Rachel didn’t care anymore. “You know what, Lester? I’m through. I can’t do this.” She couldn’t help it. The tears started flowing. “I changed who I was for you, for these people around here. I’m sick of them and I’m sick of you.”
“Rachel, what did you expect me to do?”
“I expected you to be faithful. To honor your commitment to me. That’s what I expected! No, you might not have been able to control what happened tonight but you could have controlled being in this situation in the first place. If you had never brought her into our lives, we wouldn’t have this problem. I wouldn’t be hurting like I am now.” She grabbed her purse.
“Where are you going?”
“Home. To pack. If you won’t leave, I will. I can’t do this.” Rachel knew she couldn’t wait for a divorce to go through now. She had to get out before she lost her mind.
Lester jumped in front of her. “Please let’s work this out.”
“I can’t. Good-bye, Lester.” Rachel stepped around him.
Lester followed her out, trying to talk to her. Rachel ignored him as she made her way to her car.
“I’m coming home, too. We need to talk about this.”
“There is nothing for us to talk about. And don’t bother coming home. Because I won’t be there.” Rachel got into her car and drove off.
Chapter 45
Rachel stood outside of Bobby’s house. She inhaled deeply, trying to shake off that voice that was telling her to turn around. She couldn’t go to her father’s because she was in no mood for a lecture. She didn’t want to keep running hot and cold on Bobby, but right now, she just wanted familiar arms to comfort her.
Rachel ran her fingers through her hair, fluffing up the curls, then brushed down her prairie skirt and adjusted the turquoise belt that was wrapped snugly around her waist.
Bobby opened the door, a shocked look on his face. “Rachel, are you okay?” he said, wiping away a tear she didn’t even realize was trickling down her cheek.
“I’m sorry to come here…I just needed to talk…to be around some…”
“Sshhhh,” he said as he pulled her inside. He eased her down on the sofa. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
Rachel couldn’t hold it in. She laid her head on his shoulder and began sobbing. “My marriage is over,” she whimpered.
Bobby held her, stroking her hair for several minutes. “Everything will be okay,” he whispered. He gently lifted her chin. “You’ll get through this,” he said, gazing into her eyes.
Rachel was about to respond when Bobby slowly leaned into her. She felt herself sinking as his lips met hers. Just as his tongue tried to find its way inside her mouth, she pulled away. “Bobby, I…I didn’t come here to lead you on.” Rachel couldn’t deny the attraction she felt, but she knew anything she did right now would be out of pure revenge. Revenge and lust.
“I’m sorry, Rachel. I guess I just got caught up.” He stood, trying to compose himself. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Some chardonnay would be good.”
Bobby nodded as he walked into the kitchen. Rachel closed her eyes, trying to get her thoughts together. Why had she come here again?
“Man, you’ve come a long way from your Boones Farm days.” Bobby laughed, as he returned with two glasses. Rachel could tell he was trying to lighten the mood as he handed her a glass and sat down. “So do you want to tell me what happened?”
Rachel fingered her glass. “Not really.”
Thankfully, he didn’t push her.
“Why don’t you tell me what happened to you and Shante?” Maybe if she could get her mind off her own problems, she’d feel better.
Bobby leaned back and sipped his wine. “You know I was never over you. You knew it when you showed up at my wedding and kissed me. I know you could feel I wasn’t over you in that kiss.”
Rachel remembered that kiss well. He had definitely kissed her back. But when he’d gone ahead and married Shante, she figured she’d imagined the whole thing.
“As precious as Nia is, you hurt me so bad with Tony—I thought the only way I could heal from that was to move on. But I never could. I never could get you out of my system. Shante knew that. It’s why she left.”
Rachel was speechless. She’d never known Bobby still loved her like that. “So, have you filed for divorce?” she finally asked.
“Yeah, we’ve begun the process.”
Rachel weighed his words. What did that mean for her? Especially now that she was divorcing Lester, too? “Bobby, why are you doing this, telling me that you love me?”
“Because I do. I should have told you a long time ago.” He scooted closer to her. He leaned in and began kissing her again, and this time she didn’t stop him as he rubbed his hand up her back under her shirt.
All kinds of emotions were running through her. The battle between good and evil resumed in her head. What are you doing? What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Don’t let Lester’s infidelities steal your commitment to God. Girl, get your groove on! Rachel felt like her head was about to explode. She tried to pull back. Bobby started kissing her neck.
“Rachel, I have dreamed about this day, holding you in my arms. I just want to be with you. I have never stopped loving you,” he moaned.
Rachel felt her resolve weaken and the good voice dancing in her head started to fade.
Bobby had just unfastened her bra when they heard a loud crash. Both of them jumped off the sofa: a flowerpot had crashed through the window. “I see you in there, you no-good dog!”
Bobby jumped up and raced over to his window. “Shante?” he said.
“Open the door!” she screamed.
Bobby stood stunned for a minute.
“Open the door or I will start screaming so all the neighbors will know you’re in there with your whore!”
Bobby sighed, then went to open the door. Rachel stood back in horror, not believing she was in this situation.
