by BWWM Club
"It must get lonely. This is such a big house. Being here alone must get lonely."
"It can be. Come, let me show you my lair."
Rebecca laughed.
"Ominous."
They walked inside, and Rebecca felt it immediately - it was a home. It was the home of a remarkably wealthy man, of course, but it was still home.
"Marsha must have been remarkable to make this such a welcoming place."
"She was very remarkable. I still talk to her."
"Do you expect me to say it's odd? I talk to Roger, too."
It was big, of course, but there were family pictures around, not just art, and the furniture looked comfortable, not too perfect to use.
It was a home, just much bigger than anything she was used to.
"I want to show you my garden. And my dojo."
"Your dojo?"
"I still practice. I have a dojo upstairs. And a garden, through here."
"Your home is big enough to get lost in."
"Only until you get used to it. Come."
He took her hand, as if to be sure not to lose her, guided her past a ballroom of some sort, and through a solarium. There was a solarium.
And there was a garden.
"Oh!"
He flipped a few switches and the garden was lit by hidden lights that bathed it in a warm glow.
"It's so big! You already have flowers blooming!"
"There's a greenhouse, and I can regulate temperature to a certain extent in the garden, too. Marsha started this. She loved growing things. When she left me, I promised to keep the garden alive and thriving. So I learned."
"That's a very meaningful promise. I think you can be happy that you kept it."
George smiled.
"I think so, too. It will be a few more weeks before it really lives up to its promise, but... Take a walk with me."
"You will lead me down the garden path?" she asked him.
"Sometimes, we need to just go where life takes us."
He took her hand again, in a gesture that was becoming very familiar, and they walked together. It was easy to fall into step beside him. It was easy to be enchanted by the world he had brought her into.
"This is where I love to sit," he told her, pointing to a bench.
"Shall we sit, then?"
She sighed a little as they sat next to each other. He let go of her hand, disappointing her a little, but he wrapped an arm around her shoulder instead, and turned to her, smiling a little.
"I'm glad to see this still works."
She smiled, as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"Just like back then," she told him, softly.
It had been so long since she had felt things like this. She had forgotten how sweet it could be to be with a man who enjoyed her company, who sought it out, who let her know that he desired her, in small ways. It had been so long since she had been desired.
"Rebecca. I want to keep seeing you."
"I'm here."
"Not just now. After today. I want you to be a part of my life. I want to be a part of yours."
It should have scared her, the idea of her life changing. Her life would change if he became a part of it. If she became a part of his. She knew that.
But...
"I think I would like that, George."
She saw the hesitation in his blue eyes, the uncertainty, and it took a moment for her to realize that it was nerves. She made this man nervous, this supremely confident and powerful man.
She liked that. She hadn't thought that she would like that, but she did.
"Rebecca," he whispered, as he gently brushed a stray hair away from her face. His fingertips left a trail of heat on her skin, and she knew that she wouldn't turn away.
She knew, with clarity, that she wanted what came next.
He placed a finger under her chin, raised her face to his, and the whole garden seemed to hold its breath for a long moment before he brushed his lips against hers.
She thought she had been prepared for it, but the shock of it, the sheer pleasure of it, still made her shudder.
He shifted, until she was in his arms, and kissed her again, another gentle touch of his lips to hers, until her arms twined around his neck, and she relaxed against him.
That's when he really kissed her, his lips parting, his tongue stroking her lips.
It was different. It was different from what she had expected.
It was more, far more than she had expected.
She held on to him and stopped holding back, welcoming him in as she pressed closer to him, as she kissed him back, as she soothed and caressed him with her lips, as she drove him on with her tongue.
When he finally pulled away, her eyes shone. She looked at his face, and she knew what they wanted - what they both wanted.
"George," she whispered.
He kissed her again, and this time, he held nothing back. He pulled her closer, kissed her longer, deeper, until things she hadn't felt for years came back to life inside her. She reached for more, grabbed greedily for more, for everything.
She wanted everything. She was vibrating with need.
She groaned as she pressed closer to him, as she threaded her fingers through his hair and kissed him again, and again.
Wait, no.
That wasn't just her vibrating.
She pulled away, a little disoriented.
"I... That's my phone. I'm sorry, I have to... It might be an emergency."
If it was Grace or Lill calling to see what was happening, she was going to kill them.
Rebecca's hands felt a little tingly as she opened her purse, fumbling a little, and found her phone.
She frowned.
"It's my daughter, Phyllis. I'm sorry, George."
He waved away her apology as she took the call.
"Mama. Mama, I don't know what to do."
"Phyllis! Honey, what's wrong? What happened?"
"He's trying to take her away from me, mama. He's trying to take my baby away from me."
"Trevor?"
"My Annabelle. He's suing me for custody. Mama, he found... He's going to use my record. My record. I was so stupid, it was twelve years ago. It was so long ago. I was a teenager. I was stupid."
