“Roxanne’s right,” Delilah said. “Each of you has a new adventure ahead of you. You should each embrace them, without guilt, knowing that your family is fully behind you.”
“What about you, Momma?” Alisha said. “What are you going to do now that Delilah’s Daughters is on hold?”
Delilah smiled at her girls. “Don’t worry about me,” she said. “I have a new adventure ahead of me as well. I’m getting married.”
Chapter 55
Roxanne sat in the living room of the suite she and Gavin had used on the occasions between cruises when they spent time together in Orlando. She didn’t know what to expect from him when he heard her news today; she only knew she had to tell him. Her baby deserved the chance to have a father, though she knew it was also possible that Gavin would want nothing to do with the child. If he didn’t, the rejection would be hers to deal with, not her child’s burden. Thanks to Mr. Tommy and the legal documents she had in her purse, she was prepared for either outcome.
Her stomach knotted up when she heard the key card in the door. She was unsure whether to stand or remain seated. When they were in a relationship, it had been their custom to greet each other at the door with a kiss. Since those days were long gone, she decided to remain seated.
Her heart fluttered a tiny bit when Gavin stepped through the doorway and then almost stopped when his wife followed him into the room.
Darla laughed. “The look on your face says you didn’t expect me.”
Roxanne swallowed. “I didn’t,” she said, looking in Gavin’s direction. When he refused to meet her gaze, she wondered if he had always been this weak. The Gavin she was seeing now and had last seen on that fateful night on the cruise ship was new to her. She wondered if she had ever known the real Gavin.
“So you wanted to meet with us?” Darla inquired, after making herself comfortable on the sofa a few feet away from Roxanne.
Roxanne turned her attention back to Darla since she was obviously the one in charge. “I have some news for Gavin.”
Darla looked in her husband’s direction. “I’ve bet him a thousand dollars that you’re pregnant. Something tells me he’s going to have to pay up.” She looked back at Roxanne. “Did you bring us here to tell us that you’re pregnant?”
Roxanne couldn’t speak. How stupid had she been? Had Gavin gotten other women pregnant? Did he have other children out there? Maybe she shouldn’t tell him about the baby, after all.
Before she could speak, Darla went on, “It doesn’t matter. Not really. We’re willing to give you a onetime lump-sum payment,” she said as she opened the portfolio-sized bag she was holding and pulled out a legal-sized envelope. “In return, you have to agree to the terms outlined in the contract in that envelope.” As Roxanne gazed at the envelope, Darla continued, “There’s no rush,” she said. “You can have your attorney look it over—if you have one, that is.”
Roxanne wished she had some smart retort for the woman, but she didn’t. Darla’s presence had thrown her off a bit, and this full-out attack had leveled her. She glanced over at Gavin, hoping against hope that she would find some semblance of the man who’d always been supportive of her.
“There’s no use looking at him,” Darla said. “In case you haven’t figured it out by now, Gavin belongs to me and he likes it that way.”
“I don’t want your money,” Roxanne finally said, after giving up on getting any support from Gavin.
Darla laughed. “You may not want it now,” she said, “but you will. Trust me. We’ve been through this before.” She turned to Gavin. “Haven’t we, sweetheart?”
Gavin didn’t have to answer. The look on his face was more than enough. Roxanne closed her eyes to block out the pain. She’d been a real fool. Gavin had never cared for her. While she’d always doubted his claims of love, she’d believed that there was some genuine caring between them. She’d been wrong.
Darla chuckled. “You’re finally getting the picture. That’s good. Apparently, you’re smarter than some of the others. Then again, maybe you’re not. Your best bet is to take the money. It’s about the amount our attorneys say you would have been awarded had you filed an unlawful termination or sexual harassment complaint. Knowing that, you can tell yourself that you’re getting what’s coming to you and not selling your child’s birthright. Just don’t name the poor boy Jacob. That would be too much.”
The biblical reference was cruel and unnecessary, but that seemed to be Darla’s way. “How do you do it?” Roxanne asked.
Darla shrugged. “I’ve had lots of practice.”
“Not that,” Roxanne said. “How do you put up with Gavin? Why do you?”
Darla looked at her polished and sculptured nails. “I was a spoiled child who always got what she wanted. As an only child, I never learned to share. Those traits carried over into adulthood and into my marriage. What Gavin and I share works for me, and it will keep working. Gavin gets to do what he wants, and so do I. All the while, we maintain this loving front for my family. That front is important to them.”
Roxanne nodded. “So it’s about your family’s money.”
“Everything comes down to money, doesn’t it?”
She glanced at Gavin again, finally seeing him for who he really was. “He’s a serial adulterer. According to you, he’s had children with multiple women. How do you even look at him, much less sleep with him?”
Darla snorted. “Who says I sleep with him?”
Roxanne opened her mouth, and then she closed it. There was nothing for her to say.
“You’re pretty smart, aren’t you?” Darla said, as if she’d wanted Roxanne to know her secret. “I should have known. Gavin and I both like them smart. And dark.”
Roxanne reached out and slapped Darla right across the cheek. She covered her mouth in surprise after she landed the blow.
