Key To My Heart (Love Conquers All) (25 page)

Colin swallowed hard. Mrs. Warrington had been adamant about “that whore”
not holding the baby. When he attempted to explain the hospital’s adoption policy allowing the birth mother to spend an hour with the baby before handing him/her over to the adoptive parents, she had pulled out her checkbook and written him a personal check for ten thousand dollars. He very well couldn’t tell a lawyer, of all people, that he’d taken a bribe to look the other way.

Colin let out a deep breath. “Yes, that’s what I’m telling you. I made a very bad call in judgment.”

Letting out a bitter chuckle, Langston said, “Yeah, I’d say so.” Eying the man, Langston sensed he was holding something back. He didn’t even want to think about it. All he wanted was for this man to get out of his office and his face. “Something is telling me you’re not being completely honest with me, Colin. Knowing my mother the way I do, she probably paid you off.”

As Colin’s eyes bugged out of his head, Langston thought,
Just what I thought.
“Colin, get the hell out of my office.” He didn’t have time for the man’s excuses. He was due in court in less than an hour.

eee

“Be careful. Don’t run into anyone,” Ava told Zoe as the small child struggled to maneuver the large, red shopping cart.

“I won’t, Mommy, because I’m a big girl!” Zoe answered, her tiny arms working hard to keep the cart straight.

Ava giggled. Poor little thing was determined to push that cart. “Yes, you are a big girl.”

Mother and daughter had ventured out to the local Target to pick up some things for their girls’ trip to Virginia Beach. The other night during Ava and her girlfriends’ weekly conference call, they planned a three-day trip to the beach. Langston owned a beautiful four-bedroom oceanfront home that he offered to let them use when Ava told him of the getaway.

All the men in their lives were swamped with work and didn’t bark at the idea of the women taking a short vacation with the children. The only demand the men made was that the trip take place mid-week so everyone would be back home by the weekend. When Karen heard of the men’s ultimatum, she jokingly teased the other women about having to get permission slips to leave town.

Getting together was going to be like old times. It had been forever since the ladies had one of their infamous sleepovers, staying up and talking all night. All their lives had drastically changed since the last sleepover. Summer and Starr were now married, Ava’s big secret was finally out, and Karen, unbeknownst to the others, was being pursued.

Ava was totally looking forward to hanging with her girls while drinking white wine spritzers and raspberry martinis until the wee hours of the morning. She definitely needed to talk with them about her feelings for Langston. Each day she spent under his roof, she battled with herself to keep her distance.

After Langston’s mom had busted their groove, she realized it was a mistake to go there with Langston. She had let her emotions get the best of her on Mother’s Day. Letting her guard down, she’d shared Langston’s bed. And if that had never happened, she wouldn’t have ended up in the shower having the best sex of her life. As incredible as the experience of rekindling her love affair with Langston had been, it had come with a price. Just when she thought Beatrice couldn’t hurt her more, the evil witch had reached inside her chest and snatched out Ava’s heart. Intellectually Ava understood that Langston wasn’t responsible for his mother’s actions. However, loving him had always caused her pain. In the past he’d always protected and made excuses for his mother. Even though now he was still on the outs with Beatrice, and refused any communication with her, Ava was still leery. There might come a time in the future when he and his mother would come to an understanding, and all would be forgiven. Then what? Ava was certain Beatrice would be back to her old tricks. And Ava was not in the mood to put up with that woman’s interference if she decided to have a relationship with Langston. So the best thing for her to do was to walk away now.

But how?
she wondered.
Especially when I’m the happiest I’ve been in a long time.
Hopefully some time away from Langston would help Ava sort out her feelings.

Zoe was just as excited as Ava about the trip. Ashley, Autumn, Kyle, and the babies were coming to stay with them in her Daddy’s house at Virginia Beach. She loved having other children to play with, especially the babies. She wished she had her own babies to play with all the time.
Maybe Mommy and Daddy can get me a baby,
she thought.

Turning down an aisle, Ava grabbed a bottle of adult sunscreen and one of children’s sunscreen. Throwing them in the cart, she asked Zoe, “What kind of snacks do you want, sweetie pie?”

