Kevin looked at the tiny hand of his child and went back to painting. He rarely slept, painting through the night. He questioned why she’d send the pictures, as if she still wanted him to be a part of her life. Or was she taunting him, showing him what he would miss? Kevin knew all he was missing, the hell he had created.
That was the reason for the self-imposed exile. He had done this before, when he moved to Burlington. When he felt as if he had disappointed his loved ones so badly, he’d tortured himself. He had walked away from his pregnant wife, threatening her with the idea of him seeing other women. He had committed that horrific act while she carried their child and was striving desperately to come to a peaceful resolution with her parents.
He’d strode into her family’s home as bold as brass and made an announcement of epic proportions. Their daughter had married a man they had never met. He hadn’t given her time to make introductions, to break the news gently. Kevin had gone into the situation with a chip on his shoulder, thinking her father already possessed a negative impression of him when it wasn’t her father who was the problem, but her mother. Kevin wasn’t used to women of any age reacting to him in that way. He charmed them, smiled, and had them eating out of the palm of his hand.
True, Kathryn hadn’t given him a chance from the get-go, but if he’d put his mind to it, it could have ended entirely differently. Kevin had wanted to assert his dominance, proving that he would not be belittled. Instead, he’d walked away leaving the lingering impression of an immature jackass. He missed his family. Ashlyn was his family, but pride was still dictating his actions.
Kevin stood over his super-sized canvas, slashing red paint with his hands. He stopped and perused his strokes, seeing what the art wanted to be. When his mind was too full of her, his color choices became bolder, his pressure more aggressive. He wondered where she was now. Was their child moving, kicking, making its presence known?
* * *
Ashlyn was tired of waiting for him to come to her. She captured every slight change in her body on film and sent it to him. His family was worried over him living in the hills like a caveman. However, if Ashlyn knew Kevin, then wherever he resided would be plush. It was one of the things she loved about him, his ability to relish the best in life. She downplayed her success, but Kevin flaunted his, spoiling himself and his family.
Ashlyn folded the map and gazed up the mountainside. Her GPS was of no use. A dirt road with deep grooves rocked the truck she drove. She was tired of waiting, so she’d decided to go to him. Did he actually believe she wouldn’t find him? She was the daughter of Liam Farrell, and her sleuthing skills were top-notch. She had learned from the best.
Ashlyn held her rounded belly, rubbing it in small circles. Guilt ate her alive. She’d left his side when he needed her the most. His childhood friend had been killed, and he’d had to face the consequences of that death alone. When her mother had spoken ill of him she’d held her tongue until the last moment, but by then it was too late. On the way to the party at Bernie’s family home, he’d asked if she had anything to tell him, but she’d clammed up, telling Makayla and Dawn first. She hadn’t given him the trust he’d asked for.
Turning into the drive, she spotted the roof of the villa. She slowed the car, but her heartbeat sped erratically. The walls and roof seemed to be built right into the mountainside, the structure disturbing the least amount of nature possible. If she were to create her dream home, it would be this. Untamed vegetation covered most of the edifice.
She parked in the circular drive, searching for his vehicle. There was an old, beat-up truck with large blank canvases in the bed. The quiet was unexpected after the noise of the city below. Sao Paulo was the richest city in Brazil, and one of the top five largest metropolitan areas in the world. A person could get lost here, which was apparently what Kevin tried to do. Ashlyn held the door open for Fancy to jump down from the front seat. She dashed in circles, as if she knew Kevin were in the vicinity.
Before she lost the nerve, Ashlyn knocked on the front door. A blue-black raven soared overhead. The raven was misunderstood, much like Ashlyn and Kevin. At times it was solitary, but at other times ravens traveled in pairs. They were devoted to their families. They were a being summoned to ravish the souls of the defeated to the Celts, and a wily trickster to Native Americans. But to Ashlyn they were something entirely different. She viewed ravens the same way as the stories from Queen Charlotte Islands. They were bringers of light, fresh water, the moon and the stars. The soaring bird overhead, so far from home, was a sign of renewal, the calm to come.
She heard noise coming from behind the house. She tried the front door, finding it unlocked. How much time did she have before he entered the house? Ashlyn took a risk and walked toward the master bath. Fancy settled in the center of a L-shaped couch, as if she knew she was at home.
Ashlyn was going into battle, fighting for her marriage, and she’d come prepared. When he walked through the back door, she wanted him instantly reminded of the life they had shared before their separation.
