Legacy of Love

Chapter 25





Classes hadn’t started yet but the professors had returned to campus for the prerequisite meetings and submission of lesson plans. Jackson was feeling good about the upcoming semester and was eager to get back in the saddle. That mess with the letter seemed to be a done deal, so that was one less thing he had to worry about. But what he was really looking forward to was heading back home to New Orleans and Zoe’s birthday party.

She hadn’t quite been herself since they’d returned from New York and he was hoping that being back with her family would lift her spirits. He’d been looking for the perfect gift and actually found it in New York. The real test of their relationship would come when he gave it to her.

“You sure it’s cool for me to come to Zoe’s party?” Levi asked him as they exited the building. “I mean it might just be a family thing.”

“You’re seeing my sister, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then that should answer your question.” He slapped him on the back. “Of course it’s cool. Zoe told me to make sure that you came. And I know Michelle wants you there.”

Levi grinned. “I know it’s only been a minute since we’ve known each other but that woman makes me happy.”

“She’s a good woman. And I’m not just saying that because she’s my sister.”

“I know. We’re taking it slow. I don’t want to be a rebound, know what I mean?”

“Yeah.”

“She’s filing for divorce.”

“She told me.” He glanced at Levi.

“It’s still going to take her a while to get over things. But once that’s done, then we can really decide how we’re going to move forward.”

“Like you said, take it slow.”

“Yeah,” he said thoughtfully.

“Did you make your reservations for the hotel?”

“Taking care of that today, for sure.”

They crossed the grounds to the parking lot.

“So what did you get Zoe for her birthday?”

Jackson grinned. “Secret.”

“From me?”

“Yeah, from you. I don’t want it to slip out. And from what my sister says, we talk about everything,” he said in a bad falsetto. “And Michelle can’t keep a secret, period. I tell you, you tell her and she spills the beans to Zoe.”

“Damn, man, it’s like that. I thought I was your boy.”

“You are and I want to keep it that way.”

“That’s cold. But just so you know, Michelle has been working on something that she plans to surprise you with.”

“Oh, yeah. What?”

“I ain’t telling.” He chuckled and unlocked his car door. “See you later, man.”

Jackson shook his head in amusement and walked toward his car. Just as he was about to get in he heard his name being called. He looked out across the rows of cars and saw a woman coming toward him. As she drew closer his stomach clenched.

“Professor Treme, can I speak with you a moment. Please?”

“Sure, Victoria, what is it?”

“I know the last time we spoke I left so much up in the air. I shouldn’t have. I should have been up front and told you everything.”

“I’m listening.”

“Carla is my half sister.”

“What? She never told me she had a half sister.”

She lowered her head for a moment. “She wouldn’t. I was the big family secret. Daddy’s indiscretion. She was the one who put me up to it. She was paying for me to go to grad school, saying it was her way of making up to me for how I’d been treated by the family. She said she would keep paying under the condition that I send those letters to the school.”

“Letters? There’s more?”

She dug into her knapsack and pulled out about a dozen letters wrapped in a rubber band. “I told her I sent them, but after the first one, I couldn’t do it.” She handed them to him. “I found out what she did. All of it.”

Jackson looked at the stack of letters then at Victoria. “Thank you. You gave up a lot. Why?”

“I can find a way to finish school. This isn’t the way. I may be the family secret but my mother didn’t raise me like that. I’m sorry, professor. I really am.”

Jackson was speechless.

Victoria turned to leave.

“Wait.”

She glanced over her shoulder.

“Come to my office next week. There’s still some scholarship money available. I’ll work it out, talk to the finance department. You can’t give up on your education.”

Her eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Yes. Really.”

“Thank you, thank you so much.”

“Next week. I have the same office hours.”

“I’ll be there.”

Jackson mechanically got into his car. Carla. All this time it was her. He tossed the letters onto the passenger seat. The first chance he got he was going to burn them.



After dinner, Zoe and Jackson worked side by side in her kitchen putting away food and loading the dishwasher.

“I still can’t get over that Carla would go to such lengths to get back at you.”

“I never would have never imagined in a million years that she was capable of the things she’s done.” He put away the plastic container with the leftover jerk chicken.

Zoe leaned against the sink, wiping her hands on the dish towel. She angled her head to the side. “I’m proud of you for what you’re going to do for Victoria.”

“She didn’t have to tell me anything. Worst, she could have gone along with Carla. I don’t even want to think about what could have happened if she did.”

Zoe squeezed his shoulder. “You did the right thing.”

Jackson turned out the kitchen light and followed Zoe into the living room. This whole routine, this thing that they were doing seemed so easy and so right, he thought. They had a rhythm with each other. There were no rules and verbal expectations, they just instinctively knew what the other wanted and needed. When he was with Zoe he was at peace and all the rest of the world took a backseat. He knew now more than ever that all of the signs, the dreams and the decisions that led him to change the course of his life were all the right ones. It led him to Zoe.

She rested her head in his lap while the news played in the background. This felt good, she thought. For the first time in her life she’d let a man get this close to her, get into her life on more than just the surface. And it wasn’t as scary anymore. If anything she wanted more of it. And that was where things swerved so totally off course. She couldn’t have it both ways. She couldn’t have the career-changing job and the man of her dreams. And that realization was slowly breaking her heart.

“You ready for your big day?” he asked softly.

She adjusted her position. “Pretty much.”

“I’m really looking forward to meeting your family. Especially your grandmother.”

“I’ve been telling her about you, ya know.” She turned onto her back so that she could look at him.

“Good things, I hope, and not the parts about my bad singing in the shower.”

She laughed. “No, trust me, my lips are permanently sealed on that one.”

“Am I really that bad?” he asked looking wounded.

She reached up and tenderly stroked his cheek. “Yes.”

Jackson tossed his head back and laughed. “I’ll try to keep it to a low hum from here on out.” His eyes moved over her face and the smile that was on hers, the light that was in her eyes, filled him. He loved her. From the bottom of his soul he loved this woman. She had yet to say she felt the same way. And even as a part of him believed that she felt the same way and just as strongly, there was the voice of doubt that still wouldn’t let go.

“Levi, Michelle and Shay are going to drive down tomorrow evening. They’re going to stay in the hotel.”

“There’s plenty of space at the house. I told Michelle she was welcome. Sharlene is staying and she’s bringing Ray. They’re going to drive down tomorrow.”

“How big is this little house of yours?”

“From the road, it looks pretty standard, but the house runs all the way back to the end of the property line, stopping just before the lake. There are eight bedrooms and three full baths. And there are two guest houses on the property. They used to be slave quarters, from what my family told me. The same house that my great-great-grandmother was enslaved on.”

“A lot of history there.”

Yes there was, she thought. Yes, there was.