Authors: Marie Rochelle
True walked around the couch and stood next to him. She gave his brother one of her killer smiles. “T
hank
you,
Clinton
.” Her smoky voice whispered.
Making eye contact with him again she asked. “What is he promising not to tell me? Are you keeping secrets from me again?”
Her voice sounded low and smooth, but he heard the touch of anger, lying beneath the surface.
He didn’t know how to answer her. This wasn’t the time or place to get into what had to be said. Panic hand’s gripped his heart and the word lie pounded his brain. Don’t let her find out the truth like this, his psyche screamed at him.
“I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
Clinton
blurted out.
Hayward
’s body sprung off the couch. “You can’t do that!
I won’t allow it.” He never dreamt his own brother would betray him like this. Did he really want True for himself so badly that he would do this to him?
“I’m sorry
Hayward
she has a right to know.”
Clinton
replied, without inflection.
“NO!” He screamed one last time. What had he ever done to
Clinton
for him to despise him this much? Well, he couldn’t leave, so he stayed to watch his downfall from the only woman he has ever loved.
Looking at True Clinton continued. “
Hayward
was telling me about the Christmas present he got for you and he wanted a second opinion.”
Hayward
collapsed back down on the couch, breathing a sigh of relief.
Clinton
had kept his secret.
He wondered - could True and
Clinton
hear his pounding heart?
Clinton
hadn’t betrayed him.
True’s
coca eyes lit up. “You know what my Christmas present is. Tell me.”
Standing up to his full height,
Clinton
shook his head as he walked toward the door. “No, a promise is a promise I can’t say a word.
I’ll see the two of you later.”
He murmured then strolled out the door.
Soft fingers brushing the collar of his shirt sent shivers down his spine. “What did you get me for Christmas, baby?”
“You have to wait until then. I’m not going to give it away.” He growled, pulling her into his lap for a kiss.
“Son, don’t you ever let the poor girl up for air?” Lance asked from the open doorway. “You don’t have time for kissing, its time to eat.”
He looked at them with sadness in his eyes, before he left the doorway.
True pressed her face into his shoulder and laughed at his father’s bad timing. “Your father probably thinks the only thing we do is
makeout
.” She whispered whilst lifting up her head. “I almost died when he caught us in the hallway yesterday and then out by the pool thirty minutes later.”
“Dad understands what it’s like to be in love.” Standing True up in front of him, he slipped her arm through his and escorted her from the room.
* * * *
Later that night at
Clinton
’s house True was working at the kitchen table when a sound outside caught her attention. Rising from the table she opened the patio doors and walked outside to look around. Sensing something was out there, she moved further into the backyard. She had an odd feeling that someone was watching her.
“Hello, is anyone out there?” She yelled.
Silence
Moving a little towards the woods,
True
called out again, “Is there anyone out here?”
Silence
Shrugging her shoulders she turned around and ran into a warm solid chest. Screaming at the top of her lungs, she put her hands to defend herself, as two hands wrapped around her arms.
“Stop.
Don’t touch me.”
“True, what is wrong with you? Why are you out here by yourself late as it is?”
Hayward
yelled, shaking her.
Throwing her body against his, True took several calming breaths, “I heard something outside and I came to see what it was.”
Hayward
leaned
True’s
body away from him. A deep frown stretched across his forehead. “Why in the hell did you do that? You didn’t know who or what was out here! Anything could have happened to you.” He hugged her body back to his. She knew that his eyes were searching the area behind her.
“I didn’t think about that,” True mumbled.
“
Damnit
!
Next time think about it!”
Tears welled up in her eyes making the front of
Hayward
’s shirt damp, but she didn’t care. He was right. Anyone could have been out there in the woods, waiting for her.
“Oh, baby I didn’t want to make you cry,” he ground out. “Just don’t come outside looking around by
yourself
at
Taking her by the hand
Hayward
took her back through the patio doors and locked it behind them. Finding a tissue he removed her glasses and wiped away her tears. Kissing each damp eye, he pulled her back into his arms. “I’m sorry that I yelled at you out there, but if anything happened to you. I couldn’t go on.”
”I just went outside to check the noise. Nothing would have happened to me.”
“I don’t know why, but I just got this feeling. If I didn’t come outside when I did, you wouldn’t be in my arms right now.”
