Way to Her Heart

chapter 17

Sherri’s feeling of optimism lasted as long as it took her to drive home from Royce’s office to pick up Sydney’s dance bag. She’d been so preoccupied with her impending appointment that she’d forgotten it when they left for daycare, so she made a quick run to pick up the bag and drop it off at daycare so that Sydney could have it when it was time for her class that afternoon. She parked in the driveway, ran inside and grabbed the bag from the foyer, but when she turned to go back to the car, there was Trevor. He had on a blue suit and was carrying another bouquet of blue flowers. He also had a smug smile on his face. She tightened her grip on the handles of the small duffel bag.

“Make this the last time you violate my privacy or there will be a restraining order sworn out on you,” she said in a cold and even tone. “I’ve made it abundantly clear that I don’t wish to have anything to do with you, yet you persist in accosting me. It has to stop.”

The smug smile shifted to an icy smirk so quickly that most people would have missed the transition, but Sherri saw it at once. In a second he went from looking annoying to looking predatory.

“You’re using some rather inflammatory terms to describe a harmless social call, Sherri. Violate? Accost? I came to say hello and to bring you something to brighten your day, and you’re acting as though I’m a common criminal. Is that any way to treat your future husband?” He had the colossal nerve to try for a winsome grin, as if that would win her over.

“Trevor, I have no intention of marrying you, now or ever. You were not invited here and if you are unexpected, you are also uninvited, so you need to leave. And those things couldn’t possibly brighten my day. You’ve forgotten that I despise cut flowers, and I particularly hate blue ones, so this has been a total waste of your time. Go away and leave me alone or you will be a common criminal because violation of a restraining order is against the law. I can’t make myself any plainer than that.”

She moved to get into the Lincoln and he took a step forward. Her arm moved back automatically in case she had to take a swing at him, but he didn’t notice.

“I’m trying to resolve this amicably, Sherri. I have a right to see the conditions in which my child and future wife are living, don’t you think? I don’t want this to turn into a court case, but if it does, I need to be prepared,” he said smoothly, as though they were the best of friends.

Sherri had to exercise Herculean control to speak calmly and not knock him in the head with Sydney’s duffel bag, which really didn’t weigh enough to hurt him. Gritting her teeth, she said, “Trevor, this is getting more bizarre every time I see you. One minute you’re trying to get me to marry you and the next minute you’re making thinly veiled threats to take me to court about a child in whom you’ve never shown the least bit of interest. If it does turn into a court case, you won’t have a leg on which to stand. Don’t try to contact me again,” she warned. “Anything you have to say to me you can say to my attorney.”

Reaching into her purse, she handed him one of Royce’s cards and was pleased to see his complexion turn ashen.

“How did you get him involved in our business? Where did you find him?”

“Why do you ask? Do you know him?” she asked blandly.

“He was a classmate of mine in law school. I wouldn’t trust him if I were you,” he mumbled.

“He seems perfectly trustworthy to me. And if I were you, I wouldn’t be bothering me. Go away, Trevor. I have a busy day and you’re holding me up. Goodbye.”

This time she made it into the Lincoln. She buckled her seatbelt and locked the door as she pulled out of the driveway with haste. Her hands were trembling, and she had to take several deep breaths to calm down. He knew where they lived, he knew where she worked and God only knew what else Mother Stratton had clued him in on. Hell, he could’ve found it all on the internet for all she knew. She drove to Hightower AME Church as fast as she could without breaking any speed laws and took the bag into the daycare. It was naptime and she could see Sydney on her purple mat between her best pals. Sherri didn’t realize she’d been holding her breath until a big puff of air escaped her lips, which had tightly compressed.

Mrs. Haithco, the director of the program, saw her looking in on the sleeping children and asked if anything was amiss.

“Not a thing, Mrs. Haithco. I had to bring Sydney’s dance bag because this is the day for her lesson, that’s all. We were moving so fast this morning that I forgot it.”

“Dr. Sherri, with all you do it’s not surprising that some little thing would slip your mind. You seem a little flustered, dear. Is there anything I can do?”

“No, not at all. But since I’m here, I would like to check the list of people I designated to pick Sydney up or drop her off, just to make sure it’s up-to-date.”

“I can email it to you and you can check it and if there are to be any changes, just stop by in the morning. You know that any changes have to be made in person by you only.”

Sherri said that was fine and she left, her legs not as steady as she would have liked. When she got to her office she apologized to Kayla for being late; being tardy wasn’t part of her makeup. She was always prompt and kept to her schedule because she didn’t like her patients to have to wait. Luckily, her load was light this afternoon, and she still had twenty minutes before her first appointment. She called Royce Griffin and explained the unsettling visit from Trevor.

Royce was on it immediately. “We’re going to have to take some steps right away because it sounds like he’s moved into the stalking stage. Can I meet with you tonight, preferably at your place?”

“Of course,” she replied. “Is it okay if a few of my friends are there also? They’re very close to me and Sydney and they’ll help in any way they can.”

“Sure, no problem,” he said. “Does eight sound good?”

“Sounds fine to me.” She gave him her address.

