The Perfect Mistress (29 page)

His passionate kisses were interrupted by his ringing cell
phone. Lauren snuggled his neck as he reached over to answer it. Lauren continued to kiss his chest as he said, “Hello?”

He sat up. “Oh, hey, Ingrid.”

“Ingrid?” Lauren said, frowning as she stopped midkiss. Lauren sat up in the bed next to him.

“I'm so sorry about canceling on you. I honestly meant to call you back . . . No, I completely get how you think that's foul, and truthfully, it is. I should've talked to you. But it's just been crazy. Between work and . . .”

Lauren folded her arms. He was going to disrespect her and talk to this woman in front of her?

“You are completely right,” Matthew continued. “I should've followed up and returned your call.”

Lauren got up to leave, but he grabbed her hand to stop her as he continued talking. “I didn't call because I got back together with my girlfriend.” He kept his eyes on Lauren as he spoke.

Lauren could hear Ingrid's voice through the phone. She definitely didn't sound happy.

“Yes . . . Thanks for being understanding . . . No, I think this is going to last awhile . . .” He smiled at Lauren. “You take care of yourself.”

He pressed
END
on the phone and tossed it back on the nightstand. “Sorry about that. Had some unfinished business. No, wait.” He retrieved the phone, then tapped the screen, before turning it to face Lauren. Matthew had pulled up Ingrid's name in his contacts list.

He scrolled down to the button that said
DELETE THIS CONTACT
. He then pressed the button, causing her info to disappear. “Now it's finished,” he said as he tossed the phone on
the bed and pulled Lauren toward him. “It's just you and me.”

She contemplated resisting, but that sign of fidelity had touched her and she fell into his embrace. Lauren thought about her own cell phone. She needed to do a lot of deleting herself.

Lauren didn't realize that she had dozed off. She woke up to see Matthew watching the local news. The anchor was delivering some story about a scandal at another area college.

“Doggone shame. Such a talented guy brought down by his libido,” Matthew said.

“Who is that and what happened?” Lauren asked as she yawned. She wasn't really interested but wanted to discuss things that interested Matthew.

“The president of North Carolina AI is in the middle of a major scandal. Apparently, two of his employees have accused him of sexual harassment. I don't know why people think they're invincible,” Matthew said, shaking his head. “What's done in the dark always comes to light.”

That observation made Lauren cringe. God knows she'd done dirt she hoped would forever stay buried. But her days of wallowing in the dark were over, so hopefully, she was good.

After the report, Matthew turned the TV off, then turned his total attention on Lauren.

“What?” she asked.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she replied. If felt good to say those words with no trepidation.

“Marry me,” he said.

“What?”

“I know I should give you some elaborate proposal, but I can't wait. I need you in my life. Permanently.”

Lauren could feel goose bumps springing up all over. “Matthew, I don't know what to say.”

“Say yes. Wouldn't you like to be the first lady of a prestigious university?”

“First lady? Really?” She laughed.

“I'm for real. Colleges are serious about the president's wife.”

She studied him to see if he was playing. She was shocked to see he wasn't. “Okay, I think the whole first lady thing is cute and all, but marriage? We just got back together.”

“I don't need to spend years dating someone I've already dated for years.” He scooted closer to Lauren and took her hands. “It's looking good for me with this job, and I'd love to start this new chapter of my life with you. I don't have a ring, but first thing in the morning, we can go see Luigi Zheriwoski.”

Lauren was surprised Matthew even knew who the famous jeweler was. “Yeah, right. He doesn't take new clients. Luigi books up two to three years in advance.” It was her biggest dream to work with him, but she wasn't yet on his level.

Matthew handed her a card. “For some people he does.”

Being a designer herself, Lauren had occasionally dreamed of the perfect ring, but she always thought it was just that—a dream.

The thought that she could have a ring designed by Luigi Zheriwoski sent her insides into a tailspin. “Lauren, we have a history, so this didn't just come out of nowhere. I prayed for
the right woman, and God answered my prayers by sending you back into my life. I want—no, correction—I
need
you to be my wife. Lauren Robinson, will you please marry me?”

“I-I . . .”

“One day you'll fall in love so hard, marry a man, and he'll cheat on you and break your heart. Then maybe you'll understand my pain.”

Lauren pushed back the familiar refrain. This man wasn't her father.

“Well?”

She wrestled with the huge tidal wave of her past. That didn't matter anymore, did it? This was Matthew, not anybody else. Finally she found the strength to say, “Yes! Yes, I'll marry you,” as she threw her arms around his neck.

A
ll Lauren's excitement dissipated at the sight of her friend standing at her front door, puffy-eyed and upset.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Vivian stepped to the side and let Lauren in. “No, I don't think I'll ever be okay again,” she said somberly.

