His Redemption

by Nikki Chase-Coakley

  “Yeah well looks can and in this case are deceiving. When I tried to break things off with her she waved a copy of one of my movies in my face and threatened to do a little show and tell if I didn’t continue to date her. I stayed with her for a while but once you and Dad moved away I thought it would be safe to walk away for good. Things were quiet for a while but then Mike decided to leave and I had to hire a replacement. The moment Sarah took over things with Christy started to change. She couldn’t accept the fact that I had fallen in love with someone else and she lost whatever good sense I thought she had. I could have handled it if she’d gone after me but instead she has done everything she could to hurt Sarah even putting her life in danger. I can’t risk it anymore Mom. Who knows what will happen next? For all I know she might not survive the next time.”

  “What does Sarah have to say about all this?”

  “Nothing” he admitted. “She doesn’t know the real reason those men went after her.”

  “Doesn’t she have a right to know the whole story?”

  “I would rather have her angry at me then terrified to leave her own home.”

  “So you end a relationship with the woman you claim to love and she doesn’t even know why? Doesn’t that sound a bit crazy to you?”

  “If Sarah stays safe, it’ll be worth it. The police may have gotten those men off the street but they can’t touch Christy.”

  “So if I have this right, you think Christy will leave Sarah alone if she sees that Sarah no longer lives here?”

  Tony did a double take at that and Celeste smiled. “It’s not as if it was hard to figure out. Her stamp is all over this place.”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t say something earlier. I always figured you would go through the roof if you ever found out.”

  “I would like to believe I’m a little more understanding but judging from my initial reaction I can see why you would make that assumption. I’m really sorry son. I wasn’t exactly behaving like a grown up.”

  “I forgive you Mom, besides it’s not as if it matters now anyway. It’s over. Sarah’s gone. She quit her job today and she’ll be moving out soon. After that, we’ll probably never see each other again.”

  “No!”

  “What do you mean no?”

  “You're being an idiot. You cannot afford to let the best thing that ever happened to you to slip away without a fight.”

  “Mom,” he explained with more patience that he actually had. “It’s for the best. I can’t keep allowing my bad decisions to hurt the ones I love. Who knows what might happen next? This attack was just the icing on the cake. Christy had been harassing Sarah for weeks before I finally fired her. Little accidents kept happening that would put her at risk and it was all because the woman was jealous of my relationship with Sarah. Bosley bit her. She fell down the stairs after she tripped on a toy that shouldn’t have been there. I saved her from falling off a ladder and nearly breaking her neck the day we agreed to start seeing each other. I can’t help wondering if Sarah would have given me the time of day if it weren’t for that. After she’d seen what I did to those guys she fainted. I think I scared her even more than they did. I know I scared myself. When I found out that this was all because of me I wanted Christy’s blood but I also blamed myself. Every time I turn around I'm causing Sarah some kind of misery. She deserves better than that."

  The small woman stood then and planted her hands on her hips. The gesture reminded Tony so much of Sarah it almost made him want to smile. The two women had more in common than he’d ever realized. Both of them were fearless when it came to something they were passionate about and looked about as frightening as dandelion fluff. They were both tiny women but each had a presence that made them seem almost larger than life and he loved them both so much it hurt.

  "Is this your final decision?"

  "It has to be."

  "Then you're an even bigger fool than I first thought and just maybe you don't deserve her."

  "I know I don't."

  Celeste entered the kitchen at the end of the long hallway. On the way there she noted the subtle feminine touches that had been added to the house thanks to Sarah; a few brightly colored throw pillows on the otherwise bland looking brown sofa, a colorful print on the wall near the first floor powder room, the gleaming red tea pot sitting on the spotlessly clean black stove in the kitchen with the matching tea towels and pot holders. There was no way Tony would have thought of things like that. It struck the woman not for the first time just how much good Sarah had brought to her son and how badly he needed the woman in his life. Why couldn't the man see that? Why hadn’t she been able to see it sooner and make the girl feel more welcome? She was nearly as guilty as Tony for acting like a fool.

  She sighed yet again and slumped into the kitchen chair across from her husband of forty years. At sixty-seven Peter was still the man of her dreams. He could look at her and know practically everything that had just transpired. It was something she had never quite gotten used to but had learned to appreciate. He reached over and took her hand. "It will be alright Honey. Tony just needs some time to get his head on straight. You wait and see. He'll come around."

  "But what if he doesn't do it in time? I was so cold when I first met her and I feel just awful about that. You were right, she's a lovely woman. I had no right to get in the way of my son’s happiness."

  “Well, to be fair at least you’ve owned up to it and now that you know better you can do right by our son.”

  She shared with Peter what Tony said about the attack. They were both silent for a long time after that working together to put the finishing touches on a dinner that most likely wouldn’t be eaten. Finally Celeste pronounced. "We have to get the two of them back together. I don’t care how noble his intentions, Sarah is safer with him. They shouldn’t let someone else make decisions about their future not me, not some jealous former lover- no one."

  "I don't think it's such a good idea to interfere Lessie. We need to let them work this out on their own."

