Erica had also noticed a difference in her father. The other day she had heard him humming the lyrics to Marvin Gaye"s "Distant Lover." And another day she actually heard him whistle. She couldn"t ever recall him walking around the house whistling before, and the sound had both surprised and pleased her. And she"d noted he was smiling a lot lately and wondered if her upcoming wedding had him in such a jovial mood.
She talked to Brian every night and their phone talks were getting more heated than ever. He"d outlined in full detail and high definition just what he intended to do to her every single minute of their two-week honeymoon in Paris. And likewise, she had outlined with the same noteworthy specifics just what she intended to do to him. Needless to say their conversations would end with both of them needing cold showers. Especially since they hadn"t made love since their weekend in Myrtle Beach.
They had decided to abstain from lovemaking to make their wedding night more special and meaningful. However, they were now seeing it was making them that much hornier. There was no doubt in her mind they would leave the reception early, making a mad rush to the airport.
She had driven her mother to the shower and a few hours later was driving her back home. "You"re quiet, Mom," she said, glancing over at her when the car stopped at a traffic light.
"I was just thinking about how happy you were at the shower. You really love him, don"t you?"
Erica smiled, grateful her mother was finally getting the picture. "Yes, I really love Brian. I know you wanted things to be different but I have to marry for love."
Karen nodded. "If that"s what you truly want, Erica, then I am happy for you."
Erica released a deep sigh. She knew what her mother had just said was as close to giving her blessings as Erica would get. "Thanks, Mom."
"Your father tried to tell me but I refused to listen. I wish he was here now. He would probably get a kick out of hearing me admit at least once that he was right."
Erica laughed. "Yes, I"m sure that would probably make his day. Where is Dad, anyway?"
"He"s out of the country on another one of those business trips. He"s been taking them a lot lately."
Erica nodded. "Yes, I noticed, but usually they don"t extend over the weekend. I guess the office is keeping him busy."
"Yes, I guess so." Karen paused a minute. "When we get to the house I"d like you to come inside for just a moment. I want to show you what I got your father for his birthday."
Erica lifted a brow. "Kind of early, aren"t you? His birthday isn"t until November."
Karen shrugged. "I went shopping one of those days last month when I needed to take my mind off your wedding. You know, forget it was happening."
Erica shook her head, smiling. At least her mother was being honest.
Karen walked with Erica into the house knowing she had to keep her cool. She needed to convince Erica that, although she still had misgivings about the wedding, she had accepted that her daughter was marrying for love. So far everything was going according to plan. There was no reason for anything to fail at this point. She wouldn"t allow it. Even Dr. Cobb had grudgingly agreed to do his part. He didn"t have a choice if he wanted her to keep quiet about the affair he"d been having with Aggie for years, every since Lester had been confined to a wheelchair.
"Go on into the study and pour gla.s.ses of wine for us. I can certainly use one. I just need to slip out of my heels into more comfortable shoes. I"ll be right back."
"Sure, Mom." Erica watched her mother hurry up the stairs before moving toward the study. She had just placed her purse on the coffee table when she heard the text alert sounding. Smiling, she figured it was April calling to see how the bridal shower had gone, and lifted a curious brow at the caption that popped up from an unknown caller.
Pictures for Erica"s special day.
She saw the same caption had been sent to the phones of Brian, her mother, his mother and her father, as well. Whoever had sent it knew all of their cell numbers so it had to be someone they knew. She clicked on the text and released a startled gasp at the photo that flashed before her eyes of her father kissing a woman who closely resembled Brian"s mother. A closer look showed that it was was Brian"s mother. Brian"s mother.
It couldn"t be. It had to be some sort of trick photography. She kept scrolling to view all eight photos and each was just as damaging. Her head began spinning at the implications of those pictures.
It was then that she heard the loud scream from upstairs and remembered her mother was one of the recipients of the texted photos. Out of curiosity, had she opened the caption as well? With her heart beating fast and furious in her chest Erica took the stairs two at a time and rushed into her mother"s bedroom.
And there she found Karen pa.s.sed out in the center of the room with her cell phone beside her on the floor.
"I swear, Brian, ever since you"ve gotten engaged, I"ve yet to beat you at a game of tennis. Erica must be some kind of woman."
Brian couldn"t help but grin as he glanced over at Matthew Seacrest, a friend from his high school days and currently CEO of his own P.I. firm. Matt was right on both accounts. He had yet to win a match between them in a while and Erica was some kind of woman. "Stop whining and admit you"re not at the top of your game. I think that beer belly I"ve noticed lately might be slowing you down."
