An Island Affair Page 8

  “Good night.” I smiled.

  He gently kissed my lips and then headed down the hallway to Edward’s room. I watched him walk away, and before he went inside, he turned and looked back at me. When he gave me a wink, I leaned my head against the doorpost.

  * * *

  As the sunlight crept across my nose, I strained to open my eyes. It seemed that morning had sneaked up on me. For a moment I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Then I looked at my phone to see what time it was. Nine o’clock. It appeared that I had just enjoyed the first night of uninterrupted sleep in a long time. I attributed it to Jackson.

  Was he awake? If so, maybe the two of us could sneak away to one of the local eateries for breakfast. But then I remembered I had a breakfast meeting scheduled with my sister. Still, I wanted to peek in on Jackson.

  I hopped out of bed, slipped into my robe and rushed down the hall to the bathroom. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, put a little eyeliner on my eyes and just a dab of lip gloss onto my lips, then crept down the hall toward Edward’s room. I peeked my head inside the door, which was ajar. The bed had been freshly made with new linens.

  “Looking for someone?” Alyson asked.

  “Just seeing if our guest needed anything,” I explained.

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know...towels for bathing, or toiletries.”

  “Or companionship, maybe?”

  I rolled my eyes at my sister.

  “He’s already gone. Got up at the crack of dawn. Had an emergency,” she said.

  “Something with the Grove?” I asked.

  “Something about his mother,” said Alyson. “I’m surprised he didn’t mention it. Seems the two of you have gotten pretty cozy. It’s not a good idea to fraternize with our contractor, Jasmine.”

  “Thanks for the advice, Alyson.” I headed back toward my room. Alyson followed.

  “We all have a vested interest in the Grove, and I’m not going to allow you to mess this up for me.”

  “For you?”

  “Yes, for me. You mess up everything for me.”

  “Really, Alyson? How so?” I turned to face her.

  “I would tell you but I really don’t have enough time. I have a plane to catch soon. Which reminds me, I have to cancel our breakfast.”

  “Tell me why you hate me so much. I’d really like to know.”

  “Well, for starters, you were born into this family.”

  “Excuse me.”

  “I was my daddy’s favorite girl before you came along and you took that away.” She clenched her teeth. “And you got Jimmy Franklin sent away.”

  Her bitterness went much deeper than I imagined. Jimmy Franklin was a boy who lived in Bannerman Town, in the southern part of Eleuthera. He was popular and handsome and years ago Alyson was completely in love with him.

  “Whatever you told Daddy about him got him sent away, and he had to go live with his grandparents in the US. And I will never forgive you for that. He was the love of my life. We were going to be married after high school.”

  “Jimmy Franklin deserved to get sent away.”

  “You are not anyone’s judge, Jasmine Talbot,” said Alyson. “I know you think you can manipulate men to get what you want in life. But you will not jeopardize the Grove because you can’t control yourself.”

  “And you are not my mother!”

  I rushed into my room, slammed the door. I leaned against the door before crumbling to the floor. I hated confrontations, especially with my sister. Too often I allowed her to get away with more than she deserved. I rested my face in my hands. I wanted to go back and tell her exactly what I thought of her—and Jimmy Franklin, too. Wanted to tell her how he had followed me home from middle school that day and forced my panties to the ground and tried to rape me. However, I was much stronger than he ever imagined. A senior in high school, he was much bigger and much older, but he’d underestimated the fact that I had older brothers who’d taught me how to defend myself. After a strong knee to the groin, I pulled myself up from the ground and ran like the wind. I told my daddy everything. The next day, Jimmy Franklin was on a one-way flight to Philadelphia.

  Alyson had certainly stirred up memories. Memories that I’d fought very hard to suppress for years were now staring me in the face. All this time I thought I was protecting her. I didn’t want her to know the truth. I wanted her to believe that Jimmy loved her, when in fact that couldn’t have been further from the truth. He loved me—whatever that meant in his sick, twisted mind. He wanted me so badly that he was willing to violate me. Here I was looking out for her, making sure she never found out what a lowlife he really was, and all the while, she returned the sentiment with bitterness and scorn.

  Tears burned the side of my face as I relived that day. I saw Jimmy Franklin’s face in my mind, smelled his dreadful scent again.

  Her flight wouldn’t be leaving soon enough.

  Chapter 11

  Jackson

  “Are you completely out of your mind, Jackson?” My brother Drew was literally yelling into the phone.

  “I didn’t even know she was sick.”

  “You would’ve known had you picked up your phone when Mom called. I completely understand that you’re upset and hurt or whatever, but you can’t just ignore her like that. What is wrong with you, Jax?”

  “You don’t understand. You weren’t the one lied to.”

  “How long are you going to make them pay for this?” he asked.

  “I’m not making anyone pay. I’m healing.”

  “Are you coming or what?” asked Drew.

  “What time is the surgery?”

  “Eight.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  “Are you sure?” Drew asked.

  “I said I’d be there.”

