For the longest time, Corinthians didn’t answer as pain sliced through her. The only thing she and Trevor had going on was in her mind…and her heart. “Yes, you were right, Joshua.”
Joshua let out a deep sigh of relief, not noticing the mist forming in his sister’s eyes. “I’m glad because it would have been a big mistake. The two of you aren’t suited. You have everything going for you, and Grant has nothing. He’s a laborer and not a professional person. He probably just barely finished high school. That’s usually the case when men leave school and go directly into the military, and…”
Total anger consumed Corinthians. How dare Joshua put Trevor down. He sounded like a downright snob. “Shut up, Josh, and listen to me for just one minute, if that pea brain of yours can handle it. Trevor Grant is more of a man than you or your GOP friends will ever be. He’s a professional in every sense of the word. He knows the meaning of hard work. I mean real work and not the paper-pushing kind you’re accustomed to doing. Nor does Trevor spend his time each day skinning and grinning in someone’s face trying to earn political points.”
Fit to be tied, she got out of bed and walked over to where Joshua sat. She was boiling mad. “And as far as an education, he has a college degree, which he earned while working his butt off in the military in a special military unit. But above that, he has something you don’t have—common sense and integrity, and plenty of it. Don’t you ever put Trevor down in my presence again.”
“What the devil is wrong with you, Corinthians?” Joshua asked, taken aback by the way she had gone off on him. He had never seen his sister this out of control before. “I didn’t know the subject of Trevor Grant was such a touchy one with you. All I did was make a few observations.”
“No, Josh, what you did was a total put-down of a man you know nothing about. And that’s not fair. I won’t tolerate you doing that to the man who saved my life.” The man that I love, she thought further. “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like you to leave.”
Without wasting any time, Joshua quickly stood and angrily walked out of the room.
Trevor looked up from his meal when Dex and Clayton approached the table. “I was beginning to think the two of you weren’t coming.”
“Sorry we’re late,” Clayton said after he and Dex sat down. “Gramma’s visiting the folks, and you know her. She’s dreamed about fish for the past couple of nights and had to question all of us about it.”
Trevor lifted a dark brow as he picked up a bottle of hot sauce and poured it over the huge piece of fried fish on his plate. “She had to question you about her dream? Why?”
“Because it was a fish dream,” Dex said as a way of an explanation. “You know what it supposedly means when someone dreams about fish, don’t you?”
“Nope,” Trevor said, taking a huge swallow of Pepsi. “What does it mean?”
Dex shook his head. “According to her, it means someone’s pregnant. I know for a fact it’s not Caitlin. Clayton claims it’s not Syneda and I talked to Justin to confirm it’s not Lorren. Daniel and Raymond both swear it’s not Tracy or Kattie, and we know it better not be Christy,” he said of their baby sister, who would be entering her junior year of college in the fall. “So I guess this time Gramma’s dream is a false alarm.”
A chill of unease crept up Trevor’s spine when it suddenly occurred to him that the one time he and Corinthians had made love, he had not used any protection. He put his fork aside, stopped eating and stared down at the piece of fried fish on his plate. “Has your grandmother ever had dreams like this before?”
“Yeah, lots of time,” Clayton said, flipping through the menu the waiter had just handed to him. “And usually she’s right on the money.” He frowned and turned to Dex. “And that’s what worries me. Do you think we ought to have a talk with Christy, just in case?”
Dex’s charcoal-gray eyes darkened. “Don’t even think it, Clayton. I don’t feel like murdering somebody today.”
Clayton nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Besides, Christy and I had a long talk earlier this year about safe sex.”
“You did what!” Dex exploded. “Heaven help us all if you talked to her about safe sex. You should have been talking to her about ‘no sex,’ Clayton, not ‘safe sex.’ If I ever find out some mother’s son has touched her, I will personally take him apart piece by piece.”
“Yeah, and I’ll be there to rearrange his body parts. All of them,” Clayton added.
Trevor had tuned out Clayton’s and Dex’s conversation. His mind was in total chaos. Surely if Corinthians had gotten pregnant she would have called and told him, wouldn’t she? He knew she was still at her parents’ home in Louisiana. He had picked up the phone to call her several times, but had changed his mind. He was probably the last person she would have wanted to hear from.
“Tell me some more about your grandmother’s dream,” he said, interrupting Clayton’s and Dex’s conversation.
Dex and Clayton stopped talking. Their eyes centered on Trevor curiously. “What is it you want to know?” Dex asked.
“Whatever you can tell me. Is there a certain type of fish that she dreams about? Is it one large fish or a bunch of little ones?”
Clayton shifted his shoulders with uncertainty. “I don’t know, man. It could be a piece of fish like the one you’re eating, or one that’s out there kicking around in the middle of the ocean. I don’t really know. All I do know is that if it makes its way into her dream, it usually means someone’s pregnant.”
Trevor nodded. “Someone in your immediate family?”
“No, it doesn’t have to be a family member. It could mean someone she knows is pregnant or someone she knows has gotten someone pregnant.”
Dex had been sitting quietly listening to Clayton’s explanation and studying Trevor at the same time. The way Trevor was absorbing Clayton’s words pushed Dex to ask the question. “So what do you think, Trev? Do you know anyone who could be pregnant?”
