"George is the only reason why this piece of junk is still on the road. Okay, let me see if I have the shopping list."
She rummaged in her bag and frowned, finally pulling out a long piece of paper.
"Here it is!"
"What's going on between you and Uncle Conroy?" Oliver asked while she took the car out of park and drove through the gates.
"He asked me to marry him. I didn't give an answer by his ultimatum so he is giving me the cold shoulder." Honey glanced at Oliver.
"And you are already married too," Oliver pointed out. "Shouldn't you divorce one husband before you can get hitched to another?"
"There is that," Honey sighed, "and the fact that I am mulling over some job offers that will take me away from here. Once you are in university I just might take them up. I think Conroy is becoming fed up with me."
"You love him?" Oliver settled in the seat.
"Yes, no, I guess," Honey said contemplatively. "Sometimes I think that because we are both back here and basically putting down roots in this place, maybe I should settle down. I could do much worse than Conroy."
"Doesn't sound as if you are sure." Oliver adjusted his seat and glanced at his mother.
"I loved him when we were younger. Young love is always intense and crazy and idyllic. That brings me to the topic of Jorja. What’s up with that girl?" Honey huffed, "I saw her in the office hanging over his shoulders. They were almost lip to lip."
Oliver glanced at his mother sharply. "You see it too?"
"Yup," Honey said. "Totally inappropriate. I am going to have a talk with that girl."
Oliver sighed. "You should and talk to Uncle Conroy too."
"Oh yes, I will. Hopefully he'll listen to me," Honey growled. "Touchy-feely teenage girls have gotten better men than him in trouble. She doesn't touch you and stuff, does she?"
"No. Come on, Mom." Oliver squirmed in his seat.
"You like her?"
"No. Not really. I don't know. She is growing on me, I guess." Oliver shrugged. "She is pretty."
"But she dresses like a slut. I should talk to her father too," Honey said harshly. "What's with all of that eye makeup? Makes her look like a clown."
"She doesn't look like a clown," Oliver defended Jorja. "You should find nicer things to say about people."
"Hmmm," Honey muttered.
"And you should stop talking about Regina and her allergies and how awful she looked. You sound so happy that she was sick. What kind of nurse are you?"
"She deserved it," Honey said promptly. "She had the most awful things to say about me and other people. And she thinks she is the so-called keeper of secrets. But God fixed her right; big bad Regina could barely see because God struck her with allergies."
Honey laughed again. "I hope she never comes back to Primrose Hill. I have a mild dislike for her and her big mouth."
"Am I Conroy Coke's son?" Oliver blurted out before he could stop it.
His mother sobered up and slowed down the car and then she started laughing again. "What a question! Where did that come from?"
"Just asking."
"Because of that Regina woman, I'd bet."
"Mom," Oliver sighed, "just answer!"
"No, you are not Conroy Coke's son."
"Honestly?" Oliver prompted. "You are not telling me lies?"
"No lies," Honey said solemnly. "Conroy and I never did the dirty."
"Sex is not dirty," Oliver said, exasperation creeping in his voice.
"What do you know about it?" Honey glanced at him sternly.
"I am seventeen years old. I know quite a bit," Oliver said grumpily. "Don't change the subject."
"When you say know, you mean theory, right?" Honey asked nervously.
"Yes Mom." Oliver tensed up for the sex talk. His mother thought that telling him about diseases and pregnancies would scare him. "I don't want to talk about sex now, Mom."
"Well, who better to talk to?" Honey grumbled. "Your father is not around to give you a manly perspective; I have to give you all the info I know."
"Tell me about my dad," Oliver said quickly. "I just know his name and his profession. I really have no other information."
"Not this father talk again." Honey grimaced. "I'd rather not talk about that poor excuse for a man and..."
"And..." Oliver asked eagerly. His mother might be sulking but she was in the mood to talk.
She pushed back a hank of curly hair and then slowed down the car. "Isn't that Owen's vehicle?"