  I hung up the phone and felt numb. My mother was about to undergo heart surgery and I didn’t even know that her heart was damaged. I knew that she’d battled with hypertension over the years, but so had her mother and her mother’s mother. It was a generational disease. No one that I knew had heart surgery because of it. But apparently she’d stopped taking her medication on a regular basis and now her arteries were clogged. She’d always been a very responsible person, careful about her diet and her meds. So for her to become so careless about it now was alarming.

  I immediately called Tracy. She’d been with me five years—the best assistant I’d ever had. She fit right in with the team and was more like family than an employee. Tracy was a bit older, in her thirties, divorced, with a teenage son, Devante, whom I had mentored. Devante was a good kid, but just had gotten mixed in with the wrong crowd. I had brought him back on track, helped his focus. Now he was looking at colleges.

  Tracy kept me on track with my appointments, made my travel arrangements and wasn’t afraid to offer her unwarranted opinion about things.

  “I’m not trying to get in your business, Jackson, but when was the last time you talked to your mama?”

  “I don’t know. A long time.”

  “You gotta do better,” said Tracy. “You told me that you used to talk to your mama every single day, and now this. I would be devastated if Devante stopped calling me. He’s my world.”

  Her words pierced my heart. He’s my world. I had been my mother’s world for so long. The baby of the family, I had been the one she bonded with the most.

  “I know, Tracy. But I don’t really need a lecture right now. What I need is a flight back to Key West, as soon as you can get me one.”

  “Okay, okay. I’m looking now. I’ll try to get you a flight out of there today, but it ain’t looking good. Might have to put you on a red-eye or something.”

  * * *

  The flight she found was an afternoon one with a connection in Miami,
but it didn’t arrive in the Keys until morning. I lifted my bag from the carousel and placed it onto my shoulder before I stepped into the warm Florida sun, breathed in the air of the Keys. I hailed a cab at the curb and tossed my bag into the trunk. As the driver sped away from Key West International Airport, my body sank into the backseat of the car. I rested my head against the back of the seat and closed my eyes...and Jasmine came to mind. Jasmine and her phenomenal body. She was nothing like I thought she’d be. Her energy was infectious. She was insightful.

  Why does the harshest judgment come from people who love you the most?

  Jasmine’s words had stuck with me long after we’d returned from our run that night at her family’s home. Made me look inward; think of my own harsh judgment I’d given someone I loved. I felt guilty. A multitude of emotions rushed through me. My thoughts went back to the day in the hospital, when my ulcers were bleeding and my mother sat next to my bed and wiped my forehead with a cold, wet cloth. The pain was so intense, I thought I would die, but Mom comforted me as best she could.

  “You’re going to be just fine, baby,” she’d said.

  “The doctor said I need a blood transfusion, and I don’t want to take my chances with donated blood,” I told her. “I know that you’re type A, and I’m type B. Obviously Pops is type B also. Maybe he can give me some blood.”

  “I don’t know that he can do that.”

  “Why not?”

  She gave me a weak smile and touched my hand with hers. Hers was cold. “Why don’t you try and get some rest, honey. We’ll talk more later.” She stood and was about to leave the room.

  “Why can’t Pops give me blood? We have the same blood type, right?”

  She turned and looked at me. “John’s blood type is O, sweetheart.”

  “That’s not possible, Ma. You’re mistaken,” I told her emphatically.

  “John Conner is not your father, honey.”

  I was confused. John Conner had always been my father. For as long as I could remember he was the only father I knew. He’d raised me. He walked me to school and was there waiting every day to pick me up. He instilled values—taught me how to be a man, gave me the sex talk and explained things that I didn’t understand. He taught me the value of a hard day’s work and a good education. He taught me how to throw a baseball and how to catch it in my mitt. He was the reason I attended Harvard. He was my hero; my mentor. I loved him. I called him Daddy. What was she talking about?

  “I don’t understand.”

  “It’s a long story, Jax. Let’s talk about it another time.”

  “I have all the time in the world now. I’m just lying here doing nothing. Let’s talk about it now.” I adjusted my bed, sat straight up, turned the television off.

  My mother sighed heavily; her eyes were saddened. She gave me another weak smile.

  “I did a horrible thing, Jax.” She was nearly in tears. “John and I were very young. Had a family too soon. And your brothers...they were small boys. We experienced some marital problems, and...”

  I hung on her every word, not wanting to miss a thing.

  “...I stepped out on him.”

  “You had an affair?” I asked.

  “I became pregnant with you while I was with another man.”

  I stared at my mother, too stunned to move. I couldn’t speak for what seemed like an eternity.

  “I confessed everything to John and he forgave me. Said that he loved me in spite of everything. We decided that he would raise you as his own. No one would be hurt. No one had to know. Not you. Not your brothers.”

  “That’s why I don’t look like him. That’s why all three of my brothers look like him and I don’t.”

  John Conner walked into the room, caught the end of my conversation with my mother. When he looked into my eyes, he knew that I knew. His eyes were immediately saddened, but I was sure mine pierced him. My blood began to boil, and I was suddenly filled with anger.

  “Son...” John Conner said. I’m sure he wanted to help my mother smooth things over.

