Redesigning Happiness

by Nita Brooks

  “And whose fault is that?”

  The elevator door swooshed open. They stared at each other. Her heart cracking. Her pride shattered. She’d been about to make a terrible mistake.

  “I’ll have our lawyer call to handle the contracts . . . and work out visitation between you and Jacob. Until then, please don’t come by my house. Goodbye, Richard.”

  * * *

  Yvonne went straight to Nathan’s home after the meeting with Richard. She was going to tell him everything. The kiss, how her feelings for Richard weren’t as nonexistent as she wanted them to be, why she thought their engagement was premature even though she did care about him, how she still wanted to do the home renovation show with him on another network, just not as his fiancé.

  All of that was a lot to process, and she didn’t expect responses to every revelation today. If anything, she expected Nathan to tell her he never wanted to see her again and kick her out of his house. That’s about what she would have done if he’d come to her with similar confessions.

  When she pulled up at his home and saw his car in the driveway, relief swept through her. She hadn’t been sure if he’d already left for Savannah. She got out of the car and skipped up the steps to his front door. Thankfully, the media attention from the day before had died down. Only two photographers still hung out in front of Nathan’s house. A big-name comedian in town for a show was arrested the night before for shoplifting. Which meant a bigger and more lucrative story. She ignored their calls as she pulled out her key to let herself into Nathan’s place. She wasn’t about to worry about letting herself in when waiting on him to answer would mean getting her picture taken a hundred times.

  There were shouts from the kitchen. What was Cassidy doing there? Why were they fighting again? She slowly made her way to the kitchen. She was not in the mood to defuse another Nathan/Cassidy showdown.

  “For the love of God, Nathan, go for what you want,” Cassidy yelled. “We’ve tried to ignore this for too long.”

  “What about Mom and Dad?” Nathan fired back. “They would be devastated.”

  Yvonne frowned and stopped at the kitchen door. What could Nathan want that would possibly devastate their parents? A chill went down her spine. Was it her? She’d met his parents when they’d come to town a few months back. They’d seemed cool about her and Nathan, but that didn’t mean anything. They could have been nice to her and gone back to tell Nathan and Cassidy they hated her.

  Cassidy stepped closer to Nathan and pressed her hand to his chest. Her green eyes pleaded with his. “They love us.” She ran her hand up Nathan’s chest to the back of his head. “They’ll understand.”

  Hold up! Was she talking about... them? “Stepsister. It’s not the same.” Her mother’s constant comeback flashed in Yvonne’s mind. She closed her eyes and shook her head. She had to be misreading things. There was no way Cassidy and Nathan were . . . Just no way.

  Her eyes opened. They hadn’t seen her. Cassidy wrapped her arms around Nathan’s neck and jammed her mouth against his. Yvonne sucked in a breath. Waited. Nathan would push her away. Any second now, he’d shove her back. Tell her to stop. Wipe his mouth and say she was being foolish.

  Any second.

  The seconds ticked by. Yvonne’s jaw dropping farther with each disbelieving heartbeat. Nathan’s body shuddered. His arms slipped around Cassidy’s waist and he kissed her back.

  “Nathan!” The shout was out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

  Nathan and Cassidy scrambled apart. Yvonne couldn’t get her mouth to close. Nathan’s shirt was pulled from the waistband. His face fire-engine red. Eyes wide.

  What the hell was going on? How long had this been going on? Why had he even asked her to marry him?

  She spun on her heel and ran toward the door. Nathan called her name and ran after her. His hand wrapped around her upper arm as she bent over to pick up her bag.

  “Yvonne, wait, let’s talk about this.”

  The plea in his voice made her want to kick him in the nuts. She jerked out of his grasp. When he came forward, she held up a hand. “No. We are not talking about this. You’re kissing your sister?”

  “Stepsister.” He ran a hand through his hair then over his face. “It’s complicated and screwed up.”

  “No kidding! And you expect me to sit here and listen while you try and explain. There’s nothing to explain. We’re through.”

