Key To My Heart (Love Conquers All)

by Wells, Victoria

  “Stop grinning at me,” Ava snapped as she grabbed her purse and then swung the door open, causing Kevin to quickly step back lest she knock him to the ground. “I was getting myself together before I went in. Is that all right with you?”

  Kevin tilted his head to the side as he stared at Ava. All traces of his grin vanished. “You OK, Av?” he asked. Over the years Kevin had become accustomed to Ava’s feisty and openly opinionated views, but she was never outright nasty. “Look, if you need to do something or go somewhere else, I can stay home.”

  Taking a deep breath, Ava felt awful for snapping at Kevin. It wasn’t his fault she was having a major life crisis. Kevin was one of the good guys. Although she was a little skeptical things would work out with him and Starr after they were married in a drunken stupor while in Vegas, she soon learned he was madly in love with her best friend. And now that they had three little ones—triplets—his love for Starr and his children was beyond breathtaking. Yeah, he was one of the good ones.

  She wanted him to go get his much deserved break. Every Tuesday evening she and Summer came over to help Starr with the babies so Kevin could have his “me” time. On Thursday evenings, Nick, Summer’s husband, and his father, Henry, did the same for Starr.

  Ava wrapped her arms around her waist, embarrassed by her outburst. “No, you don’t have to stay home. I’m sorry, Kev, I…I’ve had a really emotional day.” Standing on tiptoes, she kissed his cheek. “We cool, brother?”

  Without hesitation, Kevin pulled Ava into a brotherly embrace. “We cool, sis.”

  eee

  Holding Sydney’s warm, sleeping body close to her chest, Ava inhaled the baby’s freshly shampooed hair. The silky dark curls tickled Ava’s nose as she continued to inhale the sweet scent deep into her lungs. When the little body began to stir, Ava gently rocked in the rocking chair until the stirring quieted.

  Suddenly, the months of cracking and chipping at the tough exterior she so proudly wore as a badge of honor gave way. After the first tear fell, it was useless to try to keep the others from following. Holding this precious little cherub so close to her heart was literally eating her up inside.

  Did she even deserve to have her child? What mother would give her child away? What mother would choose someone else’s future and happiness over her child’s?

  Snuggling the slumbering nine-month-old babe closer, Ava began to softly chant, “I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so sorry.”

  Quietly entering the nursery, Starr nearly dropped the plate of food she held when she saw Ava. An hour or so ago, she and Summer had put Shayla and Kalvin to bed. Sydney had been extremely restless. Teething wasn’t being as kind to her as it was being to her brother and sister. Ava had volunteered to stay with Sydney until she had drifted off to sleep while Starr and Summer went downstairs to have dinner.

  Concerned that Sydney was still fussy, Starr decided to take her off of Ava’s hands so Ava could eat dinner. The last thing she expected to see when she came into the nursery was Ava holding her daughter and literally crying her eyes out.

  Setting the plate down on the dresser, Starr walked over to Ava and kneeled in front of her. “Hey, Av, sweetie, what’s going on?” she softly whispered, getting her friend’s attention.

  Too mentally fatigued to be embarrassed she had been caught crying, Ava let out a moan equivalent to that of a small wounded animal. The pain was so deep, lacerating the depth of her soul, that at that moment she couldn’t coherently form words if her life depended on it.

  Starr didn’t know what to do as she kneeled there helplessly gazing at Ava. She had never seen her friend, her sister so broken. Reaching up, Starr made the mistake of attempting to take the slumbering baby from Ava’s arms.

  “No! Don’t take her! Please don’t take her!” Ava shrieked in a blood curdling scream, drawing the infant closer.

  The outburst startled Starr something terrible. Losing her balance, she fell back on her butt, hitting the floor hard. It was a wonder Sydney or the other babies hadn’t woken up fussy all over again. But to Starr’s amazement, her babies slept through it all.

  Quickly regaining her composure, Starr was back to her kneeling position. “OK, OK, sweetie. You can hold Sydney a little longer. Just calm down.” Starr tried to calm Ava as she soothingly rubbed her thigh.

