Gone Too Far

by Angela Winters

  “Wow.” Kimberly looked around before stepping closer to Avery. “Don’t you dare tell him you heard this from me. I’m dealing with enough now. I don’t need Mr. I Love Making People Miserable on my ass.”

  “Do I want to know this?” Avery asked cautiously.

  Kimberly smiled as she answered. “He broke off his engagement to Julia.”

  Avery’s mouth flew open. She didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t sure what to believe. “How can you know that?”

  “That whole family is running in and out of here, and I overheard it.” Kimberly shrugged with a gleeful smile. “Not only did he call off the wedding, but he also broke up with the snobby bitch altogether.”

  Avery didn’t even know where to begin. “Did he say why?”

  “I thought it was because of you,” Kimberly said. “You know, because someone was saying that you and Anthony are done.”

  “I had nothing to do with this,” Avery argued.

  “Please,” Kimberly said. “You have everything to do with anything Carter does, and you know it. Maybe he thought you left Anthony for him?”

  “No,” Avery said. “That was completely separate. It’s not—”

  “I was so sure.” Kimberly looked curiously disappointed. “I’m thinking for Avery to leave her husband, a man in a wheelchair, it had to be for Carter.”

  “My life doesn’t revolve around Carter,” Avery said defensively. “I don’t need him or any man. I left Anthony for reasons I just don’t want to get into now. Not for Carter.”

  Kimberly flipped her hair back and looked Avery up and down. With a smirk, she said, “You expect me to believe that you leaving Anthony and Carter leaving Julia within a week of each other isn’t related?”

  “Believe what you want,” Avery said. “Carter and I aren’t together. I left Anthony for my own reasons, and I don’t know why he left Julia, but I can assure you it wasn’t for me.”

  “Well,” Kimberly said. “Could it be eventually?”

  Avery looked toward the door, finding it curious that he was so upset she hadn’t shared her news, while at the same time not sharing his.

  “Sorry, Kimberly, but that ship has sailed. Whatever the future holds for me and Carter, it’s not us being together.”

  Avery just hoped that one day, this realization wouldn’t hurt as much as it did right now.

  Leigh was staring at the cell phone on her desk at the clinic as if she could will it to ring. She knew she should call Max. He had been gone for a couple of days, and she had yet to call him after he walked out on her in the restaurant.

  Leigh found it odd how scared his confession of love made her. She knew that she held on to some baggage because of what had happened in the past with Lyndon and Richard, but what woman didn’t want to hear a man who made her feel the way Max did tell her he loved her? And although it felt good to know he loved her, what came next was what frightened the hell out of her. Leigh wasn’t sure she had the strength to survive another heartbreak, another public heartbreak at that.

  Her first objection had been to the idea that they be together because it was expected, a good union as her mother would call it. It was good for the family socially and good for Max politically. But the truth was, Leigh wasn’t really concerned about that. The night they’d spent together in Africa made it clear to her that their attraction was genuine. The fact that she wanted more nights in his bed told her it was more than genuine. And that was her concern. She would let her guard down, let herself fall in love and then…it was always the same.

  “Come in.” A knock on the door broke Leigh from her trance.

  Alicia, one of the doctors who helped Leigh build the clinic and one of her best friends, poked her head in and asked, “Is it safe?”

  “What do you mean?” Leigh waved her in.

  Alicia entered, closing the door behind her. “You’ve been in a bad mood all day. I didn’t want to get in the line of fire.”

  “I’m sorry,” Leigh said. “I have a lot on my mind, but I would never take it out on you. As a matter of fact, I’m still trying to think of a way I can reward you for running this place so well while I was gone.”

  “Don’t even think about it,” Alicia said. “This is our dream, and we’ve done a great job here.”

  Leigh smiled at the thought. She began this clinic with Alicia and Richard almost four years ago, and it had grown beyond her dreams. “Can you believe we’re going to open a third clinic?”

  “We’re going to need it.” Alicia sat down in the wooden chair across from Leigh’s small, cluttered desk. “Did you see the L.A. Times today?”

