Best She Ever Had (9781617733963)

by Ellis, Shelly

  Particularly Cris . . . He hadn’t spoken to and barely looked at Lauren for the past couple of weeks. She supposed she deserved it. She had picked a fight with him, and now it looked like she was the cause of all his troubles. She and her family probably would be the reason Cris would lose the mayoral election.

  They still didn’t know who had created the “Chesterton Scandals” Web site, though Lauren had her suspicions that Mayor Knightly was the mastermind behind it. But who had done it was irrelevant. Whoever had created the Web site had achieved their purpose. The gossip mill was churning full throttle in Chesterton thanks to the site’s debut. Old rumors were being whispered again, and the focus seemed to be less on how great a guy Cris was and how great a town leader he would be, and more on the unsavory exploits of Lauren and her sisters. Mayor

  Knightly had said that Chesterton needed a mayor and a mayor’s wife who represented traditional values, community, and a sense of morality. Someone had made it abundantly clear that Lauren didn’t fit the bill.

  Meanwhile, Cynthia and Clarissa were dealing with their own fallout from their disastrous trip to Las Vegas a few weeks ago. Mother and daughter were barely on speaking terms, Clarissa was no longer returning Jared’s phone calls, and Cynthia had received a terse letter from Korey Walker’s lawyer requesting a blood test to prove paternity. They were currently awaiting test results.

  The family was still stunned and confused at the news that Korey could be Clarissa’s father. No one had heard of the man before a few weeks ago, though Dawn vaguely remembered hearing Cynthia mention a boy of that name a few times back when they were teenagers.

  “But I don’t remember her saying anything about seriously dating him,” Dawn had said over the phone a couple days ago. “I certainly had no idea he was her baby daddy!”

  Lauren gazed across the table at Cynthia, who was making a poor show of pretending to eat her brunch. Lauren shook her head in bewilderment. How had Cynthia managed to keep such a big secret for this long? Doing something similar would have eaten up Lauren from the inside out.

  “Like you’ve never kept secrets,” a voice in her head ridiculed. “You keep secrets from Cris all the time! He still doesn’t know why you’re really angry at him.”

  She lowered her eyes at the Chenille tablecloth. No, he didn’t, and that made her feel even worse. She promised him that she would always be honest with him, and once again, she was breaking that promise.

  “Well, I hope everyone’s mood improves soon,” Yolanda proclaimed as she tossed aside her linen napkin and pushed back her chair. She rose from the table. “Because I swear I’ve gotten more laughs and conversation at a wake!”

  With that, the brunch had ended. The maids collected the last of the half-eaten plates of food and tepid cups of coffee. Stephanie, Dawn, Cynthia, and their respective families mumbled their good-byes before shuffling out of the sunroom. Lauren, Cris, and Crisanto Jr. were the last to leave. When they did, Lauren paused at the corridor leading out of the sunroom to speak with her mother.

  “I’m sorry today’s brunch was such a bust,” Lauren said as she cradled her slumbering son to her chest.

  Yolanda adoringly ran her hand over Cris Jr.’s head, then shrugged. “Oh, it’s fine. I know how it goes. You and your sisters worry too much about things that’ll be taken care of with time. You must get it from your fathers, because you certainly didn’t get that worrywart gene from me.”

  “But things won’t just be ‘taken care of,’ Mama. It’s not like any of us can wave some magic wand to fix all this stuff. Cris could lose the election! Cindy doesn’t even know who’s the father of her child, and—”

  Yolanda held up a hand, closed her eyes, and nodded. “All these things will be settled with time, Laurie. Trust me. I’ve been through enough paternity suits to know not to get in a tizzy over it. And as far as the election, well . . .” She opened her eyes, inclined her head, and smiled. “Everyone will get their justice due. You’ll see. Don’t worry.” She patted Lauren on the shoulder. “Now you two drive carefully. Don’t forget to take some leftovers with you.”

  Lauren walked away from her mother, sighing in exasperation. Of course Yolanda didn’t think any of this was that big of a deal! Whenever she had a problem, she simply had one of her men write a check or make a phone call to fix it. But none of the fixes would be that simple this time.

