Painted Passion

by Latisha Brandon

  “You always wrap gifts so beautifully. I never want to ruin the paper by ripping it.” She lifted the lid on the rectangular box, fishing through the tissue. For such a small box, it was surprisingly heavy. Ashlyn caught a glimpse of metal, which she pulled out. It was a body chain made of mixed metal, a work of art made for the body. The piece hung from her neck like a necklace, sloped low into the middle of her back, and connected just above her navel. “I thought you believed this type of jewelry was tacky?” She loved the gift; it suited her to perfection. Normally she ended up returning Makayla’s gifts. “Thank you, Kayla, I love it. It’s a good thing I brought your gift early.” Generally, Ashlyn waited until the last moment.

  She stood to retrieve the gift; it was in her carry-on bag. Ashlyn began throwing clothes out of the bag, causing chaos and a mess where Makayla liked neat and tidy. “Ashlyn, you’re going to have to pick up those clothes.”

  “Not before I give you your Christmas present. Kevin and I found it at the Black Fine Arts Show in New York.” They had taken the train for a long three-day weekend, staying in Greenwich Village. They’d ended up staying for seven days.

  Ashlyn placed the cardboard box on Makayla’s bed.

  “Why didn’t you wrap the cardboard?”

  “Why? You’d just rip the paper. Besides, what’s important is on the inside, so just open it. And not the dainty and slow way you normally do.”

  “Hand me the scissors in the drawer so I don’t break a nail on all this tape.”

  Ashlyn sat opposite her. “Give it to me. I’ll open it.” She made short work of the box, leaving the rest to Makayla.

  Makayla pulled the framed canvas from the box, studying the painting from every angle. She possessed a quirky taste, and the image suited her. The colors rioted, assaulting her brain.

  “It’s an original, one of his first works, before he was so widely known,” Ashlyn told a quiet Makayla.

  Makayla spoke with awe in her voice. “It’s persnickety, insane, and over the top. I love it.” The painting was by Marc Ecko and she knew exactly where she would put it, in her Kimora-like walk in closet. Her favorite things went there, It was a room unto itself, holding her antique perfume bottles, hand-painted silk robes, her wigs, countless pairs of pumps, and a heavy teak cheval mirror. The room equaled the size of some master bedrooms.

  “Merry Christmas, Ash.”

  “Merry Christmas, Kayla.”

  * * *

  Why couldn’t she trust him enough to stay? Stay and listen to him, hear him out. However, what could he have possibly said? “When Reese is in town we get together and have sex and I forgot to tell her about you. I forgot to call and tell her I got married. Oops, sorry.”

  There was no way in hell he could have said that. The situation would be much worse than it was right now. Ashlyn was not proving to be very forgiving. She refused to answer his calls, his emails were going into her spam account, and she sent back every card and letter. But she did at least keep the jewelry. That was the Ashlyn he knew and loved, throwing away the sentimental fluff, but keeping the goodies.

  He had a few loose ends to fix before he could handle the misunderstandings in his marriage. Which was why he found himself flying to Vermont with his father, who insisted on bringing Zona, Allison Jane, and Marcus. They were going to spend Christmas at Kevin’s farmhouse in the Burlington countryside. Kevin planned to spend the holidays with his wife. If it were not for his fairy godmother, Makayla, he would have never known where Ashlyn was. She’d eluded him at every turn.

  “Instead of sulking, you need to go find your wife,” his father told him, breaking into his daydreams.

  The last thing he needed was fatherly advice, but that had never stopped his father. “Dad, I know what I’m doing.”

  “If you knew what you were doing, you would never have brought a fast-tail girl into your home.” He moved closer to Kevin, gazing over his shoulder to see if Zona were looking in their direction, and whispered, “Have I taught you nothing? You don’t crap where you sleep. You never play at home. Now pick your chin up and go make this thing right. It’s time you gave me some grandkids.”

  “Whoa…it’s way too early to discuss babies. Give me another three to five years. Ashlyn and I want to travel. She’s going back to work soon and working on ideas for a book. I have the park opening in Pittsburgh, and during the spring we’re remodeling the club.” If they wanted to remain relevant, changes and updating were needed.

