Brenda Jackson The Westmoreland Collection: ZaneCanyonStern

by Brenda Jackson

  “What’s bothering you?”

  Keisha then told her mother what Grant had told her and Canyon about Bonita.

  Lynn said, “It wasn’t your fault, what happened to Bonita, and Canyon has forgiven you for the other mistakes, so why are you tormenting yourself? Why is it easier to deny yourself the man you love than it is for you to forgive anyone who you feel has done you wrong?”

  “Someone like Kenneth Drew?”

  There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone and Keisha figured it was time she and her mother had that talk. “So, tell me, Mom, when was the last time you saw him?” She’d never asked her mother anything about the man who was her father.

  “I saw him today in fact.”

  Keisha nodded. That didn’t surprise her. “So you’ve forgiven him?”

  “Yes, I had to move on.”

  “Move on? Is that why you’re seeing him again?”

  She heard her mother’s sharp intake of breath. Keisha drew in a deep breath of her own and then said softly, “You gave yourself away without meaning to and that’s okay. You don’t need my permission do anything, you know. I just don’t want you to get hurt again.”

  “It might be hard for you to understand now, baby, but one day you will see that life is something you won’t be able to hang on to forever. That cancer scare three years ago showed me that. You should embrace life every day, with no regrets. Kenneth and I both made mistakes and he knows he’s hurt me. He knows he’s hurt you. He has tried to make things right.”

  “How? Just by claiming me as his because I look like him? Where was he when I was in school and you had to struggle to support me? What about when I was in college and law school and—”

  “He paid for that.”

  Keisha stopped talking. “Excuse me?”

  “Kenneth never wanted me to tell you, but he’s the one who paid your college tuition. All of it. Including law school. At first I wasn’t going to accept his offer, but I knew it was something he wanted to do. He and I both knew it wouldn’t erase the first fifteen years of your life, but he was hell-bent on giving you everything he could during the years after that.”

  Keisha was silent. All this time she’d assumed her mother had been too independent to accept anything from anyone, especially from a man who’d turned his back on her when she had needed him the most.

  “And another thing, Keisha,” her mother said. “He never married and neither did I. You’re his only child, and he says I’m the only woman he ever truly loved. He wants a life with me and doesn’t think it’s too late.”

  Keisha swallowed. “And what do you want, Mom?” she asked softly.

  There was a pause and then, “I want him, too. But then, I don’t want to lose my daughter.”

  Keisha hung her head. She should not be placing her mother in a position where she felt she had to choose. Could Keisha handle being the cause of her mother’s unhappiness?

  “Mom, I want you to be happy. Do what makes you happy. And no matter what, I will always be your daughter. Nothing will ever change that.” Keisha stood. “I made some tea and I need to finish it off and get back to bed. We’ll talk again later this week.”

  “Okay. They still haven’t found out who trashed your home?”

  “No, but I feel certain that they will. It’s just a matter of time. Denver has a wonderful police force.”

  After ending the call to her mother, Keisha headed for the front door with her cup of tea. She had enjoyed sitting on the porch last night. But then of course Canyon had been with her. Tonight he had been in a hurry to flee her presence. Opening the door, she drew in a deep breath. This was something she’d missed while living in Austin. The air was fresh, as well as calming and comforting, things she needed right now.

  Leaning against a post, she sipped her tea, watched the sky and tried to put her conversation with her mother to the back of her mind for now. She marveled at Canyon’s fascination with the solar system and knew there was a star up there he claimed as his. Well, now she would claim it as hers, as well. He believed the star had helped get him through a number of rough times in his life. Maybe that same star could help her.

  There was a moon tonight and stars aplenty. She wondered which one was Canyon’s. She figured it had to be the one that was the biggest and the brightest since he was known to do things on a grand scale.

  She’d never wished upon a star but hopefully it wasn’t too late to do so. Closing her eyes she made a wish, one that was her heart’s most ardent desire. She loved Canyon, and he loved her. They had a son to raise together, and tonight he’d asked her to marry him.

  Opening her eyes she looked up at the star and said aloud, “One of you up there is Canyon’s star and I’m making you mine, as well. I will be more forgiving, and I won’t blame myself for everything. I forgive myself. I am not to blame.”

  She smiled, feeling renewed. Rejuvenated. Taking another sip of tea, she turned around and then gasped, dropping the cup. She tried to steady her breath and calm her heart rate. She recognized the man standing there.

  Keisha opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing there, but stopped when he said in an accusing tone, “You’re wrong. You are to blame. You’re to blame for everything that has gone wrong in my life.”

  * * *

  “Is there a reason why you’re visiting me at this hour?”

  Canyon ignored Stern’s question as he studied the picture frames lined across the fireplace mantel. He asked a question of his own. “Do the women, the ones you bring here to the Stronghold, ever ask why you have so many photographs of you and JoJo around this place?”

  Stern chuckled. “Trying to change the subject, are we? Okay, I’ll give you this one. First of all, it’s none of their business. And second, they don’t question me because they know better. My friendship with JoJo is never to be questioned.”

