Accidental Lovers (The Accidental Series, Book 3) (13 page)

“What’s that?” Jack asked.

Carter looked up at him, then rolled his
eyes over to Shayla.

“Carter, please stop,” Shayla mouthed.

He shrugged in response.

Shayla was pleased to hear the doorbell
again. It gave Jack time to breathe when Carter excused himself to
answer the door.

Moments later, he stepped back in,
Jacqueline in tow.

“Hi Jackie,” Shayla said dryly with no
enthusiasm.

“Hi.”

“Um…Jack, this Carter’s…
aunt
,
Jacqueline.”

“Nice to meet you, Jack,” Jacqueline
said.

“You as well.”

“Where do you want to me to sit,
Shayla?”

Shayla walked around the dinner table and
pulled out a chair directly across from Jack.”

“I got that, baby,” Carter said, walking
around the table to stand behind Jacqueline’s chair like a
gentleman, sliding it under as she sat.

Having already placed the food in the center
of the table, Shayla sat next to Jack.

Carter took his seat, directly across from
Shayla.

Shayla picked up the rolls, then passed
them.

“So, Jack, what do you do in Virginia?”

Jack cleared his throat. “I own a
construction company.

Carter nodded.

Shayla saw Carter’s nostrils flaring.

“What do you do?” Jack inquired, trying to
be conversational.

“I’m in banking.”

“Looks like you’ve done well for yourself,”
he said looking around. “Shayla’s met a good one.”

Carter glared at him and said, “You
do
know we’re married, right?”

“Yes. Shayla’s told me a little about you
already, and I have to say I’m so grateful she’s met a man who can
provide and take car of her.”

“Yeah, because that
is
what a man’s
supposed to do…take care of his family.”

Shayla felt her appetite leave her body.
Carter was not holding back on the Jack. She thought he’d have some
pity on him because after all, he was her father, but Carter wasn’t
having it.

And Jacqueline was quiet, glancing up at
Shayla every now and then, but hadn’t said a thing. But out of
nowhere, she looked up at Jack and asked, “So where in Virginia do
you live, Jack?”

“Virginia Beach?”

“Oh, okay. I’ve never been there? Heard it
was nice, though.”

“It is. Some people don’t like living in
tourist cities, but I don’t mind it.”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind getting away for a
while. I might be headed your way soon.”

Shayla’s eyes focused sharply on Jacqueline.
If she thought she was going to run from telling Carter the truth,
she had another thought coming.

“Shayla, you and Jack look alike,”
Jacqueline said. “I see the similarity.”

“I don’t,” Carter said definitively.

Shayla was staring at Jacqueline with so
much contempt, she hadn’t even heard Carter’s response. How dare
Jacqueline point of how she favored her father when her son, her
own flesh and blood sat next to her and had the slightest clue he
was sitting next to his own mother. And looking at them
side-by-side now, Shayla could see that they had the same skin
complexion, the same smile, honey brown eyes and the same nose.

“Must have strong genes in your family,
huh?” Jacqueline asked Jack.

“You do too, Jackie. You and Carter look a
lot
alike,” Shayla pointed out.

Jackie grimaced a bit, blinked quickly to
collect herself.

Carter gave Shayla an inquisitive stare then
diverted his attention back to Jack. “So why didn’t Shayla’s half
brothers come?”

“Oh…they went with their mom to Maryland
this weekend.”

“That was more important than getting to
know their long, lost, forgotten sister?”

Jack laid his fork in his plate and said,
“Look, Carter. I’ve made some mistakes but I love Shayla.”

“No.
I
love Shayla,” he said enraged.
“Think about how much you
think
you love Shayla and multiply
that times a trillion. That’s how much I love her, Jack, and as the
man, who actually loves her, I cannot fathom walking out of her
life and leaving her to fend for herself.”

“Carter…” Shayla said, but his name from her
lips fell on deaf ears because he was furious.

