Through the Fire (22 page)

you could try to barter me off to that gambling-

addicted, womanizing Felton Hobbs? Even if

Brandon and I hadn’t stayed together, there

was never any way I was going to end up with

Felton. That was something you cooked up in

your own head.”

“Dominique please, how much could you

have loved him? You came running back here

the first chance you got,” Marcus shouted.

“Yeah, I can see the love.”

Dominique recoiled as if her father had

slapped her.

“That’s enough, sir,” Brandon said in a

deadly voice. “The reason why your daughter

‘came running back here,’
as you so delicately

put it was not because she didn’t love me. She

came home to be with you while you healed

from your heart attack. She was so busy

worrying about you that she sacrificed her own

healing process. If I were you, I’d shut up

before I made a complete ass of myself. You

just don’t know what your scheming has done.”

“What do you mean heal? Dominique are

you sick?” Olivia asked rushing to Dominique’s

side. “You said you weren’t sick!”

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Dominique was in her own little world

holding on to Brandon for dear life. The only

thing she could think of was her father’s

betrayal of her love. She’d lost her little girl and

almost lost her husband all because of some

misplaced loyalty.

“She’s not sick, ma’am,” Brandon was

explaining calmly, but there was an edge to his

voice that could have cut glass. “Dominique was

pregnant when your husband had his attack.

She was almost six months along when she

delivered. The baby only lived a little while.”

Dominique heard shocked gasps echo

throughout the room.

“We didn’t say anything because, at the

time” Brandon continued. Neither of us was

sure how our families would feel about an

interracial marriage. We’d planned on making

the

announcement

the

weekend

that

Dominique went into preterm labor. After that,

Dominique asked that we still not say anything

and I agreed. She wanted to get away from the

city and the memories. I understood that. She

didn’t leave because she stopped loving me.”

“Oh, God, my poor baby!” Olivia cried.

“Why didn’t you say something, Dominique?”

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227

Dominique buried her face further into

Brandon’s chest and sobbed. The dam broke,

the flood gates opened, and Dominique was

powerless against it.

“I’m not ready yet. I can’t do this

Brandon. Get me out of here.” she whispered.

“Okay, baby. Is your car here? I came

with Alisha and Tristan, remember,” Brandon

murmured.

“I’ll give y’all a ride,” Xavier spoke up.

“Tristan, Alisha looks like she’s about to pass

out. You need to get her home. I’ll take

Brandon and Dominique home.

“Thanks, Xavier,” Tristan said. “I’ll call

you later, Brandon.”

“Come on, baby, let’s get you home,”

Brandon said, lifting Dominique as if she

weighed nothing. “Ready when you are Xavier,

and thank you for offering.

“No thanks necessary, brother-in-law,

just make sure you take care of my sister,”

Xavier tossed out.

“Always,” Brandon said. He then turned

with Dominique in his arms towards her

mother. “Mrs. Shaw, I’m sure she’ll be in a

better condition to speak with you tomorrow.

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She’s hurt now, but she’ll be okay. I’ll make

sure of it.”

“Thank you, Brandon. Call me and let me

know how she’s doing once you get her settled,

please,” Olivia wept.

“Of course I will. Don’t worry yourself

sick. It’ll be alright,” Brandon said softly. “You

ready, Xavier?”

“Yep, let’s roll. Dad, I’ll be back. We need

to talk,” Xavier tossed over his shoulder on his

way out the door.

* * *

Brandon sat in Xavier’s SUV with

Dominique cradled on his lap like an

inconsolable child. He’d wrapped the seatbelt

around the both of them. She was shaking like a

leaf. Brandon figured that the reality of what

had happened was just sinking in with

Dominique. In a way, her jackass of a father

had done them a favor. He’d forced them to

face the mistakes they’d made and caused

Dominique to deal with her repressed

emotions. Now she could begin to really heal.

He hoped. She was more broken up than he’d

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229

originally thought. Maybe Tristan was

right…maybe she did need to seek outside help.

Damn, he wished this trial was over. He

wanted to take her away for a little while.

Maybe he’d take her to the Bahamas or Hawaii?

He’d run the idea by her in the morning.

Brandon held her tight. Dominique’s

place was almost an hour away from her

parents’ home. When Brandon glanced down at

her, Dominique’s sobs had quieted. She was

now making loud hiccup noises. Brandon

combed his fingers through her hair, massaging

her scalp in the process.

“Umm, that feels good,” Dominique

hiccupped.

“Relax, we’re almost home,” Brandon

murmured.

“I’m okay. I don’t know what happened.

It all just came crashing down on me at once. It

was like I finally realized what happened and…I

don’t know,” she sniffed.

“It was long overdue, baby. Long

overdue,” he whispered.

“Brandon, regardless of what my father

said back there, I loved you then, and I love you

now,” Dominique sniveled.

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“Shush, I know you love me, sweetheart.

How about we forget about what others say and

our past mistakes, and move on to a better

future.”

“I’d like that,” Dominique said.