  Now it was Canyon’s turn to chuckle as he turned around to face his brother. “Why? Because then you’ll have to explain how she kept Steven Edison from beating you up that day when the two of you were in middle school. Or how the only reason you won that high school swim trophy you still like to brag about is because she was on your team? Or how she is responsible for keeping your Corvette running like a charm? Or how—”

  “Now, why are you here again?” Stern interrupted to ask.

  Canyon plopped down into the chair. “I like visiting you after midnight.”

  “That’s bull and you know it. You have a tendency to hang out at the Bluff as if you’re guarding the place.” Stern smiled. “But that was before it was invaded by Keisha and my man Beau. I like him by the way. I plan on teaching him how to race cars when he grows up.”

  Canyon rolled his eyes. That was when he remembered those missed calls. It was too late to return them, but at least he could check to see who’d tried contacting him earlier that evening. Shifting his body, he pulled the phone out of his back pocket and noticed all three calls had been from Detective Render. There was also a text message...Call me when you see this text. No matter how late.

  “Detective Render wants me to call him,” he said to Stern.

  “Now?”

  Canyon shrugged. “The text said no matter how late. Must be important.” He clicked on the detective’s number and after two rings Render answered.

  “Render, this is Canyon.”

  “I tried calling earlier,” Render said.

  “I went out to dinner and had my phone on vibrate and didn’t hear it. What’s up?”

  “First, none of Ms. Ashford’s coworkers in Austin are being harassed so we don’t feel it’s connected to her former job. But there is something else we’re checking out. Ms. Ashford’s neighborhood has one of those monitoring video cameras at the entrance, and we noticed this car on her street the same day her house was trashed...and
we also noticed it returned the day after and the day after that, as if checking the status of her home.”

  Canyon nodded. “Possibly a visitor to someone in Keisha’s neighborhood.”

  “That’s what we assumed but we pulled license plate records and this person made us curious.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he works at the law firm with Ms. Ashford. We did some further checking, and although he’s a model employee, his personal life turned to shambles a few years ago when his wife discovered he was involved in an illicit affair and filed for divorce. She actually caught him on a video having sex in their bedroom one weekend when she was out of town. She filed a restraining order last year when he kept harassing her, trying to get her to take him back.”

  Canyon rubbed his jaw, feeling tired and wondering where Render was going with this—until this particular story started to sound familiar. Mainly the part about a man being caught by his wife on video, having an affair. “Wait a minute,” Canyon said, straightening in his chair. “What’s the man’s name?”

  “Michael Jarrod. We went to his place to question him, and he wasn’t home. Talked to his neighbor, who said she hadn’t seen him all day. And we found out that he left early from work, claiming he’d gotten sick. You know him?”

  “No, but today someone mentioned a man who had an affair with his fiancée and the details were oddly similar. I need to check on something, and I’ll call you back.”

  Canyon clicked off and went through the contact list on his phone. Lucky for him he had exchanged phone numbers with Grant before the man had left their table to rejoin his friends. Canyon clicked on the number. It was late but...

  “Hello.”

  The man answered in a very sleepy voice. “Grant, this is Canyon. Sorry to bother you at this hour but something important came up, and I wondered if you can tell me the name of the married man that Bonita had an affair with.”

  “Yes,” Grant said groggily. “His name was Michael Jarrod.”

  A funny feeling settled in Canyon’s stomach. “Thanks, and again I’m sorry I woke you.”

  Canyon then called Render back and told him of the conversation with Grant at dinner. “I don’t know why a man who works with Keisha who had an affair with a woman who was once Keisha’s best friend would be coming into her neighborhood, three times in one week, but I’m going to find out. Maybe Keisha can shed some light on it,” Canyon said, standing. He ended his call with Render.

  Stern stared up at Canyon when he saw the concerned look on his brother’s face. “Something’s wrong?”

  Canyon was headed for the door. “No. I just need to talk to Keisha about something. I’ll talk to you later.”

  * * *

  “Michael? What are you talking about and what are you doing here?”

  Michael Jarrod came to stand in the moonlight and the look on his face was so serious that for the first time since knowing him, Keisha felt uncomfortable. “I’m talking about your friend. Bonita,” he said.

  Keisha lifted a brow. “Bonita? What about Bonita?” She vaguely recalled introducing Bonita and Michael several years ago, when Bonita had dropped by the firm. As far as she knew, their paths never crossed again.

  “That day you introduced us, she seemed nice and well mannered. Someone with class. So imagine my shock when I was at a club one night with friends and she walked in, ready to sleep with the first man she saw. We ended up having an affair that lasted three months before my wife found out. Linda divorced me and refuses to take me back, and it’s all your fault for introducing me to that woman.”

  Keisha thought she’d heard everything. But never had she heard anything so ridiculous in her life. Even she wouldn’t claim blame for that one. “Michael, think about what you just said. You are responsible for your own actions. Introducing Bonita to you didn’t push you into betraying your wife by sleeping with her. That was your doing and not mine.”

