Logan’s mouth dropped open. “You have got to be kidding me. I guess his smarts end in the operating room.”
Liam shook his head. “She tried everything she’s trying with you, but she seemed to forget that Valerie held her career in the palm of her hand. So, Kamrie was given a choice: Leave or kiss her medical career good-bye.”
“But from what I understand, Kamrie came to Richmond Medical with glowing recommendations from her previous employer.”
Liam took a sip of his whiskey. “That’s because Valerie didn’t want the affair to go public. Imagine the optics on this: administrator’s husband sleeping with a nurse, sexual harassment lawsuit on deck.”
“Kamrie sued them?” Now, Logan needed a sip of whiskey.
“That was the threat. She is not above using the courts to get what she wants.”
“Or fake medical tests. How long ago was it that she and this man were together?”
“I was putting that together when Ms. Valerie found out and banned me from the hospital. She still doesn’t want any of this to come out and she said that Kamrie is Virginia’s problem.”
“Wait, so all you know is that Kamrie fucked a doctor on her old job?” Frustration marred his handsome face as he swirled the brown liquid in his glass.
“Just because that woman kicked me out of her hospital doesn’t mean that I didn’t get what I was looking for.”
Logan drained the rest of his drink and slammed the glass on the counter. “So, what do you have?”
“One of her nurse friends, who thinks I’m a handsome man and wanted my phone number, said Kamrie might have been pregnant when she left Atlanta.”
“How are we going to find out?”
“That’s where things get tricky. We’re going to have to get an independent DNA test on the little boy and prove you’re not the father.”
“And how are we going to quietly do that?” Logan reached for the bottle of whiskey and poured himself another glassful. “Clearly, the boy’s records have been falsif ied.”
“There might not be a quiet way to do this. You’re probably going to have to go to court and get a judge to sign off on a DNA test to prove you aren’t the father.”
Logan rubbed his hand across his face. “I’ve been trying to keep this whole thing out of the public record. It’s bad enough that the hospital knows about it now and wants me to come in for a meeting with HR in the morning. Going to court is going to have every newspaper and media organization in the area on this story like flies on shit.”
Liam rocked back on his heels and folded his arms across his chest. “What do you really want to happen here? Shove some evidence in this woman’s face and pay her off or do you want to save your marriage? Do you think if Kamrie goes away Robin is just going to come back and your life is going to be like it was before?”
Logan shook his head. He knew there would always be questions in Robin’s mind if Kamrie and her son just disappeared. That woman had cut his wife to the bone and Logan wanted to return the favor.
“So, you think I need to take her to court?” Logan asked after downing his drink.
“That or break into her house and get a DNA sample.”
“Well, that would be stupid. Maybe I can check with the hospital and—forget that. Someone on staff is working with her and I don’t know who can and can’t be trusted.”
“That’s definitely a problem but we have to do something to get that child’s DNA legally. Otherwise, you’re going to be her next victim.”
“What about this surgeon in Atlanta? How is he going to react when we ask for his DNA?”
Liam smiled. “I already have it. We had coffee, and of course when I started asking about Kamrie, he got pissed off and left—without his paper cup. It’s in my lab now.”
“Is that legal?”
Liam shrugged. “I haven’t crossed the line, but it might be a gray area.”
“How gray? Because when I present this information, I don’t want there to be any questions as to what I can do to clear my name. And win my wife back.”
Liam nodded and glanced around the kitchen. “So, where’s the food?”
Logan laughed. “You earned it. I even have some coleslaw to go with the ribs.” He crossed over to the cabinets and pulled out two plates. After filling them with ribs, chicken, and coleslaw, he slid one over to his friend.
“I guess this is enough for all the work that I’ve done,” Liam said with a deep chuckle. “So, here’s what we need to do: Find out what the HR department wants to say to you. Build up your evidence and then blow back at everybody who’s been trying to ruin your life.”
Logan lifted a chicken wing in salute. “And those bastards are going to pay.”
Chapter 12
Robin woke up at four a.m. half expecting her pillow to be Logan, but it was her favorite body pillow. Soft. Damp from sweat and tears.
And she was so tired of crying. She made her decision and it was time to woman up and stick by it. Rolling over on her back, she stared up at the ceiling, deciding that she’d do some of that fancy painting she saw on HGTV and make her room a sanctuary. But who was she fooling, just like the day she moved into this town house, she missed her room, her bed, and her husband. What if he was telling the truth? Better still, what if she was going to wake up when the sun rose and the past six months had been a horrible nightmare.
There was no baby.
She hadn’t served Logan with divorce papers.
They were just lying in bed holding each other.
Robin sighed and kicked out of the covers. That wasn’t going to happen. Because everything that had destroyed her soul was real. After hopping out of bed, Robin dressed in her workout clothes and headed for her punching bag.
If she couldn’t sleep, she might as well work out some aggression and stop crying. Robin punched until her arms once again felt like wet noodles. She knew she wasn’t using proper form or anything as she boxed. She was just pushing through the anger and hoping that she wouldn’t feel anything when she was done.