“Some Fruit Roll-Ups and Oreos. Can we get something for Autumn, Ashley, Kyle, and the babies too?” Zoe asked, staring up at her mother.

Ava smiled. She was so glad Zoe wasn’t one of those selfish, spoiled little kids that didn’t like sharing. Whenever she was around other children, she was always willing to share, whether it was sweet treats or her toys.

“We sure can get them something.” Moving behind Zoe, Ava placed her hands on the steering bar beside Zoe’s smaller hands. A few shoppers were in the aisle with them, and Ava didn’t want Zoe banging the cart into the other shoppers.

Neither Ava nor Zoe saw the cart rounding the corner of the next aisle. “Uh-oh!” Zoe shouted as their cart collided with another cart.

“I’m so—” Ava’s words came to an abrupt halt as she stared at the older woman standing in front of her. Tears formed in her eyes as immediate recognition assailed her.

“Well I’ll be,” the older woman said, smiling while looking from Ava to Zoe.

“It’s you,” Ava said softly.

Stepping away from her cart, the older woman went over to Ava and gave her a tight squeeze.

Closing her eyes tightly, Ava held on to Carol Wexler. This woman had risked her career as a nurse to give Ava her most precious gifts. Because of this sweet soul, whenever Ava felt like she was losing her mind, she had a little piece of Zoe to give her hope that one day she would be reunited with her baby.

Breaking the embrace, Carol held Ava away from her. “Oh, honey, you look so good.” Staring down at Zoe, Carol knew without a doubt that the adorable little girl standing before her was the tiny, squirming baby from whom she had removed an undershirt and cut a small lock of dark curls so long ago. “And you are?” Carol asked.

“I’m Zoe. Are you a friend of my mommy’s?”

“I sure am. My name is Carol.” The older woman winked at Ava. “Me and your mommy go way back.”

Zoe tilted her head to the side, staring up at the nice lady. “Way back where? Where did you go?”

Ava and Carol laughed at the child’s innocence. “My Zoe, what Ms. Carol means is that she and I met each other a long time ago.”

The child’s small mouth formed into a perfect circle when she said, “Oh.”

Carol had always wondered what had happened to Ava Peretti. She had never forgotten her, had never forgotten the devastating lines of pain etched on her face. At night while the world rested, she could still hear the younger woman’s soul-wrenching sobs. Carol’s heart had gone out to the young woman who had repeatedly begged to hold her baby. She knew she had to do something, anything to ease the pain for her. Sneaking back into the nursery had been the craziest thing Carol had ever done in the history of her twenty-eight-year nursing career. But she had to do something. Now seeing Ava with her child, Carol knew she had done the right thing.

Ava and Carol talked for a few more minutes before exchanging phone numbers and promising to meet for lunch within the next few weeks. Going their separate ways to finish shopping, Ava couldn’t wait to get home and tell Langston about her day.

Lounging on the comfy sofa, Ava peeked up from the novel she was reading and shook her head.
I guess the honeymoon phase is over,
she mused, flipping a page.

Sitting on the floor with coloring books and crayons sprawled all around her, Zoe looked as if she’d lost her best friend. She didn’t understand why she couldn’t have cookies since she ate all her dinner. Daddy always let her have something sweet after dinner.

Closing the book, Ava stood. “You sure you don’t want a piece of fruit, Zoe?”

Shaking her head, Zoe whispered no, then picked up a crayon, not looking at her mommy.

“Suit yourself,” Ava mumbled under her breath, blowing out a frustrated sigh as she made her way to kitchen for a glass of water. As far as she was concerned, Zoe could pout all night long. She was standing firm on her decision not to let her have anymore junk food for the rest of the night. The child ate too many sweets as it was.

Opening the fridge, Ava slid over the container of orange juice and pulled out the pitcher of water. Her eyes drifted to the crisper at the bottom of the fridge where green grapes, cherries, and strawberries sat.
All this fruit in here, and she wants to eat cookies.

