Wyatt is gone when I get up in the morning. I thought he was in the kitchen, but once I confirmed he wasn’t there, I peeped out of a window facing the front yard to see that his jeep isn’t in the driveway. I call his cell. When I don’t get an answer, I leave a message.
I proceed with taking a shower. I get dressed, slide into a red sweater, and a pair of black jeans then brush my hair into a ponytail. I hear my phone ringing from the nightstand. I run to get it, thinking it may be Wyatt. I feel a twinge of disappointment when I see that it’s not Wyatt at all. It’s Mr. Price calling.
“Hello,” I answer.
“Geneva...how are you this morning?”
“I’m okay. How are you?”
“I’m well.”
“What can I do for you, Mr. Price?”
“Well, I need you to come by my office this morning.”
“Okay. May I ask why?”
“I’ll explain everything when you arrive.”
“Uh...um, okay...will be there shortly, then.”
When I’m off the phone with him, I attempt to call Wyatt again, but still, I don’t get an answer. I leave him a message to let him know that I’m heading over to Mr. Price’s office. Then I tell him that we could meet for lunch later.
* * *
At Mr. Price’s office now, I watch him walk in with a stack of folders. He’s dressed sharp, as he’s always dressed, and sits at the head of the table – where he always sits.
“Good to see you, Geneva.”
“You as well, Mr. Price.”
“I wanted to bring something to your attention this morning. Well, actually, your father wanted me to do this.”
I sit up straight in my chair and say, “What is it?”
“Well, in his last wishes for you, your father added in an additional option?”
“An additional option?”
“Yes. It says here, if you made it to the two-month mark of living in his home, then I am to present you with this option.”
I frown and look at the man. Is he the crazy one here, or could I blame this on my father? “So what is...this...option?”
“Well, Alfred wanted you to have the option to leave the home right now.”
“Right now?”
“Yes, Geneva. Right now.”
“But it hasn’t even been three months yet,” I say, sounding nervous. It occurs to me that I haven’t even had a chance to discuss with Wyatt if we would live here in Winston-Salem, or if he wanted to come back to Atlanta with me – we didn’t have a chance to get that far in our discussions with each other. We’d been too busy making love every time our gazes connected. Every time he touched me. “I was supposed to stay for three months.”
“Yes, but Alfred wanted you to have this option as well. I’m sorry, let me rephrase that...it’s not actually an option, per se. It’s more like a choice.”
“Okay. So what is this choice?”
He hands me a pen. “You can take the eight million right now, go back home to Atlanta and live happily ever after, but only if you sign this piece of paper.” He slides the paper in front of me.
I browse it over. “And what’s this?”
“The document to start your divorce proceedings from Mr. McDowell.”
My face contorts to a frown. “What?”
“The documents to—”
“Are you telling me that I have to divorce Wyatt in order to receive the inheritance?”
“Yes. That is what I’m telling you, Geneva. You can sign the paper and take the money, or you can choose to remain married. If you decide against the money, then it’ll all go to charity. Now, I’ll give you twenty-four hours to think it over—”
“That’s okay,” I say, interrupting him. I stand up and place the pen on the table. “There’s nothing for me to think over.”
“Are you sure about that, Geneva?”
“I am. I’m positive,” I say, heading for the door.
“And what if Wyatt isn’t so...positive?”
I stop in my tracks and turn around to look at him. “What do you mean?”
“Well, what if I offered Wyatt the same thing I’m offering you? Do you think he’d choose you over eight million dollars?”
I smile. “Yes, Mr. Price. He would choose me over eight million dollars. Enjoy the rest of your morning.” I say before exiting.
When I step out of his office, I call Wyatt again. No answer.
While I wait for a call from him, I call Stacey. I’m dying to fill her in with everything that has been going on and telling her about this ridiculousness I just had to go through with Mr. Price.
“Hey, girl,” she answers.
“Hi, Stacey.”
“So...what’s the latest?” she asks.
“Well, I finally took your advice and told Wyatt what his mother did.”
“Yes!” she shouts. “So how did it happen?”
“Well, you remember the other day when I told you that I broke it off with Darnell?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I didn’t go home immediately afterward. I stayed out for a while and didn’t get home until some time in the late afternoon. Wyatt was furious. He thought I’d slept with Darnell and we argued and...uh...it wasn’t pretty. That’s when I told him. He wanted to know why I left and I told him the truth. I couldn’t hold it in any longer, Stacey.”
“How did he react when you told him?”
“He was shocked. He looked like he didn’t believe me, at first, but once I told him the story of how his mother approached me, he knew it was the truth. So he left, went to get his parents and brought them back over to the house. His mother confessed everything...told me that she was sorry.”
“Oh my gosh. That must’ve been hard.”
“Girl...it was rough. I think Wyatt took it harder than me, though.”
“I bet.”
“And then Mr. Price called me in the office this morning, right...tells me that I don’t have to stay at my father’s house and could walk away with eight million dollars today, as long as I sign papers to initiate a divorce from Wyatt.”
“I know you laughed at him...”
“Sure did. Eight million dollars can’t compare to the love I feel for Wyatt. And I’m not stupid...I know with that kind of money, I could live comfortably and have enough to fulfill my dreams of being a successful business owner.”
“Right.”
“And then, get this...Mr. Price asked me if I thought Wyatt would take the money if he was given the same proposition. I said no, but—”
“But what?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t been able to reach Wyatt at all this morning. He was already gone when I got out of bed.”
“So you think he took the money over you?”
“No. He wouldn’t do that to me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Well, you did hurt the man. But, for your sake, I hope this isn’t his way of getting back at you.”
“Gosh, Stacey. Now you’re scaring me,” I say, because I hadn’t thought about that as a possibility. What if this was payback for Wyatt? What if the time I spent with him was his way of making me fall in love with him again so that he could take off, leave me as hurt and heartbroken as he was. What if Stacey was right once again?