  "I have to talk to Sarah. I need to make amends with her and she deserves to know the truth. I just thank God Tony had enough sense to get away from Christy when he did. I can’t imagine what his life would have been like if he’d continued to keep himself tied to such a crazy person. Hearing him tell me about the trouble he’s been in makes me appreciate what a gem Sarah really is."

  Peter sighed dramatically. "I can’t stop you from talking with Sarah if you are determined but I strongly suggest you refrain from doing anything more than apologizing. Leave the rest for them to work out on their own." He cautioned sternly.

  Celeste gave him her most innocent look. "Of course dear, I would never go against your wishes in any regard."

  Her husband snorted but said no more. He knew his wife well enough by now to know that she would do whatever she thought was best regardless of what he thought and to be honest, most of the time she was right. He just hoped that when Tony finally married Sarah he would learn this particular lesson about his wife sooner rather than later. It would save them both a world of aggravation.

  Chapter Nineteen

  "Mom please, I'm fine. There's no need to fuss." Sarah insisted as her mother tried yet again to get a better look at her bruised and still slightly swollen face.

  "Those boys should be castrated for what they tried to do to you. I'm just glad Tony showed up before they could do more damage than they already did to my baby."

  Sarah sighed. If her mother only knew that Tony had done far more damage than her attackers ever could. How could he just abandon her like that? Was it something she’d said or done? She was roused from her musings and her mother's clucking when the doorbell rang. She quickly hopped up. "I'll get it."

  She raced out the kitchen where her mother was alternating between cooking Sarah's favorite meal and fussing over her. After showing up on her mother's doorstep earlier that day the older woman took one look at her only child and flew into a rage. Sarah had to quickly
explain what had happened and how Tony had rescued her but she hadn't yet told the woman the worst of it. Without checking to see who was at the door Sarah yanked it open and stood stunned as she stared up at the man in the doorway. He was reasonably tall, not quite six feet with a thick head of salt and pepper hair. His face was clean shaven and he wore an expensive looking chocolate brown suite with a cream colored dress shirt. Sarah didn't recognize the man right away until she looked into his eyes. They were achingly familiar, set in a face a bit older than she'd remembered.

  "Daddy?"

  He smiled a tentative smile and bent to hug his little girl. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight.

  He drew back to lightly cup her face in his hand. "Are you alright, Cherie? Your mother did not tell me it was this bad.”

  From behind her, Sarah's mother came bustling down the hall wiping her hands on a towel. "Sarah, who is-"

  She froze as she saw who was at her door. "Nicholas, I-uh – w-what are you doing here?"

  Sarah's eyes narrowed as she studied her mother. Lorraine didn't seem nearly as surprised to see her father as she should have. And what had her father said just now? Something about ‘your mother didn't tell me that it was this bad’, what did that mean and how in the world did he get there so fast from France when she'd only told her mother this morning what happened?

  "Would anyone like to explain to me why I feel as if I'm in an alternate universe?" She looked from one parent to the other. "Mom, Daddy said that you talked to him about what happened. And Daddy, how could you have gotten here so fast if you weren't in the country?"

  To say that the couple looked uncomfortable was an understatement. If it weren't for the fact that Sarah knew her mother was still angry at her dad for walking out on them she would have almost believed they were keeping secrets. Her mother cleared her throat awkwardly.

  "Why don't we go into the kitchen? Dinner is just about ready and I know you're hungry Sweetheart."

  They did and moments later Sarah found herself sitting at the kitchen table across from her parents sharing a meal with them for the first time since she could remember. "I still can't believe you're actually here." She told her father.

  He reached out and took her hand. There was no mistaking the deep regret in his eyes- eyes that were the mirror image of hers. "I'm so sorry I haven't been here for you Sarah. I know I haven't been the father I should have been to you all these years."

  She shook her head. "It's alright Daddy. I know you did the best you could under the circumstances. I never doubted your love for me."

  "Tell me what happened." He asked.

  "I was attacked in the parking lot at work the other night. Tony saved me."

  Nicholas stiffened as if hearing it for the first time. "Are you alright? Did you see a doctor? What did they say?"

  Something perverse in her made her give a sickly laugh as she pushed gravy laden potatoes across her plate with her fork. "She told me the swelling and bruising will go away in a matter of days and the baby is doing fine."

  They both stared at her. "That's not funny Sarah. We’re very worried about you."

  "I wasn't trying to be funny, Mom. I really am pregnant. I found out in the hospital after the attack. I'm about eight weeks along."

  "But that's wonderful news Cheri. You and Tony will have to marry sooner I think. And now that I am here I will be able to give the bride away."

  Her eyes filled with tears then and she shook her head. "There isn't going to be a wedding, Daddy. Tony broke off our engagement."

  Nicholas moved from his rather stiff position on the chair to Sarah's side of the table and held her while she cried into his expensive shirt. "A lot of men are a little, how you say, uh frightened when they first hear that they are about to become a father. But take it from me, he will be back once he's had a chance to accept it. He will even be very happy about it I am sure."