Oliver looked at it. It was a silver Lexus SUV. They couldn't see the license plate number. It was parked at the side of the road in a clutch of trees and was barely visible from the road. If his mother didn't have eagle eyes they wouldn't have seen it. The windows were dark. They couldn't see inside the vehicle from their vantage point, even if they wanted.
"Why is he parked?" Honey asked suspiciously.
Oliver sat up in the car seat and looked at his mother, his heart tripping like crazy. "Maybe he is talking on the phone."
Honey looked at him, doubt in her face. "If this car was reliable I would stop and see how long this phone call takes, but if I stop I might not be able to start again."
"You don't think it's him, do you?" Oliver was afraid to voice what he was thinking aloud.
"No," Honey murmured. "Not at all. Owen is more sensible than that."
*****
"Which tie should I wear?" Ruel held up three ties for Ashley to choose from. She was sitting in the living room with wrapping paper scattered around her. They were both going to Ariel's birthday party and they would stay in Kingston for two days.
Ashley looked up from the paper and shook her head. "It's casual dress, dear. She’ll be seven. Her party will include other children her age. You'd be grossly overdressed."
"Yes, right." Ruel nodded and left the room.
"Clueless Dad." Jorja giggled in the corner of the settee, where she was ensconced with a novel. "Maybe if he had thrown a birthday party for me when I was growing up, he would know how to dress."
"You never had a party?" Ashley asked as she put the final touches on one of the gifts.
"Nope," Jorja snorted. "It was cool, I didn't want one anyway. I always preferred to hang out with the kids older than I was and Dad thought that I had inappropriate friends. Besides, there was Mom. She was a loose cannon. No one wanted their children around her."
"You did have inappropriate friends." Ruel came into the room and sat on the settee above Ashley. He was ignoring the part about Rosalie. Ashley let it slide without comment.
"Are you sure you are okay with staying at the Kincaids for the two days while we are away?" Ruel asked Jorja.
"More than sure." Jorja picked up her book again. "Uncle Owen usually takes me to music class, so it is no problem just dropping me at his home instead of here. And Aunty Norma is over the moon happy to have me stay over. I will just stay out of Jack's way; you don't have to worry about me."
"Okay." Ruel turned on the television and reclined his seat. He turned to a news channel that was discussing human trafficking.
"Boring," Jorja said, looking over the top of her book. "If you are going to disturb the peace with boring stuff, maybe I should go to my room."
"This is serious business," Ruel said. "I was reading about some of the horror stories in the newspaper the other day. You know that human trafficking is big business for some of these so-called recruiters, who lure their victims with the sweet promise of jobs and other things and then they sell them all over the world for various atrocities, including selling their organs."
"Ugh." Jorja got up. "Sad and depressing. “Good night folks."
"Goodnight, Jorja." Ashley finished wrapping her presents while Ruel listened to his program.
"You realize how peaceful the days are since Regina left?" Ashley got up and sat beside Ruel. "It's like the air is cooler, the grass is greener and it rained twice."
Ruel chuckled. "And you've forgiven me for the unforgivable blunder o
f not being upfront with about my previous home life."
"Yes." Ashley snuggled up to him. "You promised that you'd never lie to me again, ever."
"That I did." A cloud passed over Ruel's face but he brushed it away by pulling Ashley even closer and burying his nose in her fragrant hair.
Chapter Eleven
Brandon and Nadine Blake lived in a fancy house overlooking Kingston. Ashley always felt odd coming by. In a deep, secret part of her she would always consider Brandon her husband.
And she hated it that she had allowed selfishness and restlessness and whatever it was that had driven her to hurt him over and over again to end their marriage. Sometimes she still couldn't believe that she had done all of those horrible things to Brandon. It was like she was another person then.
Every time she came by and saw him with his new family and saw how happy the girls were, it depressed her. She had nobody to blame for her situation but herself.
She gripped Ruel's hands tighter as they made their way up the picturesque walkway to the massive front door.
