Key To My Heart (Love Conquers All) (13 page)

Christina’s light brown complexion tinged a shade of pink from embarrassment. It seemed as if all of the Washington, Virginia, and Maryland area had heard of her being jilted three days before her wedding. That was two years ago, and Christina was just as mortified now as she was then.

“Thank you,” she mumbled, totally humiliated.

Beatrice gently patted Christina’s hand. “Come, come now, dear, no need to be embarrassed. Since you’re no longer attached, I’d like you to come have dinner with me and Langston tomorrow night.”

Christina’s hands did a jittery dance in her lap. Could this be her second chance? She wasn’t getting any younger. All of her friends had married successful men and were having children while she was stuck in a miserable existence. Her once well-to-do family had nearly lost everything when her father’s alcoholism ran his law practice into the ground. When her father ran through all of his money, he began dipping into Christina’s trust fund that she was to inherit upon her marriage. The last of the trust was spent on her lavish wedding that never came to fruition.

A spoiled child, she hadn’t had many boundaries. By the time she went off to college, her parents couldn’t do a thing with her. Christina never took her studies seriously. Hanging out and partying was what she lived for. It didn’t faze her when she was put on academic probation and then later kicked out of one of the most prestigious historical black colleges in the country. Her punishment had been to work in her father’s firm.

Several years later, here she was, still working in her father’s struggling practice. Getting reacquainted with Langston wasn’t a bad idea. With any luck, within the next year she’d be the other Mrs. Warrington. All she had to do was convince him that she could love him.

“I’d like that very much, Mrs. Warrington,” Christina said graciously, accepting the older woman’s offer.

eee

Langston was fuming. He should have known his mother was up to no good when she invited him and Zoe over for dinner. Why did he even try? His mother was beyond the point of reasoning. Didn’t she realize he was a grown man and her matchmaking days for him were over? And of all people, Christina Williamson was the woman with whom his mother was trying to hook him up.

When he and Zoe walked in and Christina was perched on the sofa with her legs crossed at the ankles, he started to turn around and walk out. When their eyes connected, her cruel words came rushing back like a lightning bolt, hitting him deep and smacking him in the center of his chest.

“What’s wrong, Daddy?” Zoe whispered as she peered up at Langston’s stony expression.

“Nothing, Love Bug. Come on, let’s go wash our hands before sitting down to dinner,” he answered.

Christina couldn’t eat a thing. All during dinner she pushed her food from one end of the plate to the other. This was a bad idea. The moment Langston looked at her, she could tell he remembered the cruel young girl she had been. Although he wasn’t rude to her, he wasn’t exactly happy to see her. Most of his attention was focused on his daughter, who kept looking at her with curiosity. At least when she engaged Langston in small talk, he had been gracious enough to indulge her.

Beatrice’s face began to ache from the plastic smile she wore every time she looked at Zoe. She wanted to scream when the little clumsy brat knocked over her water glass. Then she wanted to strangle the child when she announced, “Grandmother, I’m a big girl. My grandmom showed me how to clean up when I have an accident.”

It was worse than she thought. Langston was intermingling with Ava’s people. The child talked incessantly about Grandmom and Grandpop, and how much fun she had when she went to their house. Grandmom baked cookies with her and Grandpop let her play with his train set, blah, blah, blah.

If Christina hadn’t seemed so interested in what the child had to say, and if Langston wasn’t there, Beatrice would have told her to shut up and not say another word. As irritated as Zoe was making her, she was pleased Christina had taken to the child, engaging her in conversation all night. This was a good thing. Perhaps if the young woman couldn’t win her son over on her own merits, she could do so using the child.

Looking at his watch, Langston announced, “I’ve got to get going. Zoe has school in the morning.” Standing, he went over to his mother, and as a dutiful son he kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll see you later, Mother.” Then he approached Christina. “Goodnight, Christina.”

