Forever an Eaton: Bittersweet LoveSweet Deception

by Rochelle Alers

  Zabrina’s expression revealed none of what she was feeling at that moment: panic. She’d moved into her new home in mid-March and it was now the first week in July and not once in three months had Rachel given any indication that she knew who she was.

  “How did you find out about me?”

  “When you introduced me to Myles Eaton, I tried to recall where I’d heard his name. I searched the internet and came up with quite a bit of information,” she rambled on. “And I know you ended your engagement to Myles and then married Thomas Cooper. Look, Zabrina, I know if you wanted me to know you would’ve told me. I would’ve asked but I was afraid you would’ve told me to mind my own business.”

  “How can I tell you to mind your business when my business is out there for everyone to read?” Zabrina asked. “I don’t advertise who I am because I need to protect Adam. I’ve always tried to keep him out of the public eye, and so far I’ve succeeded.”

  Rachel pushed a smile through an expression of uncertainty. “Will you forgive me being nosy?”

  “There’s nothing to forgive.” If anyone wanted to know about her, all they had to do was what Rachel had done—type her name into a search engine.

  Flipping her ponytail over her shoulder, Rachel straightened to her full five-foot-nine-inch height. “I’m going to leave now, because I don’t want your man mad at me for keeping you from him.”

  Zabrina exhaled a breath. She didn’t want to be rude and tell her neighbor to go home, but Rachel tended to be Chatty Cathy. Wind her up and she’d talk for hours. And it was apparent Hugh Ormond liked her effervescent personality.

  “I’ll see you later,” she said to Rachel.

  “Later,” Rachel repeated.

  Waiting until her neighbor left, Zabrina gathered a supply of feminine products. Minutes later, she left the house to find Myles lounging on the rocker. He stood up as she closed and locked the door.

  Myles wrapped an arm around Zabrina’s waist as he led her off the porch. The day had begun with him waking up beside her and would end with her beside him. He didn’t want to think of the day when he would have to return to Pittsburgh and not take her with him.

  He’d lost her once because it was beyond his control. However, if it was within his control he did not intend to lose her a second time.

  Chapter 13

  Zabrina felt her heart rate kick into a higher gear as Myles maneuvered down the tree-lined street to the house where Belinda and Griffin Rice lived with their nieces. The newlyweds had returned from their honeymoon the week before and were now hosting their first get-together as husband and wife. In a matter of minutes she would come face-to-face with his parents, and interacting directly with Myles’s parents wasn’t something she was looking forward to.

  She’d been surprised when Belinda called to invite her to Paoli for a time-honored Eaton Sunday dinner. Belinda said she’d already spoken to Myles, who’d offered to drive her. She’d declined previous invitations from Myles for her to share Sunday dinner with his mother and father, but Zabrina hadn’t been able to form an appropriate excuse to get out of going to her childhood friend’s house.

  Since Adam was away, she’d changed her regular Sunday routine. In the past she would prepare an elaborate dinner for the two of them, followed by driving to their favorite ice cream parlor for outrageous frozen concoctions. Now, after attending church services she drove over to Chinatown where she ate at a restaurant featuring Chinese and Thai cuisine. It was early evening when Myles came over and crawled into the hammock with her.

  The past three weeks with Myles had been near-perfect, offering her a glimpse into what her life would’ve been like if they’d married. They went to bed, woke up, prepared meals and took long walks together. Afterward they spent hours in the hammock either sleeping or reading aloud to each other. It was as if time had stood still before Thomas Cooper had revealed her father’s clandestine gambling addiction and theft of campaign funds, or as if she hadn’t been blackmailed into breaking her engagement to Myles to marry her blackmailer.

  Myles, slowing and downshifting, took a quick glance at Zabrina’s delicate profile. He knew she’d clamped her teeth together by the throbbing muscle in her jaw. Belinda had called to inform him that she’d invited Zabrina to come to Paoli for a cookout and asked that he bring her. None of the Eatons knew he was sleeping with Zabrina and he wasn’t going to volunteer the information because he didn’t want a repeat of the exchange he’d had with Chandra.

