W
hoa,” Michael said to Rebecca, who had practically run him over in her attempt to
get on the elevator. “You’d better watch where you’re going.” He pulled her to the
side as the doors closed and the elevator began its descent.
“Let me go, Michael,” she said, trying to pull away from him.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
She jerked her arm away. “It’s all your fault,” she said.
“What have I done?” he asked.
She shot him a hot glare.
“Oh,” he said, as the elevators doors opened and he followed her out. “Problems in
paradise, I guess.”
“Don’t talk to me,” she said, striding toward the exit.
He followed her out and toward the parking lot. “What happened?” he asked her.
She stopped and turned to him. “Isaac asked me for a divorce. Are you satisfied?”
Without waiting for an answer, she turned and kept walking to her car. He caught up
with her. “I won’t lie and say it’s not good to see old Isaac’s marriage go up in
flames but—”
She stopped. “No buts, Michael. Don’t you get it? You hurt Isaac but you hurt me,
too. Don’t you even care about the collateral damage in your vendetta against Isaac
and Abraham? What have I done to you?”
“Look,” he said, “I haven’t said anything to your husband so you can’t blame me.”
“I do blame you,” she said. “You threatened me. You’ve been threatening me since the
day you sent that wedding gift. I just didn’t know it was a threat.”
“You’re hurting now,” he said, “but one day you’ll thank me for getting you away from
that pansy boy. You need a real man.”
Her palm connected with his jaw before he could avert it.
He rubbed his jaw. “Feel better?” he asked, smiling.
“No, I don’t feel better, and I won’t feel better until you hurt the way you hurt
others. That day is coming, Michael. Mark my words.”
He grabbed her wrist. “Is that a threat?”
She grinned a wry grin. “More like a premonition.”
He dropped her wrist and laughed. “Now I’m really scared. A premonition. You can do
better than that.”
She studied him a long moment. “Word to the wise. Instead of trying to ruin other
people’s relationships, you ought to be focusing on your own.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Josette is no fool, Michael. She’s not going to put up with you forever. She’s an
attractive woman, attractive enough to catch some man’s eye.”
“So you want me to worry about my pregnant wife being unfaithful. I think I can handle
it.”
Rebecca laughed. “She won’t be pregnant forever.”
“Let me worry about Josette.”
“You need to do more than worry,” she said.
“If you’ve got something to say, Rebecca, say it. I don’t have time for riddles.”
“What goes around comes around, Michael. You got satisfaction from knowing you slept
with Isaac’s wife. Maybe he’ll return the favor.”
Michael laughed, but uneasily. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous of my pregnant wife.
You’re pitiful, Rebecca. There is nothing between Isaac and Josette and there never
will be.”
Rebecca tilted her head to the side. “I wouldn’t be too sure,” she said. “People are
drawn to each other for a lot of different reasons. Isaac’s hurt because of my relationship
with you. If Josette knew, she’d be hurt, too. They could end up consoling each other.”
Michael ran a finger down her cheek and she stepped away. “Isaac won’t touch Josette
because I’ve slept with her. He stopped touching you after he found out about us,
didn’t he?”
Rebecca shook her head. “You’re a foul man, Michael. You deserve whatever Isaac and
Josette do to you. If I didn’t love Isaac, it would be worth it to see you get your
payback. Because I do love him, I advise you to keep your wife happy so she doesn’t
have to come crying on my husband’s broad shoulders. There’s not room for both of
us there.”
“Don’t worry about my wife,” he said.
“Keep her away from my husband and we won’t have a problem.”
Michael watched her get in her car and drive away. He’d have a long talk with Josette
tonight. No way was Isaac going to poach on his turf. He turned back toward the hospital.
But first he had to go mess with the old man’s mind. Saralyn had given him the ammunition
he needed to knock the old dude down a peg or two.
A
braham stopped abruptly when he opened the bathroom door and saw his youngest son
sitting in his recliner, the remote in his hand, flicking the channels of the television.
“It’s a shame,” Michael said, his eyes on the television. “All these stations and
you still can’t find anything decent to watch.” He turned to Abraham. “I’d think a
mogul like you would have a DVD player up in here. Don’t tell me they’re making Abraham
Martin live like the regular folk. What is this world coming to when a man’s money
can’t buy him some perks?”
Abraham finally closed the bathroom door. Michael’s monologue had given him the time
he needed to gather his wits and calm his heartbeat. How odd it was to look into his
own face on this stranger, for that’s what Michael was to him. A younger version of
himself, yes, but still a stranger. “Even I have to play by the rules,” he said, taking
the chair next to the recliner.
Michael scoffed. “Right.” He flicked the channels until he found CNN and then tossed
the remote on the bed.
“Did you come here to watch television?” Abraham asked.