Her hands trembled on the gifts that she held and the thought once more assailed her that she was tired of being the Santa Claus in her children's lives. Before Ruel could knock on the door it was opened by Beatrice Blake, Brandon's mother. Still the warm, sweet person that Ashley had selfishly resented at one time in her life.
"Oh, Ashley and Ruel," Beatrice smiled at them. "Come on in. Welcome."
She stepped back and allowed them to step into the foyer. "I am going to get some stuff from my car. Nadine is around the kitchen area. Brandon is helping out by the pool."
Ashley nodded and headed to the kitchen, where Nadine was sitting at the breakfast nook decorating a giant cake shaped like a princess.
"Hey, you two." She smiled at them and looked genuinely happy to see them.
Ashley forced herself to smile lightly. She wasn't happy, though. She was experiencing pure and raw jealousy at the moment.
Nadine was living her life and she was pregnant again, barely showing, but there was the briefest glimpse of a bump and her skin was glowing.
She looked really contented.
"You can put the pressies outside, Ashley."
"I will." Ashley nodded and tried not to smile through gritted teeth. "I see congratulations are in order."
"Yes, yes. Thank you." Nadine looked down at her belly. "I am four months along."
"Mommy, can I not go to this children's party? I want to go to the movies with Tara."
Ashley swung around and her heart melted. It seemed as if in the last couple of months Alisha, her firstborn, had grown a couple of inches taller.
"Alisha," she whispered.
"Hi Ashley." Alisha smiled at her as if she was a pesky acquaintance, no greeting in her face, and then turned back to Nadine. "Can I just please for one minute be exempt from little children's things?"
Ashley's heart collapsed. She didn't know what to do. Her hands were trembling hard on the presents. Ruel took them from her.
"I'll just go and put these with the others and say hi to Brandon." Ruel excused himself and greeted Alisha politely. She barely glanced at him.
"Mommy, yes or no."
"Sit down," Nadine said to Alisha sternly. She was looking furious and Ashley wasn't sure if it was on her behalf.
Alisha sat down abruptly on one of the stools at the counter, and Ashley was left standing in the room.
Nadine stood up with the cake. "Now greet Ashley properly. And no, you are not going to the movies with Tara. Tara is going to be at this kiddy party too."
Alisha groaned and put her head in her hands.
Nadine left them both in the room and Ashley looked at Alisha and didn't know what to say. This young girl teetering on the edge of womanhood was her child and she had no idea what to say to her.
She felt like a stranger. And it hurt.
She pulled up a stool close to Alisha and swallowed. "So, how are you?"
"Good." Alisha held up her head and looked at her warily. "You are going to ask me about school and that sort of thing, aren't you?"
"Well," Ashley frowned, "I did speak to you on the phone last week and you told me you aced your exams."
Alisha smiled, with perfectly aligned teeth. Ashley felt as if she had bequeathed something worthy to her. She was searching for some connection to this first child of hers who just deliberately and pointedly made her feel excluded.
There was silence for a moment and then Alisha looked at her, "I am sorry for my behavior earlier."
"Apology accepted." Ashley's voice was hoarse and tear-filled. "I haven't seen you in a long while, can I get a hug?"
She held out her arms and when Alisha got up she got up too, and she clutched her firstborn to her so tightly she didn't know if she would let go.
"Sorry to break up this moment," Brandon said from the doorway, "but there is a little birthday girl who wants to say hi to her mother."
"Ashley!" Ariel ran towards her, joy lighting up her little face. "I missed you, Ashley."
"I missed you too, Ari," Ashley said, hugging her little girl to her, inhaling her scent.
"When are you coming back to live in Kingston?" Ariel asked. "It’s not as much fun shopping with Mommy as it is with you."
Ashley laughed and wiped away the tears from her cheeks. "I don't know, kiddo."
"You should move back," Alisha piped in too. "Mommy said I am at the age where having two mothers is a plus."
Ashley chuckled. She heard Nadine coming back into the kitchen. "Thanks Nadine."
