Chapter 15

Carla took off her shoes the moment she entered her house. Now if she could only get rid of her headache just as easily, she thought, as she immediately headed to her son’s room. She felt an overwhelming sense of love when she entered and found him asleep in bed cuddling the stuffed animal Sonya had given him last Christmas.

Her gaze then shifted to Mrs. Boston, who was asleep in the rocking chair not far away from the bed. Her hands were still clutching the book she’d evidently been reading from when both she and Craig had fallen asleep.

A shudder suddenly passed through Carla when she remembered the look on Jesse’s face that day when he had left her office. She was smart enough to know she had pushed him too far and now he was deliberately trying to hurt her. The question of the hour was, just how far would he go? He had already set the wheels in motion to take over her company, and she wondered what was next. Would he try and gain custody of Craig?

Her anger defused at the thought. There was no way on God’s green earth she would let him or anyone take her baby away from her. She would fight him with everything she owned before she let that happen. She would mortgage her house twenty times over if it was necessary. Craig meant everything to her and she would not lose him. He was her life and she would do anything to keep him.

Walking closer to the bed she glanced down on him. The glow from the nightlight illuminated his features. Even in sleep he looked so much like Jesse it was uncanny. Even if she had lied and said Craig was not his son, all it would take was for Jesse to see him and it would be obvious.

“Carla? I wasn’t expecting you back so soon,” Mrs. Boston’s whispered voice floated across the room.

Carla smiled softly over at the woman who had awaken. “Yes, well it’s been a very tiring day. Come join me in a cup of coffee before you leave. I need to talk with you about a few things.”

Mrs. Boston had to make a stop at the bathroom and Carla used that time to call Amber’s bookstore to see if there was any update on the condition of the man who had passed out in Amber’s shop.

Brandy’s bodyguard had swung into action and had done what was necessary while someone had the good sense to call 911. Amber had gotten so upset that she’d left the anniversary celebration to follow the ambulance to the hospital. Brandy and Grey Masters had followed in their car. Carla hoped the guy was okay, especially after finding out that he was the same man Amber had talked to her about that night. It was plain to see that Amber didn’t consider him just an ordinary customer.

By the time Carla had the coffeemaker going, Mrs. Boston walked into the kitchen with a concerned look on her face. “You look tired, child. You need to get more rest.”

Carla nodded. If she looked tired now she didn’t want to think how she would be looking a few weeks from now while standing in the unemployment line. “I’ll be fine Mrs. Boston, and thanks for your concern.”

“Well, the way I see it, your mama should be here with you. That’s what family is for at times like these. I still can’t believe she turned her back on you that way by selling that stock. I read the article in the newspaper this morning and then watched you at that press conference on television. My heart just wanted to bleed. Your daddy has probably been rolling over in his grave all day.”

Carla couldn’t help but smile because she had thought the same thing several times today. In fact she had thought of her father a lot lately. She missed him so much and always would. She reached out and gently touched the other woman’s hand.“Well,no matter what,I believe everything will be okay. But Jesse Devereau is making it difficult and that’s what I want to talk with you about.”

Mrs. Boston nodded as she took a seat at the table while Carla poured them both a cup of coffee. Carla glanced down at the older woman who had always been there for her. She then thought of her friends who were there for her now.

Carla joined Mrs. Boston at the table. “If you read this morning’s paper and saw my news conference then you know that this wealthy industrialist has acquired all the shares he needs to take over Osborne Computer Network.”

The older woman nodded. “Yes, and I can’t believe your own mother sold him those shares to help him do it.”

Carla inhaled deeply. She still was having a hard time accepting it herself.

“And who is this man who’s taking over your company?” Mrs. Boston asked, interrupting Carla thoughts. “Where on earth did he come from? And for him to have that much money, why haven’t I heard of him before? He certainly hasn’t been featured in Jet magazine.”

Carla’s couldn’t stop the small smile that touched her lips. Next to the Bible, Mrs. Boston considered Jet magazine as gospel. But to be quite honest, she hadn’t known Jesse was all that rich either.