  “Don’t call me that. I’m not your son!” I spat.

  “Jackson!” my mother said. “Don’t speak to your father that way.”

  I needed to be away from them. Both of them. I wanted them to leave.

  “I need to be alone,” I told them. “Please leave.”

  Tears filled my mother’s eyes, and my heart ached for her. I had always been her confidant, her best friend—we talked every single day, sometimes several times. We shared intimate secrets. I told her things that I’d never shared with anyone. And I made it my business to protect her. When she hurt, I hurt. But at that moment, I was drowning in my own pain. I couldn’t deal with hers.

  “I’m so sorry, Jackson. So many times I wanted to tell you. I just didn’t know where to begin.”

  “You should have begun with the truth,” I said and then turned my back to them.

  “I’ve been your father since the day you were born, Jackson,” John Conner said. “I loved you then, and I love you now. Nothing has changed.”

  “What do you mean nothing has changed? This changes everything!” I said.

  “It doesn’t have to change anything,” my mother said.

  “Who is he?” I looked at my mother.

  “Who is who?”

  “My father. My biological father. What’s his name?”

  She disregarded my question. “He never knew I was pregnant, or that I had given birth to his child.”

  “So he was deceived, too. You deprived him of a son, just like you deprived me of knowing my father.” I had so much bitterness in my heart. “Who is he?”

  “Those are old wounds, Jackson. Better left unopened,” she explained. “He was married...is married, with a family. A prominent man. I wouldn’t want you going looking for him.”

  I didn’t have a response. Speechless, I counted the moments until I heard their footsteps leave the room. I fought back tears, convinced myself that men didn’t cry. We were made to be strong, to keep it together. But I couldn’t keep it together for a second longer. Tears crept down my cheeks, burned like fire against my skin. The pain was no longer in my abdomen, but my heart.

  Since then I have relived that day so many times in my head. It was the day I felt as if my life ended and I didn’t know how to revive it. It was the day I’d decided to punish my mother, to make her pay for destroying my life. I cut off all communication with her and John Conner. I wanted them to feel the same heartache that I felt. And so far, I’d been successful. No matter how much my mother professed her sorrow, I was relentless. For years, I’d justified my actions with blame. I’d even dropped out of Harvard because it was John Conner’s alma mater. I hid behind what I believed. I believed that they should have been forthcoming with me, and because they hadn’t, that gave me the right to harbor anger. Just as Jasmine’s siblings had judged her, I’d passed judgment on my mother.

  The harshest judgment did come from those who loved you the most. Though I quickly understood this, I wasn’t quite prepared to do anything about it. Instead, it was easier to rid my thoughts of it. I thought about Jasmine Talbot instead. I wasn’t ready to face my truths about my mother and John Conner, but I was definitely ready to admit to myself that I had a strong attraction to my friend’s younger sister. And not the stuffy older one either. But the one who had driven me crazy since the first day I met her.

  * * *

  After the short drive from the airport, the cab pulled up in front of the Lower Keys Medical Center. As I pulled my bag from the trunk of the car, I spotted my brother Eli puffing on a cigarette.

  “Don’t you know that smoking is bad for your health? Causes cancer.”

  “Yeah, that’s what they tell me.” He grinned and wrapped his arm tightly around my neck and kissed my cheek. “Missed
you, little brother.”

  Of all my brothers, Eli was the most easygoing. He stood at five eleven and a half, with dark skin like John Conner’s and a muscular build. He was athletic and very careful about his diet, but smoked cigarettes during stressful situations.

  “I missed you, too,” I told him. “When did you get in?”

  “This morning. Caught a red-eye out of JFK.”

  “Mya and the baby come, too?” I asked.

  “Nah, she’s taking some theater class at Columbia right now. Couldn’t get away.”

  “And little Eli? He’s going to be graduating college before I see him again.”

  “You’ll have to make a trip upstate soon. We have an extra room. You can stay as long as you like.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  I avoided asking about my mother. I wanted to block her condition and pending surgery from my mind for as long as I could.

  “Little Eli is growing like a weed, man.” He flicked the butt of his cigarette onto the pavement. “Eighteen months and already formulating phrases. Man, you should hear him trying to talk. Mya’s really good with him, too.”

  The two of us walked inside the hospital.

  “I’m happy for you. You found the woman of your dreams,” I told Eli.

  “I did, indeed.” He smiled. “What about you, Jax? When will you find the woman of your dreams?”

  “I don’t know that I ever will. Life’s too busy. The days are endless.”

  “Life’s too short not to find a woman to share life with,” said Eli. “Not one single prospect?”

  “Not really looking.”

  “Well, maybe you should look.”

  For some strange reason, Jasmine’s face popped into my head. Her gorgeous smile became visible to me at that moment, but I brushed it from my mind. She wasn’t my type—we were as different as different could be.

  The huge, silver elevator doors opened and we stepped on. A doctor was being paged over the loudspeaker.

  “Drew didn’t tell me much on the phone. Just said she was having this heart procedure and I needed to get down here as soon as possible,” I explained. “How’s she doing?”