  “Do you think Ashlyn wants to wait until she’s thirty-eight to have kids? Women who get pregnant after thirty-five are considered high risk.”

  Of course they’d discussed kids, but it was unsaid that they would wait a while. He did need to take into consideration that she was slightly older; she might not want to wait until after thirty-five. The whole argument seemed ridiculous, because she was only thirty-three. If he introduced the issue of her “biological clock” she would bite his head off, and he was already in deep enough trouble.

  “Women are waiting later and later to have kids. However, I do know that I don’t want to be damn near fifty and raising a three-year-old.”

  “Allison Jane is not three, and I’m a few years short of fifty.” Kevin’s dad quickly changed the subject. “What business do you have to take care of in Vermont?”

  “We’re starting a summer campaign, and I need to approve the final pics. I also need to clear my schedule in case it takes longer to get in Ashlyn’s good graces again.”

  “Are you going to Chicago with her for Christmas?”

  “That’s the plan, even if she doesn’t know it. All the hiding and the issues from the past, need to find a resting place. I think she’s more worried about the initial reaction to our marriage than I am.”

  “You’ve faced worse than a family full of pompous blowhards. Your mother and I taught you to hold your head up regardless of the situation. Don’t let them intimidate you.” If he had to fly to Chicago to protect his son, he would.

  “I don’t want to walk into the situation believing the worse. If Ashlyn and I are going to remain together, I have to accept her family, and in the end, they have to accept me. But that doesn’t mean I will allow them to talk down to me or be disrespectful.”

  His father was correct, he had seen more than they could even imagine. He’d pulled himself out of the muck, refusing to be another statistic. “When Ashlyn and I exchanged vows it wasn’t a dare, and we weren’t on a drunken binge. Never had I been more sober. I expected her to stay, even when trouble appeared.”

  “How can you ask a woman to stay when you never took the time to make room for her? If you want her to have a permanent place in your life, clean out the muddle. She was sharing your life—you weren’t sharing hers. You expect her to be happy living in your small bachelor pad with nude photos on the wall that you call art. You fussed any time she suggested making a change.

  “Did you ever offer to spend time in Georgia?” He didn’t let Kevin answer the question before he continued. “I’m going to tell you the one thing I’ve always said and then I’m going to excuse myself. Son, you’re selfish, always have been. Everything always came easy to you. You got spoiled. You even charmed your way out of a court trial. She’s the one person I could tell from the very beginning who wasn’t going to come easy, which makes all the hard work worth it.

  “Clean your life up, because I know that there are other women hiding in the woodwork, and then go make it right with your wife. Never doubt how proud of you I am, but you can’t measure success by how many people are fawning over you, or how many big-booty women you sleep with.” Paul paused for a moment, thinking intently. “After saying the last part aloud, I have to admit it doesn’t seem like such a bad life.”

  “Paul,” Zona screeched. “What kind of fatherly advice is that?”

  Damn, Kevin hated it when his father was right. Not about sleeping around, but about making room for Ashlyn. He’d taken her for granted.

  “Excuse me.” His f
ather made his way to the back of the jet, where Allison Jane and Marcus were having lunch.

  “My father will never marry you.”

  Zona’s big expressive eyes focused on Kevin, undeterred. “Well, that’s a good thing because I have no desire to remarry.”

  “My father loved my mother.”

  “I loved the father of my children.” Impatient and tired of the constant back-and-forth with Kevin, Zona continued, “Kevin, you always bombard me with facts after your father has left. Is it because he would be sorely disappointed by your attitude, or are you taking your loss out on me?”

  Kevin relaxed. “You’re a fighter, I can respect that.”

  “I recognize the fighter in you.”

  “Because of my past I have to be. I don’t want to chase you away from my family. This world is tough, and Marcus is going to need as many strong men around him as possible.” Kevin smiled charmingly. “Plus, Allison Jane has informed me that if things with Ashlyn don’t work out, she’s going to be my second wife, and that I should wait for her. She told me that because she’s so much younger than me, she can be my trophy wife and hopefully I will only get richer.”