  He’d never interfered in his sisters’ relationships and refused to tolerate any intrusion into his own. Myles had to admit he was somewhat surprised when Belinda informed him that she’d invited Zabrina to her wedding. It was something his sister said that made him rethink his attitude toward the woman to whom he’d given his heart: Even after a criminal has served and completed his or her ten-year sentence society offers them a second chance. Zabrina Mixon-Cooper wasn’t a criminal, she hadn’t broken any law. The only thing she was guilty of was breaking his heart.

  Reaching over, he placed his hand over hers. Her fingers were ice-cold. “Are you all right?”

  Zabrina managed a tight smile. “I’m good.”

  Myles shot her another quick glance. “Your hands are freezing.”

  “Cold hands, warm heart,” she quipped, smiling.

  Executing a smooth left turn, he maneuvered into a wide driveway behind a gleaming black Volvo. “My folks are here.”

  Zabrina swallowed to relieve the dryness in her suddenly constricted throat. She didn’t know what to expect from Dwight and Roberta Eaton, but she doubted whether they’d greet her as if she were a long-lost relative.

  Symbolically, Roberta had become her surrogate mother before and after Zabrina’s mother passed away. Whenever she slept over at the Eaton’s large farmhouse-style home she was treated the same as the other Eaton siblings. Miss Bertie checked her hands for cleanliness before she sat down to eat and Miss Bertie braided her hair, always making certain the center part was straight. Bertie used to say that whenever she saw a little girl with a crooked part she felt compelled to pull the child aside and redo her hair.

  She waited for Myles to come around and help her down. “Don’t forget the flowers and gelato.” Zabrina had urged him to stop so she could purchase a bouquet of flowers for the Rices’ table and half pints of pistachio, chocolate-hazelnut, peach and caffe latte gelato, packed in a special container to keep them from melting. The day before he’d had a case of assorted wine and a box of sliced rib-eye steaks delivered to Paoli after Belinda mentioned they were going to break with tradition and dine alfresco.

  Griffin and Belinda’s house reminded Zabrina of the one her friend had grown up in. Stately maple and oak trees provided shade for the white vinyl-sided three-story house with black shutters. The smell of grilling meat wafted in the air.

  Cradling the foam crate of ice cream and the flowers in one hand, Myles cupped Zabrina’s elbow with the other. “They’re probably out back.”

  Zabrina hadn’t realized she was holding her breath until she experienced tightness in her chest and was forced to exhale. A pair of sunglasses shielded her gaze as she stared at Layla and Sabrina Rice splashing in the inground pool under the watchful gaze of Belinda’s parents.

  Griffin stood at the stove in an outdoor kitchen, grilling franks. His wife, wearing an apron with The Real Cook stamped on the bib, filled tall glasses from a pitcher filled with lemon and lime slices floating in a pale yellow liquid.

  Layla, floating on her back, spotted her uncle first. “Uncle Myles is here!”

  Belinda turned, frowning at her niece. “Layla, there’s no need to shout,” she admonished softly.

  Zabrina saw everyone’s gaze directed at her and Myles. When she realized he was still holding her arm, she eased it surreptitiously from his loose grip. No one, nothing moved. It was as if a f
rame of film was frozen in place.

  It was Belinda who broke the spell when she wiped her hands on a towel. Arms outstretched, she walked over to her brother and kissed his cheek, then Zabrina’s. “I’m glad you could make it, Brina.”

  Zabrina felt her anxiousness fading. “Thank you for inviting me. You look absolutely beautiful, Mrs. Rice.” She pressed her cheek to Belinda’s.

  Married life agreed with Belinda Rice. The Caribbean sun had darkened her face to a rich milk-chocolate hue and her promise to eat and relax was evident because the hollows in her slender face were gone. With her relaxed hair pulled back in a ponytail, shorts, tank top, sandals and bare face she looked as young as her high-school students.

  Belinda’s smile was shy, demure. “Thank you. Once everyone has eaten, I’ll take you on a tour of the house.”

  Myles handed his sister the bouquet of flowers. “Brina brought these for the table, and there’s gelato in the cooler.”