"It's the truth," Nadine said from behind her.
"We need to talk to Ashley for a while," Brandon said to the girls and they nodded.
When they left Brandon looked through the window. He was still so handsome. Maybe even more so, in his red shirt, which showed off his buffed arms and blue jeans, which highlighted that he had been working out.
"I have Ruel blowing balloons." He turned back to Ashley. "That should keep him occupied for a while."
"What do you want to drink?" Nadine asked, heading for the fridge.
"You guys are making me feel anxious," Ashley said, looking from Brandon's concerned face to Nadine's. "I'll have orange juice if you have it, thanks."
"I do." Nadine poured the drink and carried the glass over to the nook. "Come on, sit down."
Ashley sat before her and Brandon. "Don't tell me that this is bad news."
"Well," Brandon frowned, "this is going to sound really odd."
He lowered his voice to almost a whisper. "Regina called me two days ago at the office. And she told me the oddest things about Ruel."
Ashley groaned. "What is she doing now? I can't be rid of this woman."
"Wait," Brandon furrowed his brow. "She is not just making trouble for you, Ashley, what she is saying is legit. Ruel Dennison went on vacation with his first wife Rosalie, they met in an accident and she died, while he did not receive a scratch. Their life up to that vacation was turbulent."
"Stop." Ashley held up her hands. "No, I don't want to hear this."
"Regina thinks that he murdered her. There is no record of any accident during that time in Florida state where they were. She also said that you would not listen and that she was concerned for you."
"Ashley, if you are in danger..." Nadine whispered, "you should get out."
"No, no, no, this is ridiculous." Ashley couldn't think with them looking all concerned and spouting madness about Ruel. "Regina is obsessed with me. She'll make up anything. Ruel is a good person."
Brandon and Nadine sighed and looked at each other.
"You be careful," Nadine finally said.
Chapter Twelve
"You always look grim after a visit with the Blakes," Ruel said ruefully. "Maybe we should stop seeing them."
"Impossible," Ashley murmured, "they have my kids."
Ashley was feeling grim. She could not relax enough to enjoy the party and she had been reluctant to leave with Ruel—all sorts o
f thoughts were ricocheting in her head.
Chief among them was the fact that Regina had contacted Brandon. The irony of that was not lost on her. Regina hated Brandon and vice versa; for her to have contacted him was like a message in and of itself.
They entered her apartment and she looked around in the spacious apartment space and realized that she was missing the usual pleasure of coming back home. Right now she was feeling numb.
She sat on the settee heavily and kicked off her shoes.
Ruel sat in front of her. "This is worse than I thought. You are not talking at all. Actually, I thought the party went off pretty well. The..."
"It's not the Blakes this time. It's just..." Ashley bit her lips. "Tell me about Rosalie."
"Rosalie," Ruel groaned. "Ashley, please..."
"Tell me how you two met. What was your life like, exactly? Don’t leave anything out. I especially want to know how she died."
Ruel closed his eyes and didn't move for such long time Ashley wondered if he fell asleep. Eventually his eyelids fluttered as if he was suppressing the movement.
"We met at a church camp. Her parents were abroad at an evangelistic crusade and she was too much of a handful for her grandmother. At the time I didn't know what handful meant. I just thought she was a little high-strung. We were both sixteen and Rosalie was cute. Her father was a pastor, and I wanted to be a pastor. It was perfect.
"Her parents died the final year of university and my feelings were kind of waning for Rosalie but she was on her own, and was an only child. She had no one so I married her. I didn't really see the cracks until we were married, though. She had hidden it so well and sometimes I wonder how she did it."
He paused.
Ashley leaned forward. "Go on."
"I have never spoken about this with anyone before," Ruel sighed, "except her doctors. She, ah…had issues, mental issues. One of them was intermittent explosive disorder. She would just suddenly go into violent rages. You've heard of road rage?"
"Yes," Ashley gasped.
"Well, something like that, and she had other issues but as the years went by she got more violent and..."
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