* * *
Kevin made use of the outdoor shower, washing away bold splotches of color, but not his thoughts of Ashlyn and the baby. The walls inside the villa were covered in images of her, a few enlarged to highlight her mesmerizing face. He wanted to trace her bone structure with the tip of his finger. He missed the small things, late mornings eating in bed, sharing the morning paper, debating music and politics, her smiling at him over her shoulder, him painting her toes, watching her laugh as he blew on each digit. Yes, he missed the small things.
He turned off the shower. The water had gotten cold faster than he remembered. His body dried quickly in the sun before he applied organic African shea oil. She’d sent it to him, along with candles and homemade vegan cookies—which he surprised himself by eating—and important items he’d left behind in Philly. He wondered whether she was living there or if she had returned to Peachtree City. He felt as if he didn’t have a right to know. His pride wouldn’t let him ask.
Kevin pulled on a pair of white drawstring linen pants, leaving his feet and chest bare. He kept the doors unlocked, because there was no one else around for at least ten miles. He owned all of the surrounding property. It was the first important thing he’d ever bought.
When he walked through the back door, his senses were instantly assaulted. Everywhere he looked he was reminded of her. Swaths of fabric covered the seating, candles burned, music played, the counter in the kitchen was covered with utensils for cooking. It was as if they’d never parted, as if the ugly words and threats had never been uttered. How could this be? Was she truly here, or had he finally truly disconnected from reality?
Ashlyn pulled her wild curls back in a scarf. Barely there white shorts covered her legs. They were made to expose her expanding stomach. Her flowing white shirt parted in a deep V just under her now-full breasts.
He stood there in shock, his eyes glued to her body. Her skin glowed with health. It took everything in her not to run to him and throw him to the floor, scattering kisses from the top of his head to the soles of his kingly feet. Just the sight of him melted her. She walked toward him slowly while he retreated.
Could he believe his eyes? “Why are you here?”
“Because you are.” A simple yet profound statement.
“Don’t you understand…I can’t have you here…this is the only place I’ve found a semblance of peace…you can’t be here…it’s too hard for me to see you,” Kevin beseeched her, trying to avert his eyes. Her stomach was proudly on display, her bellybutton popped. The ink along her tummy swirled and twirled around her waist. She reminded him of an African fertility goddess.
“I refuse to leave. I’ll follow you wherever you go. My place is by your side. I need you…your daughter needs you.” Ashlyn wrapped her arms around him, their baby cradled between the two, her fluttering kicks grazing his torso.
“What about your mother? She’s never going to accept me.” Kevin touched his for
ehead to hers, feeling whole for the first time in months.
“My mother knows if she’s going to remain a constant in my life instead of a bystander, then she has to accept my commitment to you. Nothing will ever come between us again.” Ashlyn’s fingers played in his heavy beard. He appeared older to her, both physically and temperamentally. His eyes seemed wiser.
“Did you ask her about why she did the things she did?” Kevin believed if they were going to move past all the old hurts, then they had to be resolved.
“Yes, I did, and she explained. But I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to see it from her side. She acted out of fear, believing she was protecting me. She moved us to the best neighborhoods, I attended the best schools, and she mingled with only a very select few. This is the first time I have said this aloud, but my mother became embarrassed over her ethnicity. She tried to wash away the slightest trace of blackness she saw in me. I’m embarrassed over her decisions. But Kevin, I was a child and I haven’t made the same decisions since I left home.”
Kevin held her face in place, tracing the shell of her ear with his tongue. She smelled like cinnamon. He whispered in her ear, “Please stay.” She had never heard him plead so earnestly. She closed her eyes and sighed with the sentiment.
“I plan on it.” Ashlyn pulled his hands down, placing them on her rounded belly. His hands were warm, textured from years of work. She locked her green eyes with his endearing brown one, telling him, “Meet your daughter…Adara.”
About the Author
Latisha Brandon is an author of romantic fiction. She is a wife and mother of three. When she isn’t driving her kids from one activity to another, or trying a new recipe, she can be found nose deep in a novel. She is originally from Maryland and still resides on the east coast.