At least the tears stopped. Robin headed for the kitchen and started a pot of coffee; then it was time to do some work. She was still a lawyer with cases to defend. The time for feeling sorry for herself had ended. Waiting for the brew to complete, Robin headed to her small office and grabbed her files and laptop.
Part of her wondered how Nina and Clinton were enjoying their honeymoon. She hated that she couldn’t celebrate with her sister the way she deserved. Just because her marriage had turned into a shit show, it didn’t mean that her sister was going to have the same kind of bad juju. As a matter of fact, she was going to have a nice basket of wine, fruit, and some toys for couples waiting for them when they returned from their honeymoon.
She couldn’t help but think of her own honeymoon. Logan had been on break from medical school and he’d walked into their apartment in New Orleans with two plane tickets in his hand.
They were going to Monaco. Robin had shared her love of Grace Kelly and her love affair with Prince Rainier with Nina back in the day. Robin had always been a sucker for a great love story. First her parents, then the romance novels she read by Beverly Jenkins, Brenda Jackson, and Deborah Fletcher Mello, and now she knew she was living one that would last forever.
What a fool she’d been thinking that she could make her life read like her favorite books or be a carbon copy of her parents’ marriage.
All Robin could hope for was that Clinton would take care of her baby sister like the heroes in her favorite books. Before Robin knew it, she was crying again. Now, she needed a shower before she could get to work. Heading to her bathroom, Robin turned her stereo on and pumped up her wake-up playlist, which was basically the entire Jagged Little Pill album by Alanis Morissette. The angst of the nineties record fit her mood as she turned her shower on and stepped underneath the spray. The water was cold at first, but as it heated up Robin decided to let go of the negativity and focus on her future.
What was a future
without Logan in it going to look like? They had planned so many things together. Robin opening her own law office with regional offices in South Carolina and Louisiana, jet skiing on the French Riviera for their twentieth wedding anniversary and retirement. Then there was the scholarship fund they were going to create at Xavier University to give back to the place where their love began.
Damn me for wrapping my future in this man, she thought as she shut the shower off. Robin silently promised that moving forward she would depend on the one person who would never let her down: herself. No more seeking a happy ending with Logan, or any other man, for that matter.
She wasn’t going to be disappointed again. After drying off and dressing in a tank top and yoga pants, Robin got to work on some of her cases that would easily be settled out of court. When her phone rang after several hours of working in silence, she nearly jumped out of her skin.
“This is Robin,” she said when she answered without looking at the screen.
“You can stop pretending that you’re working,” Alex quipped.
“Actually, I am. What’s going on? Let me guess, you talked to Yolanda.”
Alex sighed. “She yelled, and threatened. Thank God she has this bodyguard around for whatever reason. I’ve never seen our sister put in her place with such ease before in my life.”
“That almost makes me want to come back to Charleston and take a closer look at this phenomenon. And you don’t know why she has a bodyguard either?”
“No need to do that, looks like the three of us are coming to see you tomorrow. So, are you in Richmond or Petersburg?”
“Why are you guys wasting your time driving all the way up here? I’m sure Dad would enjoy your company more than I will.”
“You act like you have a choice in this. Is that woman really stalking you?” Robin could hear the concern in her sister’s voice.
“That’s Yolanda’s overactive imagination. Alex, I really want to be left alone right now. I told Logan that he needs to go ahead and sign the divorce papers and he agreed.”
“Does that mean we’re celebrating or crying?”
“Like I said, that means I want to be left alone.”
“And I think I told you we already have a plan to come there. Don’t make me tell Daddy you have a stalker. He’ll put a bodyguard on you, too. And for the record, no one will say anything about why Yolanda is under this man’s protection. Not even Daddy, and he usually tells me everything.”
Robin sighed, knowing her sister was right and the last thing she wanted was to make her father worry. “Fine, I’ll text you my address and since you all are coming there’d better be some sweets from the bed-and-breakfast in a big basket for me.”
“Is that your way of saying put Terell in the trunk and bring him with us?”
Robin rolled her eyes. Did she want to tell her sister—with her sometimes judgmental self—about what happened after Nina’s wedding? Nope.
“I don’t want to see Terell again. That is old news. Black history.”
“Then why has he been here every other day since Nina’s wedding acting like he’s waiting for the cat to come back?”
“Bye, Alex. I’ve got work to do. And wait a minute, are you taking time off from work?”
“Two days to check on you isn’t going to kill the business. And I’m just practicing for my vacation. In all seriousness, I’m worried about you.”
Robin was worried as well and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to share this with her sisters. It was easy to pretend when they were hundreds of miles away from each other. She could hide her tear tracks and her sadness with fake laughs on the phone. “I’m going to be all right, sis. I’m not the first woman who’s been cheated on and I won’t be the last.”
“Robin, you’ve been through hell. You were a trooper for Nina, now it’s time for us to step up for you. I know you like to pretend everything is perfect, but you can be as hurt as you want to be and lean on us.”
Silent tears streamed down her face. Robin knew she was a lucky woman but hearing Alex on the other end of the line solidified that fact.
