Lovers and Takers (37 page)

Pam nodded.
 
“Yes, I guess,” she said, wiping her tears away.

“And if she
forget
any detail,” Roni said, pulling her small digital recorder out of her purse, “then not to worry. I have it all on tape.”

Jake looked at Roni and smiled.
 
“There’s nothing more to do then, but phone the prosecutor.”

“I’m on it right now,” Harvey Weimann said, pulling out his cell phone.

“No,” Jake said bluntly.
 
“Not you.
 
Miss Wingate.
 
Aubrey’s attorney.
 
Call the prosecutor, Roni,” he said.

Roni smiled.
 
“I’m on it right now,” she said, and pulled out a cell phone of her own.

EPILOGUE

The celebration dinner was being held at Aubrey’s place and Pam and Dena got there late.
 
All of Aubrey’s friends were there and were thrilled to celebrate his freedom.
 
Conspicuously absent, however, was Kara.
 
Aubrey had forgiven her many stupid things in their longtime friendship.
 
But planting video cameras in his apartment, and especially at the behest of a man like Druce Lincoln, was a bridge too far.

She was fired from Varnadore Global and Aubrey cut her off cold.
  
He was tired of being Mister Nice Guy.
 
If he would have put his foot down a long time ago and fired Druce’s ass before he became too big an asset to let go, Troy Brackston might still have been alive today.
 
Now Druce was on the run, being last spotted by investigators in Mexico, and Kara, his former best friend, was on a plane back to Knoxville, Tennessee.
 

But Aubrey had his freedom now, thank God, he thought, as he opened his door and let his mother and sister in.
 
There was still animosity between him and his mother, he knew, but at least she was trying to hang in there and at least be there for them now.
 
It was too late, as far as he was concerned, but at least Pam was happy to have her back.

Dena was happy to be back, too.
 
And she was certain Aubrey would one day accept her too.
 
Especially since she officially gave all eight of her shares in Varnadore Global to Aubrey, thus ensuring that his beloved father would maintain majority control and avert any hostile takeovers.
 
Aubrey was stunned when she stood in Jake’s office and handed the paperwork to him.
 
Jake was downright flabbergasted.

And that was why Dena was happy as she entered her son’s apartment, kissed him on the cheek, and went to socialize with his young, boisterous guests.
 
She felt she had Jake and her children exactly where she wanted them.
 
They were grateful to her.
 
They felt they owed her for protecting the family business.
 
And when they started showing their gratitude, she would be there, beautiful, magnanimous, and ready to reenter Jake’s life and bed forevermore.
 
It was just a matter of time.

And as she quickly became the life of the party, and so many of the young men started flirting with Aubrey’s gorgeous mother, she couldn’t wait to get the real party started.
 
Veronica Wingate came from humbled, or, in Dena’s view, uncultured beginnings.
 
Which made Dena’s data gathering operation a piece of cake.
 
It was always easy to accuse the poor of being fortune hunters.
 
And coming from a woman like Dena, who was wealthy all of her life, she knew Jake wouldn’t so easily dismiss it.
 

But as the party continued to go on, and eventually to begin to wind down, she became concerned.

“Where’s Jake?” she asked Aubrey.

“Yeah,” Pam also wanted to know.
 
“Where
is
Daddy?
 
And where’s Roni?
 
Wasn’t she going to be here, too?”

Aubrey was glad to see his sister slowly becoming her old self again, even as their investigators still searched for that two-timing monster Druce Lincoln.
 
And that was the only reason Aubrey believed Dad decided to do what he did.
 
Because he felt, like Aubrey felt, that Pam was back to her old self again.

“Dad and Roni sent their apologies,” Aubrey said to his sister and his mother.
 
“They aren’t able to attend tonight.”

Dena was stunned. “Aren’t able to attend?” she asked.
 
“Since when?”

Aubrey smiled.
 
He was going to love this.
 
“Since they had a honeymoon to attend,” he said.

Pam, like Aubrey when he first heard the news, was ecstatic.
 
“
What
?” she
asked,
thrilled beyond words.
 
“Daddy and Roni got
married
?”

