51. Sugar Bee
CELESTE
A hospital roomslowly came into view as I first cracked open one eye, then the other. Marla and Nana were both sitting in chairs to my left. Nana had her knitting needles out where it looked like she was creating a fuzzy green tent.
“What happened?” I croaked.
“Oh, baby girl!” Marla wiped a tear from her cheek. She grabbed one of my hands and squeezed. “Let me get the doctor. We’ve been waiting for you to wake up.” She swept from the room.
Nana leaned over. “You gave us a scare. That British guy called us and said we needed to get down here as soon as possible.”
It hurt to swallow, which I realized belatedly stemmed from the way Jeremy choked me. An involuntary shudder ran down my spine at the memory. That’s why I was in the hospital.
The doctor came in, followed by Marla and Cassie Heddings, the only female deputy in the Smithson County Sheriff’s Department. They both asked me to recount the attack, with the doctor pausing to examine my throat, ears, and scalp during the parts of the story where I relayed how he held me down and where he put his hands. Nana and Marla both offered to step out of the room and give me privacy. I declined because I needed their strength. Nothing had actually happened, I assured all of them, but I emphasized how closely Jeremy came to going past that point. He had every intention of sexually assaulting me.
Deputy Heddings promised they were going to issue a warrant for his arrest along with a restraining order. He wouldn’t be able to come within fifty feet of me. Everyone told me how brave I was, Marla and Nana while choking back tears, and finally left the room so that I could get dressed. As always, Marla was one step ahead and brought a change of clothes for me. My outfit from The Comfy Cushion was being admitted into evidence.
When all of my test results confirmed I was safe to leave, the three of us walked out to Marla’s car. I didn’t want to acknowledge my surprise and disappointment that I woke up to Wesley’s absence. Now that he was back in River’s Run, it just seemed natural for him to know when I needed him, just as he always had.
“We need to go get Iris,” I insisted. “She should be in school by now, so unless Desiree is guarding the building, no one can stop me.”
Marla nodded as she slid into the driver’s seat. “I’ll try Wes again on the way.”
“What do you mean?”
Nana scoffed. “D’you really think we weren’t gonna keep him updated after he left? He stopped answering his cell phone a couple hours ago, but maybe by now he’s done with his own emergency.”
“What emergency?” I asked.
“We aren’t sure,” Nana explained. “Said there was somethin’ he had to take care of before he could come get you.”
Maybe this time he’ll actually come back, I thought.
“If we’re getting Iris,” Marla said, “we are telling her the truth about Wesley.” Her tone was firm, brooking no argument.
She wouldn’t get any from me. It was time for Iris to know the truth.
After signing her out of school, my sweet girl flew into my arms, encasing me in a bone-crushing hug while she sobbed into my chest.
“Mama!” Iris cried. “Desiree said I would never see you again! It’s been awful! She said that you stole from her? And that you’ve been lying to me? What is going on, Mama?! I’m so scared!”
I tightened my hold on her, tears streaming down into her dancer’s bun. “Baby girl, none of that is true. Let’s go so that I can explain. You don’t need to be scared.”
It took more than an hour and a few slices of Marla’s famous lemon meringue pie to calm Iris down. We were all settled into a table at Marla’s Sweets, which she had refused to open, saying today was a personal day for us to get everything sorted out. Nana inhaled all the treats Marla set down in front of us, and got Iris to laugh by teaching her the proper way to sneak food into a purse.
“Baby girl, there’s so much I need to tell you and I’m not sure where to begin,” I admitted. “I think we need to start with the man you met at the gym. He’s…well, he’s someone pretty important.”
My daughter nodded solemnly. “You mean my dad? Yeah, I’d say he’s important.”
The rest of us shared the same expression of shock. “You knew?!”
Iris’ eyes widened. “You keep that box of photos in the back of your closet, Mama,” she explained. “I know you always tell me not to go through your stuff, but I needed a baby photo for a school project a couple years ago and I found a bunch of pictures with him in them. There were never any other boys, so I figured he had to be my daddy…you wouldn’t’ve kept his photos otherwise.”
Of course Iris would make that deduction. She noticed things and read people, just like her father always had.
I was still so stunned that she knew. “Honey, why didn’t you say anything?”