“I love you, sis,” Robin said.
“I know you do. And I love you back. Are you really sure that it’s over between you and Logan?”
“I’m not sure about anything right now except that I’m hurt to the bone.”
“There will be a lot of chocolate chip cookies and wine in that basket, and tissues.”
“You’re the best, sis.”
“I know,” Alex said before saying good-bye.
Robin was all smiles when she returned to her work. After reading until her eyes nearly crossed, she decided that it was time to clean up her place for tomorrow’s visit. She was actually looking forward to seeing her sisters and learning the ways of the bodyguard. Moving her punching bag into the corner and stuffing her boxing gloves in the coat closet, Robin was satisfied with the look of the place. But she needed food. So, she grabbed her sneakers and headed to Whole Foods to stock up.
She almost reached for her phone and called Logan to see what he needed. She hadn’t done that in months, but today she felt compelled to do it.
I’m slowly losing my mind out here, she thought as she got into the car.
* * *
Logan wanted to see his wife. He wanted to hold her and tell her about everything Liam had discovered on his trip to Atlanta. But he was sitting at the kitchen table, sipping strong coffee, trying to figure out if he should sign the divorce papers Logan Jean Baptiste, Dr. Logan J. Baptiste, or if he should just mark a big X.
After twenty minutes, he decided he wasn’t signing at all. Not when he had a chance to save his marriage. But how was he going to get Robin to listen? He knew that she was hurting and the last thing he wanted was to cause her pain. But he couldn’t just allow her to believe the worst of him. Maybe this said something about his marriage that he hadn’t wanted to admit.
Had he and Robin lost their connection and this was just a sign showing how much had changed between them?
She had been complaining about the long hours he’d put in at the hospital last spring, and if he had been smarter, Logan would’ve told her why.
The drug company had been digging its heels in to get the surgeons to use their new antirejection medication, but he wanted facts and research. So, he’d been digging into deaths at the hospital.
Then he stopped getting a lot of transplant surgeries. More deaths. His questions had been ignored and then the hurricane hit the city. Like all of the doctors and nurses who’d been on that shift, Logan worked for twenty-four hours straight. He’d been tired, and when there had been a lull in activity, he’d crept into his office for a nap. But first he’d texted Robin to make sure she was all right.
His wife had reminded him that she grew up in Charleston and made it through worse hurricanes than this one. She just wanted to make sure he got some sleep and didn’t try to come home.
Logan had wanted to kiss her through the phone. Now, he just wanted to hear her voice, wanted her to tell him she was coming home. But that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. She made it clear that their marriage was over and he didn’t want her to hurt. The last thing he’d ever wanted was to make Robin sad, cry, or hurt. That’s why it was important to get to the bottom of these lies and let his wife know that he was still the man she’d married and the man who would love her until he took his last breath.
Liam walked into the house without knocking, reminding Logan that he needed to take his key back from his friend. “Thought you were going to the hospital today,” he said as he set a bag of food on the kitchen counter.
“That’s tomorrow.”
Liam tilted his head. “What are you studying?”
Logan pushed the papers away. “My divorce papers.”
Liam sucked his teeth as he pulled the greasy food from the bag. “Throw that shit away. Remember the nurse who liked me?”
“What about her?”
“She called me today and said she h
ad some things to share with me about her friend and she’s coming to Richmond.”
“That sounds like she’s trying to lead you to a booty call.”
Liam shrugged as he handed Logan a white Styrofoam to-go container. “Could be or she could be the link we need to get Kamrie to tell the truth about that kid.”
“So, you think you’ve got the magic stick and you’re going to be able to get all of this information from a woman who claims to be Kamrie’s friend?”
Liam dug into his fried rice. “That’s why I’m the detective. A real friend wouldn’t have opened up about her buddy like Ms. Nurse did.”
Logan opened his package and saw Liam had saved the fried food for himself and he’d gotten a salad for him. “Good looking-out,” he said as he passed him a bottle of water.
“Bought you that so I don’t have to hear a lecture about this.” Liam held up his food.
“I keep telling you, one day you’re going to end up on my operating table if you keep eating like this.”
“And you’re going to keep me alive because I get you out of trouble. I’m going to tell the nurse that she should meet me at the Jefferson. Make her think she’s about to get the five-star treatment, then shit will get real.”
Logan stabbed at his spinach salad. “Hopefully she’s going to be real with you.”
The men finished their food in silence and Logan decided that he wasn’t going to sit there and wonder how his wife was doing; he was going to call her. Rising from the table, he told Liam that he was going to make a call.
“Hopefully she’ll answer,” Liam replied in between sips of water.
* * *
Robin had grabbed the last bag of groceries and was trudging up the steps again. She’d actually overdone it at the market, but this was her first time having guests at her place and she wasn’t about to have her sisters talk about her not having food available for them.
Her phone rang and she nearly dropped the bag of groceries. If it was Alex again, she was going to scream. She set the bag on the top step and pulled her phone from her pocket. Logan’s face appeared on the screen and she thought about hitting ignore. But she answered.
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