was her client inquiring about her whereabouts. On the second ring, she answered with an ebullience she didn’t feel. “Brooklyn Douglas.”
“Well, aren’t you a burst of sunshine this morning.”
Brooklyn’s heart sank at the sound of her ex-husband’s husky voice. “What do you want, Evan?”
“Just a few minutes of your time,” he answered seriously. Actually, Evan was always serious—about everything. She guessed that he, too, was on his cell. In the background, she recognized the hospital’s buzz of activity. He was in his natural habitat.
“All right. Talk. You have two minutes.”
“Brooke, I didn’t call to start a fight with you.”
“Oh, no? Then I’ll make sure that I write this day down in the record books.”
He sighed heavily and then lowered his voice. “I just called to confirm that I’ll be picking up Jaleel next Friday for the summer.”
Relief and fear battled within her and she hesitated in her response.
“You’re not thinking of backing out on me on this, are you?” His voice dipped to a hiss. “I swear, Brooke, if you do something to stop this, I’ll drag your butt into court so fast it’ll make your head spin.”
“Don’t threaten me, Evan,” she hissed back. “I’m doing you a favor—considering.”
Evan held the phone line and let his deep heavy breathing do the talking.
“Oh, my. Did I render the great doctor speechless?” she asked, smoothly changing out of the fast lane.
“I’m doing my best to get you your money.” His tone remained harsh.
“Speaking of money, Evan, how can you afford this summer excursion anyway?”
“Jaleel and I need this trip, if for no other reason than to do some father-and-son bonding. It’s just two weeks. The rest of the summer we’ll be in town.”
“He also has other needs—like eating and maintaining a roof over his head. You know, miscellaneous stuff like that.”
“Five thousand a month is a lot of food, Brooke.”
“We all make choices, my dear. And when youdecided to sleep with my best friend, you made a bad one.”
“Brooke—”
“Oops. Look at that. Your time is up.”
“Brooklyn—”
“Pick your son up next Friday. Lord knows I need a break. He’s becoming more like you every day.” She ended the call and tried to erase all thoughts of Evan and her catastrophic situation, but that was impossible. Two minutes down the road, she changed the radio station, tired of the sexually explicit songs on the popular R&B stations. She landed on an oldies-but-goodies station as Stephanie Mills’s powerful voice belted out a classic that mirrored her own deepest desires: “I need, I need, the comfort of a man.”
“Ain’t that the truth?” Brooklyn mumbled with a soft laugh. In her head, she was transported to a sweet memory where clear gray eyes worshiped her and arms of steel enfolded her. Where was the great Isaiah Washington now and did he ever think of her?
Isaiah finally landed at the Atlanta Hartsfield Airport after enduring a twelve-hour hassle of delayed flights and another overzealous strip search from the airport. Now that he’d reached his destination, he was able to focus his energy on getting to the hospital.
It was probably the thousandth time he’d cursed the distance separating him and his mother. He should haveknown something like this would eventually happen. His mother was getting older and he was her only child. Medical concerns should have always been a priority. It only made sense for him to move closer. Then again, with his constant traveling, it was still likely that he’d be out of town if something else happened. Around and around his thoughts and reasoning chased each other. Answers, however, eluded him.
Atlanta’s summer humidity was a blow to his lungs and he found the heavy air hard to process. His white shirt and ironed jeans felt as though they were painted on. He dug around in his overnight bag and retrieved his shades. Now he was ready to
“Well, aren’t you a burst of sunshine this morning.”
Brooklyn’s heart sank at the sound of her ex-husband’s husky voice. “What do you want, Evan?”
“Just a few minutes of your time,” he answered seriously. Actually, Evan was always serious—about everything. She guessed that he, too, was on his cell. In the background, she recognized the hospital’s buzz of activity. He was in his natural habitat.
“All right. Talk. You have two minutes.”
“Brooke, I didn’t call to start a fight with you.”
“Oh, no? Then I’ll make sure that I write this day down in the record books.”
He sighed heavily and then lowered his voice. “I just called to confirm that I’ll be picking up Jaleel next Friday for the summer.”
Relief and fear battled within her and she hesitated in her response.
“You’re not thinking of backing out on me on this, are you?” His voice dipped to a hiss. “I swear, Brooke, if you do something to stop this, I’ll drag your butt into court so fast it’ll make your head spin.”
“Don’t threaten me, Evan,” she hissed back. “I’m doing you a favor—considering.”
Evan held the phone line and let his deep heavy breathing do the talking.
“Oh, my. Did I render the great doctor speechless?” she asked, smoothly changing out of the fast lane.
“I’m doing my best to get you your money.” His tone remained harsh.
“Speaking of money, Evan, how can you afford this summer excursion anyway?”
“Jaleel and I need this trip, if for no other reason than to do some father-and-son bonding. It’s just two weeks. The rest of the summer we’ll be in town.”
“He also has other needs—like eating and maintaining a roof over his head. You know, miscellaneous stuff like that.”
“Five thousand a month is a lot of food, Brooke.”
“We all make choices, my dear. And when youdecided to sleep with my best friend, you made a bad one.”
“Brooke—”
“Oops. Look at that. Your time is up.”
“Brooklyn—”
“Pick your son up next Friday. Lord knows I need a break. He’s becoming more like you every day.” She ended the call and tried to erase all thoughts of Evan and her catastrophic situation, but that was impossible. Two minutes down the road, she changed the radio station, tired of the sexually explicit songs on the popular R&B stations. She landed on an oldies-but-goodies station as Stephanie Mills’s powerful voice belted out a classic that mirrored her own deepest desires: “I need, I need, the comfort of a man.”
“Ain’t that the truth?” Brooklyn mumbled with a soft laugh. In her head, she was transported to a sweet memory where clear gray eyes worshiped her and arms of steel enfolded her. Where was the great Isaiah Washington now and did he ever think of her?
Isaiah finally landed at the Atlanta Hartsfield Airport after enduring a twelve-hour hassle of delayed flights and another overzealous strip search from the airport. Now that he’d reached his destination, he was able to focus his energy on getting to the hospital.
It was probably the thousandth time he’d cursed the distance separating him and his mother. He should haveknown something like this would eventually happen. His mother was getting older and he was her only child. Medical concerns should have always been a priority. It only made sense for him to move closer. Then again, with his constant traveling, it was still likely that he’d be out of town if something else happened. Around and around his thoughts and reasoning chased each other. Answers, however, eluded him.
Atlanta’s summer humidity was a blow to his lungs and he found the heavy air hard to process. His white shirt and ironed jeans felt as though they were painted on. He dug around in his overnight bag and retrieved his shades. Now he was ready to
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