  “No.” Leigh reached out and pulled her laptop closer to her on the desk. “Do I want to?”

  “Um…no, but yes.”

  Leigh laughed as she typed. “That’s helpful.”

  When she got to the Web site for the newspaper, she didn’t need any direction to find what Alicia was referring to. In the top right column, in black letters, was the headline:

  SOURCES SAY STATE HEALTH CARE PROGRAM IS NO-GO

  “‘Aides to Governor Sand,’” Leigh read aloud, “‘tell the Times that a recent report submitted to the governor by Senator Max Cody, a rumored candidate for the governor’s seat next year, recommends that, due to budget concerns, he not implement the proposed version of state health care, California’s own version of universal coverage.’”

  “From the look on your face,” Alicia said, “I take it you didn’t know about this.”

  Leigh’s anger was only compounded by what she read next. “‘This comes on the heels of what Capitol Hill sources say is a recommendation by Senator Cody that the president also reduce some aid programs to Africa.’”

  “How could he?” Leigh slammed down the top of her laptop in an act of rage that satisfied nothing.

  “The bill has been out there for a few months,” Alicia said. “You aren’t the only person who lobbied for it, but you know Republicans.”

  “This isn’t about him being a Republican,” Leigh said. “It’s about him being a liar. He told me he wasn’t going to shut down the entire proposal but might make some cuts.”

  “When did he tell you that?” Alicia asked. “Were you in an…intimate setting?”

  Leigh gave her an agitated look. “Are you saying he only told me that to get me in bed?”

  Alicia lurched forward, her eyes wide. “He’s gotten you in bed? So it’s true. You two are—”

  “Don’t start.” Leigh reached for her cell phone. “I think I know what this is about.”

  “You think it’s about you?” Alicia asked.

  “It better not be.” Leigh wouldn’t be so vain as to suggest that her refusal to return his profession of affection had anything to do with it, but that didn’t change the fact that he went back on what he had said he would do.

  “He’s not getting away with this.” Leigh waited impatiently for someone to pick up the call. “Hello, Mom? It’s Leigh. Has Dad left for D.C. on the jet yet? Good. I’m on my way to the airport to join him.”

  “I’m not going to tell you again,” Kimberly warned Daniel as he tried yet again to climb up onto Evan’s hospital bed.

  “I wasn’t doing it,” Daniel insisted.

  “He can come up,” Evan offered.

  “No,” Kimberly said. “You’re already excited enough just having him here.”

  Kimberly couldn’t stop smiling at the sight of her baby sitting up in his hospital bed. He was thinner, but the color was coming back to his face, and he was well on his way back to normal. Looking at him now, she couldn’t believe that she once thought he was about to die. The memory made her shudder.

  “Can I have my PSP?” Daniel asked as he came around to the other side of the bed.

  “No.” Kimberly patted him on the head. “You’re here to visit your brother. We have to leave soon, so talk to him.”

  “There’s nothing to talk about.” Evan sighed to relay his boredom. “I want to go home with you guys.”


  “Any day now.” Kimberly patted him on the leg. “Mommy, Daddy, and Daniel can’t wait!”

  Evan’s eyes widened in surprise. “Daddy’s home? He’s back home?”

  “Um…” Kimberly hadn’t thought about her words before speaking them. “No, I meant…No, just that we’ll all be happy you’ll be at home with me and Daniel.”

  “When is Daddy coming home?” Evan asked. “I want him to be there when I get home.”

  “We’ve discussed this,” Kimberly said. “Daddy will bring you home with me and spend time with you, but he has his own house.”

  “Stupid hotel room,” Daniel said. “He won’t even take us there.”

  “That’s because it’s not the right place for children.” Kimberly really didn’t want to discuss Michael, but she knew that the best way for them to work through it was to ask the same questions over and over again until they were satisfied. “He takes you to Chase Mansion because you need space, but when he gets his own place, you’ll be going there.”

  “We should just be in the same house!” Evan said.

