Reverend Douglas’ home, but I loved that they’d sold the
house where they’d lived for more than thirty years once their son and daughter had graduated from college. Now, they lived
in one of the most upscale condos in the area and it gave
me something to look forward to when Jasmine and Jayden
became adults.
“Okay, Reverend Douglas is expecting you,” the concierge
said as she handed Jeremy a card that was similar to a hotel
key. “You’ll need this for the elevator.”
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“Got ya,” he said as he grinned at the young woman, then
led me to the elevators.
As we stepped into the chamber, I said, “This is really a
beautiful place.”
“Nothing’s more beautiful than you.” He tapped the card
against the sensor, and then, before the doors even closed,
Jeremy pulled me into his arms and we kissed our way to the
17th floor.
I was breathless when the doors opened and if my husband
hadn’t held my hand and guided me, I wasn’t sure I would’ve
been able to step off the elevator. “Let’s finish this when we get home,” he said.
“Oh definitely.” When he rang the bell to 1701, which was
across the hall from the only other apartment on the floor, I
added, “And maybe we can leave before dessert.”
“I agree. Why have pie when I can have your cookies?”
My eyes widened. “I cannot believe you said that.”
We giggled like teenagers and when Reverend Douglas
opened the door, we both had to fight to keep our laughter
inside.
“Well,” the reverend’s voice boomed. “If it isn’t the
Williams. Come in, come in. Welcome to our home.”
Sonya was standing right beside her husband and we
exchanged greetings and hugs before Sonya took my hand
and led me into their all-white (including the carpet), chrome and glass living room.
When I settled onto the sofa, I rested my purse to one
side, so that Jeremy would sit next to me. He smiled as I made
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room for him and laid his cell and the elevator card on the
table beside us. Sonya and the reverend sat on the love seat
across from us and for the first time, I noticed they looked
like twins. Not only because of the way they were dressed
(both in black slacks and a light blue blouse for Sonya, while the reverend wore a light blue shirt), but their hair was the
same shade of silver, though the reverend’s was cut short while Sonya had hers pulled back into a loose bun.
“So, I hear there are amazing things going on over at New
Kingdom Temple,” Reverend Douglas said.
“Yes, sir. We’re just trying to follow your example,” my
husband said with a little bit of head bow.
The reverend laughed. “Well, we did quite a few things,
but it’s time for the new generation,” he motioned toward us,
“to take over.”
“Oh, are you thinking of retiring?” I asked.
Before he had a chance to say a word, Sonya laughed
and shook her head. “Retire? What’s that?” Now her husband
laughed with her. “The Lord himself will have to come down
and pull my husband from the pulpit.”
“Now why you got to go and tell the people that?” the
reverend asked, though he smiled and grabbed her hand. To
us, he said, “My wife tells no lies. I will continue preaching until the Lord calls me home...or tells me to sit my black
butt down.”
Now, we all laughed and inside, I released an ‘Awww’
when the reverend leaned over and gave his wife a kiss.
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Sonya blushed a bit when she faced us. “I’ve had quite
a busy day, well a busy week really. So we’re having dinner
catered. We’ll be eating in about an hour, if that’s okay.”
“Of course,” Jeremy and I sang together.
My husband added, “It’ll give us time to talk a little.”
“Exactly, which is the reason why we’re here together,”
Reverend Douglas said. “But how can we talk without having
a drink in our hands?” Looking at me, he asked, “What can
we get you to drink?”
“Oh, I’ll have some water, please,” I said.
He nodded. “What about you, sweetheart?”
“Get me a Perrier.”
“Okay; Jeremy would you join me and help me carry these
drinks back inside?”
“Of course.” My husband sprang to his feet, then reached
for my hand and squeezed it before he trotted a bit to catch
up with Reverend Douglas.
My eyes followed him and I felt so blessed that after ten
years, he was still the love of my life. And in that moment, I knew that he would always be.
“So,” the first lady’s voice made me turn to her, “I heard
the job fair was a success.”
“It was.” I grinned thinking about how the girls had handed
out their resumes, answered questions so professionally, and
then had asked their own good questions. “I’m really hoping
they will all get a call for a job.”
“I’m hoping, too. You’ve done such a great job with them.
I knew you would be an asset to the First Ladies Council.”
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I kept my smile, though I wondered if this was my
moment to talk to Sonya about some of the things that
concerned me with the group. Not so much about Rena, but
all the gossiping among the ladies. “You know, First Lady,” I
began, and then, Jeremy’s phone vibrated on the table. “Oh,
excuse me,” I said. “Our kids are with my assistant tonight,
so I just want to make sure she’s not trying to contact us,”
I explained as I scooted across the sofa to the table where
Jeremy had laid his cell.