  Ten minutes later, Lauren and Cris drove in their Aston Martin in silence back to their home a few miles away. Lauren glanced in the rearview mirror to find Cris Jr. still slumbering quietly in his car seat in the back. She then glanced at her husband. He looked tired. On impulse, she reached out and placed a hand on his knee to comfort him. To her surprise, he reached down and placed a hand over hers and squeezed it.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered, feeling as if those words were long overdue, feeling as if a massive weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

  “Sorry about what?”

  “About storming out of the bedroom a few weeks ago. About making you think that I was angry at you for meeting with Marvin and his wife when I was really just being insecure and frustrated with the same ol’ . . . the same ol’ small-town nonsense.” She let her head fall back against the leather headrest. “I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you—and honest with myself. I’m so, so sorry, Cris.”

  “I just don’t understand how you could ever think I would put Marvin Payton’s opinion—or anyone else’s, for that matter—above my love for you. I mean . . . damn, baby—”

  “Say ‘doody’,” she whispered, glancing over her shoulder at Cris Jr. “Remember, we said we would watch our language in front of him.”

  “He’s asleep,” Cris said tightly. “I’m not going to say ‘doody’ when I mean ‘damn,’ because ‘damn’ is what I mean. What else do we have to go through for me to prove myself to you?”

  “You don’t have to prove anything!”

  “So why are you still questioning me?”

  “I’m not, Cris! I swear I’m not!”

  He pulled his hand away. She watched him gnaw the inside of his cheek. He didn’t look convinced.

  “I’m . . . I’m questioning myself, like I always have.” She released a long, slow breath. “And it’s getting so goddamn old.”

  Great, now even she was cursing.

  The car turned onto the gravel road leading to their mansion.

  “I don’t know what to tell you, Lauren. We’ve been through this before. You’re not going to change people’s minds. You’re just going to have to accept that.”

  “But it holds you back! They’re turning against you because of me and—”

  “And it’s their loss! I knew that coming in, before I even agreed to run for mayor.” He glanced at her and then returned his attention to the road. “Look, you’re my wife. We’re a package deal. If they can’t accept you, then they can’t accept me. That’s it!”

  “Even if it means you lose the election?”

  “Even if it means I lose! I don’t give a fuck, Lauren!” he shouted, making her bring her finger to her lips. She pointed over her shoulder at their son.

  “There are worse things,” he said in a lower voice, “. . . like finding out you’re the father to a kid who you didn’t even know existed.”

  Lauren winced. She knew he was referring to Cynthia. “That’s a low blow, Cris. Cindy didn’t—”

  “Didn’t what? Didn’t know she had been lying to the man all this time?” He curled his lip in disgust. “Come on, baby, I know you want to defend your sister, but even you have to admit that was some shady shit she pulled.”

  “And she feels bad about it.”

  “Yeah, I bet she does. Now that her ass got caught!”

  “She didn’t get caught! She doesn’t even know for sure if he’s Clarissa’s dad! Besides, either way, she and Clarissa need our support. This is a very—” Lauren paused midsentence as her cell phone began to ring. She frowned, reached inside her purse, and pulled out her iPhone. Sh
e stared down at the name and number on the screen. “Speak of the devil. It’s Cindy.”

  “Satan herself, you mean,” Cris mumbled.

  Lauren gave him the side eye, then pressed the green button to answer the call. “Hey, Cindy, what’s up?”

  “It’s here,” Cindy answered. Her voice was tense.

  “What’s here?”

  “The paternity test result!” Cindy cried shrilly. “We just got it in the mail!”

  “Uh-oh,” Lauren whispered, making Cris frown at her in confusion.

  “What’s wrong?” he mouthed. She quickly shook her head.

  “Oh, God, Laurie, what if the results show that Korey’s the father?” Cynthia sniffed on the other end of the line. “Girl, I am terrified to open this thing!”

  “Give me a half an hour,” Lauren said. “I’m coming over there.”

  Chapter 26

  “Okay,” Lauren said as she dropped her purse onto the foyer table and Cynthia closed the front door behind her. “Where is it?”

