Before he left for the hospital, they had an encore performance and Eva felt the happiest she felt since before she thought she was pregnant. She sat up in the bed, suddenly feeling hungry.
“Umm,” she said as she eased up and sat in the bed. “A hot cup of coffee, one of Marissa’s bacon omelets, a bagel with strawberry jam, would make this morning absolutely perfect,” she said.
She called Marissa on the intercom. “Buenos días, Marissa.” She rattled off what she wanted Marissa to prepare. “Thank you, Marissa.”
“Si. Bueno, Madam Eva,” Marissa answered.
It was still early, but she texted the other housewives anyway to arrange a Ladies Day Out. She was excited and couldn’t wait to tell them the latest about her and Harper reconciling. They would probably tell her that she was a fool, but she was ready for whatever they came to her with because she loved Harper and no one could change that.
Meesha responded but nothing was heard from Avery or Peyton. Avery was probably busy with the girls, and would call or text her back. If she didn’t, Eva would try to reach her later. Peyton sometimes slept in late, so it was no surprise that she didn’t respond right away.
While waiting on Marissa to bring her breakfast, Eva took a hot shower. By the time she got out of the shower, Marissa had brought her breakfast and sat it on the side of the bed on the end table.
Still wrapped in her bath towel, Eva walked over to the covered tray of food, removed the top, and popped a slice of bacon in her mouth. Without asking, she could count on Marissa to always put extra bacon on the side. She sat on the bed and began to devour the tray of food.
As time passed, and she’d finished breakfast, Eva got dressed and decided to do some reading, something she hadn’t done in a while considering how things had transpired in her life up until now.
Next, she called her parents and talked to them. It had been a while since they last talked. She was glad she didn’t have to lie to them anymore about her relationship with Harper. During their separation, she avoided contacting her parents and siblings. That was no longer necessary and that was something else that made her heart happy. She told her parents the same thing she told Harper about being pregnant. It was hard getting them to understand, as they had not heard of such a thing as a false pregnancy. But soon she got them to half way understand.
“Where’s the lunch spot?” Meesha texted. “You all can come to my house. I can order something in or run out and pick something up for us.”
“Are the boys going to be there?”
“Yes, but the nanny’s here so they won’t be in the way. We’ll have our privacy.”
“Okay, sounds good,” Eva texted back. “Any word from Avery or Peyton?”
“No,” Meesha replied.
“K. I’ll try to call them again.”
“Cool. 12 good?”
“12 is fine. See you then,” Eva texted. “If I don’t reach the other girls it’ll just be you and me. That cool?”
“Yep. we need to catch up anyway.” Meesha texted.
After sending the text to Eva, Meesha scrolled through her phone to scan the latest headlines taking place in Adverse City. There was usually something that she ran across that would make her laugh or just the opposite, cause her to shake her head at some of the things people did. Fortunately, one of the perks of living in one of the richest zip codes in Florida, there was very little crime. As she scrolled through the news, what popped up on her feed almost took her breath away.
ADVERSE CITY – FLA. (WSVN) - Authorities are investigating after they said two Adverse City Police officers were struck by a suspected drunk driver going northbound in the southbound lane on Adverse Boulevard. The crash happened at approximately 12:45 a.m. The officers were struck head-on by a Maybach 360. Fortunately, everybody is in stable condition,” said Adverse City Police officer, Grayson Karr. Police believe the driver, 39-year-old Peyton Hudson, wife of Adverse City Bank President, Derek Hudson, may have been driving under the influence. According to Adverse City Police, the officers, both employed with the department for less than two years were patrolling the area at the time of the crash. The crash remains under investigation.
“Carlton,” she called out, her heart pounding beneath her rib cage. “Carlton. Are you here?” She bolted toward his office, hoping he hadn’t left yet. He had told her that he had a meeting at the church at nine, but maybe, just maybe she would be able to catch him before he left.
CJ appeared. “Mom, Daddy’s not here. He already left,” her oldest informed her.
“Thank you, baby,” she said, exasperated. She went to his office, eager to call and tell him about Peyton’s accident. She pushed the Number 3 button on her phone and speed dialed him; it went to his voicemail. She tried again and the same thing happened. Next, she texted Eva and Avery to share the horrific news.
“Lord, take care of Peyton and all those involved in that accident,” she prayed while she texted them.
Chapter 20
“No one heals himself by wounding another.” St. Ambrose
Carlton parked in the hotel parking garage and waited on Avery to arrive. While he waited, he grew angrier as he opened his text messages and saw he had seventy-five messages—all from Avery! He was used to receiving a number of text messages when he wasn’t at the church office, but the highest was less than one hundred and that was from a number of different people, not one mad woman. This was insane. Seventy-five messages in a few hours, and almost two hundred since he ended their brief relationship a few days ago. Things had changed quickly, basically overnight. He resulted to putting his phone on vibrate because she would call him repeatedly throughout the day, saying the same thing she said in the text messages, which was begging and pleading him not to end what they had together. Then she would flip from begging to threatening to tell Meesha about the two of them. Today was why he lied to Meesha and told her he had a meeting early this morning. He had to handle Avery once and for all.