Oh, Rebecca remembered, all right. Phyllis and her teenage years - she had tried to block some of those memories out, but she definitely remembered. Those had been difficult years, for all three of them.
But Phyllis had turned her life around, gone back to college, found ways to get her life back on track, all for Annabelle. A drug conviction at seventeen couldn't take all of it away from her now. It couldn't, could it?
"Are you sure you're not overreacting, Philly? Trevor says a lot of things. He doesn't follow through on most of them."
"No. No, this time it's... He's come into money, mama. He's come into enough money that he has hired a lawyer, and... And he wanted to get back together with me. I... I thought, maybe I should give it a chance because... Because he is my baby's daddy. But... But he..."
"Okay. Okay, sweetheart. We'll sort it out, I promise we'll sort it out. I'll come and get you."
"Okay. Okay, mama. I'm sorry. I'm sorry this is happening. I've made a mess of things. I..."
"I'll be there soon, Philly. Don't worry, all right? I'll be there soon. We'll handle this. We'll take care of this, don't you worry about that."
Rebecca lurched to her feet. She had to sit down again, because her head spun a little.
George, who had walked away to give her some privacy, came back to her immediately.
“What do you need?” he asked crisply, all business.
“I… I need to get to my daughter. She has… She is…”
“Is she in trouble? Rebecca, please consider my resources at your disposal. If I can help, let me. If it makes you feel any better about asking for help, I’ll consider that you owe me a favor, and I will ask you for one when I need it. I’m sure I will need it.”
Rebecca looked at this ma
n she was just getting to know, this man with whom she was, so unexpectedly, building something new and a little scary, and she made up her mind. She made a decision.
“I need to find a lawyer who has experience with custody battles. My granddaughter’s father is apparently suing my daughter for full custody.”
“That’s unlikely to be granted.”
“It’s a myth that fathers never get custody, actually. The vast proportion of children are with their mothers, but in contested cases where fathers seek custody, they get it more often than not. Of course it’s often because fathers seek custody more often when it’s obvious that children are not safe with their mothers. If the mothers are able to care for their children, that is still considered the default.”
“Is your daughter an unfit mother? No, don’t defend her to me. In the eyes of the court, would she be?”
“She… she has a record. Nothing very bad, and she was only eighteen when it happened, but eighteen is not a minor so there wasn’t anything we could do to get her record expunged and…”
“She hasn’t had any trouble in the last decade?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“No, she’s put her life back together. She’s done a wonderful job of it. She’s done so much to deserve her life and her child. I… I need to go to her.”
George nodded.
“Give me an address. I will have a legal team there within an hour.”
“An hour? I… It’s well past working hours.”
George smiled.
“Not when I call, Rebecca. No, don’t let your pride decide this. This is for your child, isn’t it? I would put my pride aside, my happiness aside, my life aside, if I had to for my son. I expect you feel the same way about your daughter, and about your granddaughter.”
“Annabelle. She’s the light of my life. She’s… Oh God. How can this be happening?”
“It will soon stop happening. I promise. Now, please indulge me and let Rick drive you home. In your car, of course. He will pick up your daughter as well. Rebecca, look at me.”
She did, she looked at him and she saw how he had become as powerful as he was. She could see the determination, the absolute refusal to even consider the possibility that things might not go according to his plan. It was the kind of strength that could bend the will of the universe itself to suit him. It was the kind of strength that you simply did not go up against and survive unscathed.
She would not let her pride stop her from accepting the help offered. She couldn’t afford to.
“We will take care of this. Your daughter will not lose her child. You will not lose your grandchild. I promise you.”
She believed him.
Chapter 7
Phyllis was in a panic.
“Mom I don’t know what to do. I don’t… Annabelle. I can’t lose Annabelle.”
“I know. Where is she?”
“She’s with Lydia next door. You know she loves playing with Bruno.”
Ah, Bruno, the black Labrador that Annabelle loved so much that she had been trying to get a dog for her birthday, and for every Christmas, for about four years now.
“Let’s go and get her, and you are both coming home with me tonight. We’ll handle this, Philly.”
“I don’t know what I’d do if I lost her. I don’t know why he’s doing this. You know I’ve got our finances in something that looks like hopeful order but I can’t afford this. I can’t afford to take time off from work to do this. How will I cope? What will I do?”
“You will lean on me as much as you need to, and you will let me help you. And I will use whatever I have to. Come on, now. You don’t need to pack anything, you have clothes at home. Take whatever you need to take with you to work tomorrow. Come on, Philly, you can’t let the panic take over like this. Let’s go.”
Phyllis wiped her eyes, and she saw the strength coming back. Her daughter was strong. She just needed to be reminded of it.
“Come on, now,” urged Rebecca gently.
It was only when they were halfway home that Phyllis seemed to notice that there was a driver, which was odd.
“Mom? Who is this?”