  “In here,” Cynthia whispered as they walked into her French county kitchen, where Clarissa sat on one of the stools, staring at the certified envelope on the butcher block as though it contained some unknown explosive that could go off at any second.

  Just looking at the envelope made Cynthia ill. How had things gotten this bad? Why was Korey putting them through this?

  “Because he has the right to know if he’s Clarissa’s father,” a voice in her head reminded her.

  “Hi, honey,” Lauren said before resting her hand on Clarissa’s arm.

  Clarissa jumped in surprise as if she hadn’t noticed her aunt come up behind her. “Hi, Aunt Lauren,” she mumbled.

  “So . . .” Lauren’s eyes shifted between the two women. “You guys ready to do this?”

  “I guess,” Clarissa said. She then reached for the manila envelope, turning it around and around.

  Cynthia bit down hard on her bottom lip, waiting for her daughter to open it. She watched, dejected, as Clarissa sat the envelope back down on the kitchen island and slowly slid it toward her. “You open it, Ma.”

  “You want me to do it? W-w-why?”

  “Because I can’t,” Clarissa answered softly. “I’m too scared to read it.”

  Cynthia stared at her daughter, then the envelope. The kitchen fell silent again.

  “Well? Are you going to open it?” Lauren asked. Cynthia picked up the envelope. She took a deep breath, deciding to just bite the bullet. She ripped open the side.

  What if it’s true? What if Korey really is her father? It’s going to devastate Clarissa. It’s gonna break her heart!

  Cynthia paused just before she slid out the papers inside. Her hands began to shake. She sat the envelope back on the counter and shook her blond head.

  “I can’t do it, Laurie. I can’t read that thing! You do it.”

  “What? But it’s not my test!”

  “What affects one of us, affects all of us, right?” Cynthia asked. “Hasn’t that always been the case? All for one, and one for all. That’s how we do things in this family.”

  Lauren’s lips formed into a grim line. After some time, she nodded. “Okay. I’ll do it.”

  Cynthia held her breath again, and Clarissa closed her eyes as Lauren slid out the papers, letting them fall to the butcher block. Silently, Cynthia prayed for it to say that Korey wasn’t a match. She apologized for past mistakes and rash decisions. She promised God that if He got her out of this jam she would change her ways. No more man-hunting. No more lies. She’d become a chaste woman, and she would focus on being the best mother she could be and making amends to Korey for keeping her secret fears from him for so long.

  Cynthia watched as Lauren scanned a few lines of text. She couldn’t read her sister’s facial expression, adding to her frustration.

  “Well? What does it say, Laurie?” Cynthia asked.

  Lauren slowly lowered the sheet of paper back to the island. “Ninety-nine point five percent match.”

  Clarissa’s eyelashes fluttered open. Her brows furrowed in confusion. “So what . . . what does that mean? Are they saying that Mr. Walker is my dad?”

  Lauren paused, then nodded.

  Clarissa clutched the edge of the counter. She lowered her eyes.

  “Oh, baby . . . honey.” Cynthia walked around the island with her arms outstretched, wanting to comfort Clarissa. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t—”

  Clarissa’s face hardened. She stepped out of her mother’s grasp. Cynthia watched, feeling the acute sting of rejection as her daughter ran for the staircase. Her hands fell to her sides while she watched Clarissa race up the stairs to the second floor.

  “Just give her some time,” Lauren said softly from behind her when they heard Clarissa’s door slam. “It’s a lot to take in.”

  “No shit!” Cynthia snapped. When she saw Lauren frown, she shook her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I’m just . . .” She dropped her head into her hands. “God, Laurie, why is this happening? Why was I so . . . so stupid? I should have known Korey would be her father! Of course, he would be!” she shouted as she paced back and forth in front of the kitchen’s bay window. “It seems like if there’s a worst-case scenario, then it’s going to happen to me!”

  “It’s not just happening to you, Cindy. It’s affecting a lot of other people too. What about Clarissa . . . or Korey, for that matter? He’s about to find out that he has a daughter he didn’t even know existed until a few months ago. Not to mention poor Jared.” She made a tsk, tsk sound. “He had the crappy luck to fall in love with his own sister!”