Without answering, Trevor jumped up from the table. “I need some time off work, Dex.”
Dex lifted a brow. “Sure. How much time do you need?”
“A few days.”
“Beginning when?”
“Now,” Trevor replied throwing more than enough money on the table to pay for his unfinished meal. “I’ll see you guys later.” He then quickly walked out of the restaurant.
Clayton frowned. “I wonder what that was all about.”
Dex couldn’t hold back his smile. “I might be wrong, but I think Gramma may be right on the money again.”
Stella Grant paused briefly, building her courage, before she took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. When the door was opened, Maurice looked at her with surprise in his eyes. “Stella? What are you doing here? Is everything all right?”
She took another deep breath. There was no need to back out now. “Yes, everything is fine, Maurice, but I do need to talk with you about something. Do you think that you could spare me a few minutes of your time?”
He stepped aside. “Sure, come in.”
Stella entered Maurice’s home for the very first time. She glanced around. He had a nice place and she told him so.
“Thanks. Can I offer you something to drink? I have a few cans of Coke in the fridge if you’re interested.”
“Thank you, I’d like one.”
“All right. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Just make yourself at home.”
Stella nodded, wondering how a woman could make herself at home in her husband’s house. A house she had never been inside before. However, she decided to do what he had said and make herself at home. She sat down, kicked off her shoes and relaxed against the sofa. When he returned from the kitchen moments later with her drink, she was sitting on the sofa with her feet tucked under her.
Maurice couldn’t help but smile. That had always been Stella’s most comfortable position whenever she sat on a sofa. “Here we are. It’s good and cold just the way I know you like it.”
She took th
e drink he offered. “Thanks. How long have you been living here?”
Maurice shrugged. “Pretty close to fifteen years now. At first I lived in one of those apartments on Helena Street. That was all right for Trevor since he was older, but I wanted more for Gina. I knew she had a nice yard at home with you, but I wanted her to have a nice yard whenever she came to visit me, too.”
Stella nodded. She then took a sip of her drink. “I don’t think I’ve ever told you this, Maurice, but I appreciate how much you tried to work with me on making our separation as painless as possible for Trevor and Gina back then. Divorce can be real hard on children. In some cases devastating.”
Maurice decided to remain standing. He walked over to the fireplace and leaned against the mantel. “We didn’t get a divorce.”
Stella turned away from looking at Maurice, her throat tightening. “Yes, I know and that’s what I came to talk to you about.” Finding strength, she turned and looked at him. She gnawed nervously on her bottom lip before saying, “I came to talk to you about a divorce.”
A shaft of pain tore through Maurice with Stella’s words. During all the years they had been separated, the issue of a divorce had never come up. When he had married her, he had intended for it to be forever. His mind couldn’t help but conjure up memories of him and Stella the first day they had met. He had been a bus driver for the city transit system, and she had worked as a clerk for the library. Back then, taking a bus to work had been her only means of transportation. The highlight of his day had been picking her up from her bus stops every morning and evening.
“Maurice?”
“Yes?”
“I thought that maybe you didn’t hear me. I said I came to talk to you about—”
“I know what you said, Stella. I heard you. Now hear me. There will never be a divorce between us.”
A hushed silence fell in the room after Maurice’s statement. Neither he nor Stella said anything else for the longest moment. Then he noticed the tears gathering in her eyes, and another shaft of pain tore through him. “Does a divorce from me mean that much to you, Stella?”
Stella wiped away her tears. “No, but I can’t live like this anymore, Maurice. I can’t live day after day knowing how much you hate me and how much you despise me for not trusting you enough and for not believing in you when I should have.”
“I have never given you a reason not to trust me, Stella.”
“I know, and I made a mistake. It was a costly mistake, and one I’ll regret for the rest of my life. All I can offer you is an apology. But you have to let me get on with my life. Both Trevor and Gina have lives of their own now. They aren’t children anymore for us to protect. It’s time to put an end to what never will be again. You’ve gone to great lengths to make sure I know that.”
“I have not,” Maurice answered defensively.
Stella put her glass on the table and stood. Her eyes filled with more tears. “Yes, you have. I don’t want to be a choke around your neck any longer, Maurice. You have to let me go.”
Maurice pushed back from the mantel and walked over to where Stella stood. A mirage of hurt, pain and mistakes flashed before him. Then just as quickly it was replaced by memories: good memories of their wedding day, memories of the day they had brought a newborn Trevor home from the hospital, then years later, Gina. There were more good memories than there were hurts, pains and mistakes. Over the years they had both suffered. His pride had always kept him from completely forgiving her. His inability to put the past behind him had always kept a reconciliation from ever happening between them.
Now it was time move on or stay put. Maurice knew which he preferred doing. When he came to stand directly in front of her, he said in a deep, clear voice, “I can’t give you a divorce, Stella, because I still love you, and I will always love you. I know there’s a lot of healing left to do between us, and it will take time and love to get through it. But I’m willing to try if you are. We’ve wasted too many precious years already, Stel, and I don’t want to waste any more living apart from you. If you’ll take me back as your husband, I promise that the two of us will live the rest of our lives together happy, spoiling any grandchildren Trevor and Gina will give us one day. I promise to bring sunshine back into your eyes or die trying.”