  Taking two steps at a time, Summer ran into the nursery. “What’s going on?” she panted, short of breath, her brown eyes shooting from Ava and Sydney to Starr.

  Starr hunched her shoulders. Just as she was about to tell Summer to call Kevin, Ava opened her mouth. “Seven years ago I had a baby.” Softly kissing the curls on top of Sydney’s head, her red, swollen eyes met those of her friends. “A little baby girl. I don’t even know her name.” Ava’s voice trembled and tears continued to flow as she finally shared her secret.

  When she had finished purging, the other women were crying too. They’d always looked up to Ava as the strong one, the tough one. But here she was hurting in a way only a mother would understand.

  Starr and Summer shared a look. Why had their friend, their sister carried this burden all alone during all the years she’d known them?

  “Ava, honey, why didn’t you tell us?” Summer gently probed. Something like this should have never been kept a secret from them. Didn’t she know they loved her? That they would have been there for her? That they would have done anything for her?

  Standing, Ava carried Sydney over to the crib. Gently kissing her forehead, she laid down the sleeping baby. Turning to face her friends, she admitted, “I didn’t think you would understand.” What she really wanted to tell them was that she was terrified they would think badly of her, especially since they were now mothers.

  The weary lines of worry on Ava’s face squeezed at Starr’s heart. “Oh, Av, you were younger then and afraid to go to your parents. At the time you felt like you had no other choice. It’s not our place to judge you. You know we would have been there for you then, just like we’re going to be there now.”

  “Believe me, I know how hard it was for you and why you couldn’t tell your folks. When I told my parents I was pregnant with NJ, they let me have it. I’ll never forget the look my father gave me or how my mother yelled at me like I was thirteen-years-old,” Summer said, trying to console her friend.

  Ava remembered. Poor Summer was a mess. Nick had just dumped her without so much as an explanation, then she found out she was pregnant, and the icing on the cake was that her parents acted as if she had committed a crime. But she kept her baby anyway, Ava thought.

  Starr and Summer shared another look when they saw that their words were not getting though to their friend. Even though they tried to comfort Ava, the wounds were too deep. They realized no words would soothe the gaping hole in Ava’s heart. All they could do for now was be a shoulder for her to lean her weary soul on.

  “Come on, group hug,” Summer said, holding both her arms wide open. After the friends hugged and cried for what seemed like forever, they broke the embrace.

  Stepping back, Summer put her hands on slender hips as she looked up at her friend. “So, when are we going to Georgetown?”

  “Yeah, when we going?” Starr parroted.

  Ava laughed for the first time in weeks. She should have known her girls would have her back. Always. No matter what.

  “Uh-uh, don’t even try it. I am not, will not get myself in no mess with Nick and Kevin,” she said, shaking her head. “Nope, not having it.”

  “Chicken,” Starr mumbled.

  “Mmm-hmm, yup. Chicken, that’s me,” Ava said, nodding.

  Whatever, Summer thought as she threw Starr a look, then rolled her eyes at Ava.

  Reading Summer’s expression, Starr sucked her teeth, yeah, whatever. Ava was always up in their business, ready to throw down. Now that they were ready to roll up on those Warringtons in Georgetown, she had to go pull the husband card on them.

  Ava went over to the dresser, got her plate, and sat back down in the rocking chai
r. Her stomach was growling. For weeks she hadn’t had an appetite. Unloading on her girls finally restored it. “Mmm, Starr, this meatloaf is good.” Swallowing, Ava spooned a fork full of the mash potatoes and gravy into her mouth. “Wow, so are the mashed potatoes. Is this gravy homemade?”

  Starr put her hands on her hips. No Ava wasn’t sitting up in her babies’ nursery wolfing down food like she wasn’t just about to have a nervous breakdown. And to boot, she was up to something and didn’t want them in on it. OK, fine.

  “You know what, Ava, you ain’t right,” Starr hissed. If this was the good old days when she and Summer weren’t married, the three of them would be in somebody’s car eating up 95 south to go do some serious damage.

  “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Looking around Summer and Starr who were now standing in front of her, Ava scanned the dresser where the plate was. “You didn’t bring me anything to drink?”

  Both of the women’s mouths flew open in irritated awe. “No that heifer didn’t!” Summer shrieked.