  “Calm down, sweetie.” Kimberly stood up from her chair and leaned against the bed. She ran her hand over his head softly. “You don’t have the energy to get so upset.”

  “Then I want Daddy to come home,” Evan said. “I won’t be upset if he comes home.”

  “I don’t want him there,” Daniel said. “He was mean when he was there.”

  “Not anymore,” Evan said.

  “No,” Daniel said. “But I don’t want to go back to that. Daddy was mean there, Mommy. Don’t let him come live there again.”

  “Daniel,” Kimberly admonished with a look, urging him to calm down. “Your father was having a hard time then, but he’s not anymore. He won’t be mean to you no matter where he…”

  Kimberly realized she had lost her son’s attention to something behind her, and when she turned around, she felt a stab in her heart to see Michael standing at the door. She could tell from the look on his face that he had heard what Daniel said. He tried quickly to cover, but it wasn’t fast enough. She could tell how hurt he was, but he swallowed hard, pasted on a smile, and walked toward them.

  Kimberly felt sorry for him but admired him for trying to hide it from the children. She knew that, of all his regrets, the harm the end of their marriage caused their children was the greatest. They both had a lot of makeup to do with the boys.

  It was an unusually quiet afternoon in the Baldwin Hills neighborhood where Avery’s parents, Charlie and Nikki Jackson, lived. Usually, the well-to-do suburban street was full of young kids playing outside, but it was the middle of the day, so Carter guessed they were all at school. If it wasn’t for the quiet as he approached the front door of the modest two-floor brick home, he probably wouldn’t have heard voices in the backyard—his daughter’s voice.

  Relishing the opportunity to avoid Avery’s parents, he chose to walk around the side of the house to the gate to the backyard. He wasn’t sure if they were home, but he avoided any opportunity to run into them. The Jacksons had never liked Carter from the beginning. Charlie, when he was View Park’s chief of police, always complained about the favors the family called in when any of them ever got in trouble. There was also the fact that his sister Haley had made the life of their middle son, Sean, a living hell after he broke up with her a couple of years ago. Haley also tried her best to implicate their youngest daughter, Taylor, in a murder scandal out of spite, which almost got Taylor killed.

  Most of all, they distrusted Carter and blamed him for everything bad that had happened between him and Avery. They made life hard for him when he’d tried to find Avery after she’d left, and they tried to help her keep Connor a secret from him.

  For his part, Carter couldn’t stand any of them. He didn’t know or care about Taylor, but Sean, Charles, and Nikki had always been on his shit list since the beginning. But clearly things had reached an unsustainable level after he decided to make Avery the focus of his wrath. Now they didn’t even pretend to be cordial. They didn’t speak at all.

  The wooden gate to the back of the Jackson home was chest-high, white, and unlatched. Carter opened it, and as he walked down the side of the house, he smiled at the sound of Connor’s laughter getting louder and louder. Just as he reached the edge of the house and was about to turn the corner, he stopped.

  Avery was sitting on the bench of a wooden picnic table with Connor sitting on the table in front of her. She was adorable in a little pink jumpsuit and was twisting and turning as Avery tickled her everywhere. She was very ticklish and was hysterically happy. Carter stood where he was and watched this scene for a few moments more. His baby’s joy always made him smile, but he couldn’t help but feel bad as well.

  They were all supposed to be together. That had been the plan a little over two years ago. Avery would marry him and they would have children. They had decided on three. He had imagined them being a family and being happy. He was a realistic man, so he knew it wouldn’t always be butterflies, but he was certain that the love he and Avery shared for each other and would share for their children would get them through the harder times.

  He was supposed to be there on that bench with his wife and his little girl, but he was standing away, watching as if from the outside. He didn’t belong there at all and was astounded as to how this came to be. There had been so many mistakes and so many chances, and he was tired—tired of trying and hurting. He only wished he could be tired of wanting. He wasn’t.

