She could bet that her mother did not hear her come in.
She was singing at the top of her voice. "I get so emotional baby every time I think of youuuu..."
Chelsea rolled her eyes. Her mother could keep this up all day, and she was not in the mood for it.
She went to her room and changed into jeans shorts and a white tank top. She looked into her box of books and crammed three into her leather drawstring bag. She hunted around for her shades and added them, too. She was going to spend the day at the beach, until it was time to get Dahlia from school, and she would lick her wounds in silence.
Sherman's Cove was almost empty, except for two persons who looked like they were honeymooners. She went down to the far end of the cove, spread her towel and tried to ignore them with their lovey-lovey carrying-on—they were an attractive couple, too.
The woman had satiny smooth, nut-brown skin and the kind of abs that showed she worked out. The guy was a dark, well-muscled fellow who delighted in holding her up over his head in the water. The lady squealed loudly but she was obviously enjoying herself.
Chelsea couldn't help grinning at their unfettered joy. It was good to see young love, without all the baggage and craziness that came after years of marriage.
She opened her book and then put it down slowly. Was that really true, though? Was young love better than mature love? After all the breathless chemistry and the newness of the relationship wore off, that was when things really got interesting.
Troy had told her to quit the job but she had not wanted to. He had warned her about Ricky but she had not listened.
She still had something to prove. Exactly who she was proving herself to, she had no idea. She was willing to break up her family because she felt so hurt about something in the past that couldn't be undone.
She was willing to keep the job because she had to prove that she was something other than a stay-at-home mom who was bored out of her wits. She had thought that her life was passing her by.
If this morning was any indication of what was passing her by, she could work with it leaving her behind. These past couple of months were too much excitement for her. Added to that, she had almost crossed the line with another man and she had cut way down on the time she spent with Dahlia.
Maybe she could compromise.
Compromise. The word kept swirling around in her head. Could she live with Troy again and try to be a mother to Erin's son? Her phone rang and she rummaged in her bag for it. Daisy Scarlett came up on the display. She found that odd. Daisy never called at this time of the day. And surely she had no idea about what happened to her at Villa Ingles.
"Chelsea," Daisy's voice was quivery and panicky.
Instantly Chelsea felt her blood running cold. Her hands were trembling on the phone.
"It's Troy; his housekeeper’s drunk boyfriend followed him to school and hit him with a bat on his head," Daisy wailed. "He is not responding, Chel...Chelsea! Not responding."
Chelsea felt lightheaded after hearing that. She grabbed her bag and stood up. Her heart was hammering. "Where is he now?"
"At the medical center. Mount Faith Medical Center." Daisy sniffed. "I have to go. I am heading up there now."
"Me too." Chelsea walked up the beach rapidly. "I'll ask my mom to pick up Dahlia from school."
She hung up the phone and started to run.
Chapter Nineteen
Troy struggled to wake up. He didn't know why his eyes refused to obey him. There were whispers in his room. Low whispers. He could pick up Chelsea's voice and his mother’s, and then Yuri...and his father’s? What were they doing in his room? Did they know about him and Erin?
And what was Chelsea doing in here? He had only just made up his mind after the incident in the parking lot to confess to her what he had done and then to ask her to take him back. He wanted her. Had always wanted her in his life. He wanted them to get married. He had agonized last night about it too. Should he or shouldn't he tell her about what he did with Erin?
If he told her about him and Erin, he was sure the fallout would be horrendous. She probably would never speak to him again. He couldn't afford that. He loved her so badly it ached.
His head ached. It was alternately throbbing and pounding. He moaned low in his throat.
"Troy." His mother was somewhere over him. Her voice sounded low and frightened. "Troy, please wake up, honey."
I am trying! He wanted to yell, but he couldn't. For some strange reason his voice was trapped behind the blackness that he was in.
"He moaned," his mother was saying to somebody. "He made a sound."