  “Yes that heifer did!” Starr fired back.

  “OK, if y’all are finished calling me a heifer, could somebody go get me something to drink? Starr, although the meatloaf is good, you were a little heavy on the salt. I’m thirsty.” As Ava talked she shooed her friends away like they were a couple of pesky flies.

  Starr’s head jerked back as if she’d been slapped, and Summer’s hand flew over her mouth to keep from cracking up with laughter. Summer knew Ava had made Starr hot up under the collar when Starr put her hands on her hips.

  “Ava, don’t make me pimp slap you for talking trash up in my house about my cooking.”

  Ava almost choked on her laughter as she swallowed a piece of the tender meat. That gave Summer the go ahead to let loose her own laughter, which caused Starr to fall in laughing right along with her girls.

  “Come on, Summer, let’s go downstairs to get Queen Ava a drink.”

  After they left the room Ava continued to enjoy her meal. She had a plan all right, but she wasn’t bringing them in on it. If she ended up on the wrong side of the law, no way was she dragging her sisters with her. This was her fight to handle.

  eee

  “What’s up with Ava?” Kevin asked his wife as she curled up next to him on the sofa in the den where he was watching a TiVo’d episode of The Unit. He was still a little concerned by Ava’s behavior earlier that day. Not only had she been extremely edgy, but it was evident that she had been crying.

  “Why you ask, baby?” Starr purred as she nestled closer.

  “She nearly took off my head earlier when I saw her outside. She apologized, but it looked like something was really bothering her.”

  Sitting up, Starr faced Kevin. “Oh, baby, she didn’t mean it.” After letting out a deep breath, she said, “You’re not going to believe this.” She then proceeded to tell Kevin what Ava had shared with her only hours before.

  Once Starr was finished, Kevin said, “Baby, that’s messed up. Is she all right?”

  Leaning in, Starr kissed Kevin. “See, that’s why I love you so much.” After letting out a soft sigh against his lips, she said, “Kev, I really don’t know. She’s up to something, though, I can feel it.”

  Tugging his wife onto his lap, Kevin kissed her deeply until she was breathless. Breaking the kiss, he said, “Baby, I know you’re going to be there for her. I want you to be there for Ava. You just make sure you stay out of trouble,” Kevin warned as his hands slid up her back, unhooking her bra with a flick of his wrist. Kissing the side of her face, Kevin gently pulled her earlobe between his teeth as he whispered, “I know how y’all like to roll gangsta style.”

  Starr let out a sultry giggle. “OK,” she purred, arching her back as Kevin’s hand eased around to her breast, teasing a nipple into a turgid pout. Now was definitely not the time to tell her husband that if need be she would get in a world of trouble for her friend.

  eee

  Summer lay sated in Nick’s arms after being made love to quite thoroughly. Lightly stroking his chest, she whispered, “Nick?”

  “Yeah, baby.”

  “Do you think that detective guy you use can help Ava find her daughter?”

  Nick chuckled. “Baby, Bass can find the proverbial needle in a haystack.”

  Propping herself up on her elbow, Summer gazed down at Nick. “Can you talk to him, see if he’ll be willing to take the case if Ava wants his help?”

  Oh, man. Why did she have to look at him like that? Eyes seductively at half mast, kiss-swollen lips slightly parted, and her nude breasts rising and falling with each breath she took—she knew he’d give her the world when she looked at him like that.

  A sexy, wicked grin danced across Nick’s full lips. “It’s going to cost you,” he drawled, his voice deep and dangerously sexy.

  “I knew it would,” Summer cooed, straddling her husband.

  Chapter 5

  God, please bring me a mommy to love me. Langston shifted in bed, trying to find a comfortable position as sleep eluded him. This was madness. During the day, the daily operations of managing the family’s firm occupied his mind, but at night his mind was haunted by the prayer of a little girl—his little girl.

