Chapter Twenty-nine - Kenya
Chapter Twenty-nine
Kenya
K enya’s flight had landed at an ungodly hour of the morning. She quickly retrieved her bag and tossed it into the trunk of her car. Had she been dressed appropriately, she’d have stopped by the firm to get some work done, but she decided to head home to Cape May instead. She could work from home. Her late night of cocktails with Lu, Zach, and John Jr. had left her exhausted. She nearly overslept and missed her flight. John Jr. had walked her to her hotel room, wanting to come inside for a nightcap, which she vetoed. He was charming and handsome but clearly not her type.
She’d always told herself that her type was Glen. It was something that kept other men at bay— in her mind anyway . However, lately, Gideon had popped into her thoughts and dreams way too often, unwarranted, unannounced, like an uninvited guest who hadn’t called before showing up on her doorstep. Too often, she found herself wondering what he was doing and even considered dialing his number a few times but fought the urge each time. She didn’t want to send Gideon mixed signals, giving him false hope. Besides, it was a good probability that he wasn’t interested in talking to her anyway, probably wouldn’t answer the phone if she called. Their last conversation hadn’t been a pleasant one, though she had to admit she missed him like hell. In just a short time, they’d connected on a level that she hadn’t connected with anyone in a long time. She missed his smile, his touch, his conversation. Hell, she just missed him. But none of it mattered.
Kenya pulled into her Cape May neighborhood, and just before driving past Natalia’s home she couldn’t help thinking of her. She figured she was probably at the winery, just getting her day started. Had they been on good terms, Kenya might’ve popped her head in at the winery just to say hello. Might’ve called to ask if she wanted a breakfast sandwich or a cup of coffee from their favorite café on the island. She’d have picked up a cup for Natalia and one for herself. The truth was, they weren’t on good terms, and besides, Kenya was exhausted. She couldn’t think of anything more than getting home to her comfy bed. She would leave Ralph at the kennel for a few more hours while she caught some shut-eye before working. She’d pick him up later.
Her eyes veered toward Natalia’s two-story beachfront home as she passed. She squinted, trying to make out exactly what it was that was strewn about on the front lawn. It appeared to be trash, or maybe laundry. Kenya slowed down. It was definitely clothing. For some reason, there were clothes all over Natalia’s front yard.
“What the hell?” Kenya whispered to herself.
The garage was open, and the trunk of Natalia’s sedan was lifted. The back doors of the car were open as well. A few seconds later, Natalia emerged from the house carrying an armful of clothing that she tossed carelessly into the trunk of the car.
“What are you doing, girl?” Kenya whispered to herself.
Natalia was so consumed by what she was doing, she hadn’t even noticed that Kenya was watching. She seemed to be on a mission. For what, Kenya had no idea, but she sat there for a moment in hopes of finding out. Soon Natalia emerged from the house with another armful of clothing, which she also tossed into the trunk of the car. Kenya pulled up next to the curb, placed the car in Park, turned off the engine, and stepped out of the car. She approached just as Natalia emerged with another armful of clothing.
“What’s going on, Nat Pack?” Kenya asked.
Natalia finally noticed her, looked up at Kenya with red, glazed eyes, but she didn’t stop what she was doing. She tossed the clothes into the back seat and went back into the house without saying a word. Kenya followed. Clothes were strewn about on the kitchen floor and made a path from there to the garage. Natalia grabbed another armful, pushed past Kenya, and went into the garage. Then she returned.
Kenya stopped her when she walked past this time. She grabbed her arms. “Sweetheart, what’s going on?”
“I’m headed to the Cape May Canal!”
“Why, honey? What for?”
“This is everything. All his clothing, possessions, everything. I’m going to toss it all into the canal.”
“Whoa! What?” Kenya asked. “You mean Nic’s things? Why?”
“Because he’s a liar. And a cheater. And I hate his guts!” Her entire body trembled, an enraged look on her face. She cried—not a sad cry but a wrathful one.
Kenya grabbed her and held her tight. “Oh, Nat Pack. Tell me what’s going on.”
Natalia was too choked up to speak at first. Kenya allowed her to cry, get it all out. Her eyes observed Natalia’s usually meticulous kitchen. Dishes were stacked along the countertops, two empty wine bottles resting near the sink.
When Natalia regained her composure, her eyes found Kenya’s. “She’s pregnant.”
“Who’s pregnant?”
“Angelina. He got her pregnant.”
“You mean the one who wrote all those freaking letters, Angelina ? The mother of his child, Angelina ? The chick who’s in Sicily, Angelina ?”
“She’s not in Sicily. She’s here. In Jersey.”
“What?” Kenya’s breathing increased, a bewildered look on her face.
“I saw her at his office. Yeah, walked in on them. He was kissing her, and then she turned around and . . . that’s when I saw her belly. She’s pregnant with his child.”
“That low-down, dirty dog!” It was Kenya who was infuriated now, but she had to remain calm for Natalia’s sake, and in order to gather all the details. “What did he have to say for himself?”
“Nothing. He said nothing. He just looked at me. Just stood there. And she also stood there with a smug look on her face, gloating. She loved every minute of it.”
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” Kenya gave her a half-smile.
“It was so painful.” Natalia cried harder.
Kenya felt helpless. She wanted to relieve her of the pain, but she had to remain levelheaded. “You know you can’t throw his things into the canal, right, sweetie? You’ll go to jail.”
“I don’t care. I give up.”
“You can’t give up either, Nat Pack. You give up and you relinquish your power to them. Don’t give them that. I know you’re hurting right now, but trust me, this too shall pass.”
“I won’t get past this.”
