Celeste trembled. He didn’t say anything, but if looks could kill she would be on her way to the morgue. She hesitantly walked over to him and snatched her purse from his hands, placing the contents back inside. She knew she had pushed him to his limit and the best thing to do was to get out of there.
She walked to the door, then stopped before opening it. She slowly turned around and they stared at each other. She saw the pained and angered look on his face and a part of her almost shattered. For the first time, she felt her conscience pricking her. She actually regretted hurting him.
“It was nothing personal, Braxter. You’re an all right guy,” she said softly.
She turned and quickly hurried out of the apartment.
A physically and emotionally exhausted Clayton Madaris entered his office where he had come straight from the airport. He wasn’t ready to go home just yet.
Sitting behind the big oak desk, he leaned his head against the back of the chair and stared into private space. He was in deep thought as he replayed the scene with Syneda over and over again in his mind.
Moments later he checked his watch for the time. He needed to call Alexander Maxwell. Alex was the brother of his best friend, Trask Maxwell. His and Trask’s friendship went all the way back to touch football when they were kids growing up in the same neighborhood. Trask had gone on to become the greatest running back in the history of the NFL. Having retired from playing football a few years ago, he was now living in Pennsylvania and was a recruiter for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Clayton picked up the phone and dialed Alex’s number. At the age of twenty-six, Alexander was a top-notch private investigator. It was almost two in the morning, but he knew Alex was used to receiving calls at all times of night.
“Hello, Alex? I need your help. There’s someone I want you to find for me.”
Syneda woke slowly, and the first thing she did was listen for the sounds she had grown accustomed to hearing whenever Clayton visited. Things like the sound of him in the shower, or the sound of him moving around her kitchen while he prepared breakfast.
But there was no noise. All she heard was silence.
She rolled her head on the pillow so she could look at the gift Clayton had given her this visit, a huge stuffed teddy bear. He’d said it had reminded him of her, all warm and cuddly.
She slowly sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She stood and the first thing she noticed was that she had slept in Clayton’s shirt. She had been so upset after he’d left that she’d cried herself to sleep and didn’t undress. His scent was all over her and lingered in the bed where they had made love last night.
“I’ll get over him,” she said to herself as she went into the bathroom. She stopped and looked around. Clayton’s presence was everywhere, even in her bathroom. A bottle of his favorite cologne was sitting next to her perfume, as well as a number of other toiletries he kept at her apartment.
She walked back into her bedroom and went to her closet and pulled out an empty shoe box. Returning to the bathroom she began placing Clayton’s items in the box to mail to him.
I can do this,
she kept thinking over and over.
No man, other than my father, has made me cry after him. I have to keep my mind focused on what I’m doing and why I’m doing it.
After packing the items, she squared her shoulders and returned to the bedroom where she placed the box on her dresser. She opened the drawer and took out the key he’d given her; the one to his apartment that she had never used. She placed it inside the box with the other items. With that completed, she turned her attention to another task. She wanted to strip her bed and replace the linens. There was no way she could sleep in that bed again tonight where Clayton’s scent lingered on everything.
A few minutes later, after taking her shower, she walked into the kitchen. The day was just beginning and already she was feeling tired. She was sure the cause was more emotional than physical.
She opened the dishwasher to get a bowl for her cereal and found it empty. As usual Clayton had placed her dishes nice and neat in the cabinets instead of leaving them in the dishwasher.
He’s done nothing but disrupt my life,
she thought.
Before taking up with Clayton, I kept things just the way I wanted them. I used to sleep late on Saturdays and I used to spend a quiet weekend alone doing the things I enjoyed doing.
She slammed the dishwasher shut, suddenly no longer hungry.
She walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa. Clenching her hands together in her lap she tried pulling herself together. No man had ever made her lose her appetite.
Syneda looked down at her entwined fingers. There was no way she could deny the fact that during the past five months she and Clayton had bonded in a way she had never bonded with a man before. And deep down she knew she would never bond that way with another man.
She smoothed a hand back and forth across her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. Her apartment held too many memories of the times she and Clayton had spent together. She needed to get away. She didn’t want to stay in the apartment all weekend alone.
Syneda stood and went into the bedroom to pack.
Braxter rose from the chair he had slept in all night. How could he have been so stupid? It had been nothing more than a setup. He had meant nothing to Celeste but a tool to gather the information she needed. But for whom?
