The Replacement Wife (23 page)

She reached down and took off her shoes. She'd buy more next week. No reason to get sliced up for them.

“I like her dress too,” the girl sitting next to Deirdre said.

Katina nodded. “Switch. Give her yours.”

Deirdre rolled her eyes. She regretted getting in the car with this gutter trash. She unzipped her dress down the side and gave it to the girl. She was way too fat for the dress and was going to look like a stuffed sausage in it if she could even zip it up.

The girl handed Deirdre her gaudy spandex and sparkly mess of a dress, and Deirdre quickly pulled it over her head. Katina pulled into a gas station parking lot.

“Get out,” Katina said.

“But I don't know where this is!” Deirdre complained.

“Aww . . . use the GPS on your cellie. Better yet, gimme that phone. Somebody give her a dollar so she can use the pay phone over there.”

Deirdre shook her head. The pay phone didn't even look like it worked. But at this point all she wanted to do was get out of the SUV.

When Katina finally released the locks, Deirdre jumped out of the truck and started running. She could hear the girls laughing in the background. But she didn't care. She'd probably never see those birds again.

Deirdre was barefoot in an ill-fitting dress and racking her brain for who she could call. She couldn't remember any of her friend's numbers. They were in her phone, and she didn't know them by heart. She knew her father's number, Reese's, her grandmother's, the twins', and Montana's. She shook her head and sighed. The only one she could call and not lose her life was Montana.

She got change from inside the store, where the clerk looked at her like she was a drug addict or prostitute.

“Obviously, I was just robbed!” Deirdre said, when the girl took the dollar from her with a turned-up nose.

The girl shrugged. “Then you probably should call the police.”

“I just want to go home.”

Deirdre sighed and dialed Montana's number, hoping she would answer the phone so late. It was almost midnight.

“H-hello?” Montana said in a sleepy voice.

“Hi, Ms. Montana. It's me, Deirdre.”

“Where are you calling from? Aren't you here? Are you okay?”

Deirdre burst into tears from the onslaught of questions. “Please come and get me! Some girls robbed me and took my clothes, and my purse and phone. My boyfriend is at the hospital. Please!”

Montana gasped. “Oh, honey. I'm on my way.”

“Hurry!”

“Putting on my shoes right now. What is the address?”

Deirdre read Montana the address from the side of the building. As she looked away, she also saw a man leering at her from the gas station store.

“Montana, I'm scared.”

“I'm getting in the car now. Just stay on the phone with me.”

It seemed to take forever for Montana to get to the seedy part of Atlanta where Deirdre had been left. When Deirdre finally saw Montana's car turn into the gas station parking lot, she dropped the phone and ran to the car, making sure to avoid broken glass and other trash on the ground.

Deirdre exhaled as she slammed and locked the passenger-side door. She had never been more relieved in her life.

“Are you okay?” Montana asked. “Nothing else happened to you, did it?”

“No. They were just some jealous girls. They were staring at me the whole time we were in the prom.”

“Prom? This happened to you at someone's prom?” Montana asked.

Deirdre nodded. “Yeah, my boyfriend Moe's prom was tonight. All I wanted was to be his date and have a good time. They had to start fighting and mess everything up. Can we go to the hospital and see if Moe is okay?”

“Are you sure you want to go dressed like that?”

“I don't care about that. I just want to make sure he's okay. He was on a stretcher, Montana! I couldn't even tell if he was breathing or not.”

“Okay, okay. Calm down. Which hospital did they take him to?”

“I don't know.”

“The closest is Atlanta General. Let's see if that's where the ambulance took him.”

Deirdre felt herself calm down a little, but not completely, because she still didn't know if Moe was okay.

“Are you going to tell my daddy about this?” Deirdre asked, although she thought she already knew the answer.

“He is very worried about you. When he noticed you were gone from your room, he tried to call you. He was just about to call the police when you called me. So your father is already involved.”

Deirdre bit her lip and shook her head. She was going to be on punishment until she was grown.

“Then why didn't he come and get me?”

“I asked him to stay home. I think you should try to talk to him,” Montana said. “He might be more understanding than you think.”

“He understands Reese, Not me. Reese got a girl pregnant, and I haven't even had sex, but I'm on lockdown.”

Deirdre thought it was okay to leave out her plans for after prom since it obviously wasn't happening tonight.

“He wants to understand you too, but he's a man,” Montana said with a soft chuckle. “They don't always get us girls.”