  Zona was stunned. “I have no idea where she got such a notion. Allison Jane has always been inquisitive and precocious. For her to make such a statement, though, is ridiculous. Don’t worry, it won’t happen again.”

  “Please don’t chastise her on my account. I really like her, your son as well. You have done an admirable job raising them.”

  “Thank you, Kevin, but I want you to know how deeply I love your father. I have the utmost respect for him, especially after I saw what a great job he did in raising you and Aaron. I don’t mean to take anything away from Adara.”

  Hearing Zona speak his mother’s name was difficult for Kevin, but time could help that. “What was your husband’s name?”

  “His name was David. I met him my junior year of college. He was a recruiter visiting the campus.” She looked far off, as if she were there instead of on the plane with them.

  “A military recruiter on a college campus. I guess you didn’t attend a liberal arts college in the Northeast or the West Coast,” Kevin teased, attempting to lighten the mood.

  “The University of Texas at Dallas. I grew up in Odessa. My husband was stationed at Forth Worth.”

  “How did you land in Delaware? It’s not the biggest state.”

  “I needed small after Texas. In the beginning, it kept us close to David, who is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.”

  “I’m sorry for you and your kids’ loss, and for giving you such a difficult time, but I wasn’t expecting you.” Sincerely and with a bit of humility, he added, “I know that’s no excuse. According to Ashlyn I behaved like a spoiled child. It must be true, because my father told me the same thing. For the past ten years, it was just my dad, Aaron, and me. You and your kids are a pleasant surprise.”

  Zona leaned forward and held Kevin’s hand, tightening her grasp as she spoke. “Your father and I are the perfect example of never knowing when you could lose the person you love the most and hold the closest. Don’t let too much time pass before you call or see Ashlyn. She’s a wonderful woman. You would do well with her by your side, but you have to learn to appreciate her, Kevin. No woman wants to wake up and find another woman standing over her, knowing that woman had shared the bed she now lay in.”

  Kevin covered his face with his hands. “Dad told you my dirty little secret? You can never know how bad I feel. I’m a person who needs total control, and if I let that slip, havoc reigns. Which is exactly what happened with Ashlyn and Reese. Feeling and looking like an idiot aren’t sensations I relish. Believe me, I’ve been duly chastised, from Ashlyn, from her best friend Makayla, from Dad, from Aaron…even from Vlad.”

  Vlad had plainly declared, “I knew it was only a matter of time before you messed up.”

  Since Zona could tell he was truly sorry, she decided not to reprimand him further. “The photos Ashlyn took of Allison Jane were breathtaking.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The moist soil felt soothing to her palm. Gardening was a solitary hobby, especially winter gardening. Her space was overrun with weeds, and she hacked, pulled, and discarded, cleansing not just her backyard, but herself as well. This was her therapy, communing with nature. She breathed deeply, content, admiring plants she’d put in last winter. While she was in Philadelphia she hired a gardener to take care of her plants in Atlanta. The team came in once a week to maintain the plants in the front yard and to cut the bamboo in the backyard.

  Her life was falling back into place; Fancy was Fancy for the most part. She still gnawed on the legs of the kitchen stools, but it was down to twice a week. She stayed away from Ashlyn’s shoes, fearing the broom. Finished with the gardening, Ashlyn washed her hands at the outdoor sink, filling Fancy’s bowl at the same time. The afternoon was the perfect time to lie in her hammock with the sun warming her face. Feeling the chill in the air, she pulled a blanket over her.

  Kevin had stopped calling and stopped sending letters. Even the gift well had dried up. She now possessed a pair of diamond drop earrings, a sapphire tennis bracelet set in platinum, a pair of silver bangles, and the black-and-white cameo she’d fallen in love with. She was ashamed now that she’d never read his cards, sending them back to him unopened. She’d wanted to lash out and hurt him the way she had been hurt. Her actions had been petty, and now she didn’t have the courage to call him.