He walked over to the window and looked out. He would have to contact the senator and tell him what was going on immediately. Someone was determined to ruin his credibility with the voters.
He thought about the portion of Celeste’s telephone conversation he had overheard. Evidently she was trying to figure out what part, if any, Syneda Walters played in the senator’s life.
For some reason, Braxter had a feeling when the answer came to light, all hell would break lose.
“I hope my unexpected visit won’t throw the Madaris family schedule off balance,” Syneda said jokingly as she entered the spacious and elegant ranch-style home of Justin and Lorren Madaris.
“Of course not,” Lorren replied, giving her best friend a hug. “Your visits never throw anything off balance. Justin and the kids will be glad to see you. Just leave your bags here. Justin went to Dallas and should be returning any minute. He’ll take care of them when he gets back.”
“Where are the kids?”
“They went with him so you came just in time. I was dying of boredom. Besides, it’s about time you paid us a visit.”
Syneda smiled. “I know and just look at you.” She placed her hand on Lorren’s stomach. “You’re showing more now than you did at Whispering Pines last month. I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks.” Lorren led them into the huge family room that was off the foyer. Syneda sat down on the sofa and Lorren sat across from her in a wing chair. “So, how have things been going with you, Syneda?”
“Fine,” Syneda said flatly. “Work is lightening up somewhat, and I take the Jamison case back to court in a couple of weeks.”
Lorren studied her friend who had been a pillar of strength for her during her divorce from her first husband, and later when her relationship with Justin was at a delicate point. She had known Syneda long enough to know when something was bothering her. “I wasn’t asking about work, I was referring to your personal life.”
“My personal life? Why, everything’s great!” Syneda replied enthusiastically, and at the same time she tried to stop the quick rush of emotional tears she felt filling her eyes. She swallowed hard and tried blinking them away, but the gesture was too late. Lorren had seen them and had immediately come over and sat next to her.
“What is it, Syneda?” she asked softly. “You know you can talk to me about anything. I may not have any answers but I promise to be a good listener. We haven’t had a chance to really talk in a long time. Does what’s bothering you have something to do with Clayton?”
Syneda nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
“Do you want to talk about it now?”
“No, not now,” Syneda replied brokenly. “But I will later.”
“All right, we’ll talk later.”
Hours later after taking a shower and changing into a pair of slacks and white blouse, Syneda walked down the stairs to where everyone was. Justin and the kids were in the pool playing a game of volleyball, and Lorren was sitting in a chair nearby.
“I thought you were going to take a nap,” Lorren called out to her.
“I was but decided not to. I’m ready to talk now.”
Lorren nodded and stood. “Let’s take a walk. You haven’t been here since Justin had the airstrip installed for the Cessna that he, Dex and Clayton purchased together.”
She then turned toward the pool. “I’ll be right back. I need to let Justin know where we’re going.”
A few minutes later the two women were walking side by side along a narrow path that led to a clearing. Syneda spoke up. “It’s over between Clayton and me.”
Lorren sighed. Although she had never asked, she had been fairly certain Syneda was the mystery woman in Clayton’s life. Apparently things had stretched beyond that one lone weekend Syneda had planned for them to have. Lorren loved both her brother-in-law and her best friend dearly, but she had felt their involvement with each other had been headed for trouble from the very beginning. Evidently, Syneda had taken the affair more seriously than Clayton had. She could feel her friend’s pain.
“It lasted longer than I thought it would. I tried to warn you about him.”
Syneda stopped walking and turned to Lorren. “You don’t understand, Lorren. It’s not Clayton’s fault. It’s mine.”
A bemused expression covered Lorren’s face. “Yours? You’re right, I don’t understand.”
Syneda took a deep breath. “Clayton thinks he’s in love with me and wants me to marry him.”
Whatever Lorren had expected Syneda to say, those words were not it. Shock and disbelief covered her face. “Clayton loves you and wants to marry you?”
“Yes.”
“Are we talking about the same Clayton Madaris?”
“Yes, Lorren, we are. He thinks he loves me and wants to marry me.”
Lorren shook her head. “From the way you’re talking, I take it that you don’t believe him,” she said. It was a little hard for her to believe.
“In a way I believe him, and in a way I don’t know what to believe.”