And a brisk efficient voice responded, "Well, that's a good start."
"What happened to him?" Troy realized that something must have happened. If he wasn't dreaming, that is. He had returned home after his encounter with Erin and then...this.
He fought the fog and the blackness and squinted one eye open, and then the other.
His senses awakened with a rush. He could see an all-white room. His mother was talking to a middle-aged man in a doctor’s coat. His brother and father were huddled in the corner of the room. Yuri had his head in his hands. His father had his eyes closed and seemed as if he was whispering to himself.
"What's going on?" he asked, his voice feeling unused.
"Troy!" His mother spun around.
He looked at her in amazement; his usually round mother was looking a lot slimmer. Her hair was pulled back in curly waves; her dark skin looked less careworn. She looked younger.
"Where? What happened?" His voice was croaky.
Yuri and his father straightened up and came over. The doctor smiled at him benevolently. "Troy Scarlett, you gave us quite a scare."
"Your housekeeper's boyfriend hit you with a bat," his mother chimed in. "It knocked you out for two whole days."
He felt his head. It was bandaged. "What do you mean housekeeper? Where's Chelsea? I heard her in here. She's not going home for the summer, is she?"
"He's confused," the doctor said, flashing a light in his eyes. "Hello Troy, I am Dr. Blake."
"Hey." His throat was dry.
"Okay, let’s give him some time," the doctor said. "We’ll have to examine him. Give us some time."
A nurse carried a drink of water to him and they poked and prodded him.
Another doctor joined Dr. Blake, and they spoke about CAT scans and bleeding in his brain.
They eventually allowed him to sit up in bed after giving him a barrage of tests.
"What is two plus two?"
He felt like telling them twenty-two for the hell of it. But he figured that Dr. Blake would not be amused.
"Who is the Prime Minister of Jamaica?"
"Bruce Golding," he answered with surety.
The doctor paused after asking him that one.
"Who is the president of the US?"
"George W. Bush," Troy said impatiently. "When can I see Chelsea? Did I dream that she was in here? Is she still talking to me?"
"What year is it, Troy?" Dr. Blake asked him serenely.
"Oh come on," Troy inhaled. "2007. It’s May. I am going to start internship under Pastor Melhado at Mulgrove Church in the hills. Exam results are in a week. I am fretting about my Greek exam. Thanks to Chelsea, I think I flunked it. See, I am fine. Now can I go? I need to be out of the place where I am staying in three days."
Dr. Blake nodded and got up. "We are definitely doing that CAT scan. Your motor functions are fine but I need to find out if there is a blockage caused by restricted blood flow."
His parents came back into the room after he was prepped for the scan. They were very subdued.
His mother was teary-eyed and his father had to lead her away before she started a full-blown crying jag. One would think that he was dying.
"Yuri," he called to his brother before he could follow his parents out. "What's going on?"
Yuri came closer to him on the bed and sat down. "Somebody hit you with a bat over your head."
"I got that," Troy said impatiently, "but why?"
"Because they were drunk and jealous."
"Is it one of Erin's boyfriends?" Troy asked worriedly.
"No." Yuri shook his head. "No."
"You didn't ask who is Erin?" Troy asked suspiciously.
Yuri looked at a lost for words. "The, er, she's a girl you, ah..."
"Wait a minute." Troy noticed his finger. "You have on a wedding ring on your finger. Why?"
"Because I am married." Yuri sighed. "How on earth they expect to keep this from you, I don't know."
"Keep what from me?" Troy asked slowly.
"It is 2013." Yuri rubbed his eyes. "The doctors said we shouldn't tell you."
"But..." Troy closed his eyes and opened it. "This is ridiculous."
"Don't get agitated," Yuri said softly. "Please."
"But..." Troy couldn't help the thoughts racing through his head. Was he still with Chelsea? Did they get married?
"Chelsea," he groaned. "What happened to Chelsea?"