  She was leaving in a few days for Chicago, which she wasn’t looking forward to. Explanations were needed as to why she was pregnant and married to a man her family had never met. It seemed that her body had changed overnight. Her waist was slightly thicker, but no one would attribute that fact to a pregnancy. She’d decided to wait until at least the end of her first trimester to inform her family. Kevin was another matter. He needed to know first, but she was sitting on her hands out of a bizarre form of stubbornness. She didn’t even know where he was.

  She gazed around her backyard, remembering the time she’d first seen her home. It had called to her, giving off a warmth she desired. She resided in a family-friendly neighborhood. With the baby coming, that would come in handy. There were playgrounds, a pond for feeding ducks, excellent schools, and Dawn and Haile lived around the corner. By the time the child was four or five Laney would be old enough to babysit. Makayla would buy large, extravagant gifts and decorate the nursery.

  Her home had four bedrooms, more than enough room for a nursery. She rubbed her stomach, awed by the change. Nothing was as important as this. She fended off feelings of uncertainty because she was alone. She had Fancy. She couldn’t afford to be melancholy.

  Ashlyn twisted out of the hammock, shaking off the blues. “Come on, Fancy, it’s time to go inside. We can start a fire and roast marshmallows.” She pulled in one more deep breath of the crisp air. She folded the blanket and took it inside. “I think the baby would love a gooey treat.” She touched her stomach as she talked. Lately she’d been having full-fledged conversations with her stomach. “We need chocolate squares and graham crackers.”

  She pulled off her work boots and left them in the mudroom. Her hoodie followed, dangling from a hook. She walked through her spacious kitchen with sustainable white cabinets and cork flooring. Her countertops were recycled glass. She’d recently bought an antique stove and refrigerator in a funky yellow-green color. Both the stove and refrigerator were changed internally to be more environmentally friendly.

  She walked down the long hallway leading to the living room on the left, and the dining room on the right. A set of stairs leading to the second floor divided the space. The carved railing and stairs were both made from recycled wood. She climbed the stairs, hearing Fancy behind her. She was never far from her side, afraid she would leave again. “I don’t have plans to leave anytime soon, so stop worrying.”

  Ashlyn stepped in her bedroom. The white wainscoting blended well with her butter-yellow walls.
Fancy jumped on the bed and settled in the middle, rumpling the duvet with English rose blooms set against a blue backdrop. Her bed was littered with ruffle-edged pillows. Tall, white side tables on thin, elegant legs flanked both sides of her bed. The only dark color in the room was her tufted cloth headboard in chocolate; it soared, nearly touching the ceiling.

  Ashlyn lit the double-sided fireplace in her bedroom; it was usable in her bathroom as well. Out of her aged white armoire, she pulled a pair of shorts and a tank top. She tired earlier and easier lately. The thought of going to bed soon caused her to yawn. She felt exhausted. A hot bath was just what she needed.

  “Fancy, get off the bed and use the doggy bed I bought you.” Fancy gazed pitifully at Ashlyn. “If I can’t stand up to you, how am I going to tell a teenager no when they want to use the car on a school night?” She needed Kevin. “Where in the hell is Kevin?”

  She filled her soaking tub with hot water, adding mulberry bubble bath. She quickly disrobed, sinking into the heated and scented water, her head resting on a bath pillow. Fancy placed her head on the edge of the tub, studying Ashlyn. Sensing the sadness. Ashlyn didn’t want to go through this pregnancy alone. She wanted Kevin. “I need him here.” She touched her stomach. “We need him here.”

  Had she gone too far with her ultimatums? Ashlyn had always been fiercely independent, but that streak had faded considerably. She wanted it all: their child, him, her family, friends, career, and her alone time. She didn’t want to live in his back pocket, but she wanted him close. The problem was that Kevin was overwhelming. She never thought clearly when she was in his presence.

  “Don’t worry, Fancy, we’ll figure something out.”

  She finished her bath and oiled her skin with organic avocado oil. Ashlyn brushed her hair, pulling it back into a ponytail. She’d let it grow for Kevin; he liked to play with it, while she saw it as a hassle. Did that mean she went over and beyond the call of duty to please him, or was it a compromise? She was worried about placing his wishes above her own. What her brain needed was chocolate; everything appeared clearly after digesting chocolate.