“I know it feels that way right now, but you will. You’ll get through this. Just like you did when you had the miscarriage. Just like you did when he moved out of the house. Just like you did when you read those freaking letters. You will get past this.”
“This is much more painful than any of those things. She’s giving him what I never could—a child.”
“I know it sounds crazy, but because you don’t have a child with him, it makes it that much easier for you to move on without him . You don’t have any ties, except maybe this house. And we’ll fight his ass in court for you to keep the house.”
“I feel so stupid. All this time, I thought I was the one who was overreacting. Thinking that I was insecure.”
“You’re not stupid. Your intuition was spot-on. He wanted you to think that you were overreacting or being insecure, so that he could continue to do what he wanted to.”
“I know now. I sincerely thought we were starting over, thought God had given us a second chance.”
“Don’t blame yourself for his shortcomings. You’re a beautiful, strong, capable woman. You’re smart. Successful. You’ll be okay, my friend.”
“Am I? Your friend still?” Natalia asked. “I haven’t been that great a friend to you, Kenya. And I know that now. To keep something like that from you for three years . . .”
“I’m sure you had your reasons, concerns. I don’t like it, but . . .”
“I would never hurt you intentionally. I hope you know that.”
“I do know that. It didn’t make it better, but I know who you are as a person. You wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
“I had planned on telling you the day of the crash. I was waiting for you to get home from work. I had contemplated calling you at your law office but didn’t want to tell you something like that over the phone. I needed to tell you in person. Then I saw Glen’s crash on the news. After that . . . I don’t know . . . it was just so hard. I kept telling myself, I’ll tell her after the services . Then, it was, I’ll tell her when she stops grieving . The longer I waited, the harder it became.”
“I understand. I was in a bad place for so long. So fragile. I can’t imagine that anytime would’ve been the right time.”
“I didn’t want to compound your pain. I wanted you to heal first. Thought it was too much to lay on you all at once.”
“Sometimes we must have those hard conversations with each other, Nat Pack. Even when we know that it will hurt someone we love.”
“I was gravely mistaken and I’m so sorry. And I’m sorry you thought Glen’s death was your fault.”
“It was,” Kenya said matter-of-factly. “I could’ve been there for him, but I was too busy. Maybe I could’ve stopped him from committing suicide because we both know that’s what it was.”
“We don’t know for sure that it was suicide, Kenya. Maybe he just lost control of the car, for whatever reason.”
Kenya had already thoroughly examined every single detail of the accident. She’d gone over every possibility with a fine-tooth comb. She’d studied both the coroner’s and the autopsy report. He hadn’t had a stroke, or a heart attack. He had not been impaired. She knew, because she’d obsessed about it for far too long.
“There’s no other rational explanation.”
“You can’t blame yourself for the actions of others. Whatever Glen did or didn’t do was his choice—not yours. He had an obligation to bring you into the fold. You should’ve had a say in his treatment, or his decision not to be treated. Nic urged him to tell you, but he refused.” Natalia dropped her head. “But that doesn’t excuse my actions. The minute I overheard them talking, I should’ve gotten you on the phone. You’re my friend, my sister. I had an obligation to tell you. I owed you that much. Please forgive me.”
Kenya grabbed Natalia and hugged her tight. She whispered, “I forgive you.”
Natalia collapsed in her arms. Kenya could tell in that moment she desperately needed to hear those words and had yearned for them, no doubt. “You don’t know how much that means to me.”
“I think I do.” Kenya smiled. “Now, girl, let’s get those clothes off your front lawn before the neighbors start to whisper. Let’s unload those clothes out of your car. And then we’re going to clean this kitchen.”
Natalia laughed for the first time. “Those neighbors are probably already whispering.”
“Screw them! They don’t know what you’ve been through in the past twenty-four hours. Nor the past several months, for that matter.”
“True,” said Natalia as she led the way out to the garage and then into the front yard. “Where were you coming from anyway? Why aren’t you in the city, at your law office?”
“I’m coming from the airport. I went to Sacramento to be with Lu. Her father, John Samuels, died this week.”
“Oh no.” Natalia stopped in her tracks and covered her mouth with her hands. For a moment, it looked as if she might cry again. “That’s so terrible. I had no idea.”
“Yeah, she and Zach flew out there on Monday, but I figured she could use a friend, so I flew out there on the day of the memorial service.”
“I didn’t know. I’m really sorry to hear this news. Is she okay?”
“She’s okay.” Kenya began picking up Nic’s clothing from the lawn.
“Who’s running the inn?”
“You won’t believe it. Yana.”
Natalia laughed. “Are you kidding? I can’t believe she trusted Yana with her baby.”
“She had no choice. She and I were at odds. You and she were at odds. She had to make a hard decision. I’m going over there in a little bit to make sure Yana’s doing okay and hasn’t hightailed it back to Atlantic City for a bingo game.”
Natalia laughed. “Or sitting in front of a slot machine.”
“You know, friend, forgiveness works multiple ways.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you now have to forgive Lu for what she did to you. Just like you deserved forgiveness, so does she.”
Natalia lowered her head, contemplating Kenya’s words. “I know.”
“She feels terrible about telling Nic about the baby. She thinks that she destroyed your marriage.”
“Well, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Nic destroyed us.”
“It would do her heart good to hear that from you. Release her from that burden.”
“I will.”
“Good. Now, let’s get this lawn and kitchen cleaned up. Then I gotta go check on Yana and go pick up Ralph from the kennel.”
“Kenya, I love you.” Natalia’s arms were filled with clothing. “You’re a great friend.”
Kenya exhaled and gave her friend a warm smile. “I love you more.”