Key To My Heart (Love Conquers All)

by Wells, Victoria

  The elderly man offered Langston a hopeful smile. “Take what I’ve told you and make this right, son.”

  “That’s what I plan to do.”

  Chapter 9

  Livid did not even begin to describe how Ava felt as she walked the eight blocks from her job as a school nurse to her home. Most days she enjoyed her job. Today, however, wasn’t one of them.

  Some parents really behaved like they didn’t have two brain cells in their head. Sending children to school sick was a serious pet peeve of Ava’s. All it took was one sick child to spread a school wide epidemic.

  First thing this morning ten-year-old Matt came into the nurse’s office vomiting all over the place and running a fever of one hundred three degrees. Ava was too through when she called his mother to notify the woman her son was sick and needed to be either seen by his pediatrician immediately, or taken to the emergency room.

  “Just give him some Tylenol or aspirin or something. I’m on my way to the hair salon,” had been the woman’s irritated response.

  “Well, how about I report you to social services for child neglect?” Ava was sure she’d be in the principal’s office tomorrow morning for threatening Matt’s mother, but she really couldn’t care less. Matter of fact, she was welcoming it. The poor child was so dehydrated and listless he could hardly keep his head up, let alone walk.

  No sooner had Ava gotten Matt safely into the care of his irksome mother, second grader Britney was ushered, or rather pushed into her office by the assistant teacher. Ava wanted to scream! The child was clawing at her scalp due to a horrendous case of head lice. Yikes!

  There was no way this child’s mother didn’t know something was up with the way the little girl was clawing at her head and whimpering. After donning a pair of latex gloves, Ava parted the child’s hair. Sure enough, just as she thought, head lice. Poor baby’s scalp was nearly scratched raw from all the digging.

  The rest of her day had been consumed with doing thorough head checks for the critters on the remaining second graders in Britney’s class. She could just see it. Tomorrow morning her phone was going to be jumping off the hook with frantic parents. Good grief, she was so not up to dealing with the drama. But, hey, what could she do? It was her job.

  After a day like today all she wanted to do was take a nice long, hot shower and then curl up with a good romance novel. The thought made her giggle. Starr and Summer would never let her live it down if they knew she was a closet romance junkie, so she always made sure to keep her stash out of sight when they came over to visit.

  Might as well read about it. Ain’t no action going on over here, she thought as she dug in her purse, searching for her house keys.

  Turning the corner, Ava’s smooth, brisk stride came to a jerky halt. What was Langston doing sitting on her doorstep talking to Mrs. Virginia? Fury spread through her like wildfire as she remembered their last meeting. He was the last person she wanted to see.

  Taking a deep breath to keep from exploding and airing all her business in the street, Ava tried to think happy thoughts, like beating Langston into the cement with a lead pipe. A wicked smirk twitched her lips as she walked up her front steps.

  Ignoring Langston, she spoke to her neighbor, giving the elderly woman a genuine smile. “Hey, Mrs. Virginia. How are you?” Although her friends found the older woman nosy, Ava was quite fond of her. Ava knew that the older woman was just lonely, and that was why she was in everyone’s business.

  “Pretty good. Nothing extra,” Mrs. Virginia responded. “I was keeping this young man company. I told him you’d be getting home soon.”

  Ava almost laughed. Mrs. Virginia was a trip. She was standing outside in her old lady housecoat and slippers. The tiny goose-bumps on her arms were a telltale sign that she was chilly. Too inquisitive to go inside and get a sweater, Ava was sure the woman had asked Langston a thousand and one questions.

  “Thanks, Mrs. Virginia. You better get inside before you catch a cold,” Ava said flatly as she turned her attention to Langston.

  The elderly woman looked from Ava to Langston, and then back to Ava. The lips that had smiled at her a few seconds ago were now pursed in a tight line. Something wasn’t right. Her young friend wasn’t pleased at all to see this young man, who seemed like a perfect gentleman to her.

  Maybe Ava would tell her what was going on Sunday night when she came over to watch Desperate Housewives. “I’ll see you later, Ava. It was nice meeting you, Langston.”