“Goodnight, Langston.” At least he had wished her a good night. Perhaps it wasn’t such a bad idea for her to come to dinner. The evening was most likely somewhat awkward because they hadn’t seen each other in years. Christina was sure the next time they saw each other things would be different. Maybe he’d be a little warmer.

“Come on, Love Bug, say goodnight so we can go.” Ava would be waiting for Zoe to call her before going to bed. He wanted to get Zoe home before it got too late.

Hopping down from the dining room chair, Zoe said, “Goodnight, Grandmother. Goodnight, Miss Christina.”

Christina smiled at Zoe. She had heard through the grapevine years ago that Langston had a child he was raising as a single parent. She liked Zoe. The child was polite and well mannered. If things worked out, she’d be stepmother to the adorable little girl. “Goodnight, Zoe.”

As Zoe took her father’s hand and they started for the door, Beatrice called out, “Doesn’t Grandmother get a hug?”

Terrified, Zoe’s grip tightened on her father’s hand as she stood rooted to the spot where she stood. She didn’t want to kiss Grandmother. She scared Zoe. Her smiles weren’t pretty like Grandmom Janet’s smiles. Grandmother looked like the Grinch who stole Christmas whenever she smiled.

“Mother, we have to get going.” Langston felt the tension leave Zoe’s little body as they walked out of the house and to his car in the driveway. He didn’t care that he’d probably embarrassed Beatrice. Mother or not, if she thought he was going to stand by and let her use his daughter like some piece on a chess board, then she was more batty than he thought.

Opening the car’s back door, Langston helped Zoe climb into the backseat and get settled in her booster seat. As he fastened her in, Zoe asked, “Daddy, is Miss Christina going to be your girlfriend?”

Shutting the rear passenger door, he came around and got in the car. Adjusting the rearview mirror so he could look at Zoe, he answered, “No, Love Bug.”

Zoe smiled. “Good. Because I want Mommy to be your girlfriend.”

Langston didn’t say anything. He just smiled and readjusted the mirror.
From your lips to God’s ears, Love Bug.

Langston wasn’t surprised when the phone was picked up on the first ring. He could tell Ava had been sitting by it waiting for Zoe’s call. He hoped she wouldn’t be too disappointed he was the one calling and not Zoe.

He and Zoe returned home much later than expected. Traffic had almost come to a standstill because of an accident on the Beltway. By the time they’d reached home it was well past Zoe’s bedtime. She had fallen asleep and didn’t stir when he carried her from the car to her bed. He was tempted to wake her because she looked forward to talking with her mommy every night. But Langston decided against it. Zoe could call Ava in the morning before she went to school.

“What happened, Langston? I’ve been calling all night,” Ava said, her voice strained with concern.

Noting the worry in her voice, he explained their whereabouts, hoping it would alleviate her worry. “Nothing happened. My mother invited me and Zoe over for dinner. And then on the way home we were stuck in traffic on the Beltway because of an accident.”

Ava let out a frustrated sigh as she lay in her bed. Looking at the clock on the nightstand table, she saw that the time was ten thirty. She should have talked to her baby three hours ago. “I swear, Langston, you know they have this new invention called a cell phone? You could have let her call me on that. I’ve been sitting here waiting for hours.” Ava made no attempt to conceal the irritation dripping from her voice. She wanted to talk to her daughter when
she
wanted to talk to her.

“Why you always gotta come at my neck like that?” he asked between clenched teeth.

Yeah, he could have let Zoe call Ava on his cell phone. But the child was asleep within the first five minutes of being in the car. Usually Zoe was chatty on rides and would talk nonstop from one destination to the other. He didn’t see the point of waking her up when it was evident that she had a long day and was tired.

Langston wasn’t in the mood for Ava’s attitude. He was still annoyed with his mother’s sly attempt at matchmaking. Like a fool, he’d accepted her invitation to dinner, thinking that perhaps Beatrice was trying to change her ways since he had all but cut her out of his and Zoe’s lives. “I want to see my son and granddaughter,” is what she had claimed when she called him earlier at the office. But when he arrived and saw Christina perched on the sofa, his mother’s true motives were revealed.

