Chapter 20
Carrington Office
Searcy, Arkansas
"Sorry to stop you again, but I am confused. So, at that point, even though you two have been…intimate, you were determined not to be again? Why?" asked Harvey.
"Because tigers don't change their stripes.
My whole life, I have been a good girl. I did what was expected of me, and I followed the rules.
Always, except for that one night in Gulf Shores.
The guilt I felt from that was unbelievable.
I was raised to believe my marriage vows meant something.
My parents did not have the best marriage, but they stayed together.
They taught Tatum and me to live up to our commitments.
One thing I did learn during that period is that it is a lot easier to do the right thing when you are not tempted by the wrong thing.
Meaning that, until I met Greer, no man ever interested me enough even to consider cheating.
After meeting him, resisting him took a tremendous amount of self-control.
If I had been in the same city with him for days on end, I would have crumbled like a cookie.
Not an admission I am proud of,” replied Taylor.
Nodding, Harvey said, "We all have our Achilles heels.
No one gets out of this world without being addicted to something.
A vice is a vice. Society decides which are acceptable and which are not.
My father was a workaholic. He lived to work.
Missed family dinners, school programs, and family vacations.
He made a lot of money and was very successful.
Society considered him a success even though his wife left him; he has no relationship with any of his children or grandchildren and will die a miserable old man.
Stop beating yourself up. Sometimes, trying to do the right thing is as good as it gets. "
"Thanks for saying that. For all my good intentions, my life was about to go completely off the rails," said Taylor.
Taylor's Apartment
Miami, Florida
July 2012
The next morning, Taylor overslept. She jumped out of bed and rushed around in a panic to get dressed and pick up the apartment before she left for the center.
At a quarter of eight, she pulled out of her complex, heading for the relief station, but her mind was still on last night's dilemma.
After a restless night, she was no closer to a solution than the night before.
Perhaps it was because her thoughts were so scattered that she did not see the car that came flying out of nowhere until it slammed into her.
She felt as if she was in slow motion. She tried to swerve to miss the car, but it was too late.
She had been wearing her seatbelt and the airbag deployed.
Taylor's head was knocked against the side window, and then her last thought before her world went black was, Oh my God, I am going to die just like Momma, Daddy, and Tatum.
Two Hours Later
Carrington US Senate Office
Washington DC
July 2012
Bennett was in his office in Washington, working on a speech he was supposed to give to a farmer's organization when his phone rang.
"Hello."
"Senator Carrington. Senator Bennett Carrington?”
"Yes, who is this?"
"This is Dr. Shawn LaGay. I am an OB-GYN at St. Mary's in Miami. Your wife, Taylor Carrington, was brought here a little while ago after a car accident."
Bennett, frantic, asked, "Is she okay? Can I talk to her?"
The doctor sounded very clinical and matter-of-fact as she said, "Not yet.
We have her heavily sedated. She is currently stable, and she has regained consciousness.
She sustained head trauma but no broken bones.
She was very fortunate. We expect that both she and the baby will make a full recovery. "
"Wait a minute. I think you have the wrong person. There is no way my wife is pregnant."
"Are you sure? We are talking about Taylor Stroupe Carrington, thirty-three, birth date of November tenth. Long brown hair, thin, about five-seven."
“That's Taylor, but there must be some mistake. There is no way Taylor is going to have a baby." Bennett sounded as shocked and confused as he felt.
"Well, I assure you she is. Obviously, the two of you need to talk. She is fifteen weeks. The baby's heartbeat is strong, and it looks to be very healthy."
For a second, Bennett sat silently stunned.
After a moment, the doctor said, "Hello? Senator Carrington, are you there?”
"Um, yes, I am here. I will be there as quickly as I can. Tell Taylor I am on my way and will see her shortly. And doctor, thank you for calling me."
Instantly, Bennett began clearing his desk and preparing to leave. As he walked out of his office, he yelled, "Joules, come here. You are not going to believe this!"