  “Please give them to Mama. She’s the expert when it comes to arranging flowers.” Belinda handed off the cooler to Griffin. “Please put this in the freezer.” The outdoor kitchen was fully functional with a stainless-steel stove, grill, refrigerator/freezer, built-in bar and sinks.

  Myles walked over to his parents, leaned over to kiss his mother’s cheek, handed her the cellophane-wrapped bouquet, then patted his father’s shoulder in an affectionate gesture. “Brina came with me,” he said, sotto voce. Extending a hand, he eased Roberta up from her chair.

  Zabrina removed her glasses at Roberta and Dwight Eaton’s approach. She’d exchanged nods of acknowledgment with the two at Belinda’s wedding, but they hadn’t spoken to one another. She extended her hand to Roberta. “It’s so nice seeing you again.”

  Roberta ignored her hand to hug her, surprising Zabrina with the unexpected display of affection. “How are you feeling, child?”

  Zabrina went still, then relaxed as she returned the hug. Had news gotten around that she’d had too much to drink at Belinda’s wedding? “I’m well, Miss Bertie.”

  Roberta pulled back, staring up at the woman who’d made her only son’s life a living hell. She’d wanted to hate the young woman who had deceived Myles, but couldn’t. Zabrina was the daughter of a woman who’d died much too young, the best friend of her middle daughter, and someone whom she’d come to think of as her own daughter and the young woman who’d gotten Myles to fall in love with her when other women had tried and failed.

  “You look very nice with short hair.”

  Zabrina, smiling, angled her head. “Thank you.” She knew Roberta was looking for a crooked part, but she’d brushed her hair and kept it off her face and forehead with a candy-striped headband.

  Roberta hadn’t changed much. Her stylishly coiffed hair claimed more salt than pepper, and, although she’d added a few inches to her hips, she was still a very attractive middle-aged woman who’d been married to the same man for forty-two years.

  Dr. Dwight Eaton came over to join them, his eyes warm, friendly behind a pair of rimless glasses. He, too, hugged Zabrina. It wasn’t often that she saw the family doctor without his white shirt, tie and lab coat. Today he wore a golf shirt, khakis and slip-ons. A pager and two cell phones, devices that were essential to his profession, were attached to his belt.

  “I didn’t get a chance to talk to you at Lindy’s wedding, but I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for your loss. Isaac was truly a wonderful human being.”

  You wouldn’t say that if you’d known he was a thief. Despite Thomas’s accusations, Zabrina had never stopped loving her father. In fact, she loved him more because of his weakness. Fortunately, he’d stopped gambling, claiming he’d gone cold turkey once he became aware that he was going to become a grandfather. He said he didn’t want his grandson or granddaughter growing up with the stigma that their grandfather had spent time in prison.

  She hadn’t wanted to believe Isaac, because Zabrina was aware that a gambling addiction was one of the most difficult to break. But Isaac was being truthful. She continued to monitor his bank accounts and Thomas had transferred the responsibility of handling his financial affairs from Isaac to another aide.

  “Thank you, Dr. Dwight.”

  In keeping with her father’s wishes, there had been a private ceremony, followed by cremation, and his ashes had been scattered in the ocean. Surviving family members included Isaac’s sister, her daughter, three grandchildren, Zabrina and Adam. Thomas was saved the pretense of mourning his father-in-law. He was in Asia with several members of Congress on a fact-finding mission.

  Roberta rested a hand on Zabrina. “I wish Dwight and I could’ve been there for you and your son when you lost Thomas Cooper so soon after losing your father. By the way, where is your son?”

  “Adam is spending the month in Virginia with my cousin’s children.”

  “I know you must really miss him,” Roberta crooned.

  “I do,” Zabrina admitted.

  She missed Adam, but not as much as she had the first week. It took three days of her calling her cousin twice a day to find out if Adam was having a good time, or giving her a problem before her Aunt Holly offered a stern lecture about the risks of being an overprotective mother. Holly sounded so much like Adam’s therapist that she told the retired schoolteacher to have Adam call her whenever he felt like talking. He called home every third day before tapering off to once a week. Her son was expected to return to Philadelphia next Sunday. He’d begun whining that he wanted to stay longer, but Zabrina reminded him that his cousins were scheduled to go to a sleepaway camp for the first two weeks of August to give their parents a break from children. She did promise Adam he could return to Virginia the following summer and go to camp with his cousins.