"She went home to get the children ready for school," Yuri replied soothingly. "She was here most of yesterday evening. She left earlier this morning."
"Oh thank God." Troy subsided on the bed. "We ended up together."
Yuri chuckled. "I knew that would be very important information for you."
"And we have kids?"
"Yes, well," Yuri sighed, "you have a girl named Dahlia..."
"Like the flower. I always wanted to name my girl Dahlia because mom was Daisy."
Yuri smiled. "So that's why she is Dahlia. I never thought of that. Maybe I'll name my girl after a flower too if Marla wants to try again."
"You and Marla?" Troy laughed. "That's awesome. You always wanted to marry her."
"We have a son together," Yuri said proudly. "Malik."
"Wait a minute, you said Chelsea is gone home to get the children ready for school."
"Yes. You have a son too." Yuri said it abruptly and stood up. "I think I said too much already."
"Wait!" Troy appealed pitifully, knowing that his pleadings would soften up Yuri to dole out information to him. "Which church do I have? Where is Terri? Where do I live?"
Yuri sighed. "Terri is on her way from the UK to be here. She became a flight attendant."
"Wow." Troy sighed. "I wonder when my memory is going to come back."
A shaft of panic gripped him; he probably wouldn't recognize his own children or his parishioners right now. Yuri backed out of the room before he could ask about his church and where he lived. And how on earth were they able to afford a private room at Mount Faith's notoriously expensive medical center.
*****
Chelsea stood at the counter of the kitchen and looked at Dahlia and Todd as they ate breakfast. She had a hard time explaining to the both of them that their father was hurt and in the hospital. She also had a mini-revelation. She had worked herself up to not wanting to be Todd's stepmother but for the past day or so she had not felt resentful of him. Quite the opposite in fact; she found herself regarding him like she did Dahlia. He was just a child.
A very loving and affectionate and helpful child. He was lovable. Really lovable.
Maybe she would feel differently when she was alone with him, because for the last couple of days Daisy and Lloyd and Yuri and Marla were around. She had been too busy playing lady of the manor and hostess to really get a feel of being a mother.
"Just got off the phone with Yuri," Marla said behind her.
Chelsea jumped. "And?"
"He is awake!" Marla smiled at her happily.
"Thank God." Chelsea sank down on a bar stool.
"But..." Marla lowered her voice and looked over at the children. "He thinks this is 2007."
"Really?" Chelsea frowned. "That's not good."
"Yuri said that his main concern was that you two had gotten married after all, though."
Chelsea grunted. "I hope this memory lapse doesn't last."
"They are going to run tests." Marla put on the kettle for tea. "So what are you going to do about Dahlia and school?"
"It's the middle of the school year but luckily for us, one of the neighbors is the principal at the prep school. She is good friends with Troy and is extremely sympathetic to the situation. Dahlia starts school today. She already made friends with the children next door, so I am sure that it’s not going to be a bad adjustment."
"That's great." Marla winked at her. "And you moved in your things today."
"Its just until Troy recovers." Chelsea fanned away her insinuations. "We are not getting back together, really."
"If you say so." Marla grinned knowingly.
Chelsea shook her finger at her. "You and Yuri were made for each other. You say the same things."
"Yup." Marla proceeded to make the tea. "One mind. Just like you and Troy."
Chelsea hustled the children out of the kitchen, her ears feeling warm after what Marla said.
It was a ten-minute drive to the school. She bundled Dahlia and Todd into the back of the car.
She would stop at the nearby medical center and see her husband, whose mind was stuck in 2007—the best and the worst year for them, actually.
2007 was the year that he had proposed. The year that Todd was conceived. The year that they had broken up.
She looked at Todd in the rear view mirror. He wasn't taking the absence of his father very well. He looked sad. His eyes were wide and fixed, as if he was fretting.
Poor thing. Dahlia was used to not seeing her dad in the weekdays by now. She was not as affected, but Todd was unhappy.