Brandon was so busy comforting

Dominique that he hadn’t noticed Xavier

turning onto Dominique’s block until he pulled

into the driveway.

“Okay, folks, we’re here,” Xavier said

putting the car in park and cutting the engine.

“Scoot over, baby, let me go open the

door and shut the alarm off. You stay here, I’ll

be back to take you inside,” Brandon said,

releasing the seatbelt from around them.

“I can walk, Brandon. I’m okay now.

Really I am,” Dominique protested.

“You sure?” he asked giving her a

skeptical look.

“Yes,” she said opening the passenger

side door, climbing off Brandon’s lap, and

getting out of the SUV. Brandon followed her

out the door, then stepped back as Dominique

leaned forward to address Xavier through the

opened driver’s side window.

“X, are you coming in?” Dominique

asked. Brandon noticed there was a moment’s

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231

hesitation before Xavier got out of the truck,

and closed the small space that separated him

and Dominique.

“Nah, I need to get back to the folks

house. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, sis,” he

muttered pulling Dominique into his arms and

giving her a big hug. “Love you, sis.”

“Love

you

too,

X,”

Dominique

whimpered.

“You could have told me, you know,”

Xavier whispered.

Dominique didn’t say anything, but she

nodded. Yes, she could have told him. Should

have told him. She would never doubt his love

for her again.

“Go inside and let your husband pamper

you. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” he said placing a

quick kiss on her head and getting back into his

SUV. He started it and gave Brandon a slight

nod before he pulled away.

He wasn’t fast enough though. Brandon,

and no doubt Dominique, saw the tears in his

eyes when he released her. She and her brother

shared a special bond. He knew Xavier was

going back to Dominique’s parents’ home to

confront their father. Someone needed to make

the man accountable for his meddling. Brandon

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had the feeling that his brother-in-law was just

the man to do it. Brandon wrapped his arm

around Dominique’s shoulder. “Come on, baby,

let’s go inside.”

“Okay,” she said taking his hand in hers

and lacing her fingers with his.

Once inside, Brandon took her in his

arms and held her tight. He felt her trembling

and knew that she was crying again.

“Shh, sweetheart, it’s all going to work

out,” Brandon whispered against her hair.

“I don’t think so, Brandon,” she

hiccupped.

Brandon tensed. There was something in

the way she’d said the words that made the

hairs on his arms rise. “Why would you say

that, baby?”

Dominique sighed heavily. “Let’s sit

down, and I will explain.”

Uh, oh, Brandon didn’t like the sound of

that. He took a step back, grabbed her by the

hand, and led her to the couch. Once they were

both seated…he spoke again.

“Dominique, what’s going on?” he asked

pleadingly. Not sure that he wanted to know

the answer. She looked worried. No. She looked

scared, and that made him nervous.

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233

“It’s about why I stayed away for so long,”

she said, her voice wobbly. “There’s something

you need to know.”

Brandon opened his mouth to say

something but she held up her hands to stem

him off.

“No, Brandon let me say this and get it

over with,” she cried her voice full of emotion.

“I wasn’t quite honest with you before about

what the doctor said after I lost the baby. It’s

sort of why I’ve stayed away. The truth is…”

Dominique jumped from the sofa and began to

pace back and forth. “You see I wasn’t satisfied

with what the doctors had told us at the

hospital. So after my sixth-week checkup I had

my private obstetrician do a thorough physical.

I needed to know why I’d lost the baby, and if I

would have a problem conceiving again.”

She remembered the conversation like it

was yesterday.
Dominique was sitting on the

examining table with a hospital gown on and

waiting for her obstetrician and friend Dr.

Sandy Omar to come into the room with her

test results. She remembered feeling scared

and alone, wondering why she hadn’t called

Brandon to be with her. She’d already known

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the answer. She hadn’t wanted see the look of

regret in his eyes if she was given bad news.

Dominique jumped when the door of the

examination room opened, and Dr. Sandy

walked in.

“Hello, Dominique. How are you today?”

she asked with a smile that Dominique noticed

didn’t reach her eyes.

“I’m nervous. What’s wrong Sandy? And

don’t tell me it’s nothing, because your eyes

say different.

Sandy snickered. “Of course, I can’t hide

anything from those hawk-like eyes of yours.

The truth is Dominique you have a lot of small

fibroid cysts that are lining your uterus. I

know you’ve known about this for a while,

because your medical records indicate that

you had a scraping done in your early

twenties…”

“So I can’t have more children,”

Dominique cut in, her eyes wild and scared.

“Let me finish,” Dr. Sandy said, holding

up her hands to ward off any more

interruptions from Dominique. “Now alone

this may not be a problem, but you also have a

tilted uterus which means any pregnancy

would have to be monitored very closely.

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235

You’re already considered high risk with your

age; now with the fibroids and tilted uterus,

you may or may not be able to carry full-

term.”

“So, in other words, I’ll never be a

mother,” Dominique said quietly.

“I didn’t say that. I am not sure. At this

point I would really like to do another