“If you’re concerned about his past involving other women, Syneda, the one thing I’ve discovered about Madaris men is that when they do fall in love, they’re hard-core lovers who are loyal, dedicated and sincere.”
“That’s not it, Lorren.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I can’t give back to him the love he wants.”
Lorren knew about Syneda’s feelings about falling in love. “You have to let go of the past sometime.”
“I’ve tried but I can’t.”
“Maybe you haven’t tried hard enough because you’ve felt no man was worth the extra effort. Now you have to decide if Clayton is.”
Syneda nodded. At the moment, she wasn’t sure if perhaps Lorren’s comment wasn’t true. “I’m thinking about not attending the Madaris Thanksgiving dinner.”
“Why? Because Clayton will be there? Unfortunately, there are going to be a lot of times when your two paths will cross. Have you forgotten you happen to be my best friend, Clayton is Justin’s brother and the two of you are godparents to Justina, Vincent and our baby yet to be born? Avoiding Clayton will be impossible.”
Syneda knew what Lorren said was true, however, she wasn’t ready to accept that fact. “How about going shopping with me in Dallas?”
Lorren sighed as she accepted Syneda’s hint that their discussion of her and Clayton was over for the time being. “I’d like that.
We can look at baby gifts for Caitlin. But I want you to promise me something.”
“What?”
“Try to forget the past and follow your heart.”
“M
s. Walters, there’s a couple here to see you. A Mr. and Mrs. Larry Morgan,” Joanna announced over the intercom.
Syneda was sitting at her desk going over some notes she’d made on a case she was handling. She lifted her head in surprise. “Mr. and Mrs. Larry Morgan?”
“Yes.”
She pushed the papers aside. “Please send them in.”
Syneda stood when Joanna escorted the couple into her office. All it took was the smiles on their faces to let her know somehow things had worked out for them. “Congratulations,” she said, returning their smiles and shaking both their hands.
“Thanks. We stopped by to do two things,” Cassie said as they took the seats Syneda offered them. “First, we want to thank you.”
Syneda raised a brow. “Thank me for what?”
“For taking the time to listen to me that day and for not trying to force me into giving up my baby for adoption,” Cassie said.
“And I want to thank you for not throwing me out that day I showed up here unexpectedly,” Larry added. “You took the time to listen to what I had to say.” He grinned. “And I had quite a lot to get off my chest.”
Syneda nodded, clearly remembering that day. She and Clayton had almost gotten into an argument over the issue of Cassie’s father’s interference.
“I take it your father has finally come around.”
Cassie shook her head. “Unfortunately he hasn’t. And that’s our second reason for coming here today. We want to say goodbye. We’re moving to Texas.”
“Texas?”
“Yes, Austin, Texas. Larry has received a job offer there. He’ll be working for Remington Oil.”
Syneda raised an arched brow. “Remington Oil?”
Larry grinned. “Yes, I’m sure you’ve heard of them. Who hasn’t? They’re a very good company to work for. They offered me a very good salary and the benefits are excellent.”
Syneda nodded. Remington Oil Company was one of the largest oil companies in America. They had made history last year when they became the first oil company in over fifty years to locate a major oil field. Dex’s company, Madaris Explorations, had been used for the job. Also, a piece of land owned by Caitlin had been instrumental in making that discovery possible. Clayton had handled the negotiations in both situations. Syneda couldn’t help but wonder if it was just a coincidence that Larry Morgan had gotten a job with a company in which Clayton had close ties.
She cleared her throat. “Did you seek out employment with Remington Oil?”
Larry smiled. “No, and that’s the funny thing about all of this. According to the personnel manager at Remington Oil, I came highly recommended, but he wouldn’t say who recommended me. As far as I’m concerned, whoever recommended me is truly my guardian angel.”
Syneda returned his smile. She had a funny feeling his guardian angel was none other than Clayton. The words he had spoken that last night in her apartment suddenly came back to her.
“…Somehow you have this notion that me understanding certain things is the same thing as me endorsing them. You were wrong in believing that about Cassie Drayton and Larry Morgan, and you’re wrong in believing that about us….”
“Ms. Walters? Are you all right?”