“This is Rick. I was with somebody when you called. He asked Rick to drive me home because he saw that I wasn’t in a fit state to drive. The shock, too much thinking. I’m grateful, Rick.”
“Mr. Walters asked me to stay with you as long as you need me, Ms. Langston.”
Rebecca smiled.
“That’s kind of him, but you don’t have to do that. I doubt we’ll need to go out now.”
“Regardless, Ms. Langston. I will stay. He asked me to tell you that the lawyers will be at your home in thirty minutes, and that they will handle everything.”
“Thank you, Rick. You’re being very kind.”
“Doing my job, ma’am. The young one is lovely. Nothing will happen to her. We’ll take care of that.”
“Mom – who is this? Is he a hired thug of some kind?”
Rebecca grinned.
“Honestly, I have no idea, and I don’t care as long as he’s here for us, and not against us.”
“Who is it that you were with?”
“Remember the dating service you told me I was a fool for even considering?”
“Mom, you didn’t.”
“I did, and this young man is George Walters’s chauffeur. We will have a legal team handpicked by George at home soon, and they will handle all the details.”
“George Walters? As in WalTech?”
Rebecca should have known that her daughter would catch on a lot faster than she had. She was in the industry, after all.
“The one and the same. Ah, we’re home. Thank you very much, Rick.”
Rick smiled, winked at Annabelle who seemed to like whatever secret joke they were sharing, and waited, as he’d said he was going to do, after helping them out of the car.
The legal team turned up within five minutes, as expected. Annabelle, who seemed to be taking everything calmly and had thankfully been listening to music ever since they picked her up from her play date with Bruno, was happy to be left alone to continue her triumphs over long division. It had, apparently, become a point of pride.
Rebecca served coffee and watched as the lawyers – an older black man and a younger Latina, both of whom looked perfectly competent and quite compassionate, got to work, getting the details of the case. She watched them like a hawk, hoping for a hint as to what they thought of the case.
“Ms. Langston, to be quite honest, at this point, I don’t think you have much to be worried about. However, we will take preemptive action to make sure that any custody challenge will be slowed down and the child’s father will have to face an investigation before any court entertains such a challenge.”
“You can do that, Mr. Sanders?”
The older man smiled.
“We can do a lot of things. Mr. Walters chose us because we worked with him for his employees. There were a few complicated cases, but this appears to be fairly straightforward. The child’s father has a record. He seems to have been prompted to do this because he no longer has an outstanding warrant, he is no longer on parole, and he is no longer in debt – at least officially. He also appears to have come into a windfall of some sort. You have already offered him supervised visitation, but he hasn’t taken that offer. Now, let’s talk about child support.”
The lawyers went over all the details, over and over again, and Rebecca watched as her daughter calmed down and got her confidence back. She watched as her daughter clawed back every inch of control she had earned over the last decade, and Rebecca knew that things were back on track. Everything would be fine.
And she would forever be indebted to George, no matter what he said. She would not resent that. You did whatever you could for your children. You didn’t place your pride above your children’s well-being. She would make the same choice again.
When the lawyers left, and Rick had finally been convinced to join them for a meal before le
aving, everything lightened. Annabelle, who seemed to have taken a real shine to Rick, peppered him with questions about his job, and seemed to be close to deciding that she would change her life goal to be more like Rick.
Finally, Rebecca and Phyllis has some time alone again, Annabelle was fast asleep, and Phyllis slumped a little, exhausted.
“I panicked.”
“No wonder you did. I panicked a little, too.”
“So… George Walters, huh? No matter what kind of windfall Trevor has had, this is not going to work out well for him.”
“I doubt he’ll even start this now that he knows it’s not just us he’s going up against. He always underestimated us.”
“He did. But Annabelle… He is her father, mom. I don’t know how to handle this. I wanted to at least stay civil with him because I want Annabelle to have her father, but now…”
Rebecca nodded.
“I agree, it’s time to do some thinking. Sometimes it’s better not to have somebody in your life. You’ve done everything right since you got pregnant, Philly. You’ve done everything for Annabelle. I’m very proud of you.”
“Thanks, mom. Thanks for being there for me. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”
Rebecca smiled and hugged her daughter, a long, hard hug that drained whatever tension was left in her.
“You would have handled it, no matter what. But you don’t have to do it alone. That’s what family is for.”
“I’m sorry I gave you a hard time about that app and the dating service and whatever. You have to tell me all about it sometime but whatever it is, I owe you for doing it. This makes things easier. We owe him, though. We’ll pay him back. We’ll pay whatever the legal costs are, it’ll just take a long time.”
“Don’t worry about it now. We have our priorities for the moment. It will be fine.”
Rebecca sent her daughter off to have a long bath – she needed it, she was exhausted – and took a moment for herself, too.
Well, now that the urgency was draining, she could see that she really owed George. It was a little unsettling. She had gotten so used to depending on only a handful of people in her life. Depending on a man she had only known for a little while…