"Hey, you better watch it," Matt warned, pulling the towel from around his neck and flapping it out to hit Brian"s shoulder with it. They were walking off the court and headed into the locker room. The summer"s heat had been brutal and although Matt had hinted otherwise, it hadn"t been easy for Brian to best his friend today.
Truthfully, he understood that Matt had a lot on his mind. Ca.s.sie, Matt"s girlfriend, was pregnant and still refused to marry him, saying she wasn"t sure she was ready to take such a big step in her life. Brian shook his head. To his way of thinking having a baby was a big step, and if Matt wanted to marry her then what was the holdup? Evidently Matt had begun wondering the same thing.
"I"m taking Ca.s.sie to dinner at my folks" tonight. You can join us if you like. They always get a kick out of seeing you."
"Thanks, man, but I have plans for later. Erica is having her first bridal shower today-as we speak-and one of her girlfriends is taping it. I"m going to download it onto my laptop so we can watch it together later."
"Gee, sounds romantic," Matt said, making a kissy face.
Brian smiled, ignoring his friend"s gesture and thinking how he and Erica could turn any moment-even long-distance ones-into a romantic time. They could have some heated conversations over the phone, and whenever they added the webcam into the mix it was like exploring a whole new frontier. "Trust me, Matt, it will be romantic."
An hour later Brian had just stepped out of the shower when he heard the alert tone on his phone that meant he"d received a text.
He glanced at the clock and saw the time and figured it was probably Erica sending the video from her bridal shower. He smiled at the caption-Pictures for Erica"s special day-and immediately clicked it on.
"What the f-!
He sucked in a deep, shocked breath. Whatever he"d been expecting, this wasn"t it. He felt blood rush to his head. What the h.e.l.l was Mr. Sanders doing kissing his mother?
He didn"t want to look at the other pictures attached, fearful of what he might find, but felt he had to. Someone had taken several shots of Erica"s father and his mother sharing candlelight dinners; walking hand-in-hand through the doors of several five-star hotels; kissing in parking lots, in front of hotel room doors...
He didn"t recognize the number that had sent the text, but he did see the other recipients of the pictures and he almost dropped the phone.
He drew in a deep breath and dialed Erica"s phone number and the call immediately went to voice mail, which meant she had her phone off.
He ran his hand down his face, waiting on the cue to leave a message. "Erica? Baby, where are you? Call me as soon as you get this message. Please call me."
Blowing out an angry breath he then dialed his mother, who was on a business trip in j.a.pan. As the phone rang he looked at the pictures again, but he refused to believe what he was seeing. Other than his father, he could never recall his mother in a relationship, serious or otherwise, with any man.
But what if this was true? What if his mother and Mr. Sanders were involved? He closed his eyes and sucked in a tormented breath at the thought. What could she have been thinking? What had Mr. Sanders been thinking? Not in a million years would he have expected this. Not in a million years.
On the small idyllic j.a.panese island of Miyako, Wilson and Rita stood at their hotel window and gazed out at the picturesque beauty of the white sandy beach. They had spent a good portion of the day out there, enjoying the beauty of the island together.
Rita turned in his arms and looked up at him. She could not believe how different her life had been over the past five weeks. Once she had decided to take a bite of the forbidden fruit and teach this tall, handsome and wonderful man what love was about, she"d not given herself time to indulge in any regrets. He kept her too busy to do so.
She looked forward to planning their weekly schedules so they could spend time together during their business travels. So far things had worked out wonderfully for them. Together they had visited the Great Wall of China, attended a polo match in Great Britain and picked coffee beans in Peru. But nothing could surpa.s.s her greatest adventures, which were the nights spent in his arms.
Wilson looked down at her and smiled. "What are you thinking about?"
She couldn"t help returning his smile and simultaneously she felt a yearning in the pit of her stomach. "How happy I"ve been these last five weeks."
"Have you really been happy, Rita?"
She nodded. "Considering everything, yes."
And she didn"t want to consider everything, had pushed the thought of doing so to the back of her mind. All she"d done was take what was offered and give what she felt was truly deserved.
"What about you, Wilson?"
He chuckled. "Sweetheart, if I can get any happier, I"d burst. And it hasn"t been about the s.e.x. Although, I have to admit that"s been great, too. h.e.l.l, I never knew that there was still so much life in the bedroom after fifty. But it"s been about sharing things with you. It"s been an awakening for me. One that I didn"t expect and I"m so d.a.m.n grateful for."
He paused and then said, "I know you don"t want to talk about it but we need to, Rita."
"Talk about what?"
"My divorce from Karen."
She shook her head. "No, I don"t want you to do that, Wilson."