  Cynthia stopped pacing. “Yeah, I get it. It’s all my fault. Thank you very much for pointing that out!”

  “I’m not saying it’s all your fault.” Lauren wavered. “Well, okay, maybe it is a little. I mean . . . if you had just come clean in the beginning when you found out you were pregnant and let Korey know he might be the father, you could have—”

  “Laurie, I know I messed up! Okay? You’re supposed to be making me feel better, damn it! Not worse!”

  “Okay, okay.” Lauren held up her hands. “I’m just saying you could have handled it better, but I know you were eighteen years old back then. You did what you thought was best at the time, I guess. You can’t beat yourself up over mistakes you made in the past. What’s done is done. You guys just have to move forward from this.”

  “But how can I? Clarissa’s had her heart broken, and I have too!”

  “What do you mean? Why is your heart broken?”

  “Because I’ve been in love with the same man for the past twenty damn years, and now he’s dumped me! Because I thought I finally had a chance to experience something legitimate, long-lasting, and real with him, and now it’s over! And it’s all my damn fault! It’s all my fault! That’s what I mean!”

  “Wait! Wait, back up! You were in love with him . . . with Korey, you mean?”

  “Yes, Korey! Who the hell else would I be talking about?”

  Lauren gazed at her in shock.

  “Why are you looking at me like that? Is it so hard to believe that I fell for someone?”

  Lauren paused. “Well, frankly . . . yeah.”

  “Oh, thanks a lot.” Cynthia glanced at the staircase.

  “I’m going to check on Clarissa.”

  “Okay,” Lauren muttered, still looking stunned, “I’ll be down here if you need me.”

  Seconds later, Cynthia knocked on Clarissa’s bedroom door. “Baby, can I come in?”

  Clarissa didn’t respond, but the door was unlocked, so Cynthia went inside the bedroom anyway. She found Clarissa splayed across her satin bedspread with her head buried in one of her lace-edged decorative pillows. The young woman was sobbing.

  “Oh, honey,” she said, rushing across the room. She sat on the edge of the bed and instantly noticed that Clarissa clutched a cordless phone in her hand. It was beeping, as though Clarissa had left it off the hook. Cynthia took the phone away and hung i
t up before putting it back in its charger on Clarissa’s night table. She then rubbed Clarissa’s back. “Baby, please don’t cry.” She sniffed and felt tears well in her own eyes. “If you keep crying, I’m gonna lose it too.”

  Clarissa mumbled something into her pillow, making Cynthia frown.

  “What did you say, honey? I didn’t hear you.”

  Clarissa slowly raised her head. “I said I broke up with him. I called Jared, and I broke up with him.” She wiped at her runny nose. “I told him we got the results today, and I said I couldn’t be with him anymore.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, sweetheart.”

  “No, you’re not!” Clarissa shouted, pushing herself away from her pillow. “You’re not sorry! You’ve wanted us to break up all along—and now you finally got what you wanted!”

  “But I didn’t want to see you hurt. I wanted to avoid this. Really, I did. Why would I want something like this to happen?”

  Clarissa stilled. She started to pick at one of the loose strings on her pillowcase. “Jared didn’t want to break up. He said . . . he said he didn’t care that I’m his sister. I told him he would care if we had mutant babies,” she muttered. “I said I would always love him. I’d just have to love him . . . like a sister. He didn’t like that. He . . . he hung up on me.” Her shoulders trembled. She turned her face away and started to cry again. Cynthia wrapped Clarissa in her arms and let her sob on her shoulder. “But I don’t love him like a sister! I still want to be with him, and now it’s sick and it’s gross and I . . . I . . .”

  Cynthia shushed her and rubbed her head as she wept.

  “Please, Ma, can you leave me alone?” Clarissa asked, pushing Cynthia away. “Just . . . just leave me alone, okay?”

  Cynthia hesitated then nodded. She rose from the bed. “All right, honey. If that’s what you want.”

  She walked across the bedroom and closed the door behind her, shutting out the sound of her daughter’s sobs. She stood in the hallway, feeling a profound sense of loss descend over her. Cynthia hadn’t felt this helpless in quite a long time.