Ruthless (7 page)

Read Ruthless Online

Authors: Shelia M. Goss

BOOK: Ruthless
9.19Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
Chapter 13
Tears streamed down Sheba's face, although she had told herself she was not going to cry. “I'm going to miss you so much,” Sheba said over and over as she and Uriah embraced at the private airport terminal.
He wiped her face with one of his hands. He then kissed her cheek. “These six months are going to fly by.”
“I hope so. It's going to be lonely at home without you.”
“We're going to be talking every chance we get,” Uriah said.
“I know.” Sheba pouted.
Uriah reached into his pocket and took out a box. He opened it. “Wear this and know that you're always close to my heart.”
He removed a gold necklace with a half of a heart pendant that had the words
My better half
written on the back and placed it around her neck.
He unbuttoned his top button. “See? I'm wearing the other half.”
Sheba wrapped her arm around his neck. “I love you, Uriah.”
“I love you, too, Bathsheba.”
The stewardess approached them and said, “Mr. Richards, the pilots are ready to take off.”
The stewards turned toward Sheba and smiled. “Mrs. Richards, he's in good hands,” one of them assured her.
Sheba forced a smile. “I guess this is good-bye.”
“No, baby, it's ‘See you later.'”
Uriah kissed her passionately before walking away to get on the plane.
The moment Uriah stepped foot on the corporate jet, the floodgates opened again for Sheba. Tears slid down her face. She stood at the terminal window and watched the plane fly away. A sinking feeling came over her. Although he wasn't going to war over in Afghanistan, it was still dangerous there for American workers. Life for her Uriah would never be the same. She could feel it in her gut.
Fortunately, she had to go into work. She was supposed to be there for the seven o'clock shift but had let everyone know she was going to be late. She could have taken the whole day off, but she knew she would need a distraction. She wasn't ready to go back to her empty house.
Upon arriving at work, she was handed a bouquet of flowers by one of her coworkers. She sniffed the bouquet of colorful flowers. “Uriah, you think of everything,” she whispered when she glanced at the card, which read, “I miss you already. Love you, pumpkin.” He hadn't called her pumpkin in years. That was the little pet name he had given her when they were in college.
“I have another delivery,” said the floral deliveryman as he walked up to the nurses' station. He handed the bouquet of flowers to Sheba.
“What room?” Sheba asked.
The deliveryman read what was on his order. “These are for Bathsheba Richards.”
Thinking Uriah had truly outdone himself, she was excited. Uriah was going overboard by sending two bouquets of flowers in one day, Sheba thought. But she loved flowers, so she wouldn't complain.
“Thank you,” she said as she reached into her pocket and handed him a tip. She removed the card from the plastic stick. Disappointment swept over her face when she read the card.
Hope you can forgive me for sending Uriah away. He'll be back to you soon. Your friend, David.
She tore the card up. David was no friend of hers. She stopped one of the LPNs. “Give these flowers to Ms. Frierson. She was just saying she wished someone would send her some flowers.”
“Who do I tell her they are from?” the LPN asked.
“Tell her it's a thank-you from the staff for being such a great patient.” Sheba wanted to get rid of the flowers. She could have thrown them away, but she felt her patient would benefit a great deal from receiving them.
“But she is such a disturbance.”
“I know, but maybe she'll think twice before giving us a hard time if we butter her up,” Sheba said.
“I doubt it, but I'll take them to her.”
“Please do. I'll be running some reports in the back office if you need me,” Sheba said before walking away.
After running her reports, Sheba decided to take a break. She made a beeline to Delilah's room. She hadn't seen her since she and Uriah had stopped by two days ago. She'd wanted to give her some time for things to sink in. Her door was ajar, so she walked right on in.
“Good to see you're sitting up,” Sheba said as Delilah shifted herself on the side of the bed.
“They started me on therapy today. Looks like my limbs don't want to agree with me, so I'm having to learn how to walk again.”
“Do what your therapist says and you'll be walking in no time. If you like, I can come to some of your sessions.”
“Oh no. It's embarrassing enough. I don't need an audience.” Delilah shifted her legs and got back in the bed. She pulled the white covers over them to ward off the cold.
“I'm here if you need me.” Sheba took a seat.
Delilah laughed out loud. “I still think it's funny that after all this time, I find out I have a sister.”
“I wish Mama was here to see our reunion.”
“My feelings are still a little twisted about your mom.”
“If only you had met her, then maybe you could see how much she really did love you.”
“Well, I only have your word on it.”
“That's something I wouldn't lie about.” Sheba tried not to get an attitude, but she wouldn't stand for anyone saying anything negative about her mom. In her opinion, she was the best woman who had ever lived. She wouldn't have harmed a fly.
“Tell me more about our mom. What was she like?” Delilah asked.
Sheba's eyes glazed over as she told Delilah about their mom, Elizabeth. “She was always doing something for people in the neighborhood. If she saw a need, she did her best to fulfill that need. If she couldn't, she would find someone who could.”
“You make her sound like a saint.”
“If she wasn't, she was close to it.”
“Then why didn't she look harder for me? I was in the system. I could have been found.”
“Our mom, God rest her soul, was generous, but life dealt her a bad hand. Money was never her friend. Don't get me wrong. We never went hungry, but she didn't have a lot of resources. She dropped out of school her senior year, when she got pregnant with me.”
Delilah asked a few more questions before saying, “Sheba, I can't promise you anything. I've led a hard life. I tried to change my life, but some people won't let you. Look at me. I changed my lifestyle and still ended up here.”
Sheba wondered if the things Keisha had told her about Delilah were true. Maybe one day she would ask, but for now, she would keep her questions to herself. Sheba wasn't a saint, so who was she to judge?
“Let me tell you a little more about our mama. She was nice and sweet, but she wasn't a pushover,” Sheba said.
“Sort of like myself, I see,” Delilah commented.
Sheba raised her eyebrows.
That remains to be seen.
Chapter 14
