SATURDAY MORNING ARRIVED WITH THE sun shining brightly over Kayla’s home. Lying on her side beneath the warm comforter, looking out the window at the trees in her back yard, the red-bellied woodpecker flew across her backyard and landed on the window pane. Listening to the bird peck its beak against the window, a smile crept over her face. Peck. Peck. Peck.
That Richmond had been something else last night. He’d explored her body and had taken her to heights she’d never known existed. Had pleasured her over and over. She’d never had so many orgasms in one single night. Thinking about how his tongue had licked her stretch marks, her heart squeezed. He’d acted as if she were the finest woman in the world last night. Well, let’s see how he behaved when she saw him at the party later on today.
Joy bubbled inside her heart. I can’t wait to see Richmond. Ready to get her long day started, she flung the covers off her and climbed out of bed. After she freshened up, she headed for CJ’s room. On her way there, walking barefoot down the hallway, she pulled the elastic band from her wrist and tied her hair into a high bun on top of her head.
Standing over CJ’s bed while he slept, she decided she’d wake him after she made some breakfast. Tuning on her heels, she treaded to the kitchen, placed a small frying pan on the stove, and clicked the temperature to medium. In the mood for a cheesy bacon omelet, she pulled open the refrigerator, grabbed a carton of eggs, and placed them on the counter next to the sink.
Desiring to get some fresh air, she hefted the window above the sink, then footed into the living room to open her front door. Peering out the screen door smiling, she waved at her neighbor. “Good morning, Betsie Mae.”
“Morning, Kayla.” Betsie Mae walked over to the fence. “Saw you had company last night.”
You don’t miss a thing around here, do you? “Yes. A friend of mine came to visit me.”
“That was a mighty fine friend that came to see you last night. If you don’t mind me asking, just exactly what kind of friend was he?”
Kayla laughed. “He’s a special friend. He’s also my boss.”
“That’s who you work for? I’m in my late sixties, and I’ve never had a boss that fine. No boss of mine has ever visited me that time of night either.” Laughing, she waved her hand. “Well, chile, I done heard it all. I’m gon’ come over there later so you can tell me all about him and just how special he is to you.”
Kayla snickered. “Okay. I look forward to seeing you later.”
Whipping the eggs inside a white ceramic bowl with a fork, she stood over the sink, gazing out the window. Mmmph. Richmond’s penis is so huge. Way bigger than Carson’s.
Speaking of Carson, that jerk was late with her money for CJ again. All he had to pay was five hundred dollars a month. Two hundred fifty dollars every other week. Carson’s gross salary was one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. He earned plenty of money to help her take care of their son. Apparently, he just loved for her to beg. Well, no more. From this day forward, she wasn’t going to pick up the phone and ask him for one brown penny.
Shaking her head, Kayla said, “Mercy. Mercy. I need to put him on child support like yesterday.” Trying to force Carson out of her mind, holding the bowl in her hands, she walked over to the stove and poured the egg mixture in the hot, oiled skillet. She added bacon crumbles, loaded it with sharp cheddar cheese, then gripping the handle of the skillet, she flipped the omelet.
“Mmm. Something smells delicious.” At the sound of the bass voice at her front door, Kayla whirled. Dismayed, her lips crinkled. Jason stood on the other side of her screen with a brown paper bag in his hand. “Good morning, Kayla.”
A huge, phony smile spread across Kayla’s face as she looked at Jason. “Good morning.” Wearing a thin white tank top and a pair of Daisy Duke shorts, she contemplated on whether or not to let him in. Pushing the screen door open, she felt squeamish. “I’m surprised to see you this morning.” Darn, she wished Jason would’ve called first. You wouldn’t have had a problem if it’d been Richmond showing up without calling first! her conscious screamed. “Come in.”
Jason stepped over the threshold. “I hope you don’t mind me showing up like this, but my godmother lives right down the street there, so after I left her house, I thought I’d pay you a visit. Come by here to see how you’re doing.”
After the way your boss made love to me last night, I’m doing absolutely wonderful. “I’m doing quite well.”
Jason held the brown bag up in her face. “Fresh bagels, with assorted cream cheeses.”