Lauren had made a beeline to Vivian's to share the news of her engagement. She hadn't expected to walk into this. Vivian sat down on the sofa. Balled-up tissues were strewn all over the sofa and floor. Lauren had texted after she'd done a jewelry drop-off and asked if she could swing by. Vivian had just replied,
okay
, but she'd never said anything about crying for hours.

“Okay, what's going on?” Lauren said, taking a seat across from her.

“My son is gone,” Vivian cried. “He's really gone.”

“Oh, wow. So they moved?”

She nodded. “My ex has taken my son to Seattle. I didn't even get to say good-bye. My evil ex talking about ‘that would've just made it harder.' ” She let out a loud sob. Lauren moved closer to pat her back. “My baby isn't going to know who I am in a year.”

“Don't say that,” Lauren said. “He'll always know his mother.”

“My ex already tries to turn him against me. The distance won't help.”

Lauren wasn't good at comforting, but she felt like she should do something to make Vivian feel better. “Well, you'll be able to go back and forth to Seattle and see him,” she said, trying to find some light.

“Not if my ex has his way. You don't understand. He's powerful. He has money. I have nothing. I've tried to understand how I ended up here, but I just can't. I just can't.” She was rambling through her tears.

“What happened? You know, to get you to this point?”

“The crazy part is, he cheated on me, but I'm the one who ended up with the short end of the stick.”

“I don't understand that. How did he get custody of your son?” Lauren asked.

“I told you, he has money. Money trumps everything else! They tried to paint me as unfit. All I ever did was love that man and love my son, and he cheated, but I'm unfit?”

“Okay, don't get worked up,” Lauren said, patting her leg.

Vivian dabbed her eyes. “I need a drink.”

“I'll get something,” Lauren said, grateful for a reason to escape. This was truly an awful problem without any hope of a solution. “What do you have in there?” she asked as she headed toward her kitchen.

“There is some Hennessy in the cabinet.”

Cognac? Yep, Vivian was in a pretty bad place.

Lauren found a glass and poured Vivian a drink. She passed on fixing a glass for herself since she was planning to cut her visit short.

“Look, I've been sitting here crying all day. What's up?”
Vivian said after Lauren handed her the glass. “You said you wanted to tell me something.”

Lauren tried to restrain the smile creeping up on her face. She didn't want to appear too ecstatic. “I'm getting married.”

“What?” Vivian sat up.

“Yep, ever since I did like you said and let my guard down with Matthew, we've picked up where we left off, but with an intensity that's out of this world. I don't know if he planned it or not, but out of the blue he asked me to be his wife.”

Vivian stared at her, her face emotionless. Lauren guessed her own sadness was keeping her from being happy.

“Wow,” she finally said. “You just get it all, don't you?”

“What?” Lauren said, losing her smile. “I don't have it all. I'm just lucky.”

“That's my point. You stay lucky.” She took a swig of her drink. “You get the happily ever after.” She shook her head like she didn't want to discuss it anymore. “Well, congrats to you.”

The flat way she said this left Lauren feeling deflated. “Well, thanks. I think.”

Vivian sighed. “I'm not trying to steal your joy. My son leaving is just really painful for me and I don't know what to do.”

“Well, I'm sorry about everything with your son, but I'm sure it'll all work out.” Lauren really was trying to be optimistic. But she could tell from the look on her friend's face, Vivian believed she'd never see her son again.

T
oday was going to be a bad day. Joyce felt it in her spirit. She felt it in the fact that she woke up in a fog.

She'd dreamed about Vernon last night. She'd dreamed of that day they first met, outside the diner. Only, in her dream she went her way and he went his. He told her he was engaged and she left him alone.

If only her dream had been real.

It should be against the law for a woman to love a man like Joyce loved Vernon Robinson. She loved him more than she loved herself. More than she loved her children.

There was something truly wrong with that.

She knew that now. And she knew it was time to forgive herself for all the mistakes she'd made.

Joyce threw back the covers and tossed her legs over the edge of the bed. She tried to stand, but felt dizzy and immediately sat back down. She blinked, tried to focus, and still felt she was leaning sideways. Maybe she needed to just sit for a minute. Compose herself.

Only, ten minutes later, she still didn't feel any better.

“Mrs. Joyce, are you okay?”

She heard the voice, and it sounded near, but she couldn't
make out where it was coming from. In fact, she couldn't make out much of anything.

She opened her mouth to tell whoever was in front of her that something was seriously wrong. But no words would form. It was as if her tongue had become too heavy.

The walls closed in, and everything around her went black. Joyce felt herself floating away. And then he touched her hand.