Accidental Lovers (The Accidental Series, Book 3) (6 page)

“Hello,” she drawled out.

“Hi, Jackie.”

“Hey, Carter. You worked things out with
Shayla yet?”

“No, but I need to talk with you as soon as
possible,” he said, thinking that if they had this conversation
over the phone, he couldn’t really discern her true feelings and
emotions. And he really needed to see her facial expressions. “Can
we meet for lunch tomorrow?”

“What is this about, Carter?”

“We’ll chat over lunch, tomorrow. Where can
we meet on your side of town?”

“Uh…hmm…what about the Showmars on
Eastway…over there near Food Lion. You know where I’m talking
about?”

“Yeah. Can you meet me there around eleven?”
he asked her.

“Sure. That’s not a problem.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow then.
Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Carter set his cell back on the nightstand,
re-read Jacob’s passages and rubbed his hand across his face and
thin mustache. Shayla thought Jacob was perfect, but if he let her
read these passages, she would see that something was clearly wrong
with him. But even though the notes would put Jacob in a bad light,
while simultaneously making Carter look so much better to her, he
decided not to show her the notebook. He didn’t want to pain her
and for that reason, he wouldn’t let her read it. He loved her that
much.

Chapter 9

Carter sat at a booth in Showmars waiting
for Jacqueline to show up. He’d brought Jacob’s notebook with him
as ammunition and would whip it out to hopefully get some answers
out of her. Why was he so nervous? He rubbed his sweaty palms
together, thinking that he wanted answers to his hidden family
secrets and since his mother, Lenora, was deceased as well as his
brother, Jacob, Jacqueline was the only person he could turn to for
answers.

Jacqueline walked in wearing a thin, trench
coat. He met her at the door, then they walked to the counter to
order. Carter handed the cashier a twenty dollar bill, then
escorted his aunt to the booth where his briefcase sat.

“So how are you on this bright, crisp, Fall
day?” Jacqueline asked, looking at him. “You look mighty
handsome.”

“Thanks, Jackie. I’m well as I could be,
given the circumstances. What about yourself?”

“I’m okay. Sorry I was late. It takes a
while for these old bones to wake up.”

“That’s not a problem. I’m just glad you
made it.” He studied her for a moment. She had a stale look on her
face like she was hiding something, like there was something on her
mind she wanted to tell him, but withholding it. Her lack of eye
contact said a lot.

“So,” Jackie said inhaling deeply. “What’s
on your mind?”

Around then, one of the waitresses brought
over their combos on two trays. And after they were alone again,
Carter said, “I have something I want you to read.” He took the
notebook from his briefcase and flipped to the third passage. He
hadn’t planned on being this transparent with Jacob’s notes, but
changing his plan late in the game, he decided this was the best
plan of action. He handed her the notebook and she began
reading.

As she read line by line, Carter studied her
face. She’d frowned and grimaced several times, placed one hand
over her mouth at one point and with trembling hands and watery
eyes, she handed the notebook back to him.

“As you can imagine, I have questions,”
Carter said, then bit into a fish sandwich. He washed it down with
a swig of Coke. “First off, you never told me you kept in contact
with Jacob.”

“Well, I didn’t really—”

“Jackie, this passage is dated two days
before Jacob killed himself. You kept in contact with him.”

“Okay, um, I went to see him because I was
worried about him.”

“How’d you know where he lived?”

“I followed him home one day.”

Carter shook his head. “Why would you do
that, Jackie, when he’s your nephew? You could’ve just walked up to
him and spoke…asked him where he lived instead of resorting to
stalking techniques.”

Jacqueline didn’t respond.

“So you met Shayla back then as well?”
Carter inquired.

“No…never met Shayla…I only visited Jacob a
few times. She was never there.”

“So how was he? Two days before his suicide,
what was his demeanor? What did he look like? Act like?”

Jacqueline sighed. “You know you don’t have
to do this, Carter.”

“I do,” he replied quickly. “How was
he?”

“Uh…he was withdrawn. He…um…he had dark
circles around his eyes…looked like he was on something.”

“Drugs, you mean?”