  “Yvonne, please listen to me. I love you, but . . .”

  “But I shouldn’t have felt bad when Richard kissed me. That’s what I came over here to tell you. Guess you wouldn’t have cared much anyway, huh.”

  The words were angry and intentionally hurtful. She was hurting. The pain in her heart compounded with the pain from her fight with Richard. She felt like her heart had been ripped from her chest, dragged by a bus, and shoved back in. Battered, ragged and bruised.

  Nathan blinked and shook his head. Confusion blended to realization and transformed to anger. “He what?”

  “Don’t you dare look at me as if I’ve done something wrong.” She pointed toward the kitchen. “Not after what I’ve just seen.”

  “That never should have happened.” He was instantly contrite.

  Yvonne jerked the ring off her finger and threw it at his face. “And this shouldn’t have happened either.”

  Chapter 24

  When summer camp called Yvonne at the end of the week to verify if her mother was supposed to pick up Jacob, Yvonne gave them the okay instead of cursing a blue streak. Why had she expected Rochelle to not eventually butt in and force a confrontation? Not like she’d believe in giving her daughter space and time before digging into what was going on.

  Yvonne left work and went to her mom’s. Might as well get things over with sooner rather than later. Time didn’t always make difficult discussions easier.

  Her mom and Jacob were in the backyard when Yvonne arrived. Rochelle had gotten Jacob a bow that slung water balloons instead of arrows. Jacob was having a ball slinging balloons across the yard while Rochelle watched from her back porch.

  Yvonne waved at Jacob and promised to watch as she walked over and sat down next to her mom. “You didn’t have to pick him up today.”

  “I wanted to see my grandson. You were keeping him hidden.”

  “I was not keeping him hidden. We’ve been busy.”

  “Too busy to call Nathan back?” Rochelle smirked at Yvonne. “He called me last night. Asking if I’d talked to you and begging me to get you to call him back.”

  Yvonne couldn’t believe he would pull her mom into this. “I can’t believe he did that.”

  “You should be happy he called. Not many men would try to get back the woman they loved after she walked out on him. He thinks you’re with Richard.”

  “What?”

  “You heard what I said. He thinks you’ve gone back to Richard.” Rochelle shook her head. Disappointment oozed from her body in rivulets. “I don’t blame him either. The way you and Richard were practically drooling over each other at your cookout. I didn’t say anything then because I didn’t want to embarrass you in front of Richard’s family. And when you went out of town with Nathan, I’d hoped you’d gotten your mind together. Then he calls yesterday and tells me you gave back the ring and are back with Richard. Yvonne, I don’t understand you. I guess I should have known you would repeat my mistakes. I tried to tell you but—”

  “Mom, stop!” Yvonne slashed her hand through the air. “Just . . . stop.”

  Rochelle gasped and jerked back. “Oh no, you are not going to tell me to stop. Not when I told you to keep those parts of your life separate. Now you’re about to lose a good man—”

  “Did Nathan tell you the part about him kissing Cassidy?” She lowered her voice, so the words wouldn’t travel to Jacob, who’d started flinging balloons in the air and running to see if they could land on his head.

  Rochelle whipped around so fast Yvonne was surprised her neck didn’t snap. “He what?
”

  “Yes, Mom, Nathan, the so-called perfect guy, was shoving his tongue down his stepsister’s throat the other day. I walked in and caught them right in the middle.”

  Rochelle gaped for several seconds. She looked around the backyard as if expecting a different explanation to sprout up from the grass. “Well . . . I . . .” She looked back at Yvonne. “Cassidy?”

  Yvonne nodded. “I knew they were close but didn’t expect that.”

  “Neither did I. I mean . . . I thought their relationship was odd. The way he was always so into her dating life, but you know brothers can be overprotective like that.”

  “Especially when they’re trying to protect what they want.”

  Rochelle shook her head and leaned back in her chair. “Nathan? Are you sure?”