Michael turned to him. “You’ve never done anything else for me. You ought to be willing
to let me watch your television.” He stood. “But if you aren’t, I can go home and
watch my own television.”
Abraham reached for his arm. “Don’t go,” he said. “But don’t play games either. We
both know you didn’t come here to watch television. That’s not your style.”
Michael shook off Abraham’s hand. “What do you know about my style?”
Abraham settled back in his chair. “I know you came to see me when I was in the coma.”
“I should have known you were awake. What were you doing—faking it?”
Abraham shook his head. “I was out of it, but bits and pieces of conversations have
come back to me. I remember that you were here and that you were angry. I remember
being happy you were here.”
Michael sat back down. “Then you definitely didn’t hear what I said. My words were
not spoken to make you happy.”
“I’m awake now,” Abraham said. “Tell me what you said to my face, like a man.”
Michael laughed. “It’s takes a man to challenge another man,” he said. “You can’t
challenge me because I don’t consider you a man.”
Abraham took his son’s words as a blow to his chest. “I’m a man, Michael,” he said.
“Not a perfect one, but a man nonetheless.”
“If you say so,” Michael said. “My mama raised me to believe a man handles his responsibilities,
rather than runs away from them. I don’t know how your mama raised you.”
The words from his mama’s letter came back to Abraham. “I’ll agree that my life doesn’t
reflect what she tried to teach me. She was a good woman, Michael. I’m sorry you never
met her.”
Michael shot him a glance. “Who says I never met her?”
Abraham raised a brow. “She never mentioned it.”
“I didn’t exactly introduce myself as her grandson,” he said.
“I wish you had,” Abraham said, knowing his ma would have welcomed him. “She would
have been a better grandmother than I was a father.”
“We’ll never know that for sure, now will we?”
Abraham shook his head. “I can’t change the past, Michael, but if you’ll give me a
chance, I’ll do better in the future. I can promise you that.”
“And your promises are supposed to mean something to me?” He laughed. “Give me a break.”
“I can’t really blame you for not believing me,” Abraham said. “I probably wouldn’t
believe me either if I were in your shoes. So, given that, how do we move forward
from here?”
“I guess that’s where the money comes in.”
Abraham’s heart fell. “Money?”’
The corners of Michael’s lips turned up in a slight smile, and Abraham knew they’d
come to the reason for the boy’s visit. “We’re both businessmen,” Michael said. “Sometimes
the easiest way to handle a problem is to throw money at it. I think this situation
fits that category, and it seems your wife thinks so, too.”
“What’s Saralyn got to do with this?”
Michael’s smile widened. “She made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
“What?” he asked, his eyes wide. “How much?”
Michael told him the number. Abraham couldn’t believe it, couldn’t believe that Saralyn
had gone behind his back and done such an outrageous thing.
“Personally, I think she had the right idea,” Michael was saying, “but I think her
number was a bit on the low side. It should be worth more than that to get me and
Deborah out of your lives for good.”
“I don’t want you and Deborah out of my life,” Abraham said, keeping his voice in
check. “I want to get to know you. Like it or not, I’m your father.”
Michael’s smile faded. “Look, old man,” he said. “Even if you did have good intentions
toward me and Deborah, you can see that this plan of yours is not going to work. You’ll
end up losing the son and wife you wanted, trying to get over the guilt of throwing
away the son and daughter you didn’t want. I’m trying to give you an easy out here.
Deborah and I have lived without a father this long. I’m sure we can make it the rest
of the way without you.”
“What if I can’t make it without you?” Abraham asked.
Michael smiled again. “You see, that’s your problem. Everything is about you. In case
you haven’t noticed, there are a few other lives involved in this story.”
“I’m sorry for the past,” Abraham said, wondering how many times he’d have to say
those five words before they were believed. “And I won’t give up on the future.”
“Even if it means losing your wife and your son? Because that’s what will happen.
Your wife practically told me straight out that she’d divorce you if you continued
on this path.”
Abraham knew he needed to have a long conversation with Saralyn and Isaac. He had
to do a better job of making them understand what he was doing and why. “I’m not going
to pay you to get out of my life. I’ll never do that.”
Michael’s eyes grew hot and he stood. “You don’t care about me,” he said, looking
down on him. “You don’t even know me. And you’ve made it very clear that you don’t
trust me.”
Abraham knew Michael was talking about the MEEG board. “How can I trust you, given
everything you’ve done?” he asked.
“How can I trust you given everything
you’ve
done?”
Abraham had no ready response. “What do you want from me, Michael?”
“I don’t want anything from you,” he said. “Not your money, nothing.”
“Then why did you come here today?”
“I wanted to tell you to your face what you and your wife could do with your money.
