Won't Go Home Without You

by Cheris Hodges

  Alex bounded down the stairs with her phone pressed to her ear. “Yes, that’s fine. We can open the honeymoon hideaway for them. Great.” She turned to her sisters and held up a finger. “No. That won’t be necessary. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

  Yolanda elbowed Robin in the side. “And this is supposed to be a calmer, more serene Alex.”

  “I heard that,” Alex said. “I thought we were ready to go.”

  “We are. Is everything all right at the bed-and-breakfast?”

  Alex fanned her hand. “A good problem to have. We’re overbooked for the New Year’s Day breakfast. You should come, Robin.”

  “Um, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to make it. I have to go back to work and then I have this stuff to work on with my husband.”

  Alex rolled her eyes and headed for the door. “Who’s driving?”

  “You are,” Yolanda and Robin said.

  As they climbed into Alex’s car, Robin couldn’t help but notice that Charles was holding Yolanda’s hand. Okay, just how was he guarding her body?

  “Um, have you noticed those two?” Robin whispered to Alex.

  “Yep. And they think they’re hiding it,” Alex replied in the same whisper. “Anyway, Nina sent me a text and said she doesn’t want to come back from her honeymoon. I told her if she didn’t bring Clinton home, I was going to come get them.”

  Robin laughed. “Of course you did. I kind of feel like I put a dark cloud over Nina’s wedding. I wanted to be there for her and be happy, but . . .”

  “Honey, Nina and Clinton had a wonderful wedding.”

  “Yeah,” Yolanda said from the backseat. “And honestly, Alex was the only one who noticed that you’d left the reception early. Nina and Clinton were so caught up in dancing and kissing each other I think they felt as if they were the only ones in the room.”

  “That’s so sweet,” Robin said with a smile. “Can we make a quick stop at Whole Foods? I know Logan probably has no dessert.”

  “Where is Whole Foods?” Alex asked. “I have a straight route to your old house and . . .”

  “Just take the next exit. I live here, remember?” Robin quipped. She directed her sister to the grocery store and hopped out of the car. Alex followed her inside but Yolanda and Charles remained in the car.

  “I bet the windows will be fogged up when we get back,” Alex quipped and Robin’s knees buckled.

  “Okay, you’re making sexy time jokes?”

  “Listen, watching those two is a romantic comedy from hell. What did you come in here to get? You know I left all of those cookies at your other house. We could’ve had those for dessert.”

  “Those are my cookies. I’m not sharing. Besides, there is this vegan chocolate cake that Logan and I like.”

  Alex scrunched her face up. “Vegan what? I thought you gave that up.”

  “I’m not a total vegan; there are some foods that I still enjoy.”

  “So, that’s where all your weight went? Girl, you’d better eat a chicken leg quarter and some grits with real butter.”

  “Real butter? What are you talking about?”

  “Those grits you made this morning with that fake butter. I don’t know who you thought you were fooling.”

  Robin sucked her teeth and playfully swatted her sister’s arm. “Didn’t stop you from eating them.”

  “Okay, I was hungry.”

  Robin laughed as they walked over to the bakery and she grabbed the lush chocolate cake. “This is going to be the best cake you’ve ever eaten.”

  “I’m going to tell Roberta you said that mess.”

  “You’d better not.” Robin laughed, thinking about how the family’s long time cook would feel about her statement.

  After paying for the cake, they headed back to the car. And the windows were not steamy. “I should’ve bet you,” Robin said as they got into the vehicle. The drive to her Richmond home was uneventful and Robin tried to hide her excitement about seeing Logan. After all, they’d spent the night together. But the fire for her husband had been reignited and she loved the feeling. She had real hope that she and Logan would be able to withstand this storm. That they would be happy again.

  When Alex parked the car, Robin leapt out of it as if she were a kid heading for a toy store with money in her pocket.

  Yolanda sucked her teeth. “This asshole better be a changed man or—”

  “Let her have this,” Alex said. “If Logan didn’t cheat on her and they can fix their marriage, we should support them.”