“What do you mean, they don't have clearance to land in Afghanistan?” David was livid. He thought his team had cut through all the red tape.
This mission had been planned for almost a year. Now he was being told that his men might not be able to land in Afghanistan. David had invested too much money in opening the Afghanistan satellite office, and he didn't want anything to get in the way of his ultimate goal. David's goal was to expand his media business globally. Having an office in Afghanistan was the next step toward building his global empire. And he needed to make this happen if he was going to keep Uriah away from Sheba.
Wade came back on the phone. “Okay, the pilot said they got clearance to land now. I had to call someone at the State Department.”
“Do whatever you have to do! Keep me informed,” David said as he slammed down the phone.
Why was all of this happening? He hoped this wasn't a sign of things to come. He needed this satellite office to be set up with the least amount of problems. David wanted to spread freedom of speech throughout the world. That was one of the reasons why he had acquired newspapers and television stations in other regions of the world. David had succeeded in getting governments to agree to sell to him, while others had failed. One thing most governments had in common was greed, an insatiable appetite for the mighty dollar. As bad as the economy was, the mighty American dollar still held its own in all regions of the world.
Thanks to some good business decisions and lots of prayer, David had been blessed financially, which, he hoped, would enable him to reach his goal of broadcasting around the world. DM King Media's name was known not only in the United States but worldwide. Although he had the respect of his peers, they knew that when it came to business, David was cutthroat. He did whatever he had to do within reason to get what he wanted.
His employees especially knew this. No one wanted to cross him. If they did, they would have to withstand his wrath. When David was mad, there was no telling what he would do. He tried his best to meditate daily to keep that side of him dormant. Every now and then, he would lose control, but his strong prayer life would draw him back in and bring him back to a peaceful state of mind.
He was glad Wade was able to handle the Afghanistan situation. David poured himself a cold drink. He leaned back in his chair and looked outside to view the Dallas skyline. He could have easily built his building in one of the surrounding suburbs, but he wanted to be in the heart of downtown Dallas. He wanted to be in the downtown so everyone could see DM King Media no matter which direction they were coming from when they entered the area.
Trisha's voice rang over the intercom. “You have a call from Mrs. Richards.”
David smiled. “Put her through. And, Trisha, we have a long week ahead, so if you want to leave for today, you can. But I want to see you here around seven thirty in the morning, instead of eight.”
“Thanks, Mr. King.”
Trisha connected the call. David took a quick sip from his drink, then said, “Hello, Sheba. How are you?”
“I would be doing much better if my husband was here with me,” she responded.
Sheba's voice sounded like an angel's from the other end, an upset angel's, but her voice was sweet nevertheless, David thought. “I thought the flowers would help smooth things over, but I take it those didn't work.”
“I'm not one of your little floozies. You can't buy my affection.”
“That's why I like you. You're cut from a different cloth.”
“And another thing, if you think trying to buy my sister's affection is going to help you get closer to me, you have another thing coming.”
David swiveled his chair around. “What do you mean?” He hoped Delilah hadn't betrayed him and told Sheba his plans. If so, she would regret it.
“She told me you are paying her hospital bills. Although it's generous of you, it's not necessary. I will make sure her hospital bills get paid.”
David laughed. “Let's get real. Her bill is already in the thousands. I'm paying Uriah good money, but I doubt very seriously he wants his entire year's salary going to paying for your sister's medical bills.”
“What Uriah and I do with our money is our business.”
“Calm down, Sheba. I only did it because I wanted to release the pressure for Uriah. I would do it for any of my employees.”
There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. Finally, Sheba broke the silence. “Sorry for going off on you like that. Thank you. I appreciate what you're doing for Delilah.”
David wanted to rub her nose in it, but he had to handle her delicately to get what he wanted. “You're welcome. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to call me. In fact, let me give you my private number so you can call me direct.”
“I don't want your number.”
“What if you need to reach Uriah and can't? I can always reach him.”
Sheba paused, as if she was thinking about what David had said. “Give it to me. But wait. I need to find some paper to write it down on.”
David recited his personal cell phone number and home number. Their call ended afterward. David saw another trip to Shreveport on the horizon. He went online and looked up the phone number of the hospital where Delilah was staying. He called the hospital and asked to be transferred to Delilah's room. Once she was on the line, he said, “For a moment, I thought you had given me up to your sister. That was a good move, telling her about my generosity.”
“I had to tell her something because her nosy behind read my chart. She knew I no longer had insurance.”
“I'm in a generous mood. What's your bank account number? I want to make you a quick deposit.”
“David, as I told you before, I'm not for sale.”
“Then why did you agree to help me?”
“I don't care too much for my brother-in-law, and he doesn't exactly like me, so why not?”
She had a point. Fortunately for David, Uriah and Delilah's newfound relationship was off to a rocky start. “Delilah, I think I like you.”
“Most men do.”
David laughed. “You're something else. I still need your information. When you get out of the hospital, you're going to need money to live on, so consider this a friend helping out another friend.”
“I must be doing something right, with rich friends like you.” Delilah laughed.
David ended their call. He said out loud to himself, “And knowing a woman like you will help me get the woman I want.”

Other books

Mind Slide by Glenn Bullion
The Children Act by Ian McEwan
Come Home by Lisa Scottoline
Wilde Fire by Kat Austen
Ten Thousand Words by Kelli Jean
Warautumn by Tom Deitz
Shadows of the Redwood by Gillian Summers