They pulled into the emergency entrance of Atlanta General Hospital. There were hardly any parking spots, because they were filled with shiny, fancy prom automobiles. Katina's SUV was nowhere in sight. Montana handed Deirdre a pair of flip-flops from her back seat.

“Are these the only shoes you have in here?” Deirdre asked.

“Yeah. Sorry.”

Inside the hospital, the lobby was standing room only. It seemed like everyone from the prom was there. Deirdre spotted the group of guys that Moe took pictures with and ran up to them.

“Did y'all hear anything about Moe?”

One of Moe's friends looked at her and laughed. “Looks like somebody got jacked.”

“Moe. Is he okay?” Deirdre asked, ignoring the ridicule.

“Yeah, he cool,” another one of the friends said. “He just got a concussion. His mama and his baby mama are in his room now.”

“He said that girl Boosy isn't his baby's mother,” Deirdre said, feeling herself getting real irritated.

“Not Boosy,” the first guy said. “His other baby mama, Natasha. They got a little girl. I think she's about two.”

Deirdre's eyes widened. Moe had a two-year-old? She remembered seeing his grandmother with a little girl at church, but she had no idea it was Moe's baby. And Moe had conveniently neglected to mention his child. Was he planning on making her baby mama number two? Or three?

Deirdre shook her head and turned to Montana. “Let's go. I don't care what happens to him.”

“She mad, y'all!” Moe's friend said.

Deirdre didn't allow one tear to spill until they were outside the hospital, but once the night air hit her face, the floodgates opened. How could she have been so stupid? She had been dating Moe for months, and she knew absolutely nothing about him.

Montana pulled Deirdre into an embrace. “It's okay. Let's just go home.”

After a few minutes of driving without conversation, Deirdre said, “Thank you for coming to get me.”

“Of course,” Montana said. “I'm your nanny, remember?”

This made Deirdre smile. She thought she didn't need a nanny, but after the night's events, she realized that maybe she did.

“You really like my dad, don't you?” Deirdre asked.

Montana smiled, but didn't answer right away. After a very long pause, she said, “I do like him a lot. I don't know if that's professional, but you're almost grown. You're not stupid.”

“He likes you too. I've never seen him look at Chloe the way he looks at you.”

Deirdre noticed Montana frown at the mention of Chloe's name. Of course, Montana couldn't stand Chloe. Chloe had done some low-down stuff to Montana—with Deirdre's help. Suddenly, Deirdre felt remorseful.

“I'm sorry for how I've treated you, Montana.”

Montana patted Deirdre's hand. “I forgive you. Actually, I forgave you a long time ago.”

“Thank you. Can you go with me when I see my dad tonight? I want to live to see another day.”

Montana laughed. “I will. And maybe I can help reason with him.”

“I sure hope so.”

Montana squeezed Deirdre's hand again, and Deirdre smiled. It felt good to have an ally, someone without any agenda who wanted to help her. She never imagined having a mother again, had never let herself hope for one. She said a silent prayer.
Lord, please don't take Montana away from us.

For the first time since her mother had died, Deirdre felt herself in a very vulnerable place. She found herself wishing again.

Q
uentin and Tippen had both worn navy blue suits for their arbitration meeting with Chloe and her lawyer, Doris Lindman. Their coordination wasn't on purpose, but Quentin hoped that it meant they were in accord.

Quentin wanted everything to go quickly today. He had other matters to attend to—namely, Deirdre and her escape to the hood. He'd barely gotten any sleep the entire weekend. He planned to talk to her when she got home from school, with Montana as the mediator. It would be his second arbitration meeting of the day.

“I still don't know if this is the best thing to do,” Tippen whispered, as they approached the conference room.

Quentin nodded. “I know.”

They walked into the conference room, where Doris and Chloe were already seated, along with the Honorable Judge Killian. She used to be a family court judge and was a neutral party agreed upon by both Tippen and Doris.

“Good morning,” Quentin said, as he took his seat.

Chloe said nothing, and Doris grimaced. They seemed ready for battle. Quentin wondered why they had ever agreed to the arbitration. Neither one of them looked ready to bend or budge.

“Good morning, Mr. Chambers and Attorney Carey. Since we're all here, let's go ahead and get started. I've read Ms. Brooks's complaint and Mr. Chambers's response, but I will listen if you'd like to state your main points again. Ms. Brooks, you can go first.”