  “Well, I hope we don’t have to kick his ass.”

  “I can hear you, Yolanda,” Robin said as she unlocked the door. When they walked in, the scent of roasted chicken and spices greeted them. The sound of Liam and Logan’s laughter filled the house. “Looks like the party already got started.”

  Logan peeked around the corner and smiled at Robin. She crossed over to him and hugged him tightly. “Your in-laws are still in fight mode,” she whispered. “Be careful.”

  Liam cleared his throat. “Can I get one of those?”

  “Hell no,” Logan snapped. Robin thumped him on the shoulder, then crossed over to Liam and gave him a sisterly hug.

  “It’s good to see you,” he said. “Back where you belong.”

  “You mean here at the house and not in your arms, right?” she quipped.

  “This isn’t funny at all,” Logan said. “What’s in the bag?”

  Robin placed the cake on the counter. “Cake.”

  “The one from Whole Foods?” Logan asked with a smile on his face.

  She winked at him.

  “Look,” Yolanda said from the entrance of the kitchen. “Sorry to bust up this reunion. But where is the food?”

  Alex glanced around the kitchen before walking in and looking at the food on the stove. “You were serious about no jambalaya?”

  Liam glanced at Alex and smiled. “I can make jambalaya.”

  Alex gave him a sideways glance. “So.”

  “Ouch,” he said as he turned to Robin.

  “Introduction time,” Robin said. “Liam Jones, this is my older sister, Alexandria Richardson, and younger sister Yolanda. And Charles. He will probably break your arm if you touch her.”

  “All right then,” Liam said. “I see that sarcasm is a family trait.”

  “And how do you know Robin and this guy?” Yolanda asked. Charles placed his hand on her shoulder and she shrugged it off.

  “We went to Xavier together,” Liam said. “In another universe, Robin would be Mrs. Jones.”

  Logan groaned. “Like hell.”

  Yolanda laughed. “Well, I would say something, but I’m hungry and I don’t have time to be snarky. Can you cook, Liam?”

  “No, he can eat,” Logan quipped.

  Yolanda rolled her eyes. “Nobody is talking to you.”

  Logan walked over to the cabinets and pulled out some plates. Robin crossed over to him and helped him with the plates. “What did you make?” she asked.

  “Um, we got chicken and steak for the meat eaters. I got a special salad for you and some jasmine rice with scallions.”

  “Wow. You really pulled this together.”

  “Well, the original plan was to pack Liam a to-go plate and take you upstairs to work up an appetite.”

  “That was so not the plan. We’re supposed to go over the evidence that Liam has proving that you didn’t father a baby with that woman.”

  “Yeah, that part,” he said with a wink. Logan nodded to her sisters, who were staring at them with frowns on their comely faces. “Guess they still don’t believe me?”

  “Not at all, and they think I’m out of my mind to be here.”

  “Well, we’re going to have to change that,” he said as he handed Robin her plate of salad. “Okay, guys, let’s eat.”

  Logan and Robin handed everyone a plate of food. Yolanda and Charles headed for the living room while Liam and Alex joined Robin and Logan in the dining room. Before Robin could take a bite of
her salad, Alex lit into Logan.

  “How in the hell did this woman have the audacity to say you were the father of her child if you didn’t sleep with her? What kind of person does something that can be refuted with a fucking DNA test?”

  “Damn,” Liam mumbled. Alex shot him a cold look.

  “Alex, I didn’t sleep with her and, unfortunately, this is a pattern with her.”

  Alex cut into her chicken, then pointed her knife at Logan. “And you know this how?”

  Robin shook her head. “Bring it down, Alex,” she said.

  Dropping her knife on the table, Alex shook her head. “I’m not going to bring it down, because Logan made a promise to me when he married you. And it seems like he broke it. Also, when my sister was sick, you should’ve told me.”

  Robin brought her hand to her face. “Alex.”

  “No. She went through a lot without the support she needed. Then this. What if she had relapsed because of the stress you caused?!”

  “Alexandria!” Robin shouted. “I get it. But . . .”