St. Mary's Hospital
Miami, Florida
July 2012
When Bennett arrived at the hospital two hours later, he met with Denice, the nurse assigned to Taylor, who had briefed him on her condition.
Taylor was very sedated. Evidently, each time Denice came in to check her vitals, Taylor awakened in a hazy daze and asked if she were dead.
It had broken Bennett's heart to hear that.
She must have been so afraid, and she had been so alone. He knew he had let her and Tatum down. He had made his best friend a promise many years before to protect her no matter what. He had not kept the promise very well lately. He wanted to do better.
He had been sitting by her bedside watching her sleep and was trying to figure out how he could do a better job of protecting Taylor and still live up to his commitments to Poppy and Ben when he heard a buzzing coming from Taylor's purse.
Reaching inside her purse, he took out the phone and answered it.
He didn't recognize the name. The screen name read Greer.
"Hello?"
"Who is this? I was calling for Taylor. Why is she not answering this phone?"
"This is Bennett Carrington, her husband. Who is this?"
"It's Greer. What's wrong? Why are you on Taylor's phone? I want to talk to Taylor right now."
"Greer, who?" replied Bennett. After a moment, he said, "Look, it doesn't matter. Taylor can't talk right now. She is still asleep. She was in an accident, but she is going to be okay. I'll tell her you called."
"No, wait! Don't hang up! Tell me what hospital, and I will be right there."
"I don't think that is such a good idea. She is still out of it and may not feel up to visitors."
“I don't care what you think, you Ken doll. Tell me where she is now, or so help me…"
Bennett was shocked by the anger and passion in this Greer person's voice. Suddenly, he realized that this guy, whoever he was, cared deeply about Taylor and could possibly be the father of her baby. So, he asked, "It's you, isn't it? You are the father of the baby Taylor is carrying?"
Shocked, Greer was momentarily silenced.
After a moment, he snapped back and said, "I have no idea what you are talking about, but if Taylor is pregnant, then yes, I am the father.
Now tell me where the hell she is right now.
" Bennett didn't hesitate for a second. He knew exactly how he would have felt if he and Poppy were in the same situation.
He would have killed someone that tried to keep her from him. So he said, "St. Mary's Room 214."
Greer said, "On my way." And the line went dead.
This is going to be fun, thought Bennett as he put her phone away and sat down to wait for the arrival of the now-infamous Greer.
Taylor could hear someone talking, but they sounded very far away.
She opened her eyes and tried to sit up, but every muscle and bone in her body ached.
The room was really dark. In the background, Taylor could hear the faint sounds of a television playing.
She supposed that was the person she heard talking.
With a start, she realized she was in a hospital bed, but her brain wasn't working quite right.
She kept having images of a car crash and an ambulance ride, and then images of being in the ER floated through her mind.
She supposed she was now in a room. But she had no idea what hospital she was in or if anyone was with her.
Then suddenly, in the dark, a voice that she instantly recognized said, "Hey, Sleepy Head. It's good to see you awake. You have been out pretty much since I got here."
"Bennett? Is that you?"
At that moment, Bennett moved closer to the bed, ran his hand along her face, and pushed her hair out of her eyes. She had an ugly bruise forming along the top of her left temple. It hurt Bennett to see it.
"You gave me quite a scare. When they called to say you had been in an accident, my heart stopped."
"Yeah, I still can't believe I am alive."
Smiling down at her, he said, "Well, you are. Every time the nurse checks your vitals, you ask her if you are alive. You've done it so many times, she now just says, "You lived, Mrs. Carrington. Don't worry. You are still alive."
Taylor tried to laugh, but it hurt too much.
“That is funny. It wasn't so funny when I saw that car flying at me.
I really did think I was going to die. I wondered if that was what they thought just before they were hit.
" There was no need to say who the "they” was.
Bennett instantly knew she was talking about her parents and Tatum.
"Well, I don't know about that, but I do know I am awfully glad you didn't die for a million reasons, not the least of which is I would never get to know who the daddy is of the baby you are carrying." Mimicking a Dezi Arnaz voice, he said, "Lucy, you got some splainin' to do."