A Silken Thread

by Brenda Jackson

  Griffin’s voice cut her deep and she knew the first thing she had to do was end things between them. The sad thing about it was that she couldn’t tell him why. Something he would demand to know. She knew one way to end things was to all of a sudden become romantically linked to another man. That would hurt him deeply and he would never forgive her.

  The thought of hurting him that way was too much to think about now, but she knew that it was needed for a clean break. For now she needed time and space to deal with it all. She would send him a message letting him know she was fine but needed time alone. Then she would be able to come up with a plan for how to get the only man she had ever loved out of her life for good.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Brian still not could not believe everything that had transpired over the past hour. He rubbed his hand across his face and closed his eyes as he leaned against the closed door. If he was not a rational man with his senses fully intact, he would think he was passing through the Twilight Zone.

  He was now furious, madder than hell at Erica for so easily believing the worst of him. How could she accuse him of being unfaithful when since meeting her he hadn’t looked twice at another woman? No woman consumed his thoughts but Erica. No matter how damaging the evidence she had found at his house, she should have believed in him.

  But then considering what she had arrived at his house to find, a part of him couldn’t very well blame her for the way she’d reacted and the accusations she’d hurled at him.

  He hadn’t known Erica was visiting him today but someone else had, and that person had deliberately set him up.

  He pulled the phone off his belt and, deciding to give Matt a call, punched in a few numbers. He needed help in unraveling this mess and he needed it fast.

  When his friend answered, Brian drew in a deep breath. “Someone set me up, man.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Erica came to town unexpectedly and she thinks I’m involved in an affair.”

  “Why would she think that?”

  “Someone entered my house to deliberately make it look that way. She’s calling off the wedding and doesn’t want to see me ever again. I’m no longer paranoid,” he said, remembering how Matt has once accused him of such a thing where Karen Sanders was concerned. “What I am is madder than hell. I want to find the person responsible. And I need your help.”

  Without a pause, Matt said, “I’ll be right over.”

  Griffin checked his watch. It was close to two in the morning in Hattersville, which meant it was midnight in L.A., so where the hell was April and why hadn’t she returned his calls?

  He stopped his pacing to stare out of his bedroom window and, from where he stood on the third floor of his home, he could see that most of the residents were asleep. He truly loved this town, faults and all, and wanted to make it into the thriving city that he knew it could be. There was so much undeveloped land, and with the right plans in place there was no doubt in his mind the town could double its size in no time.

  Over the past year he had spoken to a lot of his former classmates who’d moved away to live in the big cities. They’d wanted to raise their families in a small town, yet all of them had said Hattersville would be their last choice. That bothered him but he of all people understood their sentiments. Many of them like him had been considered the upper echelon of the community, but a number of those families over the years had fallen on hard times, and a decline in status was considered unforgivable in the eyes of those still prospering. They had been treated worse than those who’d been born in the Fifth Ward.

  He intended to change things when he became mayor and with April by his side he believed he could do the impossible. But first he needed to convince her to be the woman by his side.

  He wanted her to continue her career but he also wanted her to know that a positive change was about to happen. He intended to make it that way not only for her, but for so many others who felt the town had let them down.

  He moved away from the window to his nightstand to pick up his phone. He would try reaching April again. When he had talked to her last night she hadn’t mentioned any function she would be attending tonight.

  Moments later he hung up the phone. Her condo was pretty secure but he knew he wouldn’t be totally satisfied until he heard her voice.

  Matt Seacrest leaned back against the sofa cushion and made a steeple with his fingers while glancing over at Brian. His friend was in a bad way and he couldn’t recall ever seeing him this broken.

  “And you really think it’s the old lady’s doing?” he asked his friend.

  Brian stopped pacing and instinctively Matt glanced down at the floor, curious to see if his best friend had worn a hole in the carpet. He had been here for over an hour and this was the first time Brian had stood still.

  “Yes, but a part of me doesn’t know how.”

  “Easily, if she has help.”

  Brian lifted a brow. “So now you don’t think I’m paranoid after all?”

  A smile touched Matt’s lips. “Let’s just say after finally getting Cassie to marry me, I can’t imagine Erica not marrying you, especially when I know how much you love her and that your loyalty to her is sincere. You have evidence—the panties, lipstick on your shirt and the fragrance of that perfume that even I can smell. Yes, bro, someone set you up and if the old lady is the only one who would be happy if you and Erica didn’t get married, then she would be my first suspect. Although, one would think that doing what she’s done, just to get Erica to not marry you, is a little overboard.”

  Brian shrugged. “She wants her to marry this guy named Griffin Hayes.”

  “Yes, but why? What would she get out of it if Erica and Hayes were to marry? Would it double, triple or quadruple the size of the family’s wealth or something? She has to have an ulterior motive to go to this extreme to keep you apart.”

  “With what happened between my mother and her husband, don’t you think for her that would be reason enough?”