Darla stood. “Not bad,” she said, a slow smile forming on her now-reddened face. “We both like them feisty as well.” She glanced in Gavin’s direction. “Our work here is done,” she said. “I’ll meet you downstairs. You can say your final good-bye in private.” She turned back to Roxanne. “And you can have the suite for the weekend. After that, don’t ever come back.”
Roxanne heard Darla chuckling as she left the suite and closed the door behind her. Then she turned to Gavin. “No need for you to stay. There’s nothing left to say.”
Gavin stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I’m sorry, Roxanne,” he said. “I really am.”
“Yes, you are,” she said. “I think you should go.”
When he opened his mouth to speak, she said, “If you don’t go, I’m going to call hotel security and make a scene. I’m pretty sure your wife doesn’t like scenes. No, she lets you do your dirt, and then she cleans up after you.” She shook her head in disgust at all of them, herself included. “What kind of man are you, Gavin? I don’t even know who you are anymore. Was the man I knew a figment of my imagination?”
He averted his eyes. “I don’t know anymore, Roxanne,” he said. “I really don’t know.”
“Then I feel very sorry for you.”
He nodded. “I am sorry.”
“So am I,” she said. Then she turned away from him to stare down at the envelope Darla had left for her. After she heard him open the door and close it behind him, she covered her face with her hands and let her tears fall. As she cried, she prayed for the strength to put this episode behind her and move on to a happy, full life with her child.
Chapter 56
Dexter sat in his hotel room, wondering what he was going to do to get his wife back. He was supposed to return to Atlanta yesterday, but he couldn’t go back without Veronica. He had hoped she’d reach out to him, but that had been false hope. His marriage was in more trouble than he’d imagined. What was he going to do?
When he heard the knock on the door of his room, he rushed to it. It has to be Veronica, he thought. Who else knew he was in town? He stopped short when he pulled open the door. “Delilah?”
She nodded, smiling as if they were old friends. “Veronica told me you were here. May I come in?”
Dexter looked at her long and hard, trying to figure out what his mother-in-law was doing here. Then he stepped back and beckoned her in. “Why did Veronica send you?”
Delilah sat on the club chair in the corner near the windows, making herself at home in his room. “Veronica didn’t send me,” she said, still smiling. “She doesn’t even know I’m here.”
Dexter sat on the side of the bed, facing her. Despite her smiles, Dexter knew Delilah didn’t like him, and he had done nothing recently that would change her mind. In fact, he’d done just the opposite. He had no doubt Veronica had told her about the going-away celebration and the voice-mail messages. If anything, Delilah liked him even less now. “Then why are you here?” he asked.
Her smile turned serious. “I’m here to apologize and make amends.”
Dexter couldn’t believe his ears. “You’re what?”
“I was wrong to keep the Legends deal from Veronica, and you did the right thing by bringing it to her attention.”
Dexter wondered if someone or something had taken over Delilah’s body. “I was right?”
She nodded. “I let my fears get the best of me,” she said. “I was afraid of losing my girls when I should have been happy for Veronica. I should have trusted her sisters to be happy for her. If I had handled things differently, then the breach between me, Alisha, and Roxanne and Veronica and you wouldn’t have happened. I know that now.”
Dexter resisted the urge to shake his head to get rid of the cobwebs that seemed to be blocking his thinking. Was Delilah really apologizing to him? It certainly sounded like it. “Veronica needed your support,” he said.
“Well, she has it now,” Delilah said. “And as Veronica’s husband, you have my support as well. You’re an important part of this family, Dexter.”
Dexter lifted a brow. “I am?”
“Yes, you are,” she said. “I’m sorry I haven’t always made you feel that way. I promise to do better in the future.”
Unsure whether he should believe Delilah’s proclamation, Dexter leaned forward and rested his elbows on his thighs. “What brings this on, Delilah?” he asked. “You’ve hardly tolerated me in the past, and now I’m an important part of the family. Forgive me for being a little bit skeptical.”
“I don’t blame you,” she said. “Given our history, I’m not sure I would believe me either if I were you.”
He sat back. Not sure what to say, he said nothing.
Delilah scooted to the edge of her chair. “Veronica loves you, Dexter, but she also loves me and her sisters. She shouldn’t have to choose between us. It’s not fair to her. So it seems to me the only answer is for the two of us to start over with a clean slate.”
Dexter thought about his recent failed attempts to keep Veronica away from her mother and sisters. “A clean slate?”
Delilah nodded. “That includes putting the lie about the going-away celebration and the deleted voice-mail messages in the past. They were childish acts that are beneath you. I don’t expect you to repeat them in the future.”
“I only did what I thought was best for Veronica.”
“But it wasn’t best for her,” Delilah said, her voice pleading. “I know you can see that. Veronica needs us as much as she needs you. We’re willing to share her with you. Are you willing to share her with us?”
Dexter was a bit leery of what Delilah meant by sharing Veronica. “Are you saying you’re on board with Veronica working with Legends?”
Delilah nodded. “Delilah’s Daughters is going on hiatus for a while. Legends is, and has always been, the perfect opportunity for Veronica. I couldn’t see that initially, but I see it clearly now. Her sisters and I think she needs to make the best of the opportunity.”
