The Best Thing He Never Knew He Needed (29 page)

“
Sounds like something Dad
would say,” Desmond said.

“
It does,” Dante agreed.
“Later.”

“
Later, Des,” Dimitrius
said.

“
Hey, Dante,” Desmond
called out from the island.

Dante turned around.
“What’s up?”

“
Do me a
favor.”

“
What’s that?”

“
Get out of the
matchmaking business.”

The brothers chuckled, then
Dante responded, “Now that my brothers are married to the loves of
their lives, I’m already out of business.”

When his brothers
exited, Desmond walked down the hallway to the
basement door and on into the basement apartment where a lot of
Sherita’s things still remained. He assumed she’d be by to collect
her items at the same time she came to get the car.

He walked pass the couch,
near the bed recalling how they’d made love there. How she
experienced her first time there. Revisiting those memories made
him realize and remain firm to his resolve to get her back. But
nothing could prepare him for what he saw next – an opened
pregnancy test box jutting out from underneath the bed. He bent
down, picked it up then sat on the bed with it in his hand. The
test was missing.

With a racing heart, he
searched through the bathroom wastebasket and when that didn’t turn
up anything, he checked the kitchen. Nothing. Was she pregnant? A
year ago, he couldn’t fathom the thought of having a child. Now, as
he sat on the bed again, thinking there could be a real possibility
Sherita was pregnant, that’s all he wanted. His child. And
her.

CHAPTER 36

Against Emily’s wishes,
Sherita spent the night at a hotel. She’d taken a taxi to Desmond’s
house late, around 2:00 a.m. or so, then she drove to the hotel
where she stayed for the night, and five additional nights, crying
her eyes out while avoiding phone calls from everyone. No one knew
where she was. As far as they knew, she’d gone back to South
Carolina.

Checking out of her hotel,
she took the overnight bag and tossed it in the backseat, looking
at the few items that remained there. She inhaled a breath. She
remembered vividly, two weekends ago, how she had been packing up
her things and when Desmond came home and saw her packing, he’d
stopped her, scooped her up in his arms and took her upstairs to
his bedroom where they made love. Well, she wanted to believe they
were making love, but now she knew better. In hindsight, she should
not have gotten involved with him. She knew he didn’t want
children. He was a bachelor. He drove a motorcycle. He took pride
in getting any woman he wanted. His house wasn’t even fit for a
child. Only for him.

Sherita shook her head,
then pulled out of the hotel parking lot. Today, she would remain
focused on accomplishing three things. One, visiting the doctor to
have her first ultrasound. Two, talking to her parents about their
infatuation with Thane. Three, she needed to get over to Desmond’s
house to pick up her things, and since it was Monday, she was sure
he’d be at work. She could get in and quickly get out without any
interruptions.

* * *

She didn’t want
to go to the doctor alone. She was ready for the
3-D ultrasound, ready to see her baby and hear its tiny heartbeat,
but she needed some support. She needed a friend with her. It
would’ve been nice if she had Desmond there, but why would he come
when he didn’t want children. So she called Emily. She explained
why she had been avoiding her phone calls and how she had stayed in
Asheville for the week trying to determine her next
move.

Calling Emily to go to the
doctor with her had proven to be a good decision, especially when
the doctor told her he heard two heartbeats. Sherita was so
shocked, she felt like fainting. The ultrasound confirmed there was
not one, but two babies – fraternal twins. After the shock of it
all, the women were so overjoyed, it brought them to
tears.

* * *

At her parent’s house now,
she rang the doorbell. She decided she wouldn’t tell them about the
babies just yet. She was there for something totally
unrelated.

Her mother opened the door
and said, “Sherita, where on earth have you been? Come on in this
house. Do you know how worried I was? I couldn’t call you on the
phone? What happened to your phone? And when did you
move?”

“
I changed my number. I
told you I was changing it.”

“
Why didn’t you give me
your new number?”

Frustrated, Sherita shook
her head. “Where’s Dad?”

“
He ran out, Sherita. Are
you going to tell me what’s going on? Where are you living
now?”

“
I’m moving to Myrtle
Beach.”

“
Why on earth would you do
a thing like that?”

“
I’m moving for work, Mom.
Dad hasn’t found steady work yet and your mortgage won’t pay
itself, now will it?” Sherita handed her mother an envelope that
contained three-thousand dollars. “Tell Dad this is the payment for
the next two months.”

She watched her mother
frown.

“
For the mortgage?”
Sherita said, testily.

“
Sherita, the mortgage is
paid off.”

“
It is?”

“
Yeah. It is.”

“
How’s that possible? You
still owed fifteen grand on it.”

“
Not anymore. A Mr.
Champion came by with a check for the balance and told us he was
doing it as a favor to you.”

“
Mr. Champion?” Sherita
asked. This had Dante’s name written all over it.

“
Yes. Now, I don’t know
why in the world the man would come pay off the mortgage, but I do
know I saw a wedding band on his hand and—” Her mother lost her
words when she glanced at Sherita’s hand and saw the huge rock
there, sparkling underneath the lights. “Sherita, what is that on
your finger?”

Sherita glanced at the
ring. How did she forget to take it off? Was it because the man she
loved told her to never take it off? Even if that was the case,
after she came to the realization she didn’t want to be with him
anymore, why was she still wearing the man’s ring?

“
It’s nothing, Mom.
Listen…I’m going to give you my number, but I do not want you to
give it to Thane, okay. Thane and I are
not
a couple, and we will never be a
couple. I don’t love him, and I would appreciate it if you and Dad
would stop telling him what’s going on in my life.”

