Scandalous

by Donna Hill

  “She’s at Memorial,” he said quickly, stuffing his shirt into his pants. “We can be there in a half hour.”

  Her eyes flashed with hundreds of unasked questions.

  “We won’t know until we get there,” he said on a breath.

  By the time Justin and Vaughn arrived at the hospital, the corridor was teeming with reporters. One eagle-eyed journalist recognized them and shouted out their names. In an instant they were surrounded by cameras and microphones.

  “Mr. Montgomery has there been any news on your assistant?” Justin tried to push his way through. He put his arm around Vaughn’s waist and urged her forward. “Why are the two of you here together? Ms. Hamilton, Ms. Hamilton, why are you here tonight?”

  Vaughn stopped in mid-step and turned to face the news-hungry crowd. “I’m here to see my daughter,” she answered simply.

  Flashbulbs went off, nearly blinding them as a surge of garbled questions were hurled at Vaughn.

  Vaughn turned into Justin’s arms and hurried down the long corridor.

  Chapter 29

  Simone drifted, weightless in a dark corner of her mind where everything was peaceful. Sudden images of her meeting with Melissa intruded and her head began to pound. If she woke up she would have to face the reality of her situation. Sleep, deep and peaceful, was better.

  But somewhere far off, someone kept calling her name. Why was anyone bothering her? She just wanted to sleep.

  “Come on Simone. You can do it. It’s time to wake up now,” the gentle voice coaxed.

  Slowly her eyes flickered open, then quickly closed against the light and the pounding in her head. She moaned softly.

  “She’s coming around,” the doctor said.

  Cautiously, Vaughn stepped up to the bedside. “Simone,” she called gently. She took Simone’s limp hand in hers, and her heart constricted in her chest. “Simone wake up sweetheart.”

  Simone had heard that voice before. Her head pounded fiercely. Slowly, she opened her eyes again and tried to focus against the pain.

  Her dark, sable eyes settled on Vaughn’s face. “Go away,” she croaked. “You didn’t…want me…before. There’s no reason to be…concerned now. You won’t use me…to make you look good for…your campaign.” She shut her eyes and her chest heaved with the effort of her talking.

  “It’s not what you think, Simone,” Vaughn said slowly, holding her hand tighter and mildly encouraged by the fact that Simone didn’t pull away. Vaughn gently stroked Simone’s bandaged head.

  “You don’t have to talk. But please listen. There’s so much I want to tell you.”

  Justin came up and stood beside Vaughn as she methodically recanted all of the events that had led up to this reunion.

  From beneath closed lids, tears squeezed from Simone’s eyes.

  The next morning, with the press assembled in the conference room of Vaughn’s offices, she made the most memorable statement of her career.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, many years ago,” she began slowly, “I had a child, who I believed was put up for adoption and then subsequently died.” She took a breath and cleared her throat, looking steadily at the cameras and intense faces.

  “It was less than 48 hours ago that I found out that none of that was true. My daughter is very much alive. I’ve always been a staunch supporter of women’s rights, and my change in stature from single woman to single mother does not take away from my convictions. I intend to join Mr. Montgomery in his fight to set up organizations where families can be reunited.” She paused. “And now I’ll take your questions…”

  Simone remained in the hospital for a week, and Justin and Vaughn were there every day. At first, Simone’s relationship with Vaughn was cautious, but a genuine warmth and sense of trust steadily built between them. Vaughn had an opportunity to meet the Clarkes, and she was relieved in the knowledge that her daughter had been cared for by such truly loving people.

  Vaughn was at Simone’s bedside on the day of her release.

  “I’d like it very much if you’d stay with me for a while…” Vaughn hedged. “If you want to.”

  Simone turned to her and smiled. “I think I want to very much.”

  Vaughn grinned. “I hope you won’t mind having to wear dark glasses and a floppy hat.”

  Simone looked at her quizzically. “Why?”

  “It seems that I’m in every paper and tabloid across the state these days. I usually have to sneak out of my back door just to get to the store.”

  “Is it because of the election?”

  “Partly. And also because I’ve admitted to the press that I was a teenage mother.”

  “What will that do to your chances to get elected?”