I won’t be bought like my sister and I won’t be bought off like some lowlife blackmailer.”
He stalked to the door, opened it, and then turned back and added, “You’re going to
have to deal with me, old man, and you’d better be ready for me.”
Abraham watched as the door closed after Michael. He raised his eyes heavenward. “What
am I supposed to do now, Ma?”
M
ichael didn’t like being summoned to Alan’s office like he was some wayward kid. “Look,
Alan,” he said, “I went to see the old man. I didn’t commit murder.”
Alan stopped his pacing. “You’re too emotional, Michael. It’s causing you to make
stupid mistakes. Going to see Abraham in the hospital was as childish and petty as
attending that board meeting. What was the point? What did either gain us?”
They may not have gained
us
anything, but I certainly felt good sticking it to them, Michael thought. Sometimes
the anger inside him grew so hot that he felt he’d blow up if he didn’t let some of
it out. “I hear you,” he said. “It won’t happen again.”
Unless there’s an opportunity that’s too good to pass up.
Alan stared at him. “I hope you’re telling me the truth. Abraham is no fool. If you
keep getting in the family’s face, you’re going to undo everything your mother and
sister are trying to do for you. Don’t you see? Everything is lining up for us. All
we need
is for your wife to have that baby, and then we’re in the driver’s seat.”
“Knock, knock.”
The sound of Deborah’s voice startled Michael, and he turned around in time to see
her enter.
“I knew you were—” she said to Alan, but stopped when she saw Michael. “What are you
doing here?” she asked. She looked to Alan. “Did Abraham overrule us on the board
seat for Michael?”
Alan shook his head. “He hasn’t said a thing to me about it.”
“You worry too much, sis,” Michael said. “Alan was preparing me for what to expect
at the next meeting.”
She folded her arms and tapped her feet. “Well, I hope he told you that fighting was
out.”
Alan chuckled, but Michael saw nothing funny. “That was a onetime thing.”
“I hope so,” she said. “I’ve never been more embarrassed in my life. Saralyn already
thinks we’re a bunch of lower life-forms who aren’t good enough to be in the same
room with her, and you only gave her data to support her prejudice.”
Michael shook his head. “If you’re thinking we’re going to win over Saralyn, you’d
better think again. Earlier today she offered me, and you, a boatload of cash to get
out of MEEG and out of their lives. It was a good offer, too.”
Deborah pressed her hand against her chest. “I can’t believe she’d try to buy us off.
Her opinion of us is lower than I thought.”
Michael didn’t like upsetting his sister, but sometimes her rose-colored glasses blinded
her to the reality of their present situation. He felt it was his job to give her
some clarity. He didn’t want her to be hurt. “You said it yourself. She doesn’t think
we’re good enough to breathe the air she breathes, much less be a part of their precious
MEEG. If she had her way, both of us would be kicked out of here in a heartbeat.”
She turned to Alan. “Is he right about Saralyn? Is she going to fight us the entire
way?”
“I’m afraid so,” he said. “I think there’s little to no chance Saralyn will ever accept
you here at MEEG or as Abraham’s daughter. I don’t think it’s in her to do so.” He
softened his voice and added, “It’s the past. She can’t deal with it, and you being
here forces her to face it.”
Michael saw the sadness settle over his sister, even as he wondered about the caring
he’d detected in Alan’s tone. “We’ve lived our whole lives without her acceptance,”
he said to his sister, deciding to deal with Alan later. “We don’t need it now.”
“Things are different, though,” she said. “She’s in our lives and we’re in hers, whether
we want to be or not.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way,” Michael said. “We can keep our interactions to a
minimum.”
“I suppose you’re right,” she said, but he could tell her disappointment ran deep.
She obviously wanted more than minimal interaction with the Martins.
“I’m sorry, sis,” he said. “I know you wanted something more, but I don’t see it happening.
There are no Thomas-Martin family dinners or holiday celebrations in our future. Not
as long as Saralyn Martin has any say.”
When Deborah didn’t respond, Alan got up and walked to her. “Why don’t you sit down,”
he said, guiding her to a chair near the desk, “and tell me why you came to visit
me.”
He sat on the edge of his desk in front of her.
“What?” she asked, blinking up at him.
“You came by the office,” he explained with a slight smile. “I assume you needed something.”
“Oh,” she said, shaking her head as if to clear away the cobwebs. “Nothing important.
I was leaving, saw you were still here, and wondered if you wanted to get a bite to
eat.” She turned to Michael. “Why don’t you call Josette and the two of you join us?
Tonight is Mama’s staff meeting at school and I didn’t want to eat alone.” Turning
back to Alan, she added, “A relaxing dinner with good conversation and even better
food would be a lovely way to end the day, wouldn’t it??”