“Yeah…looked rough, like he was an addict of
some sort.”

“What else?”

“He was different from the times I’d visited
before. He didn’t want to talk much.”

“You knew he was on anti-anxiety meds?”

Jacqueline nodded. “Not sure if he was
consistently taking them, though. My guess would be, no.”

Carter squinted at her. He took a sip of
soda and said, “Why is it that my brother thought he and I were
first cousins?”

“Um…”

“Jackie, please don’t try to hide anything
from me. Let’s talk, openly and honestly, okay. I have a lot of
questions and I have a suspicion you have all the answers to
them.”

Jacqueline’s hand trembled as she picked up
her cup of ice water.

“Jackie?”

“Carter, I can’t comment on that,” she said,
then attempted to stand.

Carter touched her hand and said, “Jackie,
please just tell me what that means.”

“It means nothing.”

“Then if it’s nothing, why can’t you comment
on it? Talk to me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” she said
raising her voice a tad. “Jacob was out of his mind and he was just
saying or
writing
anything, apparently.”

“No. No he wasn’t. Why would he say these
things? What good would this do him…a man who had already made up
his mind that he wanted to die? Hunh?”

“I don’t know.” Jacqueline took a napkin and
dabbed the corners of her eyes.

“I’m sorry to upset you, Jackie, but I know
you’re hiding something from me. I can feel it.”

“I have to go, Carter,” she said
standing.

“Jackie?”

“I’m sorry. I have to go.”

Carter scratched his head, frustrated. To be
as old as she was, Jacqueline sure dashed out of there fast and in
a hurry. And he sat there alone, eating. He called Shayla again
before he left the restaurant but only got her voicemail.

Chapter 10

Still at the Hilton, Donovan laid in the
center of the bed, the same spot where Shayla slept when she spent
the night there. She left her sweet scent on the pillows and sheets
and the smell of her made it seem as if she was there was at his
room, lying next to him under the covers. And he’d dreamed about
her last night – dreamt that they’d gotten married and were running
on the beach together.

He took his cell from the nightstand and
found Shayla’s number in his contact list, calling her.

“Hello,” she answered after a few rings.

He chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” she inquired.

“Why do you answer the phone with a simple
hello
when you know it’s me calling?”

“Um…that’s how people answer the phone,
right. You want a special greeting, Donovan?”

“Nah…just curious. Have you eaten?”

“Yeah. I had a taco salad.”

“Sounds good. I tried that Mexican joint out
here on the boardwalk.”

“Zapata’s?”

“Yep…was pretty good.”

“Cool. I’ll have to check it out some
time.”

Donovan took a long inhale, thinking about
the night she laid there in bed. What he would give to have her
back here again…

“So tomorrow,” Shayla said, breaking the
awkward silence.

“Yes, um…tomorrow. You want me to swing by,
pick you up and we can head to the airport together?”

“Actually, I need to drive to the airport so
when I return home on Sunday, I’ll have a way to get back to my
house…you know, without having to call a taxi.”

That’s right…she would be returning
home
…a thought Donovan wanted to forget.

“So I’ll meet you at the Hilton in the
morning,” Shayla said, “Then I’ll follow you to the airport.”

“Gotta be here extra early then. Our flight
leaves at seven.”

“Which means we have to be there at six,”
Shayla said.

“Which means you have to be over here around
five.”

“Goodness. That
is
early.”

“Yep…and I still haven’t packed.”

“Me either. Guess I should get going so I
can get my stuff together.”

“Yeah. Me too. So I’ll see you tomorrow,
bright and early. Don’t forget to set your alarm clock,
Shayla.”

“I won’t. Later.”

Shayla jogged upstairs, took a medium size
suitcase from the closet and packed two pairs of jeans, a couple
pairs of shoes, two blouses, undergarments and toiletries. And
after setting her alarm, she was all set to get up early in the
morning and meet her father.

Chapter 11

The loud chime of the alarm clock woke her
up at 4:00 a.m. She had just enough time to shower, put on some
makeup and pick out a comfortable outfit for the flight. She took
her small suitcase and carefully descended the stairs, locked the
front door behind her then walked to the car, tossing her bag in
the back seat.