Trying to think positive about him, she licked her lips. “Mmm. I can always eat a fresh bagel.”
“Mind if I join you for breakfast?”
As a matter of fact, I do. Kayla gave Jason another fake smile. “No. That’s fine.” Darn it. Why did she always have such a hard time telling men how she felt for fear of hurting their feelings? Sooner or later, she was going to have to learn how to put herself first.
Several minutes later, wishing Richmond was there instead of Jason, she lowered a platter with three omelets to the center of the table. After she woke up CJ, the three of them sat at the dining table and had breakfast together. Lust flared in Jason’s blue eyes as he sat across from her, forking the omelet in his mouth. “You make a damn good omelet, Kayla.”
“Thanks.” Feeling awkward, Kayla lifted her glass to her mouth and sipped at the sweet orange juice. This is the first and last time I’m having breakfast with him. Sandella had told her she’d overheard him talking about her at SugarKanes with his friends. That known, the last thing she needed was for him to misinterpret their relationship. She didn’t need Jason getting the wrong impression about them or how she truly felt while in his presence. Eerie. Strange. Uncomfortable. Hopefully she wasn’t being judgmental, because that was the last thing she wanted to do to anyone.
“Driving up here, I noticed your grass needs cutting. It’s quite high.”
“I’ve been so busy working, I haven’t had time to take care of it.”
“Well, I don’t have any plans today. I can cut it for you, if you’d like.”
Too broke to pay him, she shook her head. “Thanks, but I don’t have any money to pay you for the service.”
She thought she saw a gleam of interest for her in his eyes. “Oh, I’m not asking you to pay me to do it. It’d be on the house.”
“No. I couldn’t ask you to do it for free.”
“You’re not asking. I’m volunteering. How about this? Let’s just say I’ll do it in exchange for the delicious omelet you made me?” Jason suggested.
Knowing she could use an extra helping hand around the house, Kayla contemplated her answer. Trying to think positive about Jason, she nodded. “I’m going to take you up on your offer.”
“Good. Where’s your garage?” he asked, scooting his chair back.
Kayla stood, walked over to the side door, and pulled it open. Hitting the button to lift the garage door, she pointed to the dark corner. “The lawnmower is over there.” Jason rounded her, then dismounted the steps of her garage. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“Other than a glass of cold water, I won’t be needing anything.”
“I’ll leave the water for you on the counter. Thanks for your help.”
His eyes moved up and down her body; they seemed to undress her. Dear Lord. Hopefully, she was reading him wrong. “Ah, cutting your grass is no problem at all, Kayla. None whatsoever. Gosh, you’re so pretty.”
Folding her arms over her breasts, she cringed. She’d never been the type of girl to take compliments well. “Thanks.”
Standing behind her, CJ yanked on her shorts. She turned to face him. “Mommy, how come everybody keeps coming to see us?”
Smiling, Kayla shrugged. “I guess because you’re so adorable. And they just love coming to see you.”
Frowning, CJ’s lips folded under. “Not everybody, Mommy. Not Daddy.”
Kayla’s heart crumbled. “Your daddy loves you, CJ. He’s just so busy.
As soon as he gets time off work, I’m sure he’ll come visit you.”
CJ huffed. “Why can’t we go see him, Mommy?”
Oh, geez. The kid had some great questions that Kayla wasn’t prepared to answer. “I tell you what. I’ll check with your daddy to see when his next day off is. If he gets some free time, I’ll take you to Charlotte to see him.”
CJ threw a fist in the air. “Yay! Thank you, Mommy!”
“You’re welcome. Now go clean up your room and brush your teeth.” CJ took off running. “No running in the house, CJ.” The last thing she needed was for his rough behind to fall and break his arm again. Even worse, his leg.
Churning sounds of the lawnmower made its way inside the house. Kayla walked over to the sink and gazed out the window at Jason as she washed the dishes. Shirtless, Jason pushed the lawnmower across the high, slender grass, cutting it. Appearing like he took pride in being a handyman, the hot sun drenched his toned torso. Maybe he’s not that bad after all. I need to get over myself. Jason was just giving me a friendly compliment while at SugarKanes and today. I’m sure he doesn’t want me. But then again, I’d thought the same thing about Richmond. And boy am I glad I was dead wrong.
