Perfect Timing

by Brenda Jackson

  Maxi looked across the table at Christopher for a long time. She then shook her head feeling more love for him at that very moment then at any time in her entire life.

  Here he sat, trying to protect her. She had learned during the cruise how he had protected her and looked out for her in school when she hadn’t even been aware he was doing so. Now it was her time to look out for him and to protect him. “No deal.”

  “Excuse me?”

  She met his leveled gaze. “I said no deal. I intend to have your name on my child’s birth certificate and anyone who asked—and I’m sure many people will—I’ll proudly tell them that you’re my baby’s daddy. And my baby will grow up proud that you are its father.”

  “Maxi, listen—”

  “No. I don’t give a royal damn what people say or think. Besides, it’s too late.”

  He glared at her, not understanding why she was being difficult. “What’s too late?”

  “It’s too late for you to back out. I slept with you last weekend without protection. I could be pregnant now, as we speak,” she said, although she knew chances were she wasn’t since she had been on her period the week before going to Detroit. But as far as she was concerned he didn’t have to know that. However, she did know for a fact that this coming weekend her womb would be a good time for her to get pregnant if her calculations were accurate.

  “Are you?” he asked softly.

  She shrugged. “Too soon to tell. But if I am, everybody in Savannah will know you’re the baby’s father because I refuse to keep it a secret.”

  “Why? Why do you have to tell anyone?”

  “Because I will be proud of the fact that you cared enough for me to father my child. And I’ve never been ashamed of you and I won’t start being ashamed of you now, so don’t ask me to.”

  He sat there, remaining silent as he looked at her. She looked back at him, refusing to back down.

  “Haven’t you heard anything I’ve said?” he asked tersely.

  “Yes, I’ve heard everything you said but it doesn’t matter. Besides, nothing may come of it. You may be getting worked up for nothing.”

  He sat up in his chair. “And what if something does come of it? There are some who’ll believe I make sleeping with married women a habit.”

  Maxi sighed. “Let them believe whatever they want. I’ll know differently.”

  He met her gaze, challenging her. “Will you?”

  “Of course.” She reached across the table and took his hands in hers. “I know, Christopher. I know how you feel about married people breaking their vows. Have you forgotten that I also know why? And I also know why you don’t want to get caught up in a scandal. I know just how you feel about that, too.”

  Christopher frowned. “I shared too damn much with you during the time we were in school together, Maxi.”

  “No,” she said with a reminiscent smile. “You didn’t share enough. You didn’t let me know how you felt about me during that time.”

  “I had my reasons,” he said huskily.

  “Yes, just like I’m sure you have your reasons for wanting to protect me now but it won’t work.”

  He glared at her. “Tell me something,” he said in a low, furious voice. “Why are you being so damn stubborn about this?”

  She smiled wryly. “Oh that’s an easy answer. Because I love you.”

  “Maxi, I don’t—”

  She quickly pressed her finger to his lips to silence him. “I know you don’t love me back and I understand. It’s enough to know how much you care. If you didn’t care you wouldn’t be willing to give me such a precious gift. I may not have you but I will have your child and for me that will be enough.”

  He nodded, knowing he did care for her more than any woman he knew. He had done things with her that he had never done to other women. But he didn’t want her to love him. She needed to love someone who would love her back.

  “May I ask who is this woman?”

  “Mrs. Adam Benedict.” He watched her expression when he gave her the name. She didn’t seem too surprised. Maybe it was because Tori was married to a much older man or something. “Until I find out who sent that photograph and the reason it was sent, things may be unpredictable.”

  “Let things be unpredictable. I can handle pregnancy and unpredictability. Now will you take me in your arms and kiss me?”

  He didn’t have to be asked twice. He stood and walked around the table to her, pulled her up into his arms and gave her the kiss he had wanted to give her when she had first opened the door.

  When he finally ended the kiss she smiled up at him. “Where are your bags?”

  “Outside in the rental car. I had planned on checking into a hotel tonight. I have to fly back out in the morning.”

  Maxi nodded. “Stay here with me tonight.”

  He smiled at her invitation. “Umm, I think I will.”

  In every possible way, their lovemaking had been beautiful. Afterwards, they talked and laughed and made all kinds of plans for the weekend. It was during that time Maxi told Christopher about Mya and Garrett and the problems they were having. And like Maxi, Christopher hoped things worked out for the couple because he knew just how much in love they were.

  “So are you as excited as I am about this weekend?” Maxi asked smiling up at him while lying naked in his arms.

  “Yes, although according to you, this weekend may not be necessary.”

  “Maybe. But I want it anyway.”

  He pulled her into his arms. “So do I, baby. So do I!”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Holding both of her sons’ hands firmly in hers, Mya entered the sanctuary of the Evergreen Baptist Church and was immediately greeted by an usher. Reverend Stonewall had invited her to Sunday service when she had spoken with him on Wednesday night.