  Avery was beginning to have trouble holding Connor up and tickling her at the same time. She was twitching and jiggling all over the place. She was big enough to sit up on her own, but when she jerked around like that, Avery had to hold her to keep her from falling down. She just didn’t want to stop because she loved this so much. Her baby’s joy was her whole world and her whole focus.

  She felt the burden of a pending custody battle lifted from her shoulders, at least for now. She still had a separation and a divorce to deal with and imagined it would be hard, considering Anthony’s refusal to talk to her now that he realized she wasn’t going to change her mind. It bothered her and worried her, but Avery had all she needed. She had Connor.

  She’d wanted more, of course, but her heart had broken enough. It was hard. Every time she felt levity and thought she could enjoy her life, she would think of Carter and everything that could have been. It was odd to her that she wished that would stop but also wished it wouldn’t. She would miss how just the thought of him would warm her inside.

  Getting a weird feeling that Carter was with her, Avery turned her head. She was surprised to see him even though she’d felt him there. She managed a tiny smile as she turned back to Connor, who, out of curiosity as to what had made her mother stop tickling, looked and saw her father too.

  “Dada!”

  “How’s my little princess?” Carter walked over to the bench and dropped down only a few inches to Avery’s left. He reached out and grabbed Connor, kissing her on the cheek, and he wasn’t sure why it made him sad.

  “Mommy,” she cried out. “Dada!”

  “I know,” Avery said with her baby voice. “I see Dada.”

  Connor leaned away from her father and said, “Dada. Look. Mommy.”

  Carter nodded. He was well aware Avery was next to him. He was always aware of her when she was this close. He could smell her body wash, and the hair on his arms started to rise.

  “I know I’m early,” Carter said as he turned to Avery.

  Connor grabbed his hand.

  “It’s okay.” Avery continued to look at her daughter, wishing he wouldn’t sit so close. “You’ll be happy. She’s been crazy all day and will probably sleep well tonight.”

  “Mommy,” Connor pleaded, “give me.”

  Avery offered her daughter what she was requesting—her hand—and finally found the courage to look at Carter. “So I guess you’ll bring her back on…”

  Avery hadn’t been paying atte
ntion to what Connor was doing until it was too late. With her tiny hands, she had managed to take her father’s right hand and her mother’s left hand and bring them together.

  “Mommy! Dada!” She placed Carter’s hand on her lap and Avery’s hand on top of Carter’s, looking very pleased with herself. “See!”

  Carter and Avery looked at their hands touching on their daughter’s lap, and they both smiled for what they told themselves was for her sake. There wasn’t the usual sexual tension that existed whenever Avery and Carter touched. This was different, and Connor’s involvement made it so. Instead there was the tension that exists when two people are thinking the same thing at the same time.

  How good it could have been.

  Avery was the first to remove her hand as she laughed nervously to play it off.

  Carter took a moment to get it together before standing up from the bench. “I guess we’ll go,” he said as he picked up Connor and held her in his arms. “I’ll…bring her back Sunday night.”

  Avery nodded but didn’t look back at him. She smiled at the sound of Connor talking gibberish as if she was having a conversation as they walked away. But this wasn’t funny. No Anthony, no Julia to stand in their way. How was she going to do this?

  And why had he still not told her about Julia?

  The Palisades was an upscale area of Washington, D.C., with beautiful homes surrounded by greenery that would put any suburb to shame. It was quaint with a lot of character that included various styles of old and new homes.

  Steven was standing at the black double doorway to a three-story gray brick Federal-style home when the ruby-red Lexus drove up the short black driveway. The door to the garage began to lift, but the car stopped abruptly before entering. Steven’s stoic expression didn’t change as the driver noticed him, turned the car off, and got out.

  Steven waited until he got closer before speaking. “Hello, Keenan.”

  This was the first time in almost twenty years Steven had seen his brother, the last being at their father’s funeral. Things were so bad by that time that Keenan even blamed Steven for their father’s cancer. Everything in the world had become Steven’s fault, and Steven had stopped giving a damn. Cutting Keenan out of his life was better than dealing with his hateful envy.