2012 eBook Titles
*also available in print from Genesis Press
January
Blow by Blow*
Keith Thomas Walker
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-626-5
ISBN-10: 1-58571-626-X
The Art of Love
Celya Bowers
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-463-6
ISBN-10: 1-58571-463-1
February
A First Class Act
Mildred Riley
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-464-3
ISBN-10: 1-58571-464-X
So Different*
Ruthie Robinson
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-466-7
ISBN-10: 1-58571-466-6
March
Believe in Me
Regena Bryant
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-465-0
ISBN-10: 1-58571-465-8
Straight from the Heart
Sean Young
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-469-8
ISBN-10: 1-58571-469-0
April
Mind Games*
Bernice Layton
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-468-1
ISBN-10: 1-58571-468-2
Mama Said
Wendy Byrne
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-474-2
ISBN-10: 1-58571-474-7
May
Liar’s Web
Sandra Bell Calhoune
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-475-9
ISBN-10: 1-58571-475-5
Shadows of the Past
Alysha Adams
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-476-6
ISBN-10: 1-58571-476-3
June
Harlot*
Keith Thomas Walker
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-477-3
ISBN-10: 1-58571-477-1
2012 eBook Titles (continued)
July
Painted Passion
Latisha Brandon
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-479-7
ISBN-10: 1-58571-479-8
Seasoned Just Right
Renee Wynn
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-480-3
ISBN-10: 1-58571-480-1
August
Three Chords, One Song
Beatrice Hogg
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-478-0
ISBN-10: 1-58571-478-X
September
October
November
December
Other Genesis Press eBooks*
*Starred titles are coming soon…
2 Good*
Celya Bowers
A Dangerous Woman*
J.M. Jeffries
A Dead Man Speaks
Lisa Jones Johnson
A Good Dude
Keith Thomas Walker
A Love Built to Last
L.S. Childers
A Lover’s Legacy
Veronica Parker
A Perfect Place to Pray
I.L. Goodwin
A Place Like Home*
Alicia Wiggins
A Taste of Temptation*
Reneé Alexis
A Voice Behind Thunder
Carrie Elizabeth Greene
Against the Wind
Gwynne Forster
All I’ll Ever Need
Mildred Riley
Allegro
Bennett, Adora
Always You
Crystal Hubbard
An Unfinished Love Affair
Barbara Keaton
Another Memory*
Pamela Ridley
Anything but Love*
Celya Bowers
Best Foot Forward
Michele Sudler
Best Friends Better Lovers*
Celya Bowers
Best of Luck Elsewhere*
Trisha Haddad
Between Tears
Pamela Ridley
Blame It on Paradise*
Crystal Hubbard
Blindsided
Tammy Williams
Bliss, Inc.*
Chamein Canton
Blood Seduction
J.M. Jeffries
Blue Interlude*
Keisha Mennefee
Burn
Crystal Hubbard
Caress
Grayson Cole
Caught Up*
Deatri King-Bey
Caught Up in the Rapture
Lisa G. Riley
Checks and Balances*
Elaine Sims
Choices*
Tammy Williams
Corporate Seduction
A.C. Arthur
Crossing the Line*
Bernice Layton
Crush*
Crystal Hubbard
Cupid
Barbara Keaton
Dawn’s Harbor*
Kymberly Hunt
Do Over
Celya Bowers
Dream Keeper*
Gail McFarland
Dream Runner*
Gail McFarland
Ebony Angel
Deatri King-Bey
Ebony Eyes
Kei Swanson
Enchanted Desire*
Wanda Y. Thomas
Everything In Between
Crystal Hubbard
Except on Sunday
Regena Bryant
Fireflies*
Joan Early
Fixin’ Tyrone
Keith Thomas Walker
Fractured
Wendy Byrne
Friends in Need*
Joan Early
From This Moment
Young, Sean D.
Frost on My Window*
Angela Weaver
Havana Sunrise
Kymberly Hunt
Heart of the Phoenix
A.C. Arthur
Holding Her Breath
Nicole Green
How to Kill Your Husband*
Keith Walker
I Take This Woman
Chamein Canton
I’m Gonna Make You Love Me
Gwyneth Bolton
If I Were Your Woman*
La Connie Taylor-Jones
Inside Out
Grayson Cole
Ironic
Pamela Leigh Starr
It’s in the Rhythm*
Sammie Ward
/>
It’s Not Over Yet
J.J. Michael
Lady Preacher
K. T. Richey
Let’s Get It On
Dyanne Davis
Lies in Disguise
Bernice Layton
Lies Too Long*
Pamela Ridley
Light’s Out
Ruthie Robinson
Look Both Ways*
Joan Early
Looking for Lily*
Africa Fine
Love in High Gear
Charlotte Roy
Love Lasts Forever
Dominiqua Douglas
Love Me Carefully
A.C. Arthur
Love Out of Order
Nicole Green
Love’s Secrets*
Yolanda McVey
Many Shades of Gray
Dyanne Davis
Mission
Pamela Leigh Starr
Painted Passion Page 25