“What?” Ava snapped, not liking his tone at all.
Who does he think he’s talking to like that?

“You heard what I said. I felt bad because I know Zoe wanted to talk to you and vice versa. I called you to apologize because I knew you were probably worried when she didn’t call.” Langston wasn’t putting up with any of Ava’s crap tonight. As far as he was concerned, she could take her attitude and keep it moving. “Don’t get it twisted, Ava, I didn’t have to call you at all.” Pausing, he added, “Listen, I’ll make sure Zoe calls you in the morning before you leave for work.”

The next sound Ava heard was the distinct click of a phone being hung up in her ear.

Ava’s mouth dropped open from shock. “Oh, no the hell he didn’t just hang up on me!”

Slamming the phone into its base, she jumped out of bed and began to pace. She couldn’t believe Langston had hung up on her. The nerve of him! Ava was so tired of having to call her daughter every night. She wanted to be in Zoe’s bedroom reading her stories every night before she went to bed. She wanted to wake up the next morning and fix her breakfast like she did on the weekends when they were together. Was that too much for a mother to ask?

No, it isn’t. But that didn’t give you the right to snap at Langston. Girl, you better get it together,
the tiny voice in her head warned. Stopping her pacing, Ava wrapped her arms around her waist. She felt awful. Langston had been nothing but accommodating where Zoe was concerned. And the one time there was a blip in their schedules, she had to go and get all snippy. Sure, she was upset because she hadn’t talked with Zoe, but what really got Ava’s goat the most was that her daughter had spent an evening with that horrible woman, a woman she didn’t trust, when instead her and Zoe could have been on the phone talking.

The highlight of Ava’s days was coming home and hearing her baby’s voice. Every day she was learning new bits of information about Zoe, like how purple was her favorite color, and she liked puppies, but couldn’t have one because her daddy said she wasn’t ready for the responsibility. She didn’t like green peas, but ate them when Charles cooked them because she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. And her favorite subject in school was science because she liked doing the projects.

Talking to Zoe every day made Ava feel close to her daughter. Hearing her voice daily kept her from going insane until she could physically see and be with her again. So, yeah, missing one phone call had felt like she was running out of air to breathe.

Picking up the phone, her fingers trembled as she quickly redialed Langston’s number. She held her breath as the phone rang. Panic set in when he didn’t answer after the third ring.
Please, pick up. Pick up.

Langston’s large hand held the phone as he gazed at the number. He had a good mind not to answer it. What was Ava’s problem? What did she want from him? For him to grovel, begging for her forgiveness for the rest of his life? How many times could he say he was sorry? Wasn’t it obvious he wanted her in Zoe’s life?

In an attempt to wipe away his frustration, Langston swept his large hand down his face before clicking the phone on. “Yeah, Ava.”

Ava froze. She knew she had pissed him off, but she hadn’t expected his tone to be so curt. Now she had to eat a hefty slice of humble pie. The last thing she wanted was to fight with Langston. Maintaining an amicable relationship for Zoe’s sake was best all the way around. Having the two of them being at odds over something as ridiculous as a phone call wasn’t worth the drama.

“I’m sorry,” Ava mumbled, flopping down on the bed. “I guess I got a little ticked off because you took Zoe to your mother’s for dinner,” Ava admitted. She despised that woman and didn’t want her anywhere near her baby. She did not trust the woman. Every time she thought about Beatrice hitting Zoe, she wanted to smash something. And to think she’d missed their nightly talk because of that woman!

“Believe me, I understand. Trust me, it won’t happen again,” he gritted out between clenched teeth.

Turning off the lamp on the bedside table, Ava climbed back under the covers. “Humph, what did she do
this
time? She’s always doing something.” Ava said. That mother of his was a trip and a half. She must have gotten on Langston’s last nerve for him to react like that.

Langston chuckled. Ava had no qualms letting him know how she felt about his mother, or anything else for that matter.