It was still dark out, street lights
brightening the roadways on this very early morning. As she drove
to the Hilton, the thought that this would be only her second time
flying crossed her mind. The first time, was with Carter, of
course, to Hawaii where they married.

Carter…

He was the one in the wrong, the one who had
deceived her, but yet she felt sorry for him. She was making all
these plans to see her father and making them with Donovan. She
lost sight of her marriage, of making things right because she was
so anxious to meet Jack. Or was it that she knew she had Carter
wrapped around her finger. He wasn’t going anywhere. Yeah, he was a
player back in the day, but the one thing she knew about Carter
was, when he took the time to dedicate himself to something, he
would be loyal to it no matter what. And she was certain that he
was loyal to her. And there she goes flying off to Virginia with
Donovan…

Carter was the man who should’ve been flying
to Virginia with her, the man who was there when she met her father
for the first time. But plans had already been made, Donovan had
already bought a first class ticket and when she pulled in the
parking lot of the hotel, she saw Donovan throwing a suitcase under
the trunk of his rental car. She drove up behind his car, rolled
down the passenger window and shouted, “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Shayla.”

“You all set?”

He closed the trunk and said, “Yep. I’m
ready. I’ll follow you to the airport.”

“Okay.” She rolled the window back up.

Donovan got in the car, started the engine
and backed out of his parking stall and they were on their way.

Once they arrived at the airport and
successfully made it through security, they got some breakfast then
sat at their gate, waiting for the boarding announcement which came
only fifteen minutes later. And since they were in first class,
their zone was called to board first.

Shayla took the window seat and after
Donovan placed his duffle bag in the overhead compartment, he sat
next to her, trying to help reduce her anxiety after learning she
didn’t like flying. Once they were cruising at a comfortable
altitude and the flight attendant announced that it was okay to use
electronic devices, Shayla took out Carter’s MP3 player from her
purse and stuck the ear buds in her ear. She had her own MP3 player
but Carter’s was loaded with way more songs than she had. So she
took his instead. Plus, the earphone cords smelled like his cologne
and the songs he’d downloaded reminded her of him.

Donovan looked at her inquisitively and she
removed the earphones from her ear.

“Are you really going to listen to music and
not talk to me the rest of the flight?”

“I guess not,” Shayla said, smiling. She
placed the MP3 player back in her purse.

“Really, Shayla?” Donovan asked with a smile
on his face.

“Sorry. I’m not comfortable flying. I never
fly anywhere…well I flew to Hawaii when Carter and I got married,
but other than that…”

“So you were married in Hawaii?”

“Yep.”

“Hmm…”

“What was that?” she asked, then
laughed.

“What?”

“You said, hmm…”

Donovan smirked. “There’s something that
I’ve been curious about with that. How soon after your return from
Norfolk did you get married?”

“Um, a week, maybe. Why?”

Donovan shrugged. “When you told me you were
married, it caught me by surprise. That’s all.”

“Why?”

“Because when we were having dinner on the
beach that night, you seemed pretty upset with Carter.”

“That’s because I was in love with a man who
didn’t want me.” She held up her left hand, flashed her diamond
ring and said, “Turns out, I was wrong.”

Donovan nodded silently.

“I’m still shocked that you know him,” she
said. “And shocked that you were following me.” She slapped his
leg.

“I was just doing what your man asked. Then
I realized I was doing it for me and not him because I genuinely
cared about you.”

Shayla blushed. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“So you said you know Carter from
college?”

“Yep. We had some courses together.”

“What was he like back then?”

Donovan released a frustrated breath. He’d
rather not spend their precious moments together talking about
Carter. Then again, maybe he could use this opportunity to his
advantage, to present Carter in a negative light. So he said,
“Carter was
the
man. Every time I saw him, he was with a
different woman. He skipped classes a lot, drove a nice car, lived
in an off-campus apartment…his parents were pretty well-off, I
guess. A lot of students were jealous of him. Then there was Jacob
who looked like he couldn’t even afford a pack of Ramen
noodles…”