“He does all of his business mainly on the West Coast.”

Mrs. Boston frowned. “The West Coast? Well, as far as I’m concerned he should have stayed out there. The nerve of him coming south and messing with your company.”

Carla took another sip of her coffee before saying. “Mr. Devereau has what he considers a good reason for what he’s doing.”

Mrs. Boston lifted a brow. “And what reason is that?”

“Anger. He’s pretty upset with me right now.”

Mrs. Boston’s brow lifted even higher. “And why is he upset with you?”

Carla sighed deeply. “Because I refused to tell him what he wanted to know about Craig.”

The other woman leaned closer. “And what did he want to know about Craig?”

Like her mother, Mrs. Boston had no idea who had fathered Craig. The only persons who knew were Sonya, Brandy, and Amber. “He confronted me on two different occasions and asked if Craig was his son.”

Mrs. Boston’s other brow lifted and she sat back in her chair. “Is he? Is that man Craig’s daddy?”

Carla moistened her suddenly dry mouth before saying, “Yes.”

“Then why didn’t you tell him?” Mrs. Boston asked softly.

Carla lifted her chin. “Because he doesn’t need to know. He lied to me that night.”

Tilting her head to the side, Mrs. Boston smiled sadly, knowingly. “And you’ve hardened your heart.”

Carla closed her eyes for a moment, knowing that she had. From that one night she had fallen hard for Jesse, and then to find out he’d lied to her had hurt. To him it may have been just a one-night stand, but to her it had been more until she’d discovered he had lied. A wave of pain swept through her and tears she couldn’t contain any longer clouded her eyes.

Mrs. Boston reached out and captured Carla’s hand in hers. “I believe in my heart that everything will work out for you, Carla. I do believe that.”

Amber paced back and forth in the hospital’s waiting room while Grey and Brandy sat on the sofa and watched her. It had been two full hours since Cord has been admitted and they still didn’t know how he was doing.

“Are you sure she just met this guy?” Grey leaned over and whispered to Brandy.

Brandy nodded as she continued to watch Amber’s agitated pacing. “Yes. According to Carla, he’s someone who started coming into the shop a few weeks ago. Evidently, he’s a valued customer that she’s really concerned about.”

Grey chuckled. “Yeah. Right. There’s concern and then there is concern. If you ask me, she’s taking this particular customer’s well being to a whole new level.”

Brandy nodded. Grey was certainly right about that. She had never seen Amber this upset over anyone—especially when that person was a male. Like her and Carla, Amber had placed her full concentration on establishing her business and making it successful than on building a relationship with a man.

A few minutes later, a doctor in a white coat came through the double doors that separated the visitors from the hospital employees. “Who’s a relative of Cord Jeffries?”

Amber immediately stepped forward. “I am.”

The doctor nodded and then asked.“And what is your relationship?”

Amber blinked. “Excuse me?”

The doctor raised a brow. “I asked what is your relationship to Mr. Jeffries. Are you his sister, wife, cousin, fiancée…?”

“Uh, I’m his fiancée.” As soon as Amber said the lie, she turned and met Brandy’s shocked expression and decided she couldn’t worry about that now. She quickly turned back to the doctor. “How is he?”

“Nothing that a few days of rest won’t cure. It seems your fiané passed out from sheer exhaustion.”

Amber raised a brow. “Exhaustion?”

“Yes, he’s evidently been working himself to death and hasn’t been eating properly. Your man needs to take better care of himself.”

Amber nodded. “And you’re sure that’s the real reason he passed out?”

The doctor looked at her confused. “Yes. Why? Do you have another diagnosis that you want me to share with me?”

Amber shrugged. “Well…he was eating a cookie at the time he passed out. One that I baked.”

The doctor looked at her for a long moment as if expecting her to tell him more and when she didn’t he said. “And your point?”

“I can’t cook.”