Michael cut Alan a quick glance, silently reminding the older man of his warning to
stay away from his sister.
“Well,” Alan said, pulling off his glasses and cleaning them with the wipes he kept
in his desk drawer, “I have a bit more work to do yet.”
“You need a break,” Deborah said. “I bet you worked through lunch, didn’t you?”
“How’d you guess?”
Deborah’s answering smile took Michael off guard. Could his sister really be falling
for this guy? If she was, Alan needed to put an end to such nonsense.
“Are you psychic?” Alan asked, chuckling.
Not exactly what a man does when he’s trying to rebuff a woman’s advances, Michael
thought.
She shook her head. “Not really. I called earlier and your secretary told me your
morning meeting ran through lunch and you had a one o’clock.”
“So you’ve been checking up on me?”
She shrugged. “I was going to ask you to lunch. We haven’t talked much in the last
few days and I’ve missed our conversations.”
“You’ve missed asking me questions about Abraham, you mean.”
She shook her head. “Honestly, I have a few more questions about Alan Weems. What
can I say? I enjoy your company. I thought it was mutual.”
“Hey, you two,” Michael interrupted. “When did I become invisible?”
Deborah chuckled. “Sorry about that, Michael,” she said. “I was only teasing Alan.
He’s a good sport.” She winked at Alan. “Aren’t you?”
“You’re a very charming
young
lady,” he said, emphasizing the
young.
“Oh,” she said, “so that’s why you’ve been ignoring me. You’re worried about our ages.”
She glanced at Michael. “Do me a favor and tell Alan that he’s the type of man I usually
date.”
Michael stood. “Look, this is getting a bit too deep for me.” He kissed his sister
on the forehead. “Thanks for the dinner invite, sis,” he said, “but Josette and I
have to pass.” He turned to Alan and stuck out his hand. “Thanks for everything. I’ll
keep in mind what you’ve told me, and you do the same.”
Alan shook his hand. “I look forward to seeing you at the next board meeting.”
Michael nodded and then leaned over and whispered to his sister, “Behave yourself.
You’ve got to stop with these old guys.”
Deborah chuckled as she watched her brother leave the room.
“What’s so funny?” Alan asked.
“You’re not the only one worried about our ages.”
Alan shook his head. “To be precise, I’m worried about the differences in our ages.”
“I’m not,” she said, serious now. “Age is a state of mind.”
“Spoken like a twenty-something,” he said. “You know I’m old enough to be your father?”
“So you’ve told me,” she said. “But it doesn’t matter to me. I’ve always dated older
men.”
He raised a brow. “I wonder why that is.”
She laughed, knowing he was insinuating she had father issues. “That’s probably part
of it,” she said, in response to what she assumed he was thinking. “But also, I find
older men more interesting than young ones. Guys my age are still figuring out who
they are and what’s important to them. I like men who already have those answers.”
“Do you have them for yourself?” When she nodded, he asked, “So what’s important to
you, Deborah Thomas?”
She glanced around his office, inclined her head toward the framed picture of a young
woman on her desk. “Family. Work. No different than you. Who is she?”
He ran his hand caressingly around the frame. “My sister.”
“Are you close?” she asked. “I’d love to meet her. I bet she could give me all the
dirt on you, and enjoy doing it, too.”
He chuckled. “Yes, she would have. She was killed in an automobile accident ten years
ago. She gave me the photograph as a gift, our last Christmas together.”
“I’m sorry,” she said.
He rubbed his hand down the frame. “So am I. She was a wonderful girl, so full of
life. You remind me of her.”
“I’m honored.”
He smiled. “That’s what I mean. Instead of being insulted that you remind me of my
sister, you’re honored.”
“Insulted? Never. I hope the reminder is not a painful one. Is it? Is that why you’re
reluctant to have dinner with me?”
He shook his head. “Just the opposite. You remind me that she was full of life and
lived her life on her own terms, and to the fullest.”
“Sounds like she may have given her older brother a headache or two.”
He laughed. “Or three hundred. She could be infuriating, but she had a way of making
me see things her way. I often found myself supporting her on things I knew were not
the best for her.”
“She sounds like Michael, more than she sounds like me.”
He studied her. “No, she’s more like you. Alisha made mistakes, but she made them
for good reasons. There wasn’t a malicious bone in her body.”
“Ouch!” she said.
“Oh,” he said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to speak ill of your brother.”
She waved off his concern. “I can’t argue with the truth. Michael has often used his
charm for evil. I hate to say it, but it’s true. But let’s not talk about Michael
or MEEG. Let’s enjoy a nice dinner and forget all the Thomas-Martin-MEEG drama.”
He lifted a brow. “Do you think that’s possible?”
She shrugged. “It’s certainly worth a try.”