  Langston gave the older woman a warm smile as he thanked her for keeping him company.

  Ava had to quickly turn her head to hide her feelings. What was happening to her! A feeling that had lain dormant for years simmered to the surface as butterflies fluttered in her stomach. It’s that smile.

  When she and Langston began dating the last semester of her freshman year, all her friends wanted to know what she saw in him. They didn’t believe he was her type. No, he wasn’t a pretty boy or what one would call traditionally handsome. Neither was he gruesome, for that matter. However, he did possess the most bewitching smile that illuminated his whole face, not to mention his towering height and well-defined, chiseled body. What he lacked in good looks, the man made up in sex appeal. To Ava, Langston was beautiful.

  Girl, you need to leave those romance novels alone and get a grip! Don’t go frolicking down no freakin’ memory lane! You need to find out why he’s sitting on your doorstep looking like a stray.

  Stomping down her pesky butterflies, Ava snapped, “What do you want? Haven’t you made my life miserable enough?”

  Ava’s sharp tone didn’t take Langston by surprise. She had never been one to hold back how she really felt. Years ago she was way gentler with her approach. The new Ava was glaring at him like she wanted to do some serious bodily harm.

  “Av, I need to talk to you.”

  “Don’t you call me that! My name is Ava!” How dare he call her by her nickname that was reserved for family and friends, of which he was neither.

  Holding up his hands in surrender, he said, “All right, all right, Ava, can I please talk to you?”

  The way he put the emphasis on her name made Ava jerk her head to the side. Oh… no…the hell…he didn’t. Man, don’t play with me, for real. “What is it you need to talk to me about, Lucifer? I mean Langston?” she sneered.

  Langston’s face twisted into a scowl. She was pissing him off. “You got a smart mouth. I came up here to give you some information,” he gritted out between clenched teeth.

  Watching her standing there defiantly with her arms folded across her chest, looking at him like she was bored to death, pushed Langston to his limit. He didn’t need this. Here he was trying to right a wrong, and she was making each step he took impossible.

  Throwing his hands up in the air in frustration, he said, “You know what? I don’t need this!” Langston stalked off down the steps. Reaching the sidewalk, he threw over his shoulder, “When you want to know about your daughter, you know where to find me.”

  Chapter 10

  Blood rushed so fast through her body that she could feel her heartbeat pulsating in her ears. My baby!

  Ava ran down the steps to the sidewalk, catching Langston by the hand before he reached his vehicle. Automatically his large hand curled around her smaller one.

  Any traces of tough-attitude girl vaporized into the chilly air as she held on to her former lover for dear life. He had some information about her baby. Swallowing the lump in her throat, not caring that a tear made a track down her cheek, Ava whispered, “You know where she is?”

  Gazing down into pleading eyes, he told her the truth. “I do. Let’s go inside so I can tell you everything.”

  An hour later Ava sat in a daze as she stared at the photo of Zoe she held in her trembling hands. Ava had spent the last hour quietly listening as Langston shared with her how their daughter was never put up for adoption.

  Immediately after she had given birth to Zoe, Langston was notified by hospital ad
ministration. It hadn’t been difficult at all for him to get access to the newborn, since his father served on the board of directors for years and made sizable yearly contributions to the hospital.

  One look at the tiny babe and Langston fell in love. He had given up her mother, but there was no way he was giving up his child too. The adoptive parents were devastated when the hospital’s social worker notified them that one of the parents had changed their minds.

  His decision had caused a rift between him and his parents. His father threatened to cut him off if he dared to keep the child. His mother only cared about what other people would think.

  Langston explained to Ava that he had never be more ashamed of who he was until that day. His parents carried on as if Zoe wasn’t their grandchild, their flesh and blood. Furious, he’d told his father he could take the Warrington name and all that came with it and shove it! To his mother, he bellowed, “I don’t give a damn what people think! She’s my daughter and I won’t abandon her the way I did her mother!”