“
All right, dear. You’ve
made your point loud and clear.”

“
Well please make it loud
and clear to Dad.” Sherita took an old receipt from her purse then
scribbled her cell phone number on the back. She handed it to her
mother. “I have to go.”

“
Where are you going? We
need to discuss this move.”

“
We’ll discuss it later.
I’m going to get the rest of my things so I can go. I’ll call you
later.”

CHAPTER 37

On the drive to Desmond’s
place, Sherita pulled up Dante’s work number in her phone then
dialed it.

“
Dante Champion,” he
answered.

“
Hi, Dante. It’s
Sherita.”

Dante glanced up at his
brothers sitting across from his desk. Emily had already told him
that Sherita was pregnant, but he’d been shocked when she called
him this morning to tell him that Sherita was having twins. “Good
morning, Sherita.”

Knowing his brother was
talking to Sherita took Desmond’s attention away from his laptop,
and now he was staring at Dante with fierce, inquisitive
eyes.

“
Hey, I just wanted to
thank you for paying off my parent’s mortgage,” Sherita said. “I
told you I didn’t want any repayment, but I really do appreciate
this. You are too kind.”

Dante looked at Desmond
when he said, “I’m afraid I can’t take credit for that,
Sherita.”

“
Well if you didn’t do it
then—” She stopped talking when she realized the answer. Desmond
had paid off her parent’s mortgage.

“
Umm, Dante, I have to
go.”

“
Wait,
Sherita.”

“
Yes?”

“
When are you heading back
to Myrtle Beach?”

“
Sometime today,” she
said, not wanting to give him an exact timeframe.

“
Okay. Be
safe.”

“
I will. Bye.”

“
Bye, Sherita.”

Dante placed the phone back
on the receiver and buried his face in his hands for a brief
moment.

“
What did she say?”
Desmond said, feeling a dose of envy that Sherita called his
brother instead of calling him.

“
Have you spoken to her
since last Friday?” Dante asked.

“
No.”

Eyebrows raised, Dante
asked, “You haven’t spoken to her in a week and a half?”

“
No. I tried calling her a
few times, but she didn’t answer. I thought it would be best if I
gave her a little space.”

Dante scratched his jaw.
“You’re making a mistake, Des.”

“
How’s that?”

“
Did you pay off her
parent’s mortgage?”

“
Yes, I did.
Why?”

“
That was the reason for
her call. She was calling to thank
me
. She thought I’d done it, which
means she doesn’t think you’re generous enough to do something like
that. What does that tell you, Des?”

Desmond didn’t say a
word.

“
Let me show you
something,” Dante said, removing a photo book from his briefcase.
He handed it to Desmond and said, “Sherita made it from the
pictures she took of Grace and Ezra at the park.”

“
She did a good job with
it, too,” Dimitrius said, staring at his laptop. “Melanie loved
it.”

“
You were with her that
day, right, Des?” Dante asked.

“
Of course.” Desmond kept
flipping through the pages until he saw the picture of himself with
Sherita while they were holding Ezra and Grace. There was a picture
of the four of them together and then, there was the picture
Desmond remembered vividly – of him touching his face to Sherita’s
face. He didn’t realize she’d been smiling when he leaned in close
to her. He assumed she’d be frowning since he was doing nothing
other than trying to get under her skin, but she was
smiling.

“
At the time, I bet you
didn’t know this picture would foreshadow your life, that is, if
you choose to see it. If you take the time to see it.”

“
What are you talking
about, Dante?”

Dante stared at his
brother for a few seconds. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell
Desmond what he knew – that Sherita was pregnant with twins, but he
wouldn’t. “You claim you love Sherita and that she’s yours. Well, I
think it’s time for you to show her that. She told me she was
leaving today…heading for Myrtle Beach, and if you do not talk to
her before she leaves, it’ll probably, no, it
will
be the biggest mistake of your
life.”

“
Did she say where she
was?” Desmond asked.

“
No, but I assume she’s
going by your place to get the rest of her items since she knows
you’re here.”

Desmond got up quickly,
walked to his office snatching his suit jacket from the back of his
chair and his keys from the top drawer of his desk. Then he jumped
in his jeep and sped home, thinking about what Dante had said…that
the picture of himself, Sherita and his niece and nephew had
foreshadowed his life. Then he thought about the pregnancy test box
he found under Sherita’s bed, the Ginger Ale and crackers she’d
left in his jeep. He remembered when Emily was pregnant, she lived
off of Ginger Ale and crackers and when he had spoken to Sherita a
few times while she was working at the beach, she told him she
didn’t feel well. Now he knew why. Sherita
was
pregnant.

CHAPTER 38

Sherita grabbed a handful
of panties and dropped them in a bag. As she opened another drawer
to check if she’d emptied it, she heard Desmond’s firmly planted
footsteps, on the level above, as his expensive, leather shoes made
contact with the hardwood floor. Even before she heard him, she
felt his overpowering presence descend upon her like a blanket of
light mist.

The sound of his steps
slowed as he approached the stairs. With each step down, she felt
her heart rate quicken.

“
Hi,” he said.

Sherita turned to look at
him. Studied him. He was dressed in a business black suit, looking
as handsome as he always did.

“
I was hoping we could
talk.”

“
About what?” Sherita
asked, continuing on stuffing a bag with her things – shaving
cream, a hair dryer and socks. “There’s really not much left to
say.”

“
Maybe for you it’s
not.”