“Do you know how much Shayla had to go
through? Do you know she almost died? And who was there when she
was in the hospital? I don’t recall seeing you. When she had blood
running out of her mouth…when she’d stopped breathing, had
bronchitis and pneumonia at the same time…where were you,
Jack?”

“I didn’t know any of that,” Jack replied
dolefully.

“That’s my point.”

Jack sighed. “Carter, I know I wasn’t there
for her, but I’m trying to change that.”

“Why? Why now?”

“Because I have to start somewhere, and I
respect you and your house and I know your position as a man. But I
made a mistake and I’m trying to make it right. All I can ask of
you is for the chance to be there for Shayla now.”

“Yeah,” Carter grumbled. “Just don’t know if
I trust a person who can so freely abandon their child.”

Shayla glanced over at Jacqueline, watching
her hang her head.

For a moment, a few awkward moments, there
was nothing but silence in the room.

Carter took the bottle of wine from the
center of the table and refilled his glass, guzzling it down
quickly. Then he leaned back in his chair, his eyes on Shayla. He
saw the look of embarrassment on her face, tears in her eyes, but
she didn’t cry. Underneath the table, he rubbed his foot against
her leg, then looked at her and mouthed, “I’m sorry.”

She shot him a half smile. Unbeknownst to
him, his back-and-forth with Jack wasn’t the cause of her sadness.
It was Jacqueline and the life-changing secret she carried around
with her.

“I’m going to get some more wine.” Shayla
stood up, walked to the kitchen and took a chilled bottle from
fridge. From where she stood, she was still able to see Carter,
Jacqueline and Jack sitting at the dining table and she almost lost
it when she saw Jacqueline standing up because she knew she’d be
heading her way.

Shayla sighed, closed her eyes tight and
braced herself.

“Shayla,” she heard Jacqueline say. “I know
I’m supposed to tell him.”

“Knowing and doing are two different things,
Jackie.”
She popped the cork from the
wine bottle, then turned to face Jacqueline. “When are you going to
tell him?”

“
In a few
days.”

“
I gave you a week
and you haven’t done it yet.”

“
I will. I promise
you, I will.” Shayla looked at Jacqueline, noticed her eyes
watering up.

“
Look,
Jackie…sorry if you think I’m coming down hard on you, but this is
my husband we’re talking about. Do you know how much this will
change his life? He thinks his parents are dead.” Shayla looked
towards the dining room and saw Carter looking her way and gave him
a lackluster smile. Then returning her attention to Jackie she said
in a low tone, “Tell him. Please.”

Jacqueline nodded, then
turned away to head back for the dining room.

Chapter 23

Shayla laid in the
center of the bed after a quick shower. She’d come up to the
bedroom after Jacqueline had left, about an hour or so ago, leaving
Carter downstairs with Jack. And after her shower, she rubbed her
body down with Vaseline moisturizing lotion, slipped on a silk
nightie and laid in bed, thinking – mostly about Carter. How would
he react once Jacqueline finally told him that she was his
mother?

“Shay…you sleep, baby?”
Carter said softly, just in case she was sleeping.

“No.”

He pulled his
shirt over his head, unzipped his pants and took those off too.
Then he took his position behind her, spooning her while finding
her hand and threading their fingers together. “Hope you’re not mad
at me.” He kissed a few places on her neck.

“
No. I’m not
mad.”

“
Look at me and
say that.”

Shayla rolled over
and repositioned herself so that she was staring in Carter’s
adorable, brown eyes. “I’m not mad at you.” She couldn’t help but
take a kiss from his enticing lips.

“
Really, because
you looked like you could kill me during dinner.”

“
Yeah, that’s
because you were giving Jack such a hard time.”

“
That was
intentional. My job is to protect you. I have no loyalty to
him.”

Good
point
, Shayla thought. And she had
no loyalty to Jacqueline so why hadn’t she told Carter who his
mother really was?

“
Just to put your
mind at ease,” he said, “I did talk to him man-to-man after you
came upstairs. I think we’ve come to an understanding.”

“Oh yeah?”