Dexter’s spirits began to lift. “If she wants to make the best of it, she has to get back to Atlanta. She shouldn’t have left in the first place.”
Delilah reached out and rested a hand on his knee. “You’re wrong,” she said. “Veronica needed to come home. That’s what you’ve got to see. She can have a life with you apart from me and her sisters, but she can’t thrive when we’re separated by strife and lies. She needs our support as much as she needs yours. If we want what’s best for Veronica, we have to get along a lot better than we have in the past. I’m willing to make the changes necessary for that to happen. Are you?”
Dexter wrestled with the idea of sharing Veronica with her mother and sisters. He much preferred to have his wife to himself, but he was beginning to accept that this was impossible. Maybe it was even unnecessary. Maybe Veronica could love him and her family. He wasn’t sure, but given recent events he really didn’t have much choice. “Then you have to help me get Veronica back to Atlanta,” he said.
Delilah sat back in her chair, shaking her head. “First, we have to show Veronica that we’ve reconciled. She needs to see her family united in support of her. That’s the only way she’s going to be free to give 110 percent to Legends. If you don’t know that about her, then I’m not sure if you know my daughter at all.”
Chapter 57
Alisha thought she’d shown a great deal of maturity when she called Morgan and told him she wanted to meet her half-sister and half-brother. Now she wondered if she’d made a mistake. Morgan might be her biological father, but she didn’t know him at all. She should have kept things professional like he suggested. Why hadn’t she?
Too late for questions now, she told herself. Then she smoothed her hands down her blue sheath and walked up to the maître d’. “I’m Alisha Monroe,” she told him.
“Ms. Monroe,” he said, “your party is waiting for you. Please follow me.”
Alisha took practiced steps as she followed the man. As they rounded a couple of tables, she saw Morgan and Morgan Junior seated at a table along the windows. She wondered where Paige was. When she reached the table, the two men stood.
“You look beautiful, Alisha,” Morgan said.
“That’s an understatement,” Junior said, with a broad smile. “But I’m a brother, so what do I know?”
His casual reference to himself as her brother helped to calm Alisha’s nerves. “Thank you,” she said.
The maître d’ pulled out her chair and she sat across from her brother.
“Where’s Paige?” she asked.
“She had a meeting,” Junior said quickly. Too quickly.
Morgan cast a chiding eye at his son. “She didn’t have a meeting,” he said to Alisha. “She’s not ready to meet you yet, so she decided to spend the evening with her mother.”
Alisha appreciated his honesty. “I understand,” she said.
“She’ll come around,” Junior said. “It’s that MBA in her that’s causing all the problems. When I see you, I don’t see dollar signs the way she does. I hear your music and I’m sold. Delilah’s Daughters made a strong impression on me during the Sing for America contest. Did Dad tell you that I brought him a copy of your performance on DVD?”
Recalling that Morgan had said his son had shown him the DVD of Delilah’s Daughters, Alisha said, “I think I offered to give you my firstborn for doing that.”
Junior chuckled. “I appreciate the offer, but I’ll pass on the kid. I’d love to spend some time in the studio with you, though. I think we could do some exciting things together.”
Alisha glanced at Morgan.
“Yes, Junior’s serious,” he said, answering her unasked question.
“Of course, I’m serious,” Junior said. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Alisha met his eyes. “For one, you don’t even know me.”
Junior shrugged. “I know your music, so I feel I know you very well.” He put down his napkin. “We’re brother and sister. We both need some time to fully adjust to what that means. In the meantime, I don’t see why we can’t work together. I’m not just another pretty face,” he said, grinning. “I know music. I know w
hat works and what doesn’t. Dad told me you were working on a demo with Magic City Studios in Birmingham. While I like Mr. Johns and all, I can probably do more with you and your demo than he can.”
“Why is that?” Alisha asked, both intrigued and taken aback by his self-confidence.
“Because gospel-pop is who we are and what we do,” he said. “That’s who you and Delilah’s Daughters are. That’s never been Magic City’s calling card.”
Alisha knew Junior was right. Mr. Tommy was trying gospel-pop with their demo, but his work at Magic City typically fell along more traditional lines of gospel or pop, not both. “How would that work?” she asked. “Would you come to Birmingham?”
He shook his head. “You’d have to come to Los Angeles, to our studios.”
“You wouldn’t have to worry about a place to live,” Morgan added. “You can stay with us.”
Everything is moving so fast, she thought. “Move to Los Angeles? Stay with you?”
“We have a guesthouse on the property,” Junior said. “You could stay there. Or you could bunk with me in my apartment.”
“Trust me,” Morgan said, casting a wary glance at his son, “the guest house is better.”
She looked between them. “Are you two serious?”
Morgan nodded.
“Serious as a heart attack,” Junior said. “I don’t play when it comes to music.”
Alisha had to admit that she was drawn to Junior. Though they didn’t share any physical traits—he was tall and light-skinned like his father, while she was petite and dark like her mother—they had the same heart for music. Maybe they could work together on the music and see what happened. “I don’t know,” she said.
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