It wasn’t unusual for him to have early morning meetings, but he hated that he had to lie about this one. The way things were going he had no other choice. He demanded that Avery meet him at the hotel so he could try to talk some sense into her.
He glanced up from the phone, after deleting the last round of messages from her. He hoped he hadn’t accidently deleted any important texts from his family, but with the outrageous number of texts Avery was sending, at this point he didn’t really care. When he looked up and out into the parking garage, he watched as Avery creeped through the garage in her blue metallic Volvo S90. He called her phone.
“Carlton, sweetheart. I’m here,” she said.
“I see you. Circle back around. Someone just pulled out of a parking space near me. I’ll be standing where you can see me.” He ended the call and got out of the car, waiting on his nightmare to appear.
Avery circled back around like Carlton told her until she saw the available parking space. Carlton was standing in the middle of the empty space. The expression on his face revealed his discontent.
He stepped to the side as she made the turn to enter the space. When she parked and exited the car, Carlton told her to follow him to his car. She did.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked as soon as she sat down inside the car.
Avery looked at him strangely. “What are you talking about? I’m doing what any woman whose man treats her all of a sudden like she’s a side chick.”
Carlton inwardly scolded himself for ever getting involved with Avery. He thought she was someone he wanted to start a new life with, but boy had he been mistaken.
“Avery, you’ve called my phone over two hundred times since I told you things weren’t going to work out between us. You’ve texted me almost a hundred times What is wrong with you?”
“I miss you,” she said, cooing seductively but sounding like a mad woman to Carlton. “For a woman who’s having your child, I can’t understand why you’re treating me this way.”
“Listen,
we’ve talked about this.” He was trying to remain calm as best he could. He didn’t want to take the chance of setting her off and making things worse than they already were. “The child you’re carrying is not mine. It’s your husband’s child. Why can’t you understand that? What we had was good while it lasted, but it’s time that we both move on, sweetheart.”
Avery began to cry. “You used me. You got me pregnant and now you want to push me to the side like I’m nothing.”
Carlton realized that getting rid of Avery was going to be harder than he could ever have imagined. For the first time, he really began to see that she suffered from some emotional and perhaps mental issues. He didn’t know how to handle the situation. He prayed in his spirit that he would be able to say the right words to make her go away.
“Look, you know better than that. I would never use you. It’s just that you’re carrying your husband’s child now, and you need to give him a chance. Lexie, Heather, and that baby growing inside of you deserve to be with their father. They all deserve to have a stable family, not a broken home.”
Avery began to shake her head from side to side and placed her hands over each one of her ears. “No. No. No. No. No, she repeated.
“Yes. Yes. Yes,” Carlton countered, taking the hand closest to him and removing it from her ear. “Listen to me. Avery,” he said louder. “Listen to me. The enemy wants to destroy our families. That’s why he fooled us. He fooled me and he fooled you.”
Avery removed the other hand from her ear and looked at Carlton. Tear streaks showed on her face, but she said nothing. She just continued to stare at him. “He took advantage of us. We were weak and he stepped in and made us cross the line with each other. Don’t you see that, Avery?”
“The enemy?”
“Yes, Satan, Avery. He wants to kill, steal, and destroy us. You’ve heard me preach that. I know you have. We can’t let him do that. We have to ask God to forgive us for what we did. Okay? We need to ask him to forgive us for committing adultery.”
Avery’s eyebrows rose in confusion. “But why should I ask him to forgive me for committing adultery when I’m not married.”
“You are married, Avery. Remember, you’re married to Ryker.”
Avery started ranting all over again. “I’m not. Ryker won’t marry me. All of these years and he never made me his wife. We’ve been living in sin, Bishop Porter. Oh, Pastor, will God ever forgive me for living in sin?”
Carlton looked at Avery with pity forming in his eyes. “You and Ryker aren’t married?” This was like something playing out of a movie scene. Was she telling the truth? He didn’t know if he could believe what she said or not.
“No, we’re not married. We’ve lived together all these years. I’ve given him two babies, but he would never make me his wife.”
“Why?”
“He always had one excuse after another. Then month after month passed and year after year. I was never good enough to be his wife. I’ve never been good enough for anyone.”
“That’s not true. You are good enough. You’re more than good enough. There has to be a reason, Avery.”
“So you’re blaming me?”
Carlton could see her getting upset again, so he reached out and took hold of her hand. “No, I’m not blaming you. I’m saying that there has to be something he’s battling with, Avery. There could be a hundred and one reasons why he hasn’t married you. I don’t know.”
He watched her body and heard her exhale. She was calming down again.
“Lately he has asked me to marry him. But I can’t.”
“Why can’t you, Avery.”
“I can’t because I love you, Carlton. We’re getting married after you divorce Meesha.”
“I’m not divorcing Meesha, Avery. I have to do what God wants me to do. And you do too. You have to marry Ryker. You have to tell him about the baby you’re carrying. He deserves to know that you’re having his child,” he kept trying to convince her. “And you have to stop calling and texting me, Avery. We can’t mess up what we have with our families. Do you understand me?”
