The Best of Everything (19 page)

I
t was the first Friday in June, an entire month after the shooting incident, and Phillip couldn’t be happier. When he was growing up, his mother had always told him that from everything bad, something good came out of it and now he knew she’d been right. He knew, because his getting shot had turned out to be the best thing that could have happened for his and Alicia’s marriage. Ever since the night he’d been admitted into the emergency room, her whole attitude had changed, and she’d started giving him her undivided attention. He had immediately seen the worry in her eyes and even after a few days, when he was basically able to do things on his own again without problems, she had still continued to wait on him. She’d taken care of him the way any man would hope to be taken care of by his wife, and they were now extremely content with each other.

The other thing was that Alicia hadn’t spent a lot of time away from him over the last month, either, meaning she wasn’t sneaking out to go shopping and that life for them now reminded him of the first couple of months they were married. So much so that he no longer felt they needed marital counseling after all. His mom had come and stayed with them for the first three
days he was home—days when Alicia surely could have gone wherever she wanted—but Alicia had still made it a point to do everything she could for him on her own.

Phillip buttoned up his perfectly starched, snow-white shirt, and, without warning, he thought about Mrs. King. Because she still remained in a catatonic state, there hadn’t been any real court proceedings, other than a hearing, and she would probably stay on at the mental institution until she was better. Phillip, Alicia, Curtis, and Charlotte as well as other members of the church had gone to see her, but there was never any change in her condition. Phillip also thought about Mr. King and how the man had seemed to age twenty years, just in the last month. Mr. King had told Phillip that all of what had happened to his wife was his own fault and that even though he’d asked God to forgive him, he didn’t think he could ever forgive himself for what he’d done. Phillip had responded by saying that Mr. King had a duty to forgive himself the same as God had and that he was going to have to find a way to go on with his life. Phillip hadn’t been sure his words had resonated with Mr. King, but what he hoped and prayed was that Mr. King would feel better with time.

After arranging his tie, Phillip went downstairs to the kitchen, draped his suit jacket across the back of a chair, and then walked over and kissed his wife.

“You look beautiful.”

“Why, thank you, sir.”

“Of course. Anytime.”

They both laughed and then Phillip sat down at the table. Alicia put a plate of pancakes in front of him and next to it, a small dish of sausage links. When she’d poured their orange juice, she took her seat as well and Phillip said grace.

When he finished, he forked a couple of flapjacks onto his plate. “So, what have you got planned for today?”

“I’m really going to try to buckle down and get back to writing.”

“Good. But you do know that I wish you had given the job at the church a few more weeks.”

“I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t. I tried to hang in there but what Carmen needs is someone who doesn’t aspire to do anything more than a few clerical duties and that wasn’t working for me. I realize that I’ve only been out of school for a year, but I also didn’t spend four years in college just so I could end up in that kind of a position. Plus, I really didn’t care all that much for Carmen, anyway, and I don’t think she liked me, either.”

“Well, the thing is, Carmen really did come highly recommended and that’s why everyone was so in favor of hiring her.”

“That’s all well and good, but I wasn’t planning on being someone’s little assistant or secretary.”

Phillip wasn’t sure what to say, because the last thing he wanted to do was start a fight with Alicia, especially since they hadn’t argued once in four weeks.

“Plus, it wasn’t like I could go to a job and take care of you at the same time,” she said teasingly.

“Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious.”

“I was only down for a few days, so that wasn’t nearly reason enough for you to quit working.”

Alicia smiled, but Phillip thought about how Alicia had taken off the whole first week after he’d been shot and then after that she’d called Carmen to tell her that she was resigning. Of course, Curtis hadn’t been happy about Alicia’s decision in the least and he hadn’t hesitated telling her she was making a huge mistake. He’d told her that she needed the experience and that he wanted her doing something that would help the church.
Nonetheless, though, Curtis’s feelings hadn’t seemed to affect Alicia one way or the other.

“I know you were disappointed and so was my dad, but writing is what I really want to do.”

“And you know I support that one hundred percent but I just hope you take it a lot more seriously and that you go ahead and finish a full manuscript.”

“I will, and actually, I’m going to try to be finished with the first draft in a couple of months.”

Phillip raised his eyebrows in awe. “Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, up until now, I’ve been dragging my feet and I can’t deny that all the other times I told you I was writing, I really wasn’t. I always planned to, but I always seemed to get distracted and then I never got anything done. But now I’m really going to do this. I was also thinking that at some point, it would be good for me to purchase a notebook computer. My desktop version is fine but if I had a notebook, I could take it outside or take it anywhere that inspires me to write.”

“If you finally get going and stick with it, I’ll see what I can do about that.”

Alicia beamed. “You really mean that?”

“I do. Especially, if you’re claiming you’re going to have a full draft within the next two months. That is what you said, right?”

“Something like that.”

“Well, I’m impressed. And I think it goes without saying that I can’t wait to read it.”

“I’m a little self-conscious about my work, but I’ll let you read some of it as soon as I feel it’s ready.”

When they finished eating, Phillip got up and slipped on his jacket. “I won’t be home until after nine or so because I’m staying for the men’s ministry fellowship.”

“Oh, that’s right. You told me that.”

Phillip picked up his briefcase and then went over to the sink and kissed her good-bye. “I love you, baby, and I’ll see you tonight.”

“I love you, too.”

Alicia had tried her best to forget about Levi but now here she was lying in his bed—again. She’d tried and had succeeded for all of four weeks but then, a couple of days ago, she’d picked up the phone and called him. She’d told him how she missed him and that she really needed to see him. Of course, she hadn’t been sure how Levi was going to respond, but he’d told her how much he missed her, too, and that he wanted her to come right over. He wanted her to come right away—but only if she’d made the decision to leave Phillip and file for a divorce. He’d gone on to say that while he respected her attempt at trying to make her marriage work, it was finally time she realized the inevitable: that she and he and not she and her husband were meant to be together.