  With Charles’s help, Langston packed up Zoe and three of them went to Atlanta. In no time he’d settled into his new life as a single father, and found a well paying job at a prestigious law firm.

  After being estranged from his family for two years, his father suffered a stroke. If the old man hadn’t begged his forgiveness and asked him to return home, Langston would still be in Atlanta raising Zoe with Charles’s help.

  Ava had only tearfully interrupted him once to ask, “Why didn’t you come for me after you had Zoe?”

  Langston’s heart crumbled into a thousand pieces at her question. He did try to contact her, he explained. Every number he had for her had been discounted. And when he’d gone to her parents’ home in South Philly, Dominic refused to tell him where Ava was. Langston couldn’t fully make out what Dominic was saying, because the man was cussing him out in English and Italian. He did, however, make out the blowing-your-brains-out-if-you-come-near-my-daughter-again part. Langston wasn’t even going to front. The man who bore a strong resemblance to Armand Assante had scared the hell out of him. He believed Dominic wasn’t just blowing off steam when he made his threat.

  Ava leaned her head back against the sofa to keep more tears from falling. It was no use. They fell anyway. Staring at the ceiling, she said, “I want to see her.”

  “She wants to see you too.”

  Sitting upright again, Ava gazed directly into Langston’s eyes. “What?”

  Standing, he began to pace, rubbing his hands over his closely cropped hair. “Lately Zoe’s been asking for a mommy. At times she becomes withdrawn and sad, which isn’t like her at all.” Letting out a deep breath, he stopped pacing as he looked at Ava. “I couldn’t take seeing my Love Bug like that. So last night I told her that I knew where her mommy was.”

  Nervous energy and excitement coiled through Ava. She stood and went to Langston. Looking up at him through moist lashes, her lips trembled when she spoke. “What did she say?”

  Gently he ran a finger down her satiny cheek. “She cried and said she wanted her mommy.”

  “I want her too, Langston. I’ve always wanted her.”

  Pulling Ava into his arms, he held her tight. “I know, baby. How soon can you be ready?”

  Chapter 11

  “Good night, Charles. Thanks for watching Zoe,” Langston said quietly as he walked the older man to the door.

  “You know I don’t mind.” Peeping around Langston, Charles wished Ava a good night. He smiled when she returned the sentiment. Leaning in, Charles whispered for fear he might be overheard since Ava wasn’t too far off. “Son, you’ve made the right decision. That precious little angel upstairs deserves both her parents.” He wanted to add, “and not that evil mother of his.” But that would have been completely out of line. As close as he and Langston were, the younger man was still his employer.

  Langston patted his friend on the back. “Thanks.”

  “What was that all about?” Ava asked, lifting a perfectly arched brow.

  Shrugging broad shoulders, Langston said, “Nothing, really.”

  “Whatever,” she mumbled as she took in the surroundings of Langston’s beautiful home.

  Langston chuckled. “Come on and let me show you where you’ll be sleeping.”

  She followed him to the second floor of the massive three-story townhouse. Her heart did a pitter-patter as she approached a room with the door slightly ajar and soft light streaming through the opening. Touching the door with the palm of her hand, she glanced over her shoulder at Langston.

  His full lips curled into a smile as he nodded, giving her the OK to enter.

  Gingerly taking soft steps, Ava gently sat on the edge of the bed next to Zoe’s tiny, slumbering body. Bending down, she placed soft butterfly kisses all over her face. Her touch was like feathers as she smoothed her soft palm across her baby’s face and then her thick, dark hair.

  The doorjamb supported Langston’s weight as he watched Ava. He swallowed the large lump in his throat. Things would have been so different if he had been a stronger man and stood up to his parents. If only he had taken Ava, ran away with her, and married her, then they’d be a family now.

  “Langston?” Ava called softly, pulling him out of his reverie. “You gave her my name?”