* * * *
A shadow watched the couple from the woods still hidden by the darkness. The figure lit a cigarette blowing out the smoke. A menacing smile curved around Sylvester’s lips, “Don’t worry
True
once I have you with me you won’t have time to cry.
Your death will be quick. You must pay for allowing yourself to fall in love with him.”
Flinging the butt on the grass, he grounded it underneath the heel of his boot after he took one last look at the couple; Sylvester slithered back into the woods.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The following morning,
Hayward
got everything packed up and headed for the airport with True.
Clinton
had offered to skip a meeting at work and drive them to the airport, but he declined the offer and rented a car instead. There was a special place that he wanted to visit before he left
Stamford
again.
“Do you mind if we stop somewhere first?”
Hayward
stopped at a red light and looked over at True.
“No, I don’t mind if we stop.” She said, glancing away from the romance book in her hands.
“T
hank
you.”
Turning right at the stoplight, he drove for about forty-five minutes until he came to a cemetery. He shut off the engine and then rested his head on the wheel.
I can do this. I can do this
. Taking a couple of deeps breaths, he composed himself and then grabbed the flowers he bought last night from the back seat.
“I’ll be back in a little while.” He got out of the car and slammed it behind him. His shoes crunched on the grass as he strolled over the hill to the three graves he hadn’t visited since their untimely deaths. He blew on his hands to keep them warm against the cool fall air. Swallowing back a rush of unexpected tears, he slowly walked to his mother’s grave first.
Squatting down, he ran his hand over the picture his father had made into the stone.
“Mother, I still miss you so much.” His deep rich voice mumbled over the tears falling down his cheeks. “T
hank
sgiving wasn’t the same without you this year. I never got to say goodbye but I know you knew how much I loved you.”
Lowering his voice he said, “Mom, I finally found the love of my life just as you knew I would. She’s everything you said she would be and so much more, but sometimes I feel I don’t deserve the unconditional love she gives me.”
The silence of the graveyard loomed around him like a heavy cloak, but it also gave him some of the peace he had been searching for. “Please give me some of your love, wisdom and strength so I can be completely honest with her when we get back home.”
Laying the roses on his mother’s grave,
Hayward
touched the headstone before he went to the other graves.
Looking down at Brooke and
Tyler
’s headstone side by side, the words
Beloved Mother and Son Rest in Peace
stared back at him. “Brooke, I’m so sorry I wasn’t what you were looking for,” he muttered. “We should have never gotten married. We weren’t in love with each other.” Touching the gray granite lightly, he laid a single yellow rose on it.
Bending down he brushed the dirt off his son’s tiny headstone. “Hey little guy, do you know how much your daddy still misses you?” Fresh tears formed in his eyes, “I promised you I would be there to protect you, but I wasn’t,” he cried. “I should have stayed at home for your birthday party and not been at work.”
Why did life have to be so cruel and take his son?
Tyler
never got a chance to live!
“If I could take your place in the cold ground, I would.”
Tears rolled down
Hayward
’s face as he thought about his precious son buried beneath his feet.
Tugging a part of the train set he had brought for
Tyler
out of his pocket,
Hayward
twisted it between his long fingers. “Son, I know you never got to see the present I brought for you, but here’s a part of the train set.” He laid it down on the ground in front of his son’s grave. “I hope you can forgive me one day.”
Standing up,
Hayward
glanced over his shoulder and saw True behind him. He sensed her the second she walked up, but she didn’t utter a sound while he said goodbye to his family. Reaching behind him, he held out his hand so she could take it.
Slipping her gloved hand inside his, she cuddled closer to his body. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt you. I got worried. You have been gone for so long. I hope you aren’t upset.”
Kissing the top of her head
Hayward
kept his eyes on
Tyler
’s grave. “No, I’m not upset with you, honey. I’m glad you are here with me.” He stood there looking at his family’s graves another ten minutes. “We better leave or we will miss our flight.”
He spun around in one fluid movement and took her back to the car.
It was time to but his past in a special part of his heart and move on with his future. A future with True and a diamond ring on her finger.
* * * *
A week later True was still worried about
Hayward
. He hadn’t been the same since they came home from
Stamford
. He stayed in his office working most days and late into the evenings. She didn’t know what the matter was. Plus they hadn’t made love once this week and that wasn’t like him. He would pull her into his arms at night and fall asleep.