Iris shrugged, picking at the corner of the table. “Because I knew you would tell me when you were ready. I didn’t wanna hurt you.”
Her maturity broke my heart. I wanted a time machine, something that could take me back so I could make different choices.
Except wishing things were different wasn’t going to bring change. Actually making different choices would. It was time to make my Mama and Daddy proud.
“We’re going to Boston,” I blurted out.
Iris broke into a wide smile. “Really? So I can audition for The Boston School of Ballet? You mean it?”
Her excitement gave me confidence in my suddenly emerging plan. “Yes. That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
Nana hummed her approval next to Iris. “I think I’ll go, too.”
Marla and I simultaneously dropped our forks.
“You will?!” I asked incredulously.
She nodded. “Life’s too short to keep missing out on family. Being here just reminds me of that fact.”
My eyes felt watery at her admission. Life was too short. We were all done missing out, myself included.
Hours went by before the door flew open. Wesley stormed in, his eyes an electric blue that locked in on mine. Nobody else in the room existed as he strode straight towards me, snatching me out of the chair to clutch me to his chest. As soon as my feet found the floor, Wes cupped my face in his hands and planted a firm kiss on my mouth.
It was the kiss that set me free. I realized the power of a kiss, the power of love. Because that’s what Wesley and I had—love.
Just as abruptly, Wesley turned to Iris and pulled her into a group hug with the two of us.
“Hey there, Rainbow,” he said to her. “I’m your dad.”
She rolled her eyes but hugged him back. “Yeah, duh…except…why are you calling me ‘Rainbow’?”
Wesley looked directly at me as he answered. “Because ‘Iris’ means ‘rainbow’…and you’re the rainbow at the end of our journey.”
Leave it to Wes to know exactly why I named her the way that I did. Only him. My eyes were shining with tears as I hugged both of them tighter. I had my family back.
We all sat down to catch up on what happened over the past ten years. Wesley scooped Nana up and twirled her in a circle before swearing, “It hasn’t been the same without you, Nana.”
She shrugged. “Well of course it hasn’t. Nobody can hold a candle to me!”
Everyone around the table, including Wes, shed tears and laughed until our bellies ached. It wasn’t until my phone started blowing up at the end of the school day that the outside world disturbed our peace. Desiree sent text after text demanding to know Iris’ whereabouts, which Wesley ordered me to ignore.
We couldn’t, however, ignore a snarling Desiree when she burst inside, her face twisted in fury.
“Iris, get away from that man, NOW!” she yelled.
All of us, Marla and Nana included, jumped to our feet and stood in front of Iris, forming a human shield against my stepmother. Wesley drew himself up to his full height, well over six feet, so that he had to stare down his nose at Desiree.
“You will never talk to my daughter again,” he barked. It was so forceful that the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
Blood drained from Desiree’s face. She froze, staring at Wes in horror.
Wesley stalked towards her until they stood nose to nose. I could see the tension in his spine as he tried to hold back from unleashing his full temper.
“Your games are over, Desiree,” he said. Pulling a cell phone out of his back pocket, Wesley checked something before shooting us a maniacal grin over his shoulder. “You see, I went to law school with the man who is now the assistant to the attorney general of Georgia. I had him double check a few things for me that just didn’t sit quite right when Celeste said you wouldn’t let her tell me about my daughter. That you are the reason I wasn’t able to support Celeste during her pregnancy, that I didn’t get to see Iris being born…you get the idea.
“As it turns out, you haven’t been very honest with any of us, have you, Desiree?” Wesley began to circle her, like a lion taunting a gazelle before striking. “Who really owns The Comfy Cushion?”
My stepmother began to quake. Her knees visibly clenched together as she forced herself to stay upright.
I, however, had no clue what he was getting at. “Someone else owns the diner?” I asked.
Wesley nodded, though he kept his eyes trained on Desiree. “The Comfy Cushion was left, in trust, to Celeste Hendricks after Rachel Hendricks died, isn’t that right, Desiree? Even your husband never actually owned The Comfy Cushion, did he?”
A lightness settled in my chest. Something that felt like the burgeoning of a new hope. If what Wes said was true—and I had no reason to believe otherwise—that meant Desiree didn’t have the right to sell it.
“I’m sorry, I can’t seem to hear you, Desiree,” Wesley continued. “Did you have more to confess?”