Chloe looked directly at Quentin and narrowed her eyes. “Quentin strung me along for almost five years. He gave me a monthly stipend on a credit card, he paraded me around Atlanta on his arm, and everyone in our circle thought we would be married. Then he met another woman. His nanny. And the next thing I know, he's dumping me, telling me he doesn't love me. He canceled my credit cards and embarrassed me in front of everyone we know. I haven't had a job in five years. I haven't had to. Now I don't know what I'm going to do.”

Chloe burst into tears, and her lawyer handed her a tissue. She blew her nose and continued.

“Now I'm going to be destitute. Quentin has made me a laughingstock.”

Judge Killian waited to see if Chloe was done. “Is that all, Ms. Brooks?”

Chloe put one finger up, a signal to wait. “One more thing. I didn't want to do this. I would've stayed with him another five years if I had to. He pushed me to this.”

Judge Killian raised her eyebrows. “Now are you done?”

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded. Quentin tilted his head to one side and gave Chloe what he hoped was a look of compassion. He hadn't meant to hurt her. If he could take the past five years and give them back to her, he would.

“Mr. Chambers, you may have your say now.”

Quentin closed his eyes and cleared his throat. Chloe's nose flared, as if she was preparing herself to be angry at his rebuttal.

“She's right,” Quentin said. “Give her what she asked for in her complaint.”

Chloe's jaw dropped, and Doris clapped her hands together. Judge Killian looked confused.

“The entire twenty million?” Judge Killian asked. “We could've skipped this meeting today if you were so agreeable.”

“Well, I prayed about it. And I did lean on Chloe during my time of grief. I did not fall in love with her, but that's not her fault. I don't want her to suffer.”

Tippen shook his head. Perhaps he'd been hoping that in the eleventh hour Quentin would change his mind. Tippen had been furious when Quentin called him with his plan. He'd said Chloe didn't deserve anything more than she'd already spent.

“So that's it? After five years, you wire me some money and send me on my merry way?” Chloe asked.

“On one condition. That you stop trying to damage Montana's reputation. Leave her out of this. She hasn't done anything wrong.”

Tears coursed down Chloe's cheeks. “Right. She's above reproach. So sweet, so anointed. So perfect.”

Quentin sighed and looked at Judge Killian. This wasn't going anywhere positive. He'd agreed to Chloe's terms. Now it was time to wire the funds and go.

“I can buy a whole lot with twenty million, huh?” Chloe said. “I wonder if I can afford a heart transplant, since you broke mine.”

“If you don't want the money, then what do you want?” Quentin asked.

In a small voice, Chloe said. “I want your heart.”

Doris handed Chloe another tissue and placed one hand over hers. “I will give you the wire transfer information, Mr. Chambers,” Doris said.

“I'm sorry, Chloe. I'm so sorry,” Quentin said. “I hope you can find a way to forgive me.”

Judge Killian said, “The agreement made here will be binding. Ms. Brooks, you will not have the ability to continue litigation against Mr. Chambers if you accept his offer. Do you accept his offer?”

Chloe nodded. “I accept his offer, but not his apology.”

“That's good enough,” Judge Killian said. “I will leave the payment details to the attorneys.”

Quentin waited for the ladies to stand from the table before he stood to leave. Doris held Chloe's arm as she led her to the door.

“I will never forgive you, Quentin. For as long as I live, I will never forgive what you did to me.”

“I admit what I did was wrong,” Quentin said. “But you're not blameless, Chloe, while you insist on withholding your forgiveness.”

“All I've ever done is be there for your selfish behind.”

“Tell me, how did you know my wife again?” Quentin asked. “From Spelman? My mother's investigators said you dropped out of high school and went to a community college in Alabama.”

Chloe turned to face Quentin. “That's a lie,” she said.

“It's not. You never knew my wife. Take this twenty million, Chloe, and move on. Be happy.”

Chloe shook her head and stormed angrily out of the conference room. Doris followed closely behind.

Tippen said, “Quentin, you could've used that information to prove that you were a mark from day one. Why didn't you?”

“Because I can afford it, and I truly am sorry I didn't fall in love with her.”

“Well, if you're just throwing millions around, you can hook a brotha up,” Tippen said. “I've been with you for a lot longer than five years.”

Quentin chuckled. “Tip, man, you're family. But I'm fresh out of settlement money right now. Hit me up in another five years.”

“I'll be past my prime by then,” Tippen said.

Quentin shook his head and followed Tippen out of the conference room. He hoped that Chloe would change her mind. She was a wealthy woman now.