When Stella realized just what Maurice was saying, and what he was offering, she reached out for him. “Oh, Maurice, I love you, too,” she said before he pulled her into his arms.
Maudlin Avery checked the thermometer she had just taken out of Corinthians’s mouth. “You don’t have a fever, sweetheart. How about explaining those symptoms of yours to me again.”
Corinthians nodded. “I sometimes feel dizzy and nauseated first thing in the mornings, and I can’t keep any of my breakfast down. I usually start feeling better around lunchtime.”
Maudlin eyed her daughter thoughtfully. “And just how long have you had these symptoms?”
Corinthians shrugged. “For the past couple of days or so. What do you think it might be?”
Maudlin doubted Corinthians was ready to hear what she thought was a possibility. Maybe it was time to drop a hint. “I’m not sure, dear. When was your last period?”
Corinthians frowned, wondering why her mother would ask her that. She thought back. When it occurred to her that the last time had been a couple of weeks before her trip to South America, she felt a sense of panic. Her body was extremely regular. She could not remember it ever being late. She and Trevor had not used any protection when they had made love. How on earth could something like that slip her mind!
“Corinthians?”
“Ahh, I need to go out.”
Maudlin raised a brow. “Go out where?”
But Corinthians did not answer. She was already rushing out the door.
Chapter 22
Corinthians stared at the pregnancy kit sitting on the counter in her bathroom. She studied it with as much intensity as she would a geological core sample that had been taken from the earth’s center.
She had analyzed the kit several times after she’d purchased it yesterday, and had read the directions so many times she had them memorized. According to what it said, the best time to get results was in the mornings. And it was morning. But she couldn’t make herself take the next step, although it would take less than a minute and her worries would be over…or just beginning.
During the night, all she could think about was the possibility that she was carrying Trevor’s child. She had berated herself a thousand times for engaging in unprotected sex; however, she knew if she were pregnant she wanted his child more than anything.
Corinthians rubbed a hand across her forehead, not wanting to think about what her parents would say, especially her father. He had always drilled into her and Joshua the moral teachings of the Bible—sexual activity outside of marriage, protected or otherwise, was wrong. On the other hand, he had also taught them that a person was responsible for whatever decisions they chose to make in life. It had been her decision to make love with Trevor, and the outcome of that decision would be her responsibility.
She took a long, deep breath. Her parents had left to visit a sick church member at the hospital right after breakfast. It was a breakfast she couldn’t stand to look at, much less eat, without getting a queasy stomach.
She had settled on having a piece of dry toast and a glass of orange juice. However, as soon as her parents had left, she’d rushed to the nearest bathroom when her stomach had refused to cooperate to keep what she had eaten down. Although she was alone in the house, a part of her wanted to wait and take the pregnancy test in the privacy of her own place when she returned to Texas in a few days. That would give her time to sort things through before announcing to her parents that they would be grandparents.
And before letting Trevor know he would be a father.
Corinthians wondered how he would handle the news. She gave herself a mental shake. Why should she concern herself with how he would handle it? Trevor Grant was the lea
st of her worries right now. His failure to call had pretty much told her just what she meant to him. Nothing.
She would eventually tell him about her pregnancy—if she was actually pregnant—but she would let him know from the jump that he was under no obligation to do anything for her or her child. She would handle things without his help.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. She left the confines of the bathroom and headed toward the door, wondering who would be visiting this early in the morning. It wasn’t even nine o’clock. Without thinking twice, she opened the door before checking to see whom her visitor was.
Intense surprise hit her full force and a soft gasp escaped her when she saw Trevor standing in the doorway. She was immediately consumed by a mixture of feelings—joy at seeing him again, puzzlement as to why he had come and anger at herself for still loving him so much.
“Trevor, what are you doing here?” The shock of seeing him caused the words to wedge in her throat.
Trevor gazed down at the woman who was the object of his fire, his desire and his complete love. He felt a tightness in his throat when he thought further that there was a possibility she would one day become the mother of his child. He studied her to see if he could detect any change over the past three weeks and found none. She still possessed the same startling beauty, the same refined yet fiery class that could make her a well-bred lady one minute, and a sensual hellion the next.
Today, standing in the door wearing a floral print sundress, she looked cool and composed, as if the hot, scorching Louisiana heat of summer had no effect on her. He knew at that moment he would love her forever and that if she was carrying his child, it was just an added bonus.
“Trevor, I asked what are you doing here?”
Her words broke into his thoughts. “I need to talk with you about something, Corinthians.”
Trevor’s voice, deep and smooth, shimmered in the air and sent a ripple of awareness through her. An image suddenly flashed through her mind; the memory of her naked in his arms while he made unadulterated, passionate love to her. Then, just as quickly, another visage came into play. It was the one of her waking up in that hotel room in Key West to discover he had left her without having said goodbye. That, coupled with the fact that he had not contacted her since their return to the States, hurt more than anything.
Fire and Desire (Arabesque) Page 21