“Yes,” Aubrey said, still thrilled
himself
.
 
“That’s what I’m saying.”

“And they’re on their honeymoon now?” Pam asked, pulling on her brother.

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying.
 
Dad married Roni.”

“Oh, Aubrey, that’s great!
 
That’s perfect!”

But as Pam celebrated word of her father’s wondrously surprising decision to finally settle down again, her mother was having a conniption before their very eyes.
 
Aubrey noticed it first, and almost smiled.
 
The real Dena Varnadore at last, he thought.

“What’s the matter, Mother?” he asked with some degree of relish.
 
“Aren’t you happy for Dad?”

“Happy?” she asked angrily, causing Pam to look at her.
 
“Why the fuck should I
be
happy?”
 
Her use of language surprised Pam.
 
But Dena didn’t care.
 

“He
married
that bitch?” she barked.
 
“You’re standing your skanky ass up here telling me he married that bitch and you expect me to be
happy
about it?”

Others in the room were looking their way, but that didn’t faze Dena.
 
“Your father just married a gold digging tramp like her, over
me
, and you expect me to be happy?
 
This is some come on here!
 
This is some wrong shit here!
 
Yeah, I’ve got your happy, Aubrey, I got your happy!
 
I know your ass.
 
You’re just like that butthole of a daddy of yours and always
has
been.
 
You’re enjoying this shit!
 
I know your ass.
 
Happy?
 
Happy
?
 
You can kiss my happy ass!”

And when she realized others were now staring at her, she grabbed her purse and gloves.
 
“What the fuck y’all looking at?” she wanted to know. “Y’all can kiss it too!”
 

And then she stomped out of her son’s apartment, slamming his door as she went.

Aubrey looked at Pam.
 
Pam looked at Aubrey.
 
And they couldn’t help it. They both broke out in laughter.

“
This some come on here
,” Aubrey said as he moved around mocking his mother, and then he fell out laughing with his sister and friends.
 
It was sad in a way, having a mother that crass, but he couldn’t help it.
 
She was too deserving of his disdain.
 

And he laughed that day.
 
He laughed until his belly ached.

The seas were dark and calm as Jake adjusted the rigging on his yacht.
 
Roni was at the helm, steering the wheel as he told her to, his captain’s hat on her pretty head.
 
It was cool and breezy and romantic, and Roni was having the time of her life.

Jake eventually stopped his maneuvers and moved closer behind her.
 
He placed his hands on her small shoulders.
 
They did something remarkable that just a year ago would have been out of the question for both of them.
 
They let go of every inhibition that strangled them, and became husband and wife.

Jake still had butterflies in his stomach as he stared out at the darkness all around them.
 
They were in the Florida Keys, going for a sail in the midnight hour, and he couldn’t shake the terror.
 
She was now his responsibility.
 
Would he prove worthy of her love, he wondered?
 
Would their marriage be strong, or would it be tempestuous?
 
Would he be the man Roni needed him to be?
 

And what about his heart?
 
He loved her so much that he knew it would be unbearable if it didn’t work out.
 
But could their love conquer all?

He believed it could.
 
That was why he took the plunge.
 
Because he knew the cost.
He knew that there came a time in a man’s life when he had to risk it.
 
He had to be willing to get his heart broken and shattered to bits, because being without Roni in his life would have been the greater devastation.

“Oh, Jake, I’m doing it!” Roni proclaimed with childlike glee as she steered them home.
 
“I’m actually driving a yacht!
 
Can you believe it, honey?”

“Yes,” Jake said, with the grandest smile.
 
“Yes, my darling, I believe it.
 
You can do it.
 
I know you can.
 
You can do anything.”

Roni glanced back at him.
 
She appreciated his confidence.
 
“I wouldn’t go that far,” she admitted, however, and he laughed.
 
“But with you by my side, helping me navigate this uncharted course, I’m going to give it the best that I’ve got.”

She’d never know how wonderful
that made Jake feel
.
 
What more, he wondered, could he ask of her?
 

“So am I, my love,” he promised her back, and then wrapped his arms around his beautiful bride.
 

“So am I.”

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