“What are you doing here?” Bobby snarled. “You gave me your key back and said we were through.”
“You are still my husband. Until the paperwork is signed, you are still my husband. The question is why the hell is she here?”
Rachel discreetly tried to fasten her bra. She hated to admit it, but Shante actually looked ten times better than she used to. She’d lost about forty pounds and wore a tight jogging suit. Her weave was loosely curled and hanging down her back. Her makeup was flawless. She definitely had dressed up to come over here.
“I better get going,” Rachel said.
“Yeah, tramp, you better get going.” Shante stepped into the room and stopped just inches from Rachel’s face.
Rachel took a deep breath. “Shante, get out of my face.”
“Or what? You gon’ key my car, cut my utilities off, jump me, or better yet, try to kill me with a butcher knife?” She spun on Bobby. “I can’t believe you. We are still married, you know.”
“Shante, you’re the one who made it clear we were over.” Bobby sighed.
“And this is the reason why,” she said, dramatically flinging her arm toward Rachel. “You just couldn’t wait to go running back to her, could you?” She turned back to Rachel. “Where’s your husband, the good reverend? Does he know you’re over here committing adultery with your baby’s daddy?”
“Shante, you need to leave,” Bobby warned.
“Bobby, I’m going to leave. I’ll talk to you later.” Rachel grabbed her purse and headed toward the door.
“Oh, since you all saved and sanctified now, you wanna go run and hide. You ain’t fooling nobody. You still the same worthless piece of trash you were seven years ago. That’s why don’t nobody at your own church like you. That’s why your husband was cheating on you!” Shante spat.
Bobby looked stunned. Rachel spun around, her eyes shooting fire. “So I guess your bigmouthed sister told you that?”
Shante laughed. “Nope, Layla didn’t have to tell me anything. You wanna know how I know
about Mary?” She sneered.
It was Rachel’s turn to look surprised. How did Shante know her name?
Shante folded her arms and smiled. “Mary is a friend of a friend who will do anything for a couple of dollars—including screwing the most faithful preacher in town.”
“What?”
“You’re not the only one who can play dirty. Do you think I didn’t know about all the evil, underhanded stuff you did trying to get Bobby not to marry me? Do you think I was going to let you wreck my marriage and get away with it?”
“Are you kidding me? That was seven years ago!” Rachel couldn’t believe her ears. Lester had been set up?
“I don’t care if it was seventeen years ago. I told you you would get yours,” Shante told her.
“Are you saying you hired someone to seduce her husband?” Bobby asked, his voice laced with disbelief.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. It didn’t take much because poor little Lester was so unfulfilled at home. All Mary had to do was show him a little attention and he was all hers. Hell, she even stopped charging me because she was digging him herself.” Shante stood with a proud look on her face.
Bobby shook his head. “I don’t believe you, Shante!”
“You don’t believe me? After all this heifer did? She’s lucky that’s all I did.”
“That was years ago, Shante,” Bobby protested.
“Oh, she might not have directly done anything to me in the last seven years. But she’s the reason my marriage failed. She’s haunted us from the day we met. Do you think I’m stupid? You’ve compared me and everything about me to her since the day we met. I starved myself for you.” She motioned at her body. “Lost all this weight. Got this weave. Everything to try to make you love me. Nothing I did was ever good enough. You know why? Because I’m not her!” She pointed at Rachel.
Rachel was still trying to process everything Shante said. “You hired someone to sleep with my husband?”
“Darling, it was the best money I ever spent,” Shante spat.
That was the last straw. Rachel reached back with all of her might and slapped Shante as hard as she could. The blow caught Shante by surprise.
“Maybe that’s why you couldn’t keep your marriage together,” Rachel hissed. “Because you were so busy trying to become me. You could never be me.”
Shante rubbed her cheek and took a step toward Rachel. Bobby grabbed her arm. “Shante, leave her alone.”
Shante stared at him before snatching her arm away. “I don’t believe you. It’s always about her! I can’t stand neither one of you! You both will regret the day you ever hurt me!” She nearly knocked Rachel over as she stormed out.
Bobby shook his head in disbelief as he closed the door. “I’m so sorry about that, Rachel.”
Rachel stood in his living room, still in shock herself.
“I had no idea she harbored that much hate,” Bobby said. He stared at Rachel for a minute before easing toward her. “Let’s just try to forget about Shante, Lester, all of this drama.” He reached out and put his arms around her waist. “Where were we?”
Lester had been set up? Rachel was still trying to make sense of everything. She pushed Bobby away. “I need to go.”
Bobby stepped back and looked at her. “What? Why do you have to go?”
Rachel cocked her head like she had to think for a minute. “I need to go home to my husband,” she said, matter-of-factly. “I need to go home. Where I belong.”
“Rachel, I know you’re trying to do right and all,” Bobby tried to reason, “but the fact remains that he cheated on you. Set up or not, that woman didn’t put a gun to his head.”
Rachel was amazed that all of a sudden, Bobby didn’t seem as attractive as he had just a few minutes ago. She stared at him and the only thing she could think of was her husband.