Cassie’s soft voice cut through Syneda’s thoughts. “Yes, I’m fine. How did your father handle the fact that Larry has found a job? Especially when he’d gone to a lot of trouble to make sure he wasn’t hired anywhere.”
“Not too well. In fact, Larry and I found out that he called Mr. Remington personally and made threats. But believe it or not, he met his match.”
“Really? What happened?”
Larry chuckled. “I heard Mr. Remington advised Cassie’s father that he would be faced with a lawsuit if he tried anything. He further advised my father-in-law that he was considering diversifying Remington Oil and that the clothing industry would be the first avenue he looked at for a possible merger.”
Cassie laughed. “I guess the thought of anyone attempting a corporate takeover of Drayton Industries was enough to make Dad think twice about carrying out his threats.”
Syneda nodded in agreement. “Well, I’m glad things have worked out for you two.”
“We’re glad, too,” Cassie said. “People in love deserve to be together. It’s no fun being alone. Everyone needs someone to love and someone to love them.”
“It’s been a while, Clayton. Welcome to Sisters. You were missed.”
“Thanks,” Clayton said to the hostess. He leveled a long, hard look around the restaurant. Sisters was a place he used to frequent quite a bit. It was known for its good food, lively entertainment and, most important, its abundance of women. It was a place women came to hang out; some to cultivate sisterhood—so he’d been told—some to be noticed, and others to do the noticing because where there were women, you were sure to find men.
“Trevor’s here and he’s dining alone. Do you want to join him?”
“Yeah, that will be fine.”
Clayton followed as she led the way to the table where his good friend, Trevor Grant, was sitting. Trevor was the head foreman for Dex’s company.
As he was being led to the table, Clayton couldn’t help noticing the number of women who called out a greeting to him or who were smiling openly at him. At any other time he would have made a clean sweep around the room, flirting with the women that he knew and getting ready to hit on those that he didn’t know. But not now. He was only interested in one particular woman; a woman who had told him in no uncertain terms that she didn’t want him.
“Well, well, well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Trevor Grant said, shaking hands with Clayton before he sat down. “This place hasn’t seen the likes of you for months. Where on earth have you been?”
“Busy.” He turned to their hostess. “Just give me the usual.”
The woman nodded. “All right.” A grin then curved her lips. “And by the way, Clayton. Kayla’s been asking about you, but Evelyn hasn’t. In fact, she’s now taken up with Al.”
Clayton gave her a dry look. “I’m happy for her.”
The hostess shook her head and walked off.
Trevor laughed. “Losing your touch, Clayton?”
He gave his friend a grim smile. “Just my interest.”
Trevor lifted a brow. “You not being interested in a woman will be the day they prepare you for burial.”
Clayton smiled and didn’t say anything. Instead he stood and pulled several quarters out of his pocket. Since this was Monday night, there was no live entertainment. Music was being provided by a huge jukebox that sat in the corner of the room. It contained a number of the latest hits, as well as quite a few of the oldies.
“Excuse me for a minute.” He walked over to the jukebox and after depositing his quarters, punched a couple of songs, “The Track of My Tears” by Smokey Robinson and “What Becomes of a Broken Heart” by Jimmy Ruffin. He walked back over to the table and sat down. The songs he had selected were all indicative of how he felt.
Trevor folded his arms and pinned Clayton to his seat with a curious stare. “What’s wrong with you? You’re acting like a lovesick puppy.” Trevor chuckled. “But since I know that can’t be the case, at least not with you anyway, what’s your problem?”
“Don’t have one. And what’s so bad about falling in love?”
Trevor looked up and frowned, not believing Clayton had asked such a question. “What’s wrong with it? Everything’s wrong with it. That’s when a man’s troubles begin, once he falls for a woman.”
Clayton cocked his brow. “And I take it you’ve never fallen in love.”
Trevor shrugged. “Not voluntarily, no.”
“And involuntarily?”
Trevor squirmed slightly in his seat. “I may have had a short moment of madness.” Trevor thought about the woman he had met over a year ago, Corinthians Avery. She was head geologist for Remington Oil. Their initial meeting was anything but normal. There was no doubt in his mind that she’d disliked him on sight and he’d disliked her equally as much…or so he had thought. But the infrequent times he had seen her since their initial meeting, when they’d been thrown together due to work obligations, he had found himself wanting to seek her out and make hot, torrid, passionate love to her. He hadn’t done that, of course. The woman hated his guts. But that hadn’t stopped her from invading his dreams at night, or his thoughts during the day.