  “Honestly, no. I could see her being spiteful and even a little vengeful. But not outright manipulative to this degree, this cold and heartless. A woman who would deliberately destroy her daughter’s chance at happiness sounds like someone who isn’t emotionally stable, someone who is obsessed with her daughter marrying someone else. Why?”

  “There is this nonsense of a family curse she believes in.”

  That got Matt’s attention and he sat up. “What family curse?”

  Brian took the chair across from the sofa and for the next twenty minutes retold what Erica had once shared with him. At the time he, like her, had found the whole idea of the Hayes–Delbert curse rather out there and not worth very much thought. Evidently her mother was determined to destroy this so-called curse.

  “And what about Donna?”

  Brian lifted a brow. “Donna?”

  “Yes. Erica is convinced she set you up, so how is she connected to Karen Sanders?”

  Brian shook his head. “I don’t know if she is.” He blew out a frustrated breath. “This whole thing sounds far-fetched, but I want answers, Matt. Maybe Mrs. Sanders had nothing to do with it, and maybe things played out to her advantage coincidentally. But I have to know that for sure. And I want to know who entered my home today and intentionally left all those things behind so Erica could find them.”

  Matt tapped his fingers on the coffee table. “And you’re sure, at least as far as you know, Donna Hardy doesn’t have the hots for you and set out to deliberately sabotage your relationship with Erica.”

  “As far as I know she doesn’t have a thing for me. Even if she did, how could she have known Erica was coming to town today?”

  “I’m not sure,” Matt said, standing. “But you better believe I’m going to find out.”

  Brian knew Matt well enough to know that he would. In fact, there was no doubt in Brian’s mind that, when it was all over, Matt would not only put an end to this madness, but he would have the names of the p
erson or persons responsible.

  Griffin got out of bed the next morning after a sleepless night, mainly because he still hadn’t been able to reach April. It was so unlike her not to touch base with him every day.

  He was about to go take his shower when the doorbell rang. Grabbing his bathrobe he nearly flew down the stairs, hoping it was April and that she had decided to surprise him with a visit.

  He opened the door, disappointed to find a FedEx deliveryman standing there instead of April. “Yes?”

  “Overnight delivery for you, sir. Please sign this.”

  Griffin signed the document and was then handed an envelope. It was from April. He frowned wondering what the hell was going on and, after closing the door, he swiftly opened the envelope and pulled out the single piece of paper and began reading.

  Griffin,

  I know this is the coward’s way out but this is the way it has to be. I am ending things between us. It was fun while it lasted but I decided that I can’t corner myself into a relationship right now with anyone. I should not have led you to believe there could be more when I know there can’t be. You would think after three failed marriages I would learn my lesson. Bottom line is I prefer we don’t see each other again. I have my life and you have yours. I need a break from work and I’m taking a few weeks off to be by myself. Don’t try calling me because I prefer no contact from you. It’s over between us.

  April

  Griffin reread the letter twice to make sure he wasn’t mistaken. And then rage consumed him. How dare she play with his heart. And what about all those times she’d told him that she loved him? They had been nothing more than lies?

  He closed his eyes and could envision how she’d looked the last time they’d been together. After making love they had held each other, stared into each other’s eyes and poured out their love. His hand shook with anger as he placed the letter back into the envelope. She was right. She had taken the coward’s way out and he didn’t intend to let her off that easily.

  April had captured his heart and if he had to tear through America and Europe to find her, he would.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  “And how was your visit with April?”

  Erica glanced across the dinner table at her mother. Surprisingly, she didn’t detect the normally sarcastic tone in her voice whenever she mentioned April. Erica had been asleep when her mother had arrived in Lake Tahoe late last night and Erica had deliberately pretended exhaustion to sleep late this morning. She needed to give her body time to heal from pain and hoped her mother couldn’t look at her and tell she’d been crying the last two days. Her eyes were no longer as red as they had been but her heart was still aching inside.

  She had checked her messages and saw Brian had tried calling her several times but she didn’t want to hear anything he had to say at the moment. The evidence she’d seen spoke for itself and, as far as she was concerned, there was really nothing he could say. And knowing there was no way he could redeem himself made it that much harder, because she loved him so much.

  “Erica?”

  Remembering that her mother had asked a question, she plastered a smile on her face. “My visit was great. It was good seeing her again,” she lied. No matter what, she refused to let her mother know what had happened between her and Brian. Karen had enough garbage of her own to sort through. Besides, the thought of her and her mother sharing a pity party only made her pain that much worse.

  “And what about your trip, Mom? How was it?”

  A huge smile touched her mother’s mouth from corner to corner. “It was simply wonderful. I wasn’t sure how things would turn out before I left but I think it was worth the trip.”

  Erica continued to eat her food while her mother chatted away about people Erica didn’t know. But she could tell by the sound of her mother’s voice that getting away had been good for her. She was glad and hoped her mother’s attitude stayed intact when she made the request she was about to make.

  “Mom, can we go home?”