“Baby.” He stepped toward her. Rachel moved out of his way.
“Bobby, seven years ago I begged you for another chance and you had your reasons for telling me no. But the fact remains that you told me no,” she said as if she were coming to the realization for the first time. “And I built a life with Lester. But it’s kinda like Shante said—I was never a good wife because I was pining away for you.”
He grinned widely. “See, that means we were meant for one another. That’s why me and Shante couldn’t make it, because I was pining away for you.”
“No, that just means we were both fools.” Rachel could not believe she was saying or doing what she was saying and doing. “I gotta go.”
He grabbed her arm as she headed to the door. “Rachel, what about us?”
Maybe the voice that had been telling her to give up on her marriage was the devil talking, and she hadn’t prayed hard enough to decipher what God really wanted her to hear. Rachel looked at Bobby’s hand gripped firmly around her wrist. She used her free hand to gently remove his fingers. “Bobby, there is no us. I need you to respect that.”
She looked at him one last time before she walked out the door and headed home to her husband.
Chapter 46
Rachel pulled onto Interstate 10, still stunned by what Shante had told her. She had set Lester up. But did that really change anything? The bottom line was like Bobby said: Even if it was a setup, Lester still fell for it hook, line, and sinker.
Rachel’s cell phone vibrated softly. Bobby had been calling her since she’d left his home but she wouldn’t answer his call. She was about to press Ignore again when she noticed Twyla’s number. She pressed the Talk button.
“What’s going on, Twyla?”
“You tell me, Rachel,” Twyla responded. “Bobby has called over here three times, something about you being over there and Shante setting up Lester. What’s going on?”
Rachel sighed. “It’s a long story.”
“I got time,” Twyla said. “First question, why were you over at Bobby’s in the first place?” She waited on Rachel to reply. “Please tell me you did not sleep with him,” she said when Rachel didn’t say anything.
“No, I didn’t sleep with him.”
“Thank God.”
“But I was going to.”
“Rachel, how could you?” Rachel could hear the disappointment in Twyla’s voice. She could no longer help it, the tears started falling.
“How could Lester do this? How could he do this to me?” Rachel cried after filling Twyla in on all the details about Shante setting Lester up. “Even if it was a setup, how could he do it?”
“But getting him back by sleeping with someone yourself isn’t the answer.”
“Then what is, Twyla, huh? I’m so sick of these women at the church throwing themselves at him. He’s supposed to be strong. He’s supposed to be like my daddy and tell these women where they can go.”
“One minute you don’t want him to be like your father, the next you do? The bottom line is Lester is not your father. Just like you aren’t your mother.”
“And then, to find out it was all a setup.”
“Yeah, that’s wild. I can’t believe Shante would do that.”
“I mean I know I did some pretty foul stuff to her, but that was years ago.”
“They say you reap what you sow. Maybe it just took yours a little while to come back to you.”
“Gee, thanks, Twyla.”
“I’m just keeping it real with you.” Twyla hesitated. “Where are you?”
“I had to stop and get some gas. But I’m on my way home now.”
“Is Lester there?”
“I guess.”
“Why don’t you go try to put your marriage back together? I know how much you loved Bobby, but not everything we want is good for us. Lester is good for you. Whether you want to admit it or not, he’s made you a better woman. You have to ask yourself what role you played in pushing him away.”
“Now you sound like my daddy. It’s not my fault Lester cheated.”
“I’m not saying it is. But a man can only go so long without being made to feel li
ke a man.”
“What are you trying to say?”
Twyla let out a deep breath. “It’s not what I’m trying to say. It’s what I’m saying. You know you treat Lester like crap. He tries to treat you like a queen and you constantly beat him down. What he did wasn’t right, but you know his heart.”
Rachel wiped her eyes. “When did you get so wise?”
“Girl, years of dealing with James has taught me a thing or two. I know what I did to get him, I know what I have to do to keep him. Now get off this phone and go talk to your husband.”
Rachel thanked her friend, then hung up. She flipped down her sun visor and surveyed herself in the mirror. She was pushing the visor back up when a loud crash sent her jerking forward.
“What in the—?”
Rachel looked up in the rearview mirror. All she could see was the bright headlights gunning toward her. The driver rammed her car again, almost causing Rachel to lose control.
Rachel’s heart started racing. She firmly grabbed the steering wheel and pressed the accelerator, trying to speed away from the maniac behind her. She took one hand off the steering wheel and reached for her cell phone. She didn’t know how she did it, but she managed to call 911.
“Help! Somebody is behind me trying to kill me!” she screamed in the phone.
“Where are you?” the dispatcher asked.
Rachel looked up at the sign, just as the driver hit her car again. This time, she swerved into oncoming traffic, just missing an eighteen-wheeler.
“Oh, my God!” Rachel cried.
“Ma’am, where are you?”
Rachel tried to catch her breath as she pulled the car back into her lane. “I’m on I-10, coming up on Beltway 8,” she cried. “Please help me!”
“Ma’am, try to stay calm. I have an officer en route.”
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