  Alex dropped her fork. “But nothing. I almost lost two of my sisters in the last eighteen months—I’m pissed. I tried to hold it in but sitting here and watching you forgive without a second thought has me puzzled.”

  Logan patted the back of Robin’s hand. “Let me say something. I’m not going to apologize for doing what my wife asked me to do. Robin didn’t want to worry you guys because we knew what she was facing could be fixed. There were times when I wanted to call you, Alex, because I didn’t think I was enough for my wife. But I made a promise to her and kept it.”

  “Too bad you didn’t keep your wedding vows,” Alex muttered.

  “And this is why no one wanted you to know anything. Stop being so damn judgmental. And for the last time, this is my life.”

  “And you’re just going to let him ruin it?”

  Robin leapt to her feet. “You know you can leave now.”

  “Ladies, ladies,” Liam said. “I know I’m not family here, but let’s take a breath. Kamrie Bazal is a liar and was probably pregnant when she took the job at the hospital.”

  “What?” Alex and Robin said.

  Chapter 16

  Logan had never seen Alex get that quiet that fast—especially when she thought she was right about something. Liam glanced at Robin as she returned to her seat. “Do we want to do this now?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Robin said.

  “I went to Atlanta to see what this woman’s deal was. There are plenty of rumors about her being one of those women who wants to be a doctor’s wife and she thought she’d found her mark. But the problem was she picked the wrong doctor.”

  “What do you mean?” Robin asked.

  “She slept with the hospital administrator’s husband,” Liam said.

  Alex shook her head. “She sounds like she needs help and Jesus.”

  “Shh,” Robin admonished her sister. “I guess sleeping around wouldn’t stop her from getting another job, but why would she try to pass off that man’s baby on my husband?”

  Liam took a quick bite of his food, then looked up at Robin. “Because he’s a doctor. And her goal, according to the nurse who was her best friend, is to be a doctor’s wife. Get his money and benefits.”

  “Then the bitch should’ve gone to medical school,” Robin snapped. “Why Logan? He’s not . . .”

  “She might have been pushed in Logan’s direction for another reason, as you already know,” Liam said.

  Robin rolled her eyes. This situation made her blood boil. Knowing the kind of doctor Logan was and had always wanted to be, it hurt her to see his career being reduced to this because of a scandal and greed.

  Logan nodded. “Over the last few months, nearly a year actually, I’ve been fighting with the administration about a drug company and using their drugs on our patients. I was taken off the surgery schedule and I started nosing around. It didn’t go unnoticed.”

  “Was that what your meeting was about today?” Robin asked.

  “Something like that. They wrapped it in a sexual misconduct allegation. But my boss offered me a severance package and recommendation for a new job.”

  “What?” Alex exclaimed. “That’s illegal—isn’t it? And if you were guilty of being a sexual predator, why would they just ship you off to another hospital? Don’t y’all take an oath to do no harm?”

  Logan nodded. “And that’s what I’m trying to uphold.”

  “Can you prove any of this?” Robin asked. Logan could see that she was putting her lawyer hat on. “Do you have any proof that these drugs are harmful to your patients?”

  “I have some unscientific data. But I know that this company isn’t FDA approved and there have been a few deaths of transplant patients who have been taking the antirejection medication from Cooper Drugs. Two years ago, our hospital had a 10 percent mortality rate when it came to transplants. This year, 30 percent of our transplant patients haven’t made it.”

  “That’s a lot,” Liam said as he stroked his chin. “Have any of the families come to you with questions?”

  Logan shook his head. “I wouldn’t use the drugs with my patients, so my surgeries are still in the 10 percent range. I just feel like people have died for money.”

  “You need to get a family to file a lawsuit,” Robin said. “Then the hospital would have to go public with what’s going on.”

  “I can start digging and keep your hands clean,” Liam said.

  Logan nodded. “All right. Let’s do it.”

  “I’m sorry,” Alex began. “At the risk of being accused of sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong, what about this woman and the child she says is yours?”