  He smiled. “I did.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  After making love in his off-campus apartment, Langston would hold Ava in his arms in the dark. They’d talk for hours about their future. They discussed everything from what kind of wedding they wanted, where they would buy their first home, and how many children they would have. “If we have a little girl, I want to name her Zoe,” Ava once told him. And Langston had remembered.

  eee

  “How’d you sleep?” Langston asked as he sat a cup of mint tea in front of Ava.

  “Not too good,” she answered truthfully.

  “Nervous?”

  Picking up the honey that was already on the table, she began pouring it into her steaming mug. “Yeah, a little bit.”

  Grabbing his cup of coffee, Langston pulled out a chair and sat across from Ava. “Don’t be nervous. Zoe’s going to love you.”

  She sure hoped so. What if the child actually didn’t want her for a mommy? What if she became angry, demanding to know why she’d left her? And what if she plain ole just didn’t like her?

  “Oh, Langston, what if she’s mad at me? What if she thinks I abandoned her? That I didn’t love her?”

  Reaching across the table, he held Ava’s trembling hands. “Ava, don’t do this. Zoe is going to accept you. She’s a sweet child just like you.”

  Ava let out an unlady-like snort as she pulled her hands free of Langston’s warm touch. “Ain’t nothing sweet about me.”

  Langston was about to tell her that at one time she was sweet. At least to him she was sweet. He wanted to tell her she had been the only girl that ever really liked him for who he was. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was for causing her so much pain. But before he could make his confession, Zoe came skipping into the kitchen in her pajamas.

  “Daddy, I need to get ready for—” Her words trailed off as she stared wide eyed at Ava. Zoe pointed her finger. “Daddy, who’s that? Is that my mommy?”

  Ava didn’t give Langston a chance to answer. Her hand trembled when she held it out to the small child. “Hi, Zoe, please come to me.”

  Although the pretty lady was smiling at her, Zoe nervously looked to her father. She remained planted in place until her daddy said it was OK to go to the lady. She wasn’t supposed to talk to strangers. She only moved when Langston smiled at her and said, “It’s OK, Love Bug.”

  When Zoe was within arms’ lengths, Ava pulled her up onto her lap. The familiar strangers gazed at each other for what seemed like a lifetime. Ava couldn’t believe it. This child, her daughter looked exactly like her with the exception of her coloring. Zoe was a beautiful shade of cinnamon, thanks to her da
ddy.

  Ava’s voice shook when she asked the child, “Can I give you a kiss and a hug?”

  Zoe answered by bobbing her head up and down. She liked this lady. She was nice and her lips were soft against her cheek like the ones kissing her last night in her dream. When Ava hugged her, she nestled against Ava’s bosom as if it were the most natural thing to do. Zoe sure hoped this lady was her mommy.

  As Ava drew her baby further into her embrace, Zoe wiggled closer to her. Ava’s hand stroked a soft, thick, long braid. For years she’d rubbed the small lock of hair in the plastic bag between her fingers. And for years she’d dreamed about holding her daughter in her arms, lovingly stroking her hair like she was doing now.

  Holding the braid under her nose, Ava inhaled to capture its scent, which smelled of lavender. There was a smile in her voice when she told Zoe, “Your hair smells pretty, like flowers.”

  Zoe giggled. “Thank you. That’s because Daddy takes me to the hair salon every week to get my hair washed.”

  Ava glanced over at Langston. For the first time since seeing him, she smiled at him like old times. He smiled back.

  Yeah, she was still struggling with accepting his reasoning for not telling her about Zoe until now. Sure, she was ticked off with him because of it. She’d missed out on being in Zoe’s life for so many years. But that was not where she needed to focus her energy right now. The fact that she could see that Langston loved Zoe and had taken excellent care of her made her years of absence a little easier to handle.

  Zoe wiggled free from the embrace. Easing back, she took a curious look at Ava as if she’d seen her somewhere before. “Daddy, she looks like that lady in the picture with you. The one you keep in your dresser drawer in your bedroom.”

  Ava gave Langston a puzzled look. “What picture?”

  Zoe put her arms out with her palms facing the ceiling. “The one in Daddy’s dresser drawer,” she said, letting out an exasperated sigh. “You want me to get it?”