  “Mom, the image is burned into my brain. I’m very sure.”

  “What happens now? And why did he sound angry about you with Richard after he did that?”

  “Because I told him the truth. I told him that there was something there between Richard and me, but I let go of that fantasy. I was going to tell Nathan everything and see if he still wanted to do the show. Instead I find out he’s possibly been cheating on me all along with Cassidy.”

  “Are you going to still do the show?”

  “I don’t know. We signed the contract, but they signed on for a happily engaged couple. Not one who can barely be in the same room with each other.”

  Rochelle reached over and placed a hand on Yvonne’s. “Are you okay?”

  The concerned question surprised Yvonne. She’d expected her mom to make excuses for Nathan, or try to justify what he’d done. Maybe even say Yvonne had pushed him toward messing up. Rochelle had never steered clear of finding the fault Yvonne played in her previous relationships. She hadn’t expected this to be much different.

  “I’m going to be okay. I was going to break off the engagement anyway. He made it easier to do.”

  “I thought you were in love with him.”

  “I did love him, but I wasn’t ready to marry him.”

  “I wasn’t going to say it, but I didn’t like the way he proposed. In front of all those people so you had to say yes.”

  “I thought you were ecstatic. You loved Nathan and kept telling me how lucky I was.”

  Rochelle squeezed her hand then pulled back. “I meant what I said. I was happy for you. I wanted you to have what I couldn’t have. I thought Richard was going to mess things up.”

  “Why were you so sure of that?”

  “Because Richard is the one that got away, and your child’s father. He’ll always hold a spot in your heart. Why do you think I cheated on my husband and lost my family?”

  Yvonne frowned. “You never said you’d had a relationship before with my father.”

  “Because no one knew about it. When I met him, he was a hustler who made his money scamming people, but I didn’t care. The man was charismatic, and he had me so wrapped up in him I couldn’t think of anything else. Then he went to jail and I met Valerie’s father. The opposite of what I was used to. He treated me like a queen and was so sweet. I fell for it and told myself I didn’t need the excitement. Then, your dad gets out of jail, he’s found Jesus and started preaching. At my church, no less.” Rochelle’s eyes got a dreamy, faraway look, as if she were looking back and remembering the irresistible charm that came from being reunited with the one she’d lost. “I tried to ignore things. He’d gotten married, they were having a baby, I was supposed to be happy. But then one thing led to another and we were meeting up in the church basement almost every night. Charisma works on the street corner and in the church.”

  Jacob laughed as a water balloon landed on his head. “Did you see that?”

  “I did, baby.” Yvonne called back. She and Rochelle both clapped at his achievement.

  “I’m going to do it again.” His hand plunged back into the large tub of water balloons in the yard.

  “Do you think I’d be making a mistake if I were to go back to Richard?” Yvonne asked the question hesitantly. Almost afraid to put the idea back into reality.

  “I don’t know. Richard isn’t a bad man after all. He loves Jacob. He’s rich.” Rochelle shrugged. “And he’s not sleeping with his stepsister.”

  Yvonne laughed. “True, but he did lie to me. He wasn’t as interested in the show as he was in getting me back. I don’t know if I can trust him not to hurt me again.” If she were giving up one fantasy for another.

  “Then take your time and figure it out. My biggest mistake was rushing back into things. I saw that in you. The way you jumped into things with your whole heart open. I worried it would mess you up the same way I messed up. Trust your heart, but don’t let Richard or Nathan put you in a position to make a hasty decision. Men are good at that. At the end of the day remember you’re the prize.” Her mom shook her head. Her lips rose in a small smile. “We women would avoid so much trouble if we understood that from the start.”

  Chapter 25

  The press release announcing her and Nathan’s split went out the following week. She hadn’t talked to Nathan. They’d handled the breakup like civilized people through their publicist. Richard texted the next day.

  Are you okay?