  Logan cleared his throat. “We’re going to have to fight her in court. And I get the feeling that it will be a big deal. The hospital will probably use the suit against me to get what they want.”

  “Have you thought about leaving Richmond Medical?” Robin asked. “Maybe go into private practice or work at another hospital?”

  Alex nodded in agreement. “Because if the administration is coming for you, you should take your expertise elsewhere.”

  “But I don’t want patients to suffer,” Logan said.

  “So, it’s your job to suffer?” Alex asked. “And take my sister down that road with you? You’re not Jesus on the cross.”

  Logan bristled at her statement. But she did have a point and it stung. Robin had suffered a lot because of this lie. How much did he want his wife to endure?

  “What if we offer Kamrie a payoff?” Liam asked.

  “Absolutely not,” Robin snapped. “I’m not going to watch her profit from a lie. We’re going to fight her, the hospital, and anyone else who plans to stand in our way.”

  “Well, damn,” Logan muttered as he stroked his wife’s thigh.

  “All right,” Liam said. “I’ll get to work in the morning.”

  Robin sighed. “And I’ll file papers with the court to get a DNA test on the little boy.”

  Logan was about to say something when Yolanda walked into the dining room. “Y’all done with all the screaming and whatnot? ’Cause, I was told there was dessert.”

  Everyone broke into laughter. Robin stood up. “I’ll get the cake, and if you and Charles want to stop being antisocial, y’all can join us in here.”

  “Maybe we were just trying to avoid the conflict,” Yolanda said with a grin. “Although we heard everything.”

  Yolanda and Charles joined the rest of the crew at the table as Robin doled out slices of chocolate cake and poured glasses of merlot. Charles opted for water. Logan watched Robin playing hostess and felt so much peace, even if he knew a huge battle was looming. But he had his wife back and he couldn’t have been happier. When she crossed over to him with his cake and wine, Logan pulled her on his lap and brought his lips to her ear. “I love you so much.”

  “Love you more.”

  “Oh my goodness, get a room!” Yolanda joked.

  Robin sucke
d her teeth. “You know this is my house and I can do what I want in every room in it.”

  “Can we eat without having to see y’all kissing every five minutes?” Yolanda said.

  Robin leaned down and gave Logan a quick peck on the lips. “Nope.”

  “This is usually when I leave,” Liam said. “They get like this all the time. But I’m going to eat my cake first.”

  After dessert was finished, Alex led everyone out of the kitchen and told Logan and Robin they could do their own damned dishes.

  “I like and fear her,” Liam said as Logan walked them out the door.

  “Lean more toward fear. Alexandria’s bark is as tough as her bite.”

  “I can hear you,” Alex said. “Logan, you’d better take care of my sister and don’t make me have to come back here over some bullshit.” He crossed over to his sister-in-law and gave her a tight hug.

  “You remember that promise I made you—I haven’t let you down.”

  “And you’d better not.”

  Logan turned around and saw Robin standing at the door with a sly smile on her lips. He couldn’t wait to close the door and be alone with her.

  * * *

  Robin waved to her sisters, happy that she’d told Alex where her spare house key was and she didn’t have to drive back to Petersburg to let them in. Tonight, she was going to sleep in her own bed with her husband’s arms around her. Logan walked up the steps and pulled Robin into his arms. “Now that we’re alone, what are we going to do?” he whispered as he brushed his lips against her neck.

  “Clean up the kitchen.”

  “You’re no fun.”

  “And nobody told you to be Emeril tonight.”

  Logan ran his hands down her body and Robin trembled in delight. “Well, as it turns out, I don’t have to go to work in the morning. So, I can take you upstairs, tuck you into bed, make love to you, and clean up the kitchen in the morning.”

  Robin ran her hand across his chest, admiring how his cotton T-shirt showed off his sculpted chest. She’d tried but failed to focus on her dessert while they were at the table and not what was underneath that white shirt. That’s probably why Yolanda had started yawning and reminded Alex that she was needed in Charleston in the morning. Her sister had been clutch.