  “Dad, the game is on!” Myles called across the patio.

  Dwight pressed a kiss to his wife’s cheek. “Excuse me, ladies.” Turning on his heel, he rushed over to where Griffin had set a flat-screen television on a stand under the retractable awning shading the patio from the hot summer sun.

  “Make certain you keep your eyes on your granddaughters, too, Dwight Eaton.”

  “I will, Bertie.” Dwight shifted his chair where he could view the ball game and Sabrina and Layla.

  “Come help me arrange your flowers, Brina. I don’t understand these men and their obsession with a ball,” she mumbled under her breath. “If it’s not a golf ball, then it’s baseball, basketball or football.” Roberta’s angry gaze met Zabrina’s amused one. “What’s up with the balls?”

  Zabrina bit back a smile. “I don’t know, Miss Bertie.”

  She remembered when Griffin, his brother Grant, Myles and Dwight would gather in the Eatons’ family room to watch sporting events ranging from auto racing and bowling to soccer. If a ball was involved, then the men were armchair spectators.

  The last time Zabrina had seen Layla and Sabrina Rice they’d been toddlers, so it was a bit unsettling to see them as young adults. It reminded her how much time had passed and that Myles’s nieces and Adam were cousins. She followed Roberta into an enclosed back porch to a large updated gourmet kitchen, watching as the older woman retrieved a vase and filled it with water.

  Roberta opened the cellophane wrapping and picked up stems of lily of the valley, snow-white roses and hydrangea, sweet pea, peonies and baby’s breath. “I hope you and Myles get it right this time.” She glanced up from her task to find Zabrina staring at her. “You think I don’t know what’s going on between you and my son?”

  “I suppose you don’t approve?”

  “It has nothing to do with whether I do or don’t approve, Brina. You and Myles are grown, and once my children were adults I learned to bite my tongue and keep my opinions to myself.”

  “I’m sorry—”

  Roberta held up a hand. “Don’t go there, Zabrina. Whatever happened between you
and Myles is in the past. What’s more important is the future. I know you love him, and that he loves you. That was very apparent when he couldn’t stop staring at you at Lindy’s wedding. You’re luckier than most women, young lady, because you’ve been offered a second chance with a man you love.”

  “You...you believe Myles still loves me?” Zabrina had asked Roberta the question despite knowing the answer. He’d been forthcoming when he’d told her he loved her—in and out of bed.

  “Myles never stopped loving you, Brina. No, he didn’t tell me but I know my children a lot better than they believe I do. The back and forth between Griffin and Belinda was nothing more than ‘I like you but I’m not going to let you know it.’ Unfortunately it took a family tragedy for them to come together for the sake of my grandchildren. Griffin has shown that he can be a great father and Belinda is a wonderful mother.” Roberta flashed a wide smile. “They’ve promised me that they’re doing their best to give Dwight and me more grandchildren. Dwight wants a grandson, but I’m open to either a girl or boy.”

  Zabrina wanted to tell Roberta that she and Dwight had a grandson. Adam Cooper was their grandson. She’d mentally rehearsed how she would eventually tell Myles that Adam was his. She owed it to him and to Adam to let them know their biological connection. She’d sworn that she would never divulge the circumstances of her marriage to Thomas, but she hadn’t sworn or promised anyone that she wouldn’t tell Myles that he’d fathered her child. She knew she couldn’t go back and right the wrongs, but she wanted to make certain to make sure things were right.

  Adam had a right to know why Thomas had been so distant, why he wasn’t or couldn’t be the traditional father and why Isaac Mixon did all the things with him Thomas should’ve done.

  And Myles had a right to know that he was a father and that he could share all the things with Adam he’d talked about when they were engaged. Myles, at twenty-eight, had wanted to start a family right away, while she’d wanted to wait, not because she’d wanted an extended honeymoon but because of a repressed fear that her life would duplicate her mother’s, that she wouldn’t live to see her child reach his or her majority.