  She didn’t answer. Partly because she didn’t want to give him the impression he had a right to know. She’d trusted him again. Believed he was different, that he was serious about supporting her show on his network. Instead he’d used the show to get back on her good side. She knew he cared about Jacob. The emotion when they were together couldn’t be feigned, and for that she couldn’t completely cut Richard out of her life, but she was no longer going to give a hint of a chance for them to get back together.

  The other reason she hadn’t answered was because she’d avoided thinking about whether she was okay or not. Now she had to think about it. She was angry about the way she’d found out about Nathan and Cassidy. In hindsight, maybe she should have noticed that their relationship was a little too close. But she was even more disappointed about not being able to sell the show. Though her original goal when she started her interior design business hadn’t been to eventually land on television, she’d gotten excited about the prospect of showing what she could do to a larger audience. Now that opportunity was gone.

  I’m sorry. Please let me know you’re okay.

  As much as she wanted to ignore the message, she also accepted Richard would continue to check on her. I’m fine.

  If you need anything let me know.

  I’m fine.

  If she needed anything she wouldn’t go to him. No more looking for a perfect Prince Charming. She wasn’t going to settle for anyone who wasn’t sure they were ready to give as much in the relationship as she was. No more settling for the image of happiness instead of true happiness.

  The next several days went by in a blur. She ignored phone calls and texts from Nathan, and the ones from Richard that weren’t about Jacob. She finished work on several designs and started new projects. She accepted that her schedule was getting out of control and told Lashon she wouldn’t be doing any more articles. Ignored that Lashon didn’t seem to mind as much now that Nathan was out of the picture. She blatantly ignored Bree’s attempts to get her to go and “get back out there.” She wasn’t closing herself off to love one day, but she also wasn’t ready to jump back into the dating pool after nearly drowning in disappointment.

  “Mommy, when is Daddy coming back to visit?” Jacob asked from the back seat of the car.

  They were on the way to his summer camp. Yvonne gripped the steering wheel as she eased into the parking lot of his school where the summer camp was being held. Richard had taken Jacob out the previous weekend, but since then they were working out the visiting schedule.

  “We’re working out the next visit.” She’d called her lawyer to help finalize the details of visitation. Richard wanted Jacob to visit him this summer. Yvonne knew Jacob would be okay to spend time with Richard, but she was
still worried. If Jacob went to D.C. it would be their first real separation. She had to get her mind right for that.

  “He can’t just come to the house anymore?” Jacob reached over and unbuckled the seatbelt going over his booster seat.

  “Your dad has his own house and he wants you to visit him there sometimes.” She got out of the car and went around to help Jacob.

  Once he was out of the car and they were holding hands to walk in Jacob stopped and looked up at Yvonne. “Can’t he come live with us?”

  What about Nathan, was the first thing to pop into her mind. She didn’t voice that question. When she’d explained to Jacob she wasn’t marrying Nathan he’d immediately asked if it was because she was marrying his dad. The joy in his voice had been like a sizzling knife across her heart.

  “Your dad lives somewhere else and he likes it there. He doesn’t have to come stay with us.”

  “Don’t you want him to live with us? Then we can be a real family.” Jacob smiled at her as if he’d just made the offer of the year.

  Her heart twisted. Partly because a piece of her did want them to be a real family. “It’s not that easy, baby. Remember what I told you, it’s going to be just us again.”

  She was saved from more questions by another parent walking out of the school speaking to them. Then one of Jacob’s friends ran over, and they moved on to getting him signed in for the day.

  Back in her car, Yvonne headed to Sandra’s. The last of the furniture for Sandra’s home had arrived, and the project was complete. The magazine that interviewed her and Nathan was interested in getting pictures of the interior and Sandra agreed.

  The article was supposed to be in the issue two months from now. The press release announcing their split was released too late to pull the article. Which meant the article about the loving couple would have to come with a footnote.

  Yvonne and Nathan unfortunately split shortly after this interview. Nathan is no longer waiting for the right woman and is happily having sex with his stepsister on kitchen counters across America.