“Of course, I do, silly,” Avery said and started laughing. “Look, I don’t want to hurt you, Carlton, but there’s something I have to tell you.”
“What is it, Avery?” he asked, playing along with her.
“I can’t see you anymore. You see, I’m getting married. I’m marrying Ryker and we’re having another baby. Please try to understand,” she told Carlton as she reached out and cupped one side of his face.
“I…I understand,” Carlton said, playing along with her.
“I’m sorry it has to be this way.”
Avery jumped out of his car and took off to her car without looking back and without closing his door.
Carlton watched as she got inside her car, hurriedly backed out of the parking space, and sped off.
He inhaled deeply and released a long sigh. “God, let this be the end. Please, let that deranged woman stay away from me and my family. And, Father God, I promise that I will never betray my wife and family again. Just please let this be over.”
Carlton waited a few extra minutes before leaving. Just as he pulled out of the parking space, his phone vibrated. He picked it up from the console. It was Meesha.
“Hello, sweetheart.”
“Carlton, I don’t know if you heard but Peyton was in a serious accident this morning involving two police officers. I’ve been trying to call you ever since you left.”
“I told you I had an early meeting this morning. But is she okay? Are the officers all right?”
“From what I read, they’re all in stable condition. Oh, Carlton, they say alcohol may have been involved.”
“Good Lord,” Carlton said grimly. “Look, try to calm down. I’m going to Adverse General. Hopefully, they’ll let me see her. I’ll call you as soon as I find out something.”
“No, I’ll meet you at the hospital.”
“What about the boys? Who’s going to watch them? Isn’t Yulisa sick?”
“She woke up feeling much better. She said she thinks she had a case of food poisoning. She and some friends went out last night and she says she think she ate something that didn’t agree with her. And I shouldn’t be gone that long. I just want to see for myself that Peyton is all right.”
Okay, I’m leaving my meeting now and headed to the hospital.”
Meesha ended the call and immediately called Eva and Avery. Avery didn’t answer the phone but Eva did.
“I’ll see you at the hospital,” she told Meesha.
“Okay. I don’t know where Avery could be. She’s not answering her phone.”
“She’s probably doing something with the girls and Ryker. I’ll text her and tell her what happened, and let her know that you and me are going to be at the hospital,” Eva said, sounding nervous. “Bye.”
“Bye,” Meesha replied and ended the call.
Chapter 21
“Almost all of our sorrows spring out of our relations with other people.” Arthur Schopenhauer
She should have told him when she first found out that she was pregnant. She should have done exactly what Bishop Porter told her, but she didn’t. She hoped it wasn’t too late to save her family. After leaving Carlton, a confused and mentally distraught Avery, drove to Ryker’s office.
“Did you mean it when you said you want us to get married?” she asked Ryker when she appeared at his law firm unannounced and after her encounter with Carlton. She caught him right before he was headed to court.
Her mind was going in a thousand and one directions. She thought she would have a new life with Carlton, but that wasn’t going to happen.
Carlton convinced her that the devil was out to kill her, to steal everything away from her and she needed to make things right at home. She couldn’t let that happen; she wouldn’t let that happen. All of her life, she’d been used and abused, mistreated, and pushed to the side. Carlton was right; she had to fight the devil off. She couldn’t let him have
her family.
“What sparked the change of heart all of a sudden? For the past few weeks you keep denying me, so what’s so different now?” Ryker asked, as he put some papers into his briefcase.
She placed her hand on her belly. “This.”
Ryker placed the last file in the briefcase, closed it and looked at Avery. A stunned look came over his face when he heard her next words. “We’re having another baby.”
Ryker walked up to Avery and kissed her. “A baby? We’re having another baby?” he said with a soft laugh. “Are you serious?”
Avery nodded and smiled back at him.
He whirled her around then planted her back on her feet. “Avery, will you marry me?” he asked again.
This time, Avery responded, “Yes, yes, yes,” she said.
Ryker kissed her again and then remarked, “I’ve got to get out of here before I’m late for court. Think about the kind of wedding you want. We’ll talk about it when I get home tonight.”
“Okay,” she answered and laughed.
Avery heard her text notifier chime as she exited Ryker’s office. She had several missed messages from both Eva and Meesha. The latest message is the one she read, which was from Eva.
“Peyton in serious car accident. We’re at Adverse General.”
Acting perfectly normal, Avery hurried to her car and headed to the hospital.
Ω
Carlton arrived at Adverse General Hospital and parked in Clergy Parking. He hopped out of his black Bentley and dashed inside the Trauma Center entrance.
“Do you have a Peyton Hudson here?”
“Pastor Porter?”
Carlton turned at the sound of his name being called. It was Derek. He turned to look back at the nurse. “No need, ma’am. This is her husband. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” the nurse replied.
“Brother Derek, I came as soon as I heard. How is Peyton?”
The Real Housewives of Adverse City 2 Page 11