“What happened?” Clayton asked.
“Nothing happened. The woman doesn’t like me. Besides, she’s in love with someone else. She’s in love with a married man.”
Clayton arched one eyebrow. “You’re kidding?”
Trevor shook his head. “Wish I was kidding. Can you believe that, especially after what happened with my old man. I almost fell for the same kind of woman who destroyed my parents’ marriage.”
After almost emptying a bottle of hot sauce over his fried chicken then topping it off with ketchup, Trevor tilted back in his chair and eyed his friend. The second song Clayton had selected was now playing. “Are you or are you not going to tell me what’s going on with you?”
Clayton exhaled a deep, drawn-out sigh. “I’ve fallen in love.”
Trevor didn’t say anything for the longest moment. He just stared at Clayton in disbelief. Finally he spoke. “Must be one hell of a woman.”
A smile tilted Clayton’s lips. “She is.”
“Who is she?”
“Don’t ask.”
Trevor rubbed his hand over his jaw, thinking. “Man, she isn’t married, is she?”
Clayton glared at Trevor. “Of course not! You know I don’t do married women.”
Trevor smiled. “I thought you didn’t do falling in love, either, but you did.”
Clayton couldn’t help but return Trevor’s smile. His friend had him there, unfortunately.
“So, what’s the problem? Whoever the woman is I’m sure she’s elated, since you’re the biggest catch in Houston.”
“She doesn’t want me.”
Trevor almost choked on his chicken. He grabbed his water to wash down the piece of meat caught in his throat. “A woman doesn’t want you! Are you serious?”
“Yes, as serious as a heart attack.”
Trevor pursed his lips. “She actually rejected you, man?”
“Yep.”
Trevor shook his head. He then pushed his plate aside and tapped his thumbs together for a few seconds. “Do you have any more quarters?” he suddenly asked Clayton.
“Yeah. Why?”
“I want to play something on the jukebox.”
Clayton stood and pulled out a couple of quarters and handed them to Trevor. He watched him cross the room to the jukebox, deposit the money and select a song. He then came back and sat down.
“I played this song for the both of us.”
Clayton lifted a brow when the jukebox roared to life with Trevor’s selection. He had chosen Toni Braxton’s “Unbreak My Heart.”
Senator Lansing looked up in surprise. “Braxter, you’re early. I wasn’t expecting you to come in until around nine.”
“There’s an important matter I need to discuss, sir.”
The senator nodded, noting the seriousness in Braxter’s voice. “Have a seat over there. Is something wrong?”
“That will be for you to decide.”
At the lift of the senator’s brow, Braxter continued. “The woman, the one I’ve been seeing, the one I took to Texas with me and introduced you to…”
“Yes, what about her?”
“She was using me to get information about you.”
The senator sat straight up. “What? How do you know that?”
“Last night I overheard a conversation she was having with someone, a private investigator. Somehow she must have found out about our interest in Syneda Walters and is doing her own investigating into it.”
“Who is she working for?” the senator asked calmly.
“I don’t know. But whoever it is, that person wants to make sure you’re not reelected.”
The senator frowned. He was running against Noel Frazier. He couldn’t believe the man would stoop to something so low. In fact, the two of them had vowed to run a clean campaign. “I want you to find out who’s behind it.”
“Yes, sir, and if you want me to, I’ll turn in my resignation.”
“Why?”
“Because I may have done more harm than good to you now. Because of me, the media may get ahold of something that you prefer kept private.”
The senator smiled weakly. “When you’re an elected official, Braxter, you don’t have any privacy. I would have preferred getting the information on Ms. Walters before anyone else. However, if there’s anything in the report that I need to be concerned with, I’ll deal with it.”
“But I let Celeste Rogers make a fool out of me. I can’t believe I was so stupid, so inexcusably stupid.”
“You weren’t stupid, Braxter. You’re a man who fell in love, and with love automatically comes trust. And the person you trusted betrayed you.”
“So what will you do, sir?”
“Nothing. We’ll just let the person who appears to be in control of things finish whatever game he or she is playing.”
Syneda entered her apartment. She had gotten through the day…now if she could only get through the night. Then she would concentrate on the rest of the week.