Her lifestyle hadn’t changed. The white tennis outfit she was wearing said as much. She was headed to the club for tennis. Jasper had left her as she had been. Even after knowing what she’d done. There had been no consequences. He’d taken nothing from her.
“Don’t look so surprised to see me. The world Stone and I circulate in talks. I’ve known where you were since day one. Without Jasper telling me.” Her tone was haute. As if talking to me was a waste of her time.
“Why are you here?” I asked as anger began to take the place of anxiety.
“To discuss my son,” she replied with annoyance. “He left Savanah, and although that is a relief, he’s also so angry with me for the truths I protected him from that he won’t speak to me. He won’t accept my phone calls. He blames me for this.” She waved her hand at the building behind me. “You’re living with Stone is my fault. Losing you is all my fault. So I am being punished.”
“If he’s not speaking to you it’s because you gave his sister away and lied about it.” The disgust I felt was clear in my words.
She slid her sunglasses to the top of her head so that I had to look at her eyes. The slight roll of them made me want to slap her. “We both know Pam was a better mother. Don’t act as if I did that child an injustice. I gave her a much better life than she would have had with me. As for Jasper, he’s not that deep. If you fell for that, you’re even more naïve than I thought. He is angry because he lost you. Like a kid who had his toy taken away.”
There was no remorse. Nothing. Seeing her so unattached to a child she gave away was horrible. She had no idea the beauty she’d missed by not knowing Heidi. I was thankful she didn’t want to take her from me. I didn’t want Heidi in that world. This woman was evil.
“You’re right. Our mother was the best. Heidi was given the love she deserved and we were blessed with the joy she brings to life. And everyone around her. You’ll never know that though. How precious and wonderful she is.”
Portia shifted her stance impatiently. “I’ve heard you sing her praises enough. I get it. You’re exactly like my sister. I’m not here to discuss that. I’m here to talk about Jasper. He isn’t going to forgive me until you talk to him. You need to give him a reason not to hate me. You’re cousins. Yes. But maybe I was harsh. There’s no need for anyone to know that. Two hundred years ago cousins were expected to marry. It wasn’t incest.”
I stood there in horror as she tried to make Jasper and I falling in love sound okay. Did she think I had been waiting on her approval? Shaking my head, I walked past her toward my car. I had no reason to stand here and talk to this woman. She was insane. She had no right to talk to me.
“You think you know it all. You don’t. There are things you don’t know. Secrets Stone knows and hasn’t told you,” she called out after me.
I paused. More lies. I was so tired of the lies.
“I know enough to stay away from you. That’s what I know.”
The nasty smirk on her face was almost intimidating. “You’ll regret this.”
I jerked open the car door. “All I regret is spending any time this morning listening to you spit out more lies. You’re selfish Portia. If life isn’t what you want, you manipulate it until it is.”
That seemed to hit a mark. Her eyes flared with anger. She didn’t want to hear the truth. Someone who couldn’t speak the truth wouldn’t want to hear it.
“One day, you’ll wish you’d listened to me.”
The words meant nothing to me. She meant nothing to me. She was my mother’s sister. She’d given life to my sister. But she was an empty heartless being I wanted nothing to do with her. The help she’d given me was out of guilt. It hadn’t meant she had a heart. She’d been covering a lie. One that had come out. One she still hid from her world.
“He’ll contact you soon. Then you’ll know.” Her warning was the last thing I would hear from the woman. I was getting away from her.
I climbed into my car and closed the door leaving her there. Jasper must have cut her off financially. She’d been desperate enough to come here to see me. He must be doing something to make her life difficult. I felt better about that. Jasper was a good man. I believed that. I didn’t want to be disappointed in him. He was stronger than his mother.
As I pulled out of the gate, I glanced in my rearview mirror to see Portia getting back into her car. I’d have to tell Stone about this. He wouldn’t like it. I didn’t want to upset him but I wasn’t going to keep any secrets from him either.
My phone dinged with a new text message. I was driving and didn’t take it from my purse to check. Whatever it was could wait. Hopefully it wasn’t Stone and I wasn’t late.
Heading into the traffic I fought against thinking about all the things Portia had said. Trying to understand them was ridiculous. She was a crazed alcoholic who wasn’t getting what she wanted. Good for Jasper. It was time he stood up to her.
My phone began to ring and I ignored it again. I would check it when I was stopped in Geraldine’s driveway.
Two more messages later, I pulled through the gate and came to a stop to check my phone. I never got that many messages.
Three texts from Jasper and a missed call.
The text messages started with, We need to talk.
Then, Please answer my call.
And the last, Beulah I’ll come back to see you if you don’t answer me.
I read all three texts twice before putting my phone in my purse. I continued up the driveway until I was parked in front of the house.
My stomach roiled. Dread weighed heavily on my chest.
Lies. So many lies. I didn’t want to hear them. I wanted to close that door and move on with the happiness I’d found with Stone. My brief time with Jasper was jaded now with the truth. I couldn’t get jerked back to that again. I wanted it over.
Another text came through. This is important. You are and will always be the most important thing in my life.
I couldn’t bring myself to face whatever this was now. I silenced my phone and got out of the car to head inside. I had work to do. I had Stone’s arms to feel safe in. I would fight for this. My world I’d found through so much pain. It had led me to more than I imagined.
Stone
BEULAH’S EYES WERE SO DAMN expressive. I knew the moment I walked into Gerry’s house that something was wrong. Even when she smiled sweetly at me. The haunted look was there. She was hiding something.
I waited until Gerry went upstairs to take a nap from her early morning outing. I wasn’t leaving without talking to Beulah. She had something to tell me. When Gerry was gone, Beulah made herself busy cleaning the kitchen and didn’t make eye contact with me. I studied her waiting to see if she’d tell me what was wrong or if she’d continue to clean nervously.
The cleaning continued. After a few minutes, she glanced up at me. “Can I make you some lunch?”
“No,” I replied.
She was nervous. Anxious even. But she wasn’t talking. I was going to have to push harder. “Beulah,” I said.
She tensed. Preparing herself.
“What is it?” I asked.
She bit her bottom lip as her eyes stayed on me. “Portia came to the apartment this morning.”
Portia? What the fuck did she want? “Why?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I didn’t give her time to really explain, but what I did hear was she wanted me to talk to Jasper. He’s making her life difficult from what I gathered.”