Love, Honor, and Betray, Roby, Lawson [i have read the book a hundred times .txt] 📗

he’d driven a half hour from home, only to have his heart ripped out. Charlotte hatedherself for this.

“Son, what’s wrong?” Curtis asked.

“Nothing.”

“Are you depressed about Mr. Rush?”

“No.”

“Well, you’re not yourself.”

“I’m fine, Dad.”

“Do you still want to attend his services tomorrow?”

“No. I changed my mind.”

“Why?”

“I just did.”

Charlotte saw the concerned look on Curtis’s face, and she was worried, too. It was bad enough Matthew had already been onan emotional roller coaster over the last week, and now there was this daunting thing with her. He seemed so downtrodden,and what hurt her the most was that he wouldn’t even look at her.

“Mommy, look,” Curtina said, showing her some little doll she’d been playing with.

Charlotte forced a smile on her face. “I see it, sweetie. She’s beautiful just like you are.”

Matthew jerked his head up and finally did look at his mother. Even Curtis raised his eyebrows in disbelief and then smiled at her. This was the first time the twoof them had seen Charlotte acknowledge Curtina genuinely, and she was glad they’d been able to witness it. To be honest, shewas still a little shocked herself because not once had she ever believed she would feel good about Curtina, and she certainlyhad never counted on caring about her. It was as if she’d been changed in the blink of an eye, and some sort of spell had been cast upon her.But she definitely didn’t believe in witchcraft and knew, without a doubt, her astonishing change of heart was all God’s doing.

Matthew slid his chair back, stood up and grabbed his book bag. “See you, little girl,” he said to Curtina, kissing her asusual.

“Bye-bye.”

“See you, Dad,” he said, bumping knuckles with him and then left for the garage. Charlotte wanted to cry, but knew she couldn’t.Matthew was really through with her, and she was glad Curtis had been so busy reading the newspaper, he hadn’t noticed anything—hehadn’t noticed that for the first time since Matthew had been a small child leaving for school, he’d left without huggingCharlotte.

Curtis got up from the table. “Well, I guess I’d better get going, too. But when I get home, I think we should sit down andhave a talk with Matthew. See what’s really bothering him. I do think it’s about Mr. Rush, but I just want us to be sure.I also think it’s time to consider counseling for him like we talked about.”

Charlotte wasn’t sure she liked the idea of the three of them sitting down to do anything together. What if Matthew snappedand told Curtis everything? What if he’d had enough of his mother’s shenanigans, those from long ago and now her most recentact of mischief, and wanted to set the record straight?

“Yes, I think we should,” she said, but only because she knew this was what Curtis wanted to hear.

“I think he’ll be fine, but I also think we should be on the safe side.”

“I do, too.”

“And thank you, baby,” he said, lifting her chin and kissing her.

“For what?”

“Putting forth so much of an effort toward accepting Curtina. You have no idea how amazing that makes me feel.”

“It’s no problem,” she said, wishing she could tell him why she now saw Curtina in a different light: her little stepdaughterhad consoled her when she’d been feeling her lowest yesterday morning.

“I really wish you and I could have had an overnight trip, but I still enjoyed our dinner and, well, just being together.”

“I enjoyed our time, too.”

“We’ll still get downtown, though, and soon.”

“I wish you didn’t have to work on your day off.”

“I know,” he said and went over and slipped Curtina’s coat on. “Me, too. But I still have a lot to catch up on from last week.”

“Well, have a good day,” she said. “You, too, Curtina.”

“Bye-bye,” she said.

When they were gone, Charlotte finished reading the latest issue of Essence and then called to check on Agnes. She’d arrived right on schedule this morning and fixed their breakfast, but then she’dleft because she wasn’t feeling well. Charlotte hoped she was going to be okay, because February was definitely flu season.

About an hour later, after getting her walk in, she went up to her office and signed on to Facebook. She hadn’t been on inthe last couple of days and couldn’t wait to see what was new. The first thing she did, though, was check her inbox, and shesaw that she had a message from Michael. She wondered why he was still trying to contact her after she’d explained that shecouldn’t see him anymore. However, maybe he had good reason, so she opened it.

Hey, when you get a chance, please call me. It’s urgent.

Charlotte wondered what was so important, and it made her nervous. She called him immediately.

“Hey you,” he said.

“Hey. So, what’s up?”

“I called to let you know that Sybil knows about us.”

“What? How?”

“She says she knew about you when I started seeing you years ago, and she knows you met me at Gerald’s a couple of weeks ago.But it gets worse.”

“What?”

“She knows I rerouted my Miami flight to West Palm Beach, and that you were there with me. She’s been paying someone to followme, and to be honest, I didn’t think she had it in her. I mean, women do that all the time, but not women like Sybil.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“She’s so laid-back and nonchalant. She’s angry as I don’t know what, but I just wouldn’t have pictured her calling any privatedetective. If you want to know the truth, I didn’t even think she was smart enough.”

“So what is she planning to do with all this information?” Charlotte asked, fearing the unthinkable.

“She’s threatening to tell your husband.”

“You…have…got…to…be…kidding…me.”

“No, I’m not. She’s blaming you for our breakup.”

“Why? Because it’s not like the two of you have been happy for years now.”

“I know. I told her the same thing but she said that regardless of how many affairs I’ve had, this was the first time I sawa reason to file for a divorce.”

“That’s crazy.”

“Well, maybe. But, actually, she is right because it was only after