Their battle started at Target earlier when Ava only allowed Zoe to get one small snack box of Oreos, and not the huge regular-sized package. Things just went downhill from there when she wouldn’t let the child fill the cart with M&M’s, KitKats, and MilkyWays. Ava had thought she was compromising when she let Zoe get potato chips and Doritos.

“Daddy lets me get what I want,” she told her mother as if that was going to make Ava change her mind. If anything, it annoyed Ava more.

“Well, my Zoe, I’m not your daddy. Now you can pick out one of the candies, or don’t get anything at all.”

Dejected, Zoe had put back the KitKat and MilkyWay candy bars. Ava felt awful upsetting her little girl, but the one thing she had noticed since living with Zoe this summer was that the little girl consumed a lot of cookies, candy, and chips. If Zoe had the choice of selecting an orange over a piece of chocolate, she’d choose the chocolate every time. Little by little Ava had begun to introduce her to healthier choices. Not wanting to take everything away from her, she had decided to allow her to eat no more than three high sugar snacks a day. So when Zoe had met her max for the day, Ava had offered her some cherries. Well, that hadn’t gone over well. For the last forty-five minutes the child had sat on the floor sulking and pretending to color.

Hunching her shoulders, Ava set the water pitcher on the counter. Taking a glass from the cabinet, she poured herself some water. No sooner was she was about to put the glass to her lips when Zoe came tearing into the kitchen, happier than a piglet playing in mud.

Ava could not believe her eyes as she saw her child go to the pantry closet, open the door, and climb on the stepstool so she could reach the shelf with the cookies. Taking a sip of water, Ava sat the glass on the counter before crossing her arms over her chest to watch her daughter in action.

Zoe was happy. She knew her daddy would let her have some cookies. Standing on the tip of her toes, she reached up and grabbed the cookies. Stepping down off the stepstool, she closed the pantry door. Skipping to the table, Zoe sat the package of cookies down before climbing up in a chair. Just as she was about to open the package, it was snatched out of her little hands.

Ava was steaming mad. “Didn’t I tell you no more junk food tonight?” Ava asked her daughter with a firm tone.

Zoe’s bottom lip trembled. Her mommy had never talked to her like that before.

“I told her she could have the cookies.”

Both Ava’s and Zoe’s eyes swung to the doorway from where the masculine voice had come.

Oh, so this is how it’s going to be. Two against one,
Ava thought. “And I told her she couldn’t have any.”

Langston stared at Ava. After dealing with Colin earlier in the day, and then having his motion to enter new evidence to clear his client denied, he was not in a good mood. All he wanted to do was come home, eat, take a shower, and chill. Now was not the time for Ava to be giving him attitude.

Loosening his necktie, he questioned Ava’s judgment. “Why? Didn’t she eat her dinner?”

Ava tilted her head, looking at Langston like he had lost his mind. Somebody please tell her this man was not standing here questioning her in front of their daughter. Somebody please tell her this wasn’t happening.

“Yes, she ate dinner,” Ava gritted out between clenched teeth.

“Then what’s the big deal?” Langston asked. He then walked over to Ava and took the cookies from her hands. Opening the package, he withdrew two cookies and handed them to Zoe. “Here you go, Love Bug. Take your cookies and go upstairs. After you eat them, get ready for your bath.”

Zoe looked from her daddy back to her mommy. She didn’t like the way they were looking at each other. Usually they were friendly toward one another. Suddenly she didn’t want the cookies anymore. Sliding off the chair, she stood. Setting the cookies on the table, she looked up at Langston with tears in her eyes. “Daddy, I don’t want them.”

Langston hissed an expletive under his breath as Zoe left the kitchen. “Do you see what you did?” Langston shouted at Ava.

“What I did!” Ava asked, incredulous. She could not believe he was blaming this on her. “You should have asked me why I told her she couldn’t have the cookies. She eats too much junk as it is, Langston!”

Sure, Zoe was a slim child now, but at the rate she was going, in a couple of years she might be overweight. Not only could the sweets be detrimental to her health, but they could also be devastating to her emotional wellbeing. Kids could be cruel. As a school nurse Ava had seen her share of obese children being bullied and teased. She didn’t want that for her little girl.