  "He doesn't know." Sarah sniffed and dabbed at her eyes with her napkin.

  "I don't understand." Lorraine interjected. "If he doesn't know about the baby why did he break up with you?"

  "He spouted some nonsense about needing some space- that our relationship progressed so quickly we should take some time to be sure of our feelings. When I asked him which one of us needed to be sure me or him he said we should start seeing other people. I think it was his way of saying he didn't love me anymore after seeing me with those two men. Maybe in his mind he thought I wanted them to do what they did. I don't know."

  She sniffed again and attempted to pull herself together. With a swipe of her hand she brushed her tears away. "It's probably just as well."

  Lorraine frowned. "What do you mean?"

  "Well, I warned him a relationship was probably going to be more trouble that it was worth. I mean look at you two. You guys loved each other. Daddy, you even defied your family and left the country you grew up in to be with the woman you loved and look how badly that turned out. We didn't stand a chance and I knew it. I should have stuck to my guns and stayed away from Tony. It probably would have saved us both a world of hurt."

  Sarah lowered her head to stare morosely at her plate missing the look her parents exchanged across the table. Nicholas shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Yes, about that Cheri, I think it's about time we had a talk about what happened all those years ago."

  "Yes," Lorraine interjected. "A lot has changed since then and you need to know the truth."

  "About what?"

  "About us of course- there's a lot you didn't know about our situation, some of which up until recently, I didn't know myself."

  "OK, so what happened?"

  Nicholas took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You were told the story about how we first met and fell in love. We knew within the first few weeks that we were meant to be together and a month later we had plans to marry and run the restaurant together. But as you know, my parents did not approve of my marrying your mother."

  "I know this part." Sarah interrupted. "They didn't approve of the fact that Mom was a black woman that wanted to marry their son. So you moved here, got married and opened up your own restaurant."

  He shook his head. "That is not exactly the truth. In fact I'm not quite sure where you got that impression since you were never told what really happened."

  "So tell me now."

  "My father had already chosen my bride before I ever met your mother. Andrea was the daughter of an old friend of his. The plan was that I would finish school and we would be married shortly after graduation. Only the week I returned home I met your mother and I did not want to be with any other woman but her. We married in secret in Paris but ran away to the United States when we learned your mother was pregnant. Your mother insisted she wanted our baby to be born on American soil."

  To Sarah's surprise she watched her father share a tender smile with her mother. "She had spent the last few years in France and with the pregnancy she was feeling more than a little homesick. I would have done anything to make her happy so we came here."

  "What happened after that? If you didn't leave us because of the racial thing why did you leave?"

  He sighed. "I was notified that your grandfather had fallen ill and your grandmother had never run the restaurant before. They contacted me insisting they needed my help. I was only supposed to be there for a few weeks while my father recovered but it turned out to be a trick to get me away from your mother and you. It seemed that my father had used his political connections to have our marriage annulled and unless I agreed to marry the woman my father chose I would be cut off financially. I knew your mother would struggle to survive if I did not do as he demanded. I never wanted the two of you to want for anything and if marrying some woman I did not love would ensure that my family was provided for that was a small sacrifice to me."

  "That’s why you married Andrea?" She asked feeling confused.

  Nicholas nodded looking regretfully across the table at her mother. "I spoke with her before the wedding and tol
d her everything. She understood. In truth, she was in love with another man and was even carrying his child. Since the man was someone her father would never have approved of we agreed to have a marriage in name only. Those children that you saw in the photos I sent you were never mine, as you recall my telling you. Andrea and I stayed married long enough for her father to die. During that time I ran the family restaurant and sent you money and letters and photos. Andrea continued to see her lover and conceived more children with him. They have three in total. Once Andrea's father died and the man divorced his first wife, Andrea and I annulled our marriage allowing her to marry the man she really loved Richard Jervase. I even gave the bride away at their wedding. You mother did not know any of this until recently. She'd mistakenly assumed that I'd stopped loving her and that was why I left but that was never the case. I wanted to protect you and that was the only way I knew how. At the time, I did not have any money of my own. I was in a different country where they did not acknowledge my educational degrees and Lorraine's was not yet the success it is now. You and your mother would have suffered had I not made the choices I'd made. My only regret is that I was forced to abandon the two people that meant the most to me."

  "I understand but that doesn’t really explain why you are here now. Don’t get me wrong Dad I’m very happy you’re here but you could have told me all this over the phone a long time ago."

  Again Nicholas looked across the table to his former wife. "I no longer care what my father has to say about my life. I've loved your mother ever since I first saw her. It killed me to know that she hated me for what I'd done but not knowing why. I have never met another woman like her and I know I never will. If you had not told me about Lori in our most recent phone call I never would have hoped that she might take the time to talk with me."

  "Does this mean the two of you are reconciling after all this time?"

  They both looked to Lorraine for the answer. She gave a soft smile in response. “We’re still discussing everything. There’s a lot I'm still trying to understand and forgive about the past but the door isn't completely closed."