However, when she woke in the morning, he would be already dressed and in his office working.
“Maybe he needs some time alone.” She muttered under her breath.
Digging through the nightstand, she shoved paper and books around until she found a fine tip ink pen. Writing him a quick a note she folded it in half then placed it on his pillow. Picking up her bags, she opened the bedroom door and went downstairs.
Pausing by the den’s door, her hand reached out toward the door and she snatched it back. She opened the front door, walked out and then closed it softly behind her.
Back at her house, True changed clothes and pulled her hair back in a bun. “Okay. I'm ready to rid my house of all the dust bunnies.”
She stared at the cleaning supplies she gathered together after she came home. They sat in a perfect row on the living room table ready for her to use. “When I finish you’ll shine just like as a nice penny and that’s a promise.”
Starting in the much-needed kitchen, she dragged the trashcan to the refrigerator throwing out all the items, which looked about half dead. “I think this is left over from the party I had for
Jenisha
and Clinton.” She muttered, holding a purple container in her hand. Cracking the lid, a rotten odor rose from inside the plastic container, almost choking her.
“
Omigod
.”
She gasped tossing the entire container in the trashcan.
“One enemy down,” she brushed off the knees of her favorite pair of cleaning jeans. They fit her junk in the trunk so well, but they weren’t outside jeans. The position of some of the holes would get her arrested.
“Now, I’ve got to clean the kitchen demon.” Spinning around, she faced the appliance she hated the most. It sat there, challenging her. Picking up the yellow can off the marble counter, she stalked over to clean it.
“Listen here buddy. I won’t allow you to win this time.” She growled, twisting the top off the over cleaner. Tossing the top on the counter with one hand, True opened the oven door with her free hand. Spraying the horrible smelling chemical inside the oven, she slammed the door shut and set the timer above the stove. “Work your magic and I’ll go grab some extra cleaning supplies from upstairs.”
She decided to start downstairs while the self-cleaning oven worked its magic.
Dust covered everything she ran her fingers across. Her little dust bunny pals decided to procreate while she had been gone. She worked on the living room until it would past a white glove test. Arranging her bear collection on the table she dusted off the shelf and then sneezed when dirt flew up in her face. Happy with the downstairs, she placed all her precious bears back and left the living room for her bedroom.
Placing her hands on her hips, True shook her head at the pile of clothes on her bed and scattered throughout the room. Sitting down in a chair True separated the clothes into colored piles on the left and the whites on the right.
After that was done she sprayed out the hamper placing it outside on the balcony to air out.
Going back downstairs with her arms full of clothes, she started a load of laundry and then swiped out the stove. After everything was fluffed, folded and put away, she collapsed on the couch and fell to sleep.
The ringing brought
True
out of her much needed sleep. Shaking the sleep from her head, she reached over the back of the couch and answered the phone.
“Hello?”
“Did you enjoy your trip, whore.” A male voice hissed in her ear.
Hearing the man’s voice True sat up on the couch instantly awake. “I don’t know who you are or what you are talking about.”
“Don’t play dumb with me, True.” His demented voice growled. “I know you went out of town with your boyfriend.”
Pain shot through her fingers from the strangle hold she had on the phone. “How did you know I haven’t been home?”
“You would be surprised about how much I know about you.” He taunted. “But don’t worry we will meet real soon and I’ll tell you.”
Dropping his voice another octave he growled.
“I’ve seen you with
Hayward
in your bedroom having sex. All those things you’ve done with him you’ll do with me too.”
Chills slithered down her spine at the visions he evoked in her mind. She should have stayed at
Hayward
’s.
Why did I leave
?
“Are you still there?” He asked panting on the other end of the phone. “Do you want to know what I’m doing while I’m thinking about the gorgeous body of yours?”
Slamming down the phone, True covered her mouth with her hand as she got up from the couch and ran into the bathroom. She tried to keep the bile rising in her throat from covering the floor.
After heaving into the toilet, she pressed her head onto the cool porcelain and tried to calm her racing heart. “Why is this happening to me?” She wouldn’t tell
Hayward
about this. He had too much going on right now. He didn’t need to be bothered with this crank caller. Pushing herself up on shaky legs, she left the bathroom and went into the kitchen for a glass of water.