  Every night for over a week now, since the last incident with Beatrice, Zoe’s prayers had ended the same way. She wanted a mother to love her. During all her short years on this earth, Langston had given her the best of everything. Whether it was the private education that cost more than some folks’ yearly salaries, the clothes she wore from the most expensive children’s boutiques, or the ton of toys that had their own room on the third floor, she had the best. As far as Langston was concerned, Zoe was his little princess and deserved nothing less. But although he had provided her with the best money could buy, she still wasn’t satisfied. Zoe was asking for something, rather someone, he couldn’t deliver. And this caused him great pain.

  Sitting up, Langston threw the covers back as he swung his pajama-clad legs over the side of the bed. With a large hand he swiped at the weariness on his face. What was he going to do? His little Love Bug was miserable. No longer did his goofy faces or wiggling eyebrows send her into fits of giggles. Now all she would offer up to Langston was a weak smile that didn’t quite reach her once sparkly dark eyes. Seeing his once vibrant daughter beginning to wither away like a slowly dying rose petal was like a tight vise gripping his heart. Her light was slowly being extinguished.

  Eyes adjusting to the dark, Langston made his way down the hall to Zoe’s room. A sad smile curved his full lips as he leaned against the doorjamb. All bundled up under the pink comforter that matched her princess-themed room, she reminded him of when she was an infant. Having never taken care of a baby, Langston had awkwardly wrapped Zoe in layers and layers of blankets. He finally realized all the covering was overbearing when the poor little thing would cry, kick, and squirm to be free.

  He loved his daughter with all his heart. Every action he contemplated, in his personal or professional life, Zoe was always his number one priority. Women were never pranced around her. His dealings with the opposite sex were always discreet and only served the purpose of female companionship and satisfaction of his carnal cravings. Having Zoe become emotionally attached to a casual fling was absolutely out of the question. Therefore, she had never been exposed to any of his lady friends.

  His out-of-town business had been drastically cut to almost non-existent since he’d learned of Beatrice’s abuse. The only time he traveled was if Zoe’s school schedule allowed it, so that she could accompany him, along with Charles, who looked after her during the day. Otherwise, any traveling that needed to be done on behalf of the firm was deferred to one of the other attorneys.

  In spite of giving himself and giving his all, he still wasn’t enough. Zoe wanted a mother. She needed a mother.

  Pushing himself away from the doorjamb, Langston quietly made his way over to Zoe’s bed. Leaning down, he gently placed a kiss on her forehead. “Lo
ve Bug, if you want a mommy, I’ll get you a mommy.”

  With this whispered promise, he immediately thought of Ava. The vise that had begun to squeeze his heart earlier tightened its grip, this time twisting and pulling.

  Standing to his full height, Langston made his way back to his bedroom. Sitting on the side of the bed, he rested his elbows on his knees. Head hanging low, he wondered, Where in the world am I going to get a mother?

  eee

  The swooshing sound of the closing elevator doors caused Ava to take a deep breath as the car began to ascend. Blowing out the nervous breath she’d just inhaled, she worried that she hadn’t been as strategic as she thought. What if he wasn’t in the office? What if he fussed to see her?

  Ava shook the absurd notion from her mind. Oh, he was going to see her . . . today. She had questions for Mr. Big Shot Attorney, and he was going to give her some answers…today.

  A thousand times she wished she hadn’t seen him on campus that late summer day. A thousand times she wished she had walked on by and kept it moving. However, just her luck she was the out-of-town freshman who didn’t have a clue as to the quickest way to get to Douglas Hall. With only three minutes to spare before class started, she needed someone to show her a direct route to the building.

  Roster in one hand, books in the other, Ava’s brown eyes searched the sea of students. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she thought, I should have left with Tammy. Now she was going to be late for her first class.

  Although she was only about two hundred miles from home, Ava was feeling homesick. Needing to hear a familiar voice, she had stayed behind to call her mother before running off to her afternoon English class. She told Tammy to go on without her, assuring her roommate that she would find her way.

  But now it seemed that everyone on campus was paired off as a couple or in small groups, engaged in deep conversation and oblivious to her lone presence. As she was about to approach a cluster of laughing students, Ava spotted a familiar face.

  Relief washed over her. It was the guy who did the campus tour last fall when she and her parents came down to the university for open house. What was his name—Larry, Lewis, Leroy? She couldn’t remember. All she knew was that it started with an L.