  The usher was leading them down the aisle when David’s hand anxiously pulled from Mya’s. He ran toward a pew ahead of them. She then saw why. Garrett was sitting at the end of the pew and David, having seen his father, was running straight to him. In the minute it took Mya to recover from the surprise of seeing Garrett, Daniel’s loud, happy greeting of “Daddy!” filled the sanctuary. He then snatched his hand from hers and like his twin, he took off for his father as well. Although Mya preferred not sitting with Garrett, she quickly concluded that other than making a scene, her sons had left her no choice. They were glad to see their father and hadn’t cared if the entire congregation knew it.

  Thinking she could try and at least tolerate Garrett’s presence while they were in God’s house, she walked to the pew where Garrett held their sons in his arms. He automatically slid over to make room for her to sit next to him and the boys. Without giving him any type of greeting, she reached for the hymnbook in front of her.

  “I tried calling yesterday,” Garrett said suddenly, softly, leaning over to her, his voice much too close for comfort. “I wanted to see the boys.”

  “We were out,” Mya whispered tersely. And she had no intentions of telling him where they had gone. He had lost that right to know her whereabouts when he had locked mouths with Miss Cheerleader. Mya had made sure she wasn’t at home when he had come to see the boys on Thursday and again on Friday. Although she wanted him to maintain a close relationship with their sons, she had not counted on him coming by the house every single day.

  After talking to Maxi on that Wednesday night, she had done what Maxi had suggested and had taken a shower, gone to bed, then ended up crying herself to sleep. She had cried so hard, at one time she had thought that her heart would burst open. Never before had she felt such pain, such heartache.

  She had awakened on Thursday morning physically exhausted and mentally drained. She didn’t think she had any tears left and found that not to be true when she began crying all over again. By the time Mrs. Butler had arrived with the boys she had looked a sight. After the boys had eaten their breakfast and were settled in front of the television watching Sesame Street, she had called Mrs. Butler
aside and told her that Garrett was no longer residing in the house and that although he was welcome to visit the boys at any time, they were not to ever leave with him without her permission. She knew she had placed her children’s nanny in an awkward situation since it was Garrett who was paying her salary. However, it was important to Mya that the woman understood things between her and Garrett had changed and that he was no longer a permanent fixture in the Rivers’s household.

  Trying to ignore the man sitting next to her, Mya glanced around church. A lot of the people there were members who had followed Reverend Stonewall from Dayspring Baptist. She had remembered how upset Garrett had become when those members had “defected” as he had called it. And he hadn’t had any kind words to say about Reverend Stonewall either. Therefore, she had been a little surprised when Reverend Stonewall had mentioned on Wednesday night that Garrett had come to see him for consultation. And now he was here in church on Sunday. It was sad that most people, including her, turned to God only when they encountered bad times.

  Mya brought her attention back toward the front of the church when Reverend Stonewall came to the pulpit and his booming voice filled the sanctuary. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All of us know that particular scripture. It pretty much lets us know that none of us are perfect. And as imperfect human beings, any of us, all of us, are subject at some time or another to mistakes. Some mistakes may be considered bigger than others, but still, no matter how you size it or weight it, a mistake is a mistake. It could be a mistake in judgment, a mistake of one’s actions or a mistake of one’s inactions. Today I want to talk about forgiving one’s mistakes.”

  Mya shifted in her seat, thinking the last thing she wanted to hear about was forgiving someone for their mistakes. For the past five days she had been feeling pretty scornful, and her motto was more like—give pain to others like they have given pain to you. She sighed inwardly. Here she was in the Lord’s House having such thoughts. And as far as she was concerned it was all Garrett’s fault.

  “Yes, I want to talk about forgiving,” Reverend Stonewall was saying. “None of us like to forgive another person’s mistakes. But if we are going to be in keeping with the scriptures, and if we are going to follow God’s Holy Word, we must do as God has commanded us to do. Now I ask you. Is it easy? Is it easy to put aside the pain someone has caused you and throw your arms around that person and forgive him or her? No. I just said we are human. And as human beings we want to lash out. We want to hold grudges. We want to not forgive and we certainly don’t want to forget. But in the book of Colossians, the third chapter and the thirteenth verse, it says, Be gentle and ready to forgive; never hold grudges. Remember the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. So just what does this mean? It means that we must forgive those who wrong us. We must forgive those who persecute us and say all manner of evil things against us, even those who try to spitefully use us. But because we are humans, forgiving doesn’t come easy. It is something we must work at and pray at. We must let love, not bitterness rule our hearts.”

  Reverend Stonewall went further and spoke of several scriptures that supported forgiveness. He told the congregation of a number of wrongdoings to Jesus and how in all situations, He forgave those who had tried to harm him. Reverend Stonewall then wrapped up his sermon by calling on everyone to love each other as God loves.

  After church was over, everyone began spilling out, shaking Reverend Stonewall’s hand as they passed through the doors. When Mya made it to where the reverend stood, he shook her hand and thanked her for coming and said that he hoped to see her next Sunday. He then turned to Garrett and reaffirmed their meeting at the church for Tuesday night.