  She tried keeping the anger out of her voice. Her going on a guilt trip of her own doing was one thing, but she refused to let someone else send her on one unjustly.

  “Besides,” she added. “Bonita had a split personality. That’s the reason she displayed one personality when you met her that day and another when you ran into her that night at the club.”

  “And you want me to believe that?”

  “It’s true.”

  He frowned. “Then you should have told me.”

  “I just found out recently.” She’d never known Michael to display anger. He’d been a really nice guy when she’d lived in Denver before. But she had noticed since she’d returned that he’d been less friendly and more withdrawn. One of the other attorneys at the firm had mentioned that Michael had gotten a divorce but hadn’t provided any details. Keisha figured the divorce was the reason he had started keeping to himself.

  “But that’s not the only thing I’m blaming you for.” Michael broke into her thoughts.

  Keisha was feeling more uncomfortable. Michael had no reason to be here, at one in the morning, standing outside on Canyon’s porch. Why was he here and how did he know where to find her? She hadn’t told any of her coworkers or Mr. Spivey where she was staying. Had he followed her? And why had he showed up when Canyon wasn’t here? Was that deliberate?

  “You left the firm right before I started going through my divorce,” Michael said, interrupting her thoughts. “To deal with the mess my life was in, I threw myself into my work and took on cases nobody else wanted. I felt I had a good shot at making partner. Then you messed things up by coming back. You were Spivey and Whitlock’s golden girl before. They thought you walked on water, and they were overjoyed when you decided to come back. They brag about the job you’re doing just because you’ve won a few cases. Now rumor around the firm says that you’ll make partner before I do. I was there when you got there. I was there when you left. It’s not fair, and it’s all your fault.”

  Keisha knew there was no sense wasting her time telling Michael just how ridiculous he sounded. The man had issues, which only made her more concerned about him and why he was here. “There’s nothing I can say that will make you see how unjust your claims are. I suggest you leave now.”

  His smile sent chills up her body. “Oh, I’m leaving, and I’m taking you with me. I tried sending you warnings by paying that guy to scare you on the road and I, along with a friend who knew how to bypass your alarm system, even wrecked your house, hoping you would get scared and hightail it back to Texas. But this morning Spivey announced you were out and would return in a week. That’s not good enough.”

  Fury fired through Keisha’s veins. “You’re the one who did those things? How dare you! I never did anything to you, and you trashed my house, turned my and my son’s world upside down because of misplaced blame? How dare you?”

  “Yes, how dare me?” he mocked. “You can get mad but it doesn’t matter. I saw your boyfriend leave and since you didn’t take my other warnings I’m getting rid of you once and for all. I’m not going to kill you. I plan to turn you over to some people I know involved in human trafficking to Central America. They’ll toy with you a while, shoot you up with drugs and destroy that sharp mind of yours, the one that Spivey and Whitlock admire so much. No one will able be able to find you.”

  Keisha took a step back. Michael wasn’t thinking straight. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

  “You don’t have a choice. I don’t want to hurt you,” he said. “But I will.”

  And then she saw it. The steel blade of the knife he was holding glinted in the moonlight. Fear rose in her throat. “Michael, please. You’re not thinking straight. Nobody can place all the blame on others for their own actions.” Like nobody should place all the blame on themselves either. Or not forgive others, or themselves, when they have the chance to do so.

  “Let’s go. No telling when your bo
yfriend will return,” Michael said.

  Keisha had hoped she could keep him talking until Canyon came back. All she could think about was Beau upstairs sleeping. She had to keep him safe. “Michael, please. I am not to blame for all your problems. We were once friends and—”

  “No! A friend would not have ruined my marriage or taken away a job that should be mine! Now move!”

  Knowing she had no choice, Keisha began walking down the steps from the porch. She knew she had to think of something fast when she saw his car. Once he got her inside it she might never get away.

  An idea came into her head when she saw the weed edger that Canyon had used the other day, resting against a tree. It was a chance she had to take. Pretending to almost stumble, she quickly grabbed hold of the edger and twirled around fast, swinging it wide, feeling victorious when the knife was knocked out of his hand.

  Instead of retrieving it, Michael lunged for her. She swung again, going low with all her might, hitting his knee hard and sending him to the ground. He scrambled to get up and she swung again. He was almost successful in grabbing the edger from her hand, but she kicked him below the belt. He yelped, releasing the edger. But he was looking around for the knife. She thought of running for the house but wasn’t sure she could make it. So she continued to use the tool she had, swinging it back and forth. When he tried charging for her, she hit the power switch and set the blades in motion.

  “Put that down, bitch!” he screamed, backing up when she almost shoved the blades in his face.

  “I won’t! And I’m not to blame. Do you hear me? I am not to blame!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, moving closer to his face with the blades.

  She didn’t notice when Canyon arrived, but he was there, coming up behind Michael and knocking him to the ground with one hard blow. Michael tried to get away from Canyon but that meant staring into the edger’s blades.

  So he turned and tried fighting Canyon, who with another single hard blow, knocked Michael out cold. It was only then that Keisha cut the switch to the edger and ran straight into Canyon’s arms.