  Vaughn placed the last of Simone’s belongings into the suitcase and looked up. “Since Justin dropped out, and Lucus Stone is under investigation,” she shrugged her shoulders, “who knows? All of the women’s rights advocates are supporting me, and there’s been talk that Stone will be replaced. Whatever happens, I’m going to be spending some time learning how to be a mother.”

  Simone’s smile was full. “It’s really not hard you know. All you have to do is say yes to everything I ask you!”

  “Right. You must be feeling better. Let’s go.”

  Vaughn snuggled closer to Justin in the quiet of her bedroom, while Simone slept down the hall.

  “I think everything is going to work out,” she said quietly.

  “So do I,” he whispered back. “I know it’s not going to be easy, but we have each other.”

  She sighed. “Maybe in time I’ll even find it in my heart to forgive my parents. My father is a broken man since his resignation, and I know my mother is suffering. She believed she was doing the right thing and she did try to do what she could for Simone. She even gave Simone her maiden name.”

  “Maybe we should pay them a visit,” Justin said softly. “And give them the opportunity to meet their beautiful granddaughter. Her paternal grandfather should meet her also. It’ll be good for their souls.”

  Vaughn looked up at him. “That’s why I love you,” she grinned. “Justin, what do you plan to do about finding Samantha?”

  “I have no intention of giving up. I just believe deep in my heart that I’ll find her one day.”

  “I was hoping that you’d say that. We’ll work on it together. Now that Sean and Khendra are running the practice, more or less, you have some time and since I’ll be having some time on my hands…”

  He looked at her curiously. “Time? Woman, with all that you have to do with the election just weeks away, where are you going to find time?”

  “Well,” she grinned wickedly. “I was hoping that you’d make an honest woman out of me. I’d hate to be the first pregnant congresswoman without a husband. Now that would be a scandal.”

  Justin bolted up in the bed. “What?” His eyes raced up and down her body. She smiled and nodded her head. “That’s what happens when you don’t take precautions,” she whispered.

  Gently, he placed his hand on her flat belly. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  His look softened and he felt his insides tighten with joy. “I love you, woman,” he said in awe.

  “Why don’tcha come a little closer and show me just how much, big boy,” she crooned in her best Mae West voice.

  And he did.

  Epilogue

  The week before Vaughn won her congressional bid in a landslide, she and Justin were married in a quiet, private ceremony with Simone and Chad, Khendra and Sean, Crystal and her new beau, and Vaughn’s parents. Her relationship with her parents was still strained, but the healing had begun.

  Several weeks later, Justin filed papers to formally adopt Simone and she happily changed her name to Montgomery.

  Although the small ceremony didn’t make the national news, it did appear in the society section of a local paper in Georgia.

  Samantha read the article and then carefully tucked it away with the others that she’d s
tumbled upon in the attic. The articles that her mother had been keeping from her for years. She put the last of her clothes in her small suitcase, checked her purse for identification and her money, and went downstairs.

  Janice stood when Samantha walked into the room. She bit down on her lip to keep it from trembling.

  “I’m ready,” Samantha said, not wanting to meet her mother’s pain-filled eyes.

  “Are you sure this is what you want to do?” her mother asked in a tremulous voice.

  “I have to.”

  Janice nodded and walked her to the door.

  “My cab is here,” Samantha said slowly.

  Janice grabbed her daughter in her arms and hugged tightly. “I’m so sorry. I should have told you about your father a long time ago. One day I hope you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me. I was so young and foolish and…”

  Samantha blinked back her tears and slipped out of her mother’s arms. “I’ll call you,” she said, and turned away.

  “Tell your father that I’m sorry,” Janice whispered.

  When Samantha reached the airport, she checked her luggage and crossed the terminal to the bank of phones. With shaky fingers, she dug into her purse and pulled out the crumpled piece of paper that had her father’s office number scribbled on it. She dialed.

  Samantha held her breath as she waited for the phone to be answered.

  “Montgomery, Phillips and Michaels,” came the crisp voice.

  “Mr. Montgomery, please,” Samantha responded quickly.

  “Please hold.”

  Moments later, the voice that she’d imagined only in her dreams filled her ears. “Justin Montgomery.”

  “Daddy…it’s Samantha…”

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-6903-7

  SCANDALOUS

  First published by BET Publications, LLC. in 1995

  © 2010 by Donna Hill

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