  The smile on Karen’s face left instantly. “Why? Aren’t you enjoying spending time with me?”

  Erica breathed deeply. Good grief! The last thing she wanted was for her mother to assume that she was disloyal. But she needed to be alone to wallow in her own grief. “That’s not it, Mom, but I just want to go home now. I think we’ve been gone long enough, don’t you think?”

  Karen nodded slowly. “Yes, I guess you’re right.” She hesitated for a moment, fidgeting with her napkin in a nervous gesture before saying, “I didn’t want to mention this to you. In fact I put it out of my mind until I was ready to deal with it.”

  Erica had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Deal with what?”

  Karen held her gaze. “I talked to your father a couple of weeks ago while we were still on the cruise.”

  “Yes, he mentioned it when I spoke with him a few days ago. Why didn’t you tell me he called? Why did you have me believing that he hadn’t cared enough to do so, Mom?”

  She saw fire flare into her mother’s eyes. “Because there was no way I could tell you he called without telling you why he called. And the reason was too upsetting.” She placed her fork down beside her plate to make sure she had Erica’s attention. “He has filed for the divorce and is in the process of moving out of our home.”

  Erica’s mouth dropped open from the news.

  “And he plans to divorce me and marry her,” her mother added.

  Erica frowned. “Is that what he said?”

  “No, that’s what I’ve prepared myself for and that’s fine. I’ll just live my life alone until I die.”

  Erica’s heart took a nosedive and a part of her wished she hadn’t asked to go home now.

  “So I hope you understand why I didn’t mention his call,” Karen said. “It was just too devastating to think about and I was determined to put him and that tramp he’s been messing with out of my mind.”

  “I can understand that.” She reached across the table to take her mother’s hand in hers. “Mom, I’m truly sorry.”

  Her mother nodded. “So am I. Maybe you’ve been right all along. Your father and I had an arranged marriage and things didn’t work out. I guess marrying for love is the only way to assure your heart won’t get broken.”

  Those words were too much for Erica to hear. She wanted to tell her that marrying for love wasn’t what she thought it would be. On the verge of tears, she pushed back from the table. “Excuse me, Mom, I need some time alone for a minute.”

  Karen watched as Erica quickly left the room. Poor baby. The smile that formed on her lips couldn’t be withheld. She lifted her glass to take a sip of her wine. Things were going as planned, and yes, she was ready to go home, as well. The sooner she could get Griffin and Erica together, the better.

  If two people were drawn together to console each other’s broken hearts, then so be it.

  Rita nibbled on her bottom lip as she waited for Wilson to answer the phone. “It’s Rita,” she said as he picked up.

  “Rita, how are you, love?”

  She hung her head and took a deep breath. Such words coming from him should not make her heart beat so fast. Should not cause goose bumps to break out over her arms. But they did because no matter how their relationship had begun or how wrong it was to have started in the first place, she loved him. He was her love, like she knew she was his.

  It had been over a month since they’d been together and she knew if given the word he would hop the first plane to Dallas to see her. But they had agreed they would not be together, could not be together, until he was no longer a married man.

  “There’s a problem between Erica and Brian,” she said, her heart almost breaking just thinking about it.

  “What problem? I talked to Erica a few days ago. She called me from the airport on her way to Dallas to see Brian.”

  “Yes, and someone set him up, Wilson.”

  “Set him up? How?”

  She spent the next thirty
minutes going over in detail what Brian had shared with her a few days ago. He had appeared on her doorstep on the brink of exhaustion. He’d barely been able to eat and had taken time off work to try and pull himself together.

  It had been totally heartbreaking for a mother to see her child in such pain but know there was nothing she could do about it. Even now she was worried about him, although he had returned to work today and claimed he was doing better. He had tried calling Erica but she refused his calls.

  “There is no way Brian would cheat on Erica, Wilson,” she said, almost in tears.

  “I know, sweetheart. To be honest with you, it wouldn’t at all surprise me if Karen didn’t have something to do with it.”

  Rita’s breath caught. That had crossed her mind originally, but there were so many things that had happened that were so out of Karen’s reach. “How is that possible when she was at Lake Tahoe?” His suspicions were beginning to sound like a demented soap opera.

  “I know, but over the years my wife has kept secrets of her own.”

  “Really?”

  “Nothing involving an affair or anything, as far as I know, but a secret I discovered last year regarding her sister.”

  “Her sister? Erica once mentioned her mother had one sister who’d been in a car accident and went into a coma and later died.”

  “Yes, that’s what we all thought.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I know for a fact that her sister Blair is alive, although Karen fabricated the funeral years ago to make us think other wise.”

  Rita nearly dropped the phone out of her hands. “What?”

  “Yes, I only found out because I came across the checks Karen has been writing for her care in a private exclusive nursing home. She makes sure Blair is getting the best of care, but just to think Karen went so far as to fabricate her sister’s death and funeral lets me know she is capable of doing just about anything.”