"Your dad will be all right, Todd," Chelsea reassured him as she pulled up outside the schoolyard.
He pulled Dahlia's seat belt first and then his.
Chelsea's eyes got wet with unshed tears. She blinked them away. In his short life he had lost his mother and now, a few months after finding his father, he was probably faced with the same kind of talk about doctors and hospitals.
She got out of the car and opened the door for him. She stooped to his level and looked into his eyes.
She had been a fool, a real fool for hardening her heart against this innocent child. She hugged him to her and he hugged her back.
"Listen to me." She pulled away from him. "You will be all right."
He nodded solemnly.
"You will always be fine while I am around," she added for emphasis.
A long time after she carried Dahlia to her class, she sat in the car thinking about Todd and inevitably Erin.
It was time to let it go. She closed her eyes. Lord, help me to let it all go. Heal me so that I can be the best wife to Troy and the best mother to Todd and Dahlia.
When she opened her eyes, she felt it. Peace.
Chapter Twenty
"It's too late to apologize," the OneRepublic song blared from Chelsea's car as he entered the student union parking lot. She had asked him to meet her there after his midday exam. He could see her nodding her head to the beat of the song, and chewing gum.
He knocked on the window. And she didn't immediately respond, so taken up was she in the new song. Chelsea was heavily into break-up songs these days and it worried him. He had made the mistake of telling her that he found this particular song creepy and she had taunted him with it even more.
She glanced over and saw him and turned down her radio.
"Troy." Her voice was cold.
"Chelsea." Fear ran up his spine at the coolness in her eyes and the ice dripping from her words. His voice was not as strong as it should be.
"I have had it," Chelsea said, continuing her coolness. "I can't be with a man who can't be faithful to me."
"What?" Troy sputtered. "Chelsea, not this again. I have Greek exam in two days. It’s not exactly easy, you know. Can we delay this particular fight till after?"
"No," Chelsea sneered. "It is over. Completely. I don't want to talk to you again. I have had it. I am not going to continue with this relationship. I might as well get
out now before I become one of those stupid pastor's wives we make fun of at church because her husband has a roving eye."
"Chelsea, what the hell? What are you saying?"
"You are playing around on me." She was hyperventilating. He could see her breath in the glass.
"It's this stupid song—it has you feeling like some tragic heroine in some ill-fated relationship." Troy pulled on the car door handle but it was locked. "Open the door, Chelsea! Let’s talk about this like civilized people in the real world, before we break up...again. I'd like to know what I have done."
"No." Chelsea started the car. "You know what you did, with those girls staying at your house, and no, there will not be reconciliation, not this time. I am through. Kaput, done with you. Have a nice life."
"Chelsea!" Troy could feel himself breaking out in a sweat. This break-up was more serious than the rest; he could feel it. "Chelsea, please..."
She roared out of the parking lot with the music blasting, leaving him standing there like a fool. It was times like these he wished he had extrasensory perception or a manual to deal with Chelsea Padmore.
He kicked the ground in frustration and headed to the Business Center, his back hunched over in anger. Fine, if Chelsea wanted a break-up, he was done with her too. She was maddening and confusing anyway; good riddance to her.
He had his Greek exam; he had to forget her.
"Hey Troy." He was almost at the Business Office. He looked around to see Erin Irving waving at him.
He slowed down and then stopped. It would serve Chelsea right if I picked up with Erin. Her mortal enemy. He could imagine her face if she saw him on campus with her.
"Troy." Chelsea's voice was in his ear again but this time it sounded warm and mellow.
His eyes flew open and Chelsea smiled at him. "Hey."
"Hey." He blinked in confusion.
"You slept out the day." Chelsea was in a bright red blouse and jeans pants. She leaned over him. "How are you feeling?"
Heartbroken, he was about to say. And angry at her for leaving him without an explanation.
Scarlett Sinner (The Scarletts Page 13