The doctor chuckled. “Don’t feel bad—neither can my wife, but it hasn’t killed me yet. Your cookies had nothing to do with him passing out. In fact, from the look of things, your cookie is probably the only meal he’s had all day. He hasn’t been doing a good job of eating the right foods and what happened today is his body’s way of telling him that he needs to make an improvement. Things might be worse for him the next time. If I were you, young lady, I would make sure he does whatever he has to do to improve.”

Amber nodded. “Is he awake? Can I visit him?”

“I gave him something to make him sleep for a while. Forced rest you might say. And I’ll be releasing him in the morning if his regular doctor, Dr. Phillips agrees. It’s my understanding that Dr. Phillips is of town on business but will return later tonight.”

“Can I see Cord now?” Amber asked, hopefully.

“Like I said, he’s sleeping, but I guess you won’t be satisfied until you see for yourself that he’s fine, right?”

“Right.”

The doctor smiled. “It’s refreshing to see a woman who’s concerned about the man she loves. I’ll make sure the nurse knows I’ve given your permission to see him for as long as you want. I’ll even have the nurse bring a cot in for you in case you want to stay all night. That way you’ll be there whenever he wakes up. I’m sure he’ll want to see you.”

“Thanks, Doctor.”

“You’re welcome and good luck to you and your young man,” the doctor said. He then asked, “Have the two of you set a wedding date?”

Amber swallowed as she felt her nose getting longer with each lie she told. “No, sir.”

“Well, don’t wait too long.”

“We won’t.”

As soon as the doctor was no longer in sight, Amber glanced up and saw Brandy and Grey Masters approaching.

“Excuse me and Amber for just a minute, Grey.” Brandy then firmly took Amber’s hand and pulled her to the other side of the waiting room. “What’s going on? Why did you tell the doctor that you’re Cord Jeffries’ fiancé? I almost choked on my Coke when you said that.”

Amber shrugged. “That’s the only way he was going to give me any information, and I needed to make sure the reason Cord is here isn’t my fault.”

Brandy raised a brow. “You mean that thing with the cookie?” she asked, since she’d heard every word of Amber’s conversation with the doctor. So had Grey.

“Yes. And I’m still not sure my cookie isn’t what did him in. You know that I can’t cook.”

Brandy nodded. Yes, she did know that. “Yeah, but only because you’ve never had a reason to try. There was no reason for you to learn how when your mom enjoyed doing all of the cooking, right?”

“Right.”

“And cookies are rather easy and you did follow the recipe, right?”

“Right.”

“And the doctor did say Jeffries passed out from exhaustion and not from eating your cookie, right?”

“Right. But I have to make sure, Brandy. I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight if there’s still doubt in my mind. And that doubt won’t be erased until I can speak with Cord’s own personal physician tomorrow.”

Brandy crossed her arms over her chest, determined to make Amber see reason. “And what if, in the meantime, his family shows up? How will you explain your existence?”

“That won’t happen. In an earlier conversation we had, he happened to mention he has no family.”

“What about a girlfriend? What if he really does have a fiancée and she arrives and finds out that you’re impersonating her? Hell, she might be ready to kick your butt and not only are you not a cook but you’re also not a fighter.”

Amber hadn’t thought of the possibility that there might be a woman in Cord’s life and she really should have. Men who looked like him normally wasn’t footloose and fancy free. “That’s a chance I’ll have to take.”

Brandy shook her head. “And you’re actually going to spend the night?”

“Yes. Please give Jennifer and Eileen a call and let them know I’m still at the hospital and to close things up for me.”

Brandy took a long, hard look at her friend. “Are you sure about this, Amber?”

Amber didn’t hesitate in answering. “Yes, I’m sure. Just be here to give me support, no matter what.”

“Oh, girl,” Brandy said, giving her friend a sistah hug. “You know I will. And I’ll call Carla when I get home to give her another update. But Lord knows she has enough troubles of her own to deal with right now. Looks like we all do. But we shall overcome won’t we?”

Amber smiled as she clasped Brandy’s hand firmly in hers. “Yes, we will certainly do that. We have to keep the faith.”