you. Will you do I the honor and marry me?”

  He flipped open the ring box that he had clenched in his hand to reveal the emerald engagement ring and Shay looked at it with awe.

  “Really?” she whispered. “Can I really satisfy you as your partner and as your wife?”

  “In more ways than anyone knows,” Cordial confided.

  Shay began to laugh as tears fell down her face and she nodded her head.

  “Yes, I will marry you,” she said before leaning forward to kiss him and whispering, “I love you.”

  Cordial slid the ring on her finger before he jumped up gathering her into his arms to swing her around in a tight circle.

  Lucille looked on in stunned disbelief as Vincent smiled broadly and Ray spoke from the doorway as her and Todd came into the kitchen.

  “Nobody answered our knock,” she explained before asking, “What is going on here?”

  “Your brother just proposed,” Vincent relied with a laugh and Ray squealed going up to the couple.

  “Congratulations!” she shouted as Todd laughed.

  “About time you asked her, Cord” he teased. “You bought the ring weeks ago.”

  Cordial actually flushed as he said, “Never the right opportunity although I had planned on asking her last night.”

  They all nodded their heads in understanding as Lucille gathered her scattered thoughts. Then she chuckled gaining everyone’s attention.

  Ray and Todd were surprised for they had not known that she was there although her car was in plain view, but they were distracted when they pulled into the driveway.

  “You did not see her car in the driveway,” Cordial asked raising an eyebrow.

  Ray flushed red as Todd looked smug and everyone laughed.

  “Congratulations, Cordial, Shay” Lucille offered and she walked by Cordial on her way to Vincent making sure to press against him lightly as she passed.

  Cordial moved just as quickly stepping away from her.

  “You know, Lucille,” Cordial started. “I have been polite with you since I was eighteen, but since Dad is divorcing you I don’t have to be polite any more.”

  Lucille’s eyes glowed as if he was telling her something she always knew.

  “Do tell me, Cordial” she said with a wink in his direction.

  Vincent settled himself down at the table as he watched the drama unfold before him. He saw a flash from the corner of his eye and he turned his head sharply to see Barry standing outside the windows. He nodded his head giving him permission to come into the house wondering why he was there again.

  Then he turned his attention back to his son as Cordial began to speak.

  “One time,” Cordial began, “I thought I was attracted to you and maybe I was…for a short time after all you were older than me and I have to admit that you were a pretty woman.” Lucille frowned at his choice of words as Ray suddenly went into a coughing fit and Shay tried to help her hiding her own laughter as Cordial continued. “But by the time I brought home Charity that feeling vanished. I cared about Charity, but I never loved her like a man loves a
woman.” He tightened his arms around Shay and gave her a loving glance before turning his attention back to Lucille who had lost her smug look.

  “You were more of a nuisance, Lucille,” he stated bluntly. “I could not see why Charity liked you so much until we discovered that Charity slept with Dillon. Of course, in Charity’s conceit, she assumed that she was taking him from you but Dillon was too obsessed with you to realize that she ended up truly caring for him.”

  “Dillon was arrested last night,” Shay intervened and they all gasped at her. She did not look at them as she stared at Lucille. “He was arrested for the murder of Charity McCloud.”

  Lucille shrugged her shoulders although they could tell that the news shattered a little of her composure.

  “Nothing to do with me for Dillon is his own man,” she revealed.

  Shay smiled, “True he was his own man as he was being paid by one woman and being played by another one. It may have been your idea for Dillon to go after Charity, but did you really think Dillon went after you on his own? I mean sure he was attracted to you from the start but I think he pulled himself back because of Vincent. Unfortunately, his greed and lust could not be obtained when he was offered the chance to get both.”

  “What are you talking about?” Lucille ordered her face twisting into an ugly mask.

  “She is talking about the fact that Jessica McCloud paid Dillon to get close to you so through you he could get close to Charity,” Barry said from the doorway.

  Everybody turned their head sharply to see him standing in the doorway with a book in his hands.

  Shay frowned, “Is that…?”

  “Jessica’s diary,” Barry confirmed. “When they were cleaning out the house, they found it hidden in an unused room. I guess Jessica did not want to take a chance that her husband would find it one day so she hid it in a room that she knew he would never bother to enter.”

  Barry looked at Lucille holding out the book, “In this book, Jessica wrote down how she manipulated Dillon into making himself available for you. Jessica was a smart woman and way more observant than anyone gave her credit because she saw your interest in your own stepson. She figured she would use Dillon to get close to you and then you would use Dillon to get Charity away from Cordial. What you did not know was the Cordial was already having second thoughts about the marriage and was thinking of postponing the wedding, or even calling it off according to Jessica. That is where Cordial was the night of the murder because after he left, she documented that things were already in motion and from her writing, I am thinking that she was having second doubts herself but it was too late. Then when Shay showed up she was the one who had Dillon write the letters not wanting to really kill her, but scare her away. Unfortunately, someone kept destroying Shay’s car so she could not leave then Dillon escalated trying to scare her off even more by shooting her. The second shooting was Jessica because she had been angry that Shay had turned down her off of money something she knew Charity would have never done.”