"After spending time with you, loving you the way I do, how can I not?"
She blinked. Her look was one of astonishment. "You love me?"
He threw his head back. "Yes, I love you. You taught me how to love. You gave me love. How else can I feel?"
"Grat.i.tude."
"No, it"s not grat.i.tude. It"s love. For the first time in my life, months shy of turning sixty, I know how it feels to love a woman. And I don"t know how many more years I have left on this earth, Rita. I can"t imagine spending any of them without you."
She reached out and pressed her hand to his lips. "No, I won"t let you leave your wife for me."
"My marriage was over long ago. After Erica"s wedding I"m going to ask Karen for the divorce I should have asked her for years ago."
She eased out of his arms and walked across the room. Over the past five weeks they had shared a bed, true enough, but they"d also shared something else. A friendship. With him she had shared her innermost thoughts and feelings and he"d done likewise with her. A part of her would always love Patrick, but in her heart she knew she loved Wilson, as well. But considering the people they would eventually hurt in the long run, would they ever truly be happy knowing their happiness would cause others pain?
"Rita?"
She turned back to him. "Yes?"
"You do love me, too, don"t you?"
She could lie and tell him that, no, she didn"t love him, that it was nothing more than needing s.e.x after a fifteen-year drought, and that would be it. But she couldn"t hurt him like that, nor could she lie about her feelings for him. "Yes, I do love you, too."
The smile that spread across his face at that moment was priceless and he quickly crossed the room and pulled her into his arms, kissed her deeply. When he finally released her mouth, he whispered against her lips. "It will all work out and in the end, we will be together."
Somehow she believed him. She didn"t want to think about all the obstacles they would face. Possibly the loss of love and respect from their children. And the torment of a woman who may not give up her husband so easily.
Rita heard her cell phone ring and glanced around for it, then remembered it had fallen under the bed earlier that day during one of her and Wilson"s heated moments. She quickly pulled herself from his arms and scurried across the room to get it. The only two people who"d ever called her while she was on one of her trips were Lori or Brian, and a call from either of them could be important.
"h.e.l.lo?"
"Mom, where are you?"
She heard the frantic tone in Brian"s voice and glanced across the room at Wilson. "I"m in j.a.pan. I told you I would be taking a few extra days and-"
"Did you receive a text message containing photos?"
She frowned. "No, at least not that I"m aware of. I was out of the room earlier, without my phone."
"Mom, check your messages."
She heard the anxiety in his tone. "Brian, what"s going on? What"s wrong?"
Wilson heard the anxiety in her voice as well and crossed the room to stand beside her, giving her a questioning glance. She shrugged her shoulders.
"Just check to see if you received the photos."
She removed the BlackBerry from her ear and saw she had one message pending. Pictures for Erica"s special day. Pictures for Erica"s special day. She clicked on the caption and what flashed before her eyes almost made her drop the phone. "Oh, my G.o.d!" She clicked on the caption and what flashed before her eyes almost made her drop the phone. "Oh, my G.o.d!"
"Rita, what"s wrong? What"s going on?" Wilson all but screamed and caught her when she almost lost her balance.
Instead of answering she covered her mouth with her hands and shoved the phone at him. He took it and saw what she"d seen and nearly gasped. He recovered his voice to ask in a deep, thundering sound, "Who the h.e.l.l sent these?"
She couldn"t find her voice to speak. Instead she dropped down on the bed when her head began spinning. Brian had seen them. She could imagine what he was thinking.
In her frantic state she heard Wilson speak into the phone. "Brian, who sent those pictures?"
Hearing Wilson Sanders"s voice was like a knife to Brian"s gut. He had wanted to believe a mistake had been made. Someone had used some sort of trick photography. Anything but what the photos conveyed. Now he knew no mistake had been made. Erica"s father and his mother were together even now in j.a.pan. Sharing the some hotel room. The thought of what they"d been doing was like a kick to his stomach. The man was married. His mother had allowed herself to be pulled into an adulterous relationship.
"Right now it really doesn"t matter who sent them, Mr. Sanders. What matters is that besides me, Mom and you, those photos were also sent to Erica and Mrs. Sanders."
"d.a.m.n."
"I tried calling and couldn"t reach anyone. I don"t know what"s going on and whether or not Erica and her mother have seen the photos. They were attending Erica"s first bridal shower today."
He drew in a deep breath and then asked, "May I speak to my mom?"
Wilson glanced over at Rita, saw the look of shock and pain in the depths of her gaze. "Brian wants to talk to you." He handed her the phone and she took it.
"Brian?" she said in a shaky voice. "I-"