  “I can manage the boys now,” she said to Garrett as she took her sleeping sons out of his arms when it was apparent he was about to walk them to her car. And she didn’t want him to do that. Even with Reverend Stonewall’s sermon on forgiveness, the pain of Garrett’s betrayal was still too raw. But he didn’t take her hint and followed, determined to walk them to her car anyway.

  She ignored him while she put both boys in the back seat and snapped their seatbelts in place. She then walked around the other side of the SUV and opened the door and got in. When Garrett stood at the car window she adjusted her seat and placed the key in the ignition.

  “I’m going to meet with Reverend Stonewall on Tuesday night, Mya. Would you come with me?” he asked softly. He didn’t want to wake the boys who were still asleep.

  Mya flipped the sun visor down to shield her eyes from the blazing sun before glancing up at Garrett. “Why should I accompany you to meet with Reverend Stonewall, Garrett? You’re the one who messed around, not me,” she whispered harshly. “You’re the one who threw away everything precious we had just to lock mouths with a woman who has probably lock mouthed with every guy on your team. No, Garrett, I don’t want to meet with Reverend Stonewall with you. In fact, I don’t want to do anything with you. You hurt me, so much that I ache all over. And although I understand everything Reverend Stonewall said today about forgiveness, I ain’t there yet. And chances are I may never be.”

  “Mya, please I—.”

  “No, there’s nothing left to say, Garrett.”

  “And you’re willing to throw away everything that we have, everything that we mean to each other because of your inability to forgive me?”

  Mya narrowed her eyes at him. “Yes, because you were quite willing to throw away everything we have and everything we mean to each other during what you term as a moment of weakness in another woman’s arms.”

  Silence hung between them and a few moments later Garrett’s shoulders slumped against the car. Then in a low, weary voice he said. “I know I screwed up, Mya. I know I hurt you. If I could I would erase that night from our lives, but I can’t. I love you, Mya, with all my heart. I always have and I always will, and I believe that deep down in your heart you know that. Please tell me what I can do to make things up to you. What do I have to do for you to forgive me? What do I have to do to get my sons and wife back?”

  Mya fought back tears when she gazed into Garrett’s eyes and said. “There’s nothing you can do, Garrett.” Taking a deep breath she said softly. “I’ll be leaving town Wednesday morning for Orlando. I’ve made arrangements with Mrs. Butler to stay at the house while I’m gone. When I return on Thursday I’ll work on putting a schedule together as to when you can come by. I prefer not being home when you do.”

  She tried ignoring the look of pain she saw in his eyes. “Please call Mrs. Butler and give her a number where you can be reached if something comes up while I’m gone. Goodbye, Garrett.” Then without saying anything else turned turned the key in her ignition.

  Garrett stepped back and watched as she pulled out of the church’s parking lot. No wonder Lee Jenkins had felt the need to pray for him on the cruise. As a man of God Lee had known the rough waters he would be facing. Garrett breathed in deeply. Yes, the waters were rough and even a bit choppy but he had no intentions of drowning. He didn’t care what it took, he intended to get his family back.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  Maxi woke to find Christopher propped up in bed on his elbow, gazing down at her. She smiled at him as she stretched out her body in bed, liking the feel of coming into such close contact with his. His body felt firm, solid, hard.

  “Good morning,” she purred softly as she remembered the evening before which had been the day they had arrived in Las Vegas.

  “And good afternoon to you. It’s after one o’clock,” he responded, returning her smile.

  “Oh, did I wake up late?”

  He shook his head. “No, in fact I think your timing is perfect.” He then leaned over and captured her mouth with his.

  When he ended the kiss she drew in a deep breath and slowly eased it out. “Umm,” she said softly, licking her lips. “There’s nothing like a kiss to get a person’s blood stimulated. What do you have planned for us to do today?”

  “Make a
baby.”

  She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “Oh, I think we may have done that last night.”

  He chuckled when he remembered that they had come straight from the airport to the hotel and had gone to bed. Sometime during the night they had eaten after ordering room service. Then they had returned to bed. “Yes, that’s a possibility but I want to cover all bases.”

  “That’s not all you like to cover, Christopher.” She couldn’t help but yawn and quickly apologize. “Sorry, I don’t function well before I have my first cup of coffee.”

  “You don’t function well or you don’t function at all?” he asked, slowly raking his fingers down her bare shoulder toward her naked chest.

  Maxi inhaled sharply when she felt his fingers gently caress her breast. “I, uhh, don’t function well,” she got out, but barely.

  “But you do function?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” And with that one word he shifted position and let his body cover hers as his lips covered her lips.

  The sounds of their breathing blended in with the other sounds around them. Somewhere outside their hotel room a church bell rang, a car horn blew, and there was even the sound of an airplane flying overhead. Yet all those sounds were lost to the groaning sighs of pleasure from Maxi’s lips the moment Christopher buried himself deep inside her body. And when they began to move together, smoothly, fluidly, in perfect harmony with each other, he pulled his mouth away from hers and looked down at her.