yours. He isn’t your child. Nice to see you both again. Come on, Jaylin, let’s get home before our ice cream melts.”
Linda grabbed Jaylin’s hand, stepped off the sidewalk and walked to their car without looking back. Suddenly, ice cream was no longer appealing to Jefferson and Margo.
THREE MONTHS LATER
Summer had come and gone. Leaves were beginning to turn along with the temperature, which dropped from a three-month stint of ninety-degree days to sixty-five. Healthy lawns prayed for a little rain, but Margo’s lawn begged for strangers to come and stake their claim as the new owner of the house on Andover Street.
Margo walked from room to room, remembering times past. She ran her fingers along the frame of the French doors that separated the dining room from the kitchen. She moved into the room and looked through the floor-to- ceiling, beveled windows that gave a breathtaking view of the saltwater cove and beyond.
She turned and looked at the empty room where her beautiful dining room set with the French Empire chairs circling the table once sat. She remembered the last big Christmas meal she shared with her family and friends. Allen Myles, Sr. said grace in such an eloquent way. After grace, the others sat devouring the succulent turkey and ham she’d cooked, and then came the bad news that Blake Montgomery was dead.
Margo’s mind began to race as thoughts of Jefferson’s infidelity tried to consume her. Who would have thought her archenemy was her next-door neighbor, Linda, Blake’s wife? And now, to learn five years later that Linda had a baby by Jefferson was a bitter pill to swallow.
The memories were too many. She crossed back into the kitchen and then into the family room, stopping at the luggage parked in the doorway. A month-long trip to Europe was what she needed.
Almost as if her arm was ejected from its position, Margo reached for her head. She felt faint, dizzy, and lightheaded. She moved from the room and found the stairs that went to the second floor and plopped down on them.
The moment passed and she was on her feet again. She walked back into the kitchen, hit the answering machine that sat on the counter and listened to Angelica’s voice one last time.
The message over, Margo pressed the delete button. Opening a small portfolio, she pulled out a group of papers and fumbled through them.
“Boarding passes for London, Paris, and Germany; passport; and, ahh, separation papers.” She looked at the document long and hard and then rubbed her slightly protruding stomach with her hand.
“Jefferson,” Margo said out loud to no one, “you were right about divorcing all the negative people and things from your life. It frees your mind and helps you to see things much clearer. Thanks for that tidbit of good information. No more Angelica, no more Malik, no more Jefferson.” She put the papers away.
Prying herself away from her thoughts, she clutched the side of the counter as a wave of nausea hit her again. She rushed to the bathroom, leaned over the toilet and regurgitated. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand before turning on the cold water and splashing it onto her face. Turning the water off, she sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. “I had no desire to be a mother again at forty-eight years old, but I’ll be a good mother.”
Margo moved quickly to the family room and picked up her luggage so she could put it in the car. She took another glance around the house as far as her eyes could see. The house was empty now-empty of hope, false dreams, and empty promises.
There was no way she was going through another bad storm with a husband she had vowed to spend the rest of her days with because it would probably kill her, even though she was still very much in love with him.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Suzetta Perkins is the author of
BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION GUIDE
· What was Angelica convicted of that sent her to prison? Did prison reform and prepare her for reentry into society?
· Did Angelica make an assertive effort to reconcile her relationship with Margo Myles? Why or why not?
· Someone was missing from Jefferson’s homecoming. Who was it and why were they not there?
· Explain the relationship between Margo and Malik.
· What took Angelica to New York?
· If you live long enough, you will ultimately experience life’s bumps and bruises. Sometimes life has a way of repeating itself because we allow ourselves to fall into traps through our inability to control our destiny. Angelica once again falls prey and becomes a victim of her own stupidity-she never seems to learn, but when she finds herself in trouble, she relies on her knowledge of the past. What past profession did she fall back on when she felt she had no other recourse?
· Do you condemn Angelica or applaud her for her actions?
· How does Angelica’s past catch up with her?
· Who is Donna Barnes Reardon, and how significant was she in the turn of events in Angelica’s life?
· Jefferson and Margo’s relationship was strained. Although she welcomed her husband back into her life after a five-year prison stint, other obstacles kept them from re-consummating their marriage. What were the obstacles?
· What event drew Angelica back to Fayetteville?
· What does Margo observe that pushes her over the edge? What does she do in light of that knowledge?