Grabbing it, I read the text:
I’ve been waiting for you to call. I need more of what you gave me last night. It’s always great to make up. When can you get away again?
I clutched the phone as I struggled to keep breathing.
Above the text, I saw the name: K. Brunson.
“Ginger.”
I heard my name, but the voice sounded so vague. Like
someone was whispering to me across the miles. So instead
of responding, I studied the name on Jeremy’s phone, then
tapped the screen to get to the info. When the number came
up, I repeated it a couple of times in my head. I only had to
do it once, really. This was a number I’d never forget.
“Ginger, are you all right?”
Now, I glanced up. I hadn’t even noticed that Sonya had
moved; she’d come across the room and was standing over me.
“Yes,” I said, though I shook my head as I returned Jeremy’s
phone to the table.
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“Are the children all right?”
“Yes,” I said, sounding as if I were talking while holding
my breath. Then, I added, “but my assistant. She’s babysitting and she’s not.”
“Oh, my goodness.” Sonya pressed her hand against her
heart.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Reverend Douglas said as
he and Jeremy returned to the living room.
“It’s their babysitter,” Sony
a said with urgency.
“What? Dru?” Jeremy’s eyes were filled with concern.
I had no idea what he saw when he looked into my
eyes. Every emotion I could possibly have ebbed and flowed
through me. I was angry enough to slap him, but sad enough
to cry. I was confused enough to question him, but too
embarrassed to say anything in front of the Douglases.
And I was definitely too upset to stay and break bread.
The thought of food....
“We have to go,” I said to Jeremy.
“Of course,” Sonya said.
I snatched my purse and bounced from the sofa as Jeremy
grabbed his cell and the elevator key.
“I just hope everything is all right,” the reverend said.
“We’ll call down and tell them to have your car ready.”
At the door, we did what we’d done less than thirty
minutes before. We hugged and said our goodbyes. But when
Sonya hugged me, she whispered, “Call me if you need me.
I’m here for you.”
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I leaned back and looked into her eyes. What did she
know? But then, I shook that thought away. She was just
telling me that she was worried about my children.
Jeremy and I rushed through the door and then, into the
elevator. Once inside, he asked, “What happened to Dru?” He
sounded so worried. “What did she say?”
Turning, I faced my husband. But when I did, bile rose
within me. “Oh, my God,” I said. “I’m going to be sick.”
“What? What’s wrong?”
“I can’t....” I held my stomach and when the elevator doors
parted, Jeremy held me and helped me outside where our car
was waiting.
He helped me into the passenger seat and all I could do
was lean back and close my eyes. He started the car and as
he rounded the driveway, he said, “I’m gonna get Dru on the
phone.”
“No.” The word came out in a whisper. “She’s not the one
who’s sick.” I opened my eyes and looked at him. “But I am.”
He stared at me for a moment and I wasn’t sure what
made him not question me anymore. All he said was, “All
right. I’m going to get you home as soon as I can. Just lay back and close your eyes.”
I did what he told me only because that was what I was
going to do anyway. I needed to figure this out. I needed to
come up with a plan because confronting him with the text
alone was not enough. I was smart enough to know that. I
needed to know more. I needed to find out first who was K.
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Brunson. All this time I wondered if something was going on
with Jeremy and Dana. But it wasn’t Dana. It was K. Brunson.
Or maybe it was Dana. Maybe that was some kind of
code name.
And then...another thought. Of Rena. And her husband.
K. Brunson.
Why was there no first name?
K. Brunson.
Was my husband involved with a man?
“Oh, my God,” I moaned.
“What?” Jeremy said. “Ginger, what?” he asked me with
some urgency.
“Pull over.”
“Why?”
“Just pull over,” I screamed.
Looking into the rear view mirror, Jeremy made a quick
swerve making the tires scream. Then, on the side of the road, the Jag’s tires crunched the gravel below and before the car
even came to a full stop, I opened the door—but it wasn’t in
time. I released all of my emotions in a pool of puke, half of it spilling onto the side of Jeremy’s Jaguar.
Chapter Thirteen
That text had knocked me stone-cold out. From Friday
night, when I’d stopped puking on the side of the road
(and the side of the car) Jeremy had finally been able to drive us home, until this moment about sixty hours later, I had
been in this bed in our guest room, tucked beneath the covers, rising only to go to the bathroom. I hadn’t eaten much, though Jeremy kept bringing me food.