Done washing the dishes, Kayla headed to her room to make the bed and clean up her crowded closet. Inside the closet, her hands floundered over the hangers over her shirts, making the clothes sway. Perhaps she’d put her summer clothes in the attic and keep her fall and winter clothes in here. Needing more space, yeah, that’s what she’d do.
She grabbed handfuls of her summer clothing, took them to the garage, and then returned to the closet to do the same thing again. Clearing out all her summer clothing, she decided to get rid of the wooden chipped shoe shelves that her grandfather had had ever since she was a little girl. Maybe later on today after the birthday party, she’d run to Walmart and get some new ones.
Gripping the sides of the wooden shoe shelf placed in the corner, she lifted it. Her eyes drifted toward the floor. What in the world is that? Staring at what looked like a secret safe placed deep inside the wall, she lowered the shelf to the ground by her side, then got down on her knees. Wondering what was inside the small vault, she yanked on the handle, but it was locked.
His keys. Maybe the key to this lock is on his keychain. Anxious to see what was inside the secret safe, Kayla hopped to her feet, ran inside her bedroom, and retrieved her grandfather’s old keys from her nightstand. Thank goodness she’d held on to them.
Back on her knees inside the closet, Kayla inserted the smallest key on the keychain into the tiny lock, turned–and voila, it clicked open. A black medical bag sat alone inside the safe. This must be Grandpa’s medical bag from college. Or the one he used while practicing natural medicine around town.
Back in the day, her grandfather, Leroy Van Buren, had gone to medical school to become a general physician. However, unfortunately, while studying for the boards to get his license, her grandmother, Priscilla, had taken ill with lung cancer. After her grandmother died, Leroy never recovered from her loss. He never tried to take the medical board exam and decided to make doctor house visits around Hilton Head Island instead.
Guess that was the best he could do. Proud of her grandfather’s attempt to be a real, licensed physician, Kayla reached inside the safe for the medical bag and sat it in her lap. Unzipping the medical bag, warm thoughts of her grandfather entered her mind. I bet if Grandma wouldn’t have gotten ill, Grandpa would’ve been the best darn doctor that Hilton Head Island has ever seen.
Inside the medical bag lay an envelope. Holding the envelope in her hands, Kayla ran a sharp fingernail beneath the sealed flap, slicing it open. Reaching inside the envelope, something sharp pricked her finger. “Ouch.”
Kayla extracted a syringe from the envelope, and what she found along with it made her heart spiral wildly out of control. Gasping for air, holding a picture of a beautiful woman in her hands, her eyes kept blinking repeatedly and her hands kept shaking violently. Gripping a picture of Richmond’s deceased wife, Salina, stress tightened Kayla’s chest. Why would Grandpa have a picture of Richmond’s wife, Salina? Oh, God no. He wouldn’t. He didn’t. Please don’t tell me Grandpa killed Salina.
A tall shadow suddenly appeared in the doorway of her closet. Kayla jumped. Starting with Jason’s tennis shoes covered in grass, her eyes slowly climbed up his long body. She quickly put her hands behind her back.
The sun had turned Jason’s face beet red. “I’m done cutting the grass.”
Offering him a phony smile, her lips quivered. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
Jason’s brows scrunched. “Was that a picture of Salina I saw you holding?”
Keeping her hands behind her back, Kayla stood. Jason smelled musky. “Of course not. Why would I have a picture of Salina?”
Suddenly, Jason’s light blue eyes grew wild. He stalked further inside the closet and glowered down at her. “Look, Kayla. I’m going to assume you’re telling me the truth about the picture you’re obviously hiding behind your back. But please note, if you’re lying, and the picture you’re holding is of Salina,” his Adam’s apple bobbled up and down in his throat, and his eyes narrowed and grew colder, “for you and your son’s safety, let me suggest that you keep your mouth closed about it. Because if you don’t…all hell is going to break loose on this here fucking island.” Jason’s grim words stung her ears as he coldly turned and stalked away.