Nana exhaled a shaky breath behind me. “We better sit down, sweet pea,” she stage-whispered to Iris. Both of them dropped into chairs at the table.
It didn’t faze Wesley. “Doug Hendricks didn’t leave you his house or the Hendricks land either, did he? That was also left for Celeste Hendricks, according to his last Will and Testament! Which you knew—your signature is right here on this prenuptial agreement, isn’t it?” He held out his phone and pointed to whatever document he opened.
Phillip and Chief Hillsborough slowly came through the door, with a few more deputies visible through the windows. To my surprise, Wesley gave the male nod to the sheriff, who returned the gesture.
“Let’s tell everyone how you really hit the trifecta, though, Desiree.” He slid his phone back in his pocket. “What happened to Doug’s life insurance?”
Desiree’s lips were pursed in such a thin line they almost disappeared from her face. There was nothing but hatred in her eyes as she ground out, “He was my husband. That money should have been mine!”
Wesley nodded angrily, his arms crossed over his chest. “But it wasn’t. You accepted a payout of three million dollars that belonged to his beneficiary, none other than Celeste Renee Hendricks.”
“Mama!” Iris gasped. Nana stared at the two of them like it was a live episode of Fear the Wicked. Even the sheriff raised his eyebrows. That was quite a sum. How like Daddy to ensure, even in death, I was provided for and wanted for nothing. He knew that as my stepmother, I would have provided for Desiree, too. Family is supposed to take care of family.
As her nostrils flared and her hands clenched into fists at her side, Desiree remained silent, shooting eye daggers at Wesley. She made no move to deny the accusations.
It was too much for me. I pushed past Marla, approaching my stepmother with caution. She already proved she wasn’t above hitting me. “How could you do it?” I asked in a whisper. “How could you take everything from me?”
Desiree turned her hateful gaze on me. “I took what I deserved. You never mattered to me at all.”
My bottom lip quivered, but I refused to let her see me cry. Desiree Stanbrooke wasn’t going to get another tear from me.
“Mrs. Hendricks, you’re under arrest,” Chief Hillsborough said. He stepped behind her, placing the handcuffs on her wrists as he rattled off her rights and listed the charges against her. Desiree’s eyes remained on my face until the sheriff led her outside and into the waiting cruiser.
Wesley immediately turned and pinned me to his chest again. “It’s all over now, sugar bee,” he murmured.
Hearing that nickname on his lips broke through the dam, setting the tears free. He kissed the top of my head, gently rubbing a hand along my spine. “I can’t believe you did that.”
He drew back just enough to tuck his fingers under my chin, lifting my gaze to his. “I promised your dad that I would take care of you.”
A warmth joined the lightness as my heart filled with hope. “You did?”
Wes smiled. “The morning she found us in your tower together. When he pulled me inside to have ‘The Talk.’” He couldn’t help but laugh. “Doug asked what my intentions were and I told him, point blank—”I’m going to marry your daughter.’ Part of me always wondered if he already knew he was sick, because when I swore on my life that I would provide for you, he said, ‘No. Swear on my life.’ That was why we did everything we could to make his final days special for you, Celeste. You were his sugar bee, and now you’re mine.”
I let out a shaky laugh because I could imagine the entire exchange clear as day. It sounded exactly like something my daddy would have said. And exactly how I would have expected Wes to respond.
“Well, we’ll have to see what happens after we get settled in Boston,” I offered.
He raised an eyebrow in challenge. “Oh, you’re gonna marry me. It’s just a matter of when.”
Rolling my eyes, I let go of him to rejoin Iris, Marla, and Nana at the table. “And what makes you so sure?”
“Because I’m the only one on this earth who has his blessing.” Wes smiled at us, sending a rogue wink Iris’ way.
“And mine!” she instantly piped up with a grin.
“Thanks, Rainbow,” he replied.
“Mine, too,” Nana added. Marla nodded silently beside her.
I couldn’t help but offer a shy smile to all of them. This was how family should be.
“C’mon.” Wesley held out a hand. “Let’s go home and get some rest. We all need it.”
Iris jumped up to join him. “I have so much I want to tell you!”
They both turned to me expectantly from the door. I gave Marla and Nana a quick hug, promising to return first thing tomorrow morning, before joining my daughter and her daddy for our first night together as a family.