For the last sixty hours I’d done only two things—think
and weep. I’d taken myself through a gamut of emotions and
a dozen questions that all made my head and my heart ache.
But now, it was time for me to get up. Because depression
did me no good. Staying in bed solved no problems. Crying
until every tear had been squeezed from me answered no
questions.
And that was what I needed most right now—the answer
to my questions.
“Babe,” I glanced up at the doorway. “You’re up.” He
grinned as if he were so glad to see me.
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My Word | 167
My response: a blank stare and no words. I’d been silent
this whole weekend, parting my lips only to speak to Jasmine
and Jayden when they’d called on Saturday and yesterday.
“Still not feeling well?” He stepped into the bedroom and
eased down onto the bed next to me.
I closed my eyes and wondered why didn’t I just say
something? Why didn’t I ask him about the text? Why didn’t
I just go straight to the source?
Because he was the source and I no longer trusted him. I
needed more information before I confronted him. Because
if he was having an affair, I was out.
So I needed to know for sure.
“Maybe you should go to the doctor, babe.” Jeremy
massaged my shoulder and I cringed beneath his fingers.
“You’re shivering,” he said, mistaking my revulsion toward
him for something else. Just like he’d mistaken everything
since Friday.
He’d mistaken why I was sleeping in the guest bedroom.
He thought I didn’t want to infect him with whatever had
made me so sick on the side of the road.
He’d mistaken why I hadn’t gotten out of bed on Saturday.
He thought I had a bad flu bug because of how red and puffy
my eyes were.
And then, he’d mistaken why I hadn’t gone to church
yesterday? He thought it was a combination of the above.
But it was time for me to get up. And time for me to
speak my first words to him. “I’m fine. I don’t need you to
take care of me.”
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“Are you kidding me? Babe, I’ll always take care of you.”
When he kissed my cheek, I closed my eyes and pressed down
the rising bile inside of me. “So you feel well enough to get up and move around? You know you don’t have to. Dru took the
kids straight to school, but Lizzy can pick them up because
Dru’s running down to New Orleans for a couple of days,
remember?”
“Oh yeah,” I mumbled, I said, though I had forgotten. I
was usually on top of things like this, but I hadn’t been in my right mind for the last sixty hours.
“So Lizzy can pick them up if you want because you know
this is the beginning of Carmen’s vacation, too. Seems like
everyone is out of town.”
While he chuckled as if he’d somehow found humor in
those words, I shook my head. I’d forgotten about our nanny,
too. It really was time for me to get back into the game. I had to take care of my business. “Like I said, I’m fine. I’m going to take a shower and get into the office. I
’ll pick up the kids.”
“Are you sure? You were knocked out this weekend. You
sure you’ve recovered from whatever you had?”
I gave him a hard glare. “I’m not sure if I’ve recovered, but
I know for sure that I will. Soon enough.” I paused. “And there are no excuses with my kids. I will pick them up.”
He nodded, missing all of my cues. “Well, don’t do too
much today. I don’t want whatever took you out to come
back.”
“Neither do I.”
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“And remember, I have to head to Richmond this
morning. Remember Reverend Lewis said there’s a young
pastor down there he wants me to mentor?”
I stared at him, not believing what I was seeing. “What?”
I asked him. Not because I hadn’t heard him, but because I
wanted to see.
He said, “I’m going to Richmond to speak to a young
pastor.” And again, his eyebrow twitched. His built-in lie
detector.
I couldn’t breathe. Was he going to meet K. Brunson? I
was going to be sick.
He said, “I’ll only be down there for a couple of hours. I’l
be back before dinner.” No twitch.
He blew me a kiss as if he knew it was a good idea to stay
out of punching range and then, he left me alone. Where was
he going? And who was K. Brunson?
I had so many questions and it was time for me to find
out a few answers.
d
I was drained of energy. I guess that’s what happened once
you found out that your husband was a liar...and a cheater.
But I had to push through.
Swiveling in my office chair, I wondered what were my
options. How was I going to find out who was K. Brunson?
There had been a part of me that had thought about following
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him down to Richmond. But he was long gone by the time
I’d gotten dressed.
I would probably have to go through his phone, though
I had a feeling Jeremy was too smart to leave those kinds of
obvious clues.
It would come down to searching his office. That would
be a start and that might give me a lead. I didn’t want to do
it now, though. Not while Lizzy was here. Although I didn’t
need a reason to be in my husband’s office, I wanted to do a
total sweep and that would be best done when I was in this
building alone. I wanted to leave no paper, no receipt, no
anything unturned.
I sighed. His office was where I would start, but what if I
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