Alicia had gotten in her car and driven to the usual spot, and Levi had picked her up the same as always. She remembered how for the first time since their connecting with each other, they hadn’t cared about it being broad daylight and had kissed fiercely. Alicia remembered how she hadn’t been able to wait for them to drive out to his house, go inside, and make love to each other.

But the only thing was, even as good as Levi had made her feel, she hadn’t come there for the sex. No, she’d come because she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about all the money she knew he had and how he was the only person who could help her out of the terrible mess she’d gotten herself into. She’d only
missed paying bills three months in a row, but already credit card companies were blowing up her cell phone and sending multiple notices to her P.O. box. She hadn’t paid anything this month because she no longer had a job, but she could kick herself for not paying any of them the two months before because if she had, at least she’d only be thirty days behind, and it would be a lot easier for her to catch up. But worse than that, the total balance for all of her debts combined was so astronomical that she still had a hard time believing it was correct. It was difficult for her to fathom it, because for the most part, Alicia barely remembered all that she’d purchased on the credit cards or used the credit lines for in the first place.

But currently, that was beside the point because what she had to focus on now was making sure that Phillip never found out how deeply in debt they were. She had to make sure he never found out about her forging his name every chance she’d gotten. She had to do whatever it was she had to do, regardless of how morally right or wrong it was.

It was true that she hated using Levi, but she didn’t see where she had any other choice because she still couldn’t bring herself to ask her parents or Melanie for help. She wished she could, but no matter how she’d tried to weigh things, she knew they would never understand and that they would forever remind her how they’d told her this was eventually going to happen if she didn’t stop spending so much money.

Levi had dozed off for a few minutes but now his eyes were open. He blinked a few times, looked at her, and sensed something was wrong. “Sweetheart, what’s the matter?”

“Nothing.”

“Come on now. You’re not looking all down and out for no reason. Right?”

Alicia wasn’t sure if this was the proper time to tell him or
not, especially since she’d just started seeing him again two days ago, but she went for it.

“I’ve really gotten myself into a major bind with my bills and now that I’m not working, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I have no clue how to see my way out of this awful situation.”

“How much exactly do you owe?”

“You mean every month?”

“No, I mean total.”

Alicia didn’t know how he was going to react but went ahead and answered.

“Thirty-five thousand dollars.”

Levi’s eyes widened and Alicia looked away.

“Sweetheart, that’s a lot of money.”

Alicia was too embarrassed to comment.

“Are these bills in just your name, or are they joint accounts with your husband?”

“Both.”

“Does he know about any of this?”

“No.”

Levi fluffed two pillows and sat up straighter in the bed. “Okay, look, this is the deal. I’ll pay off everything that you owe, but only if you tell your husband tonight that you want a divorce from him and you hire an attorney first thing on Monday to handle it.”

Alicia’s stomach churned because while she knew she wasn’t going to do anything of the kind, she had no choice but to agree with whatever Levi wanted because she really needed that money.

“Fine. I’ll tell him as soon as I get home, and I’ll also call a lawyer.”

“I hope you really mean that because I’m very serious about you filing for a divorce. As a matter of fact, I’ve never been more
serious about anything. So, please don’t play games with me. Don’t tell me you’re going to do this if you’re not.”

“I wouldn’t do that.”

“Good, because remember I told you right from the start that I don’t take kindly to people who lie to me.”

“I’m really going to tell him when I get home. I promise.”

“And?”

“And I’m calling an attorney on Monday.”

Levi smiled. “That’s my girl. And, hey, I know this isn’t going to be easy for you, but just know that you really are doing the right thing.”

Alicia hated this. She hated lying to him and lying to Phillip, and she hated admitting the worst thing of all: that sadly, she was her father’s daughter. She hated the fact that after only being married for nine months, she was already lying and sleeping around, the same as her father had done for so many years.

Levi drew her into his arms. “I also have one other condition.”

“What?”

“I need you to tell me that you love me.”

Alicia felt like dying but then reluctantly spoke as convincingly as she could, “I love you.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes. I’m positive.”

“Then, from this day forward, I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy. I’ll do anything for you.”

Alicia wished she could break and run from this place, but she knew she couldn’t think about doing anything of the sort until Levi gave her some money. Plus, she needed to know just how much he was planning on giving her today.

“Are you really going to pay off the entire thirty-five thousand?”

“Eventually. But for now, I’m going to give you five, so you can catch everything up and also so you can pay the retainer to whatever attorney you decide to go with. Although, actually, now that I’m thinking about it, it might just be easier if I pay my own attorney to take care of this. I’m not sure if he does divorces but even if he doesn’t, he can easily assign it to another attorney at his firm.”

Alicia didn’t like what he was saying because if Levi paid his own attorney, she’d have no choice but to really file for a divorce. There would be no way to delay it as she was planning.

“I disagree because I just think it would be best if I find my own representation.”

“But that’s not necessary, because not only will my guy take care of everything, he’ll do it as quickly as possible. Not to mention, I’ve dealt with him for years and I trust him completely. The other thing is that he’ll probably start the process without any up-front payment because I already pay him a monthly retainer for other services. As a matter of fact, knowing him, he probably won’t charge anything for this at all, but let me just check to make sure.”

When Alicia saw Levi reaching for the phone on his nightstand, her heart sunk.
Oh no
,
what is he doing?

“Hi, Shelley, this is Levi Cunningham. Is he in?”

Alicia prayed and prayed that he wasn’t.

“No problem. Just tell him that I called and that I have a personal matter that I need to discuss with him.”