“
Yeah. Remember
when we were talking the other day about our kids?”

Shayla smiled.
“Our future kids? Yes.”

“
Like I said...at
least our kids will have
one
grandparent, right, if Jack
stays true to his word and actually be there for you. And from our
talk, I can tell he really wants to be a part of our
lives.”

And then, Shayla
couldn’t take it anymore. She burst in tears, trembling as she
cried.

“
What’s wrong,
Shayla? I thought that’s what you wanted?”

“
That is what I
want.”

Carter rolled on
top of her, watching tears run out the corners of her eyes and down
her face. “Baby,” he said, kissing away the wetness. “What’s
wrong?”

“
I love you,
Carter. I don’t want to hurt you,” she cried.

“
And you think
seeing you cry doesn’t hurt me already? Talk to me,
Shayla.”

She sniffled,
placed her hands on his face, staring up into his worried eyes and
said, “You’re so good to me.”

“
Tell me what’s
wrong, sweetie.”

“
Um,” she said
nervously. “Have you...have you ever seen a copy of your birth
certificate?”

Carter frowned,
wondering why she was asking him that. A while back, Terrance had
insinuated that he needed to get a copy of his birth certificate
after Carter told him about Jacob’s notes. And he had even
requested a copy of Jacob’s birth certificate but not his own. “I
don’t recall,” he finally responded. “Why?”

Shayla had
requested a copy of Carter’s birth certificate last week, a couple
of days after Jacqueline made the confession to her. It was one
thing for someone to tell you who they are, but once you had the
proof, verified by a notarized seal, that meant it was official and
true.

“
You need to look
at it as soon as possible.”

“
Why,
Shayla?”

Tears blurred her
vision. “Because you need to,” she cried.

“
Baby, we said no
secrets, remember?”

“Yes.”

“Then tell me what’s
wrong. Why do I need to see my birth certificate?”

She sniffled
again. “Because…um…”

“Shay, why do I need to
see my birth certificate?”

With trembling
lips, she said, “Because your mother is still alive.”

Carter frowned,
rolled off of her then sat on the edge of bed with one leg folded
underneath him. “Why would you say something like that, Shayla? You
know my mother passed.”

“No.”

“Yes. I can show you her
obituary. I made her funeral arrangements.”

“
I know you did,
but...um...Lenora wasn’t your mother. She raised you, but she
wasn’t your mother, Carter. She was Jacob’s mother.”

Immediately,
Carter recollected Jacob’s notes:

Most of my life, my Mother compared me to my
big brother, if you can even call him that. To be considered
siblings, we would have to have either the same mother, or the same
father. We have neither and, Carter, as smart as everyone claims he
is, is too dense to realize that our “family” isn’t really a family
at all…

Now those words were
beginning to make sense. If what Shayla was saying was true, their
family wasn’t really a family.

“
So what’s on the
birth certificate? Who’s my mother?”

Trembling as if
struck by a sudden chill, she replied, “I don’t want to hurt you,
Carter.”

“
Shayla, what’s on
the birth certificate?”

Shayla pulled in a
long, deep breath and said, “Ja...Jackie is your mother,
Carter.”

“No,” he shook his head
in defiance.

“
I wanted to tell
you but—”

“No.”

“
She begged me not
to tell—”

“
No.”

“
Said she wanted
to tell you on her own time.”

“
That can’t be
right. I buried my Mother. I buried her. I saw her lying in the
casket,” he said with glossy eyes.

“
That wasn’t your
mother. Lenora was your aunt. I’m so sorry, Carter.”

Carter looked at
her as if she was a stranger. His mouth fell open, but he couldn’t
speak. He rubbed his hands across his head in anguish and
remembered more of Jacob’s words:

At some point, a man, whether screwed up or
not, has to take responsibility for his own actions. I cannot blame
my Mother for my current state of affairs and I cannot blame
Carter. Even though we are first cousins, we were raised like
brothers and I love him, as much as I hate to admit that.

“
Say something,
Carter.”