“I know some people who live in the same complex and I have a GPS, so I should be fine. See you at eight.”

Sherri felt more in control after talking to Royce. Her watch told her that she had a few more minutes before her appointment, so she called Lucas.

“If you’re not busy tonight can you come over at seven? There’re a few things we need to talk about.”

“Of course, sweetheart. You don’t even have to ask. Is everything okay with you?”

“It will be once I see you,” she said in a subdued voice that he barely recognized.

“I’ll be there,” he promised.

When she hung up the phone she felt better. She went into her little bathroom to wash her hands and splash cold water on her face. She was dismayed to see her face looking pasty and strained and she patted her cheeks hard to bring some color back. Just a few more hours and everything would be right again. Just a few.

* * *

When Lucas got to Sherri’s place everything looked perfectly normal. Sherri and Sydney were setting the table for dinner, and Sydney was singing happily. She stopped long enough to give Lucas her normal affectionate greeting of a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, but minutes later she was singing again. He tilted his head to listen because he couldn’t believe her tune of choice.

“Is she singing ‘Walk Like a Man’? Where’d she get that from?” he asked Sherri.

She grinned. “The Jersey Boys soundtrack. I think she has it memorized. Yes, my thoroughly modern child has fallen hard for Frankie Valli.” She laughed. Her brief laughter died and her face turned serious.

She sent Sydney upstairs ostensibly to pick out an outfit for the next day, but as soon as the child was out of the room she took Lucas’s hand and led him out on the deck. She quickly filled him in on the events of the day, starting with her conference with Royce Griffin, then Trevor’s appearance at her home, her call to Royce and his plan of coming over at eight to discuss a strategy for handling Barnes for the next few days.

Sherri might not have realized how furious Lucas was, but he was utilizing every bit of control that he had to keep from exploding in rage. Something had to be done about the man. The very thought that he not only knew where Sherri lived, but also that he’d come over to rub her nose in the information was galling to him. Lucas wasn’t violent by nature, but he would have happily beaten the man to a paste. If he knew where Sherri lived and the hospital where she worked, he undoubtedly knew other things, like where Sydney went to daycare and where her dance classes were held.

He tried hard not to let Sherri know how much her news upset him, but it took every bit of the limited acting skill he had to keep her from seeing the anger simmering under the surface. He put his arms around her and held her close, so close that he could feel her heart beating faster than usual.

“It’s going to fine, Sherri. I got this, remember?”

She nodded and held him even tighter, drawing his strength into her body. “Let’s go eat so we’ll be ready when Royce gets here,” she said.

It wasn’t a very filling meal for a man, which was fine by him because he had no appetite. But it was delicious by any standards. Sherri served the chicken salad he’d made the night before, along with sliced tomatoes, a green salad and her special bean salad. And she’d made a stellar batch of biscuits. He’d never been particularly fond of five-bean salad, but Sherri’s was delicious. She mixed red beans, baby lima beans, black beans, wax beans and green beans with chopped shallots, red and yellow peppers and celery. The vinaigrette had a unique piquant quality that made the dish stand out. He looked at her quizzically and asked what was different about her recipe.

“Oh, I use dilled green beans and I use the juice in the dressing, that’s all. I’ve always liked bean salad so I played around with it until I found a really good variety of colors and flavors. Do you like it?”

“I love it. I’ve never been a big fan, but this I could eat every day.”

“You should eat it a lot, Uncle Lucas. It has lots of protein and it’s good for you,” Sydney informed him.

“Thank you for looking out for my health, sweetie.”

“You’re very welcome,” she said with a dimpled smile.

Lucas handled the table clearing and kitchen cleaning while Sherri took Sydney up to get her ready for bed. He took his time while he was handling the dishes because he was afraid he might break something; he was that angry. It was obvious that this Trevor dude was crazy as a damned road lizard and as far as he was concerned, he needed to be behind bars. Better yet, he needed to be under the building with the bars. It suddenly occurred to him that Alexis wouldn’t appreciate getting the news secondhand, so he reached for his cell phone to call her. While waiting for Alexis to answer her phone, the doorbell rang. When he opened the door, there she was with Jared.

He raised both his eyebrows in surprise and said, “I was just calling you,” but he said it into the phone instead of directly to Alexis. When he realized his mistake he scowled and clicked the phone off, shoving it into his pocket.

Alexis looked at him with concern. “Are you okay, Lucas? You look a little stressed. What’s wrong?”

Sherri came downstairs with Sydney, forestalling his need to answer. She was smiling, but it looked forced to anyone who knew her well, and these people knew her very well.

“Come on in,” she invited. “Sit down, everyone, and I’ll get you something to drink. Iced tea, lemonade, something stronger? Whatever you want, I probably have.”

Now Alexis looked at Sherri with worry in her eyes. “Something is up and you’re not telling me. What’s going on?”

“Just give me about two minutes and you’ll know. Please, just have a seat. Sydney wanted to come down to say good-night to everyone before she goes to bed.”

Sydney was the only person behaving normally as she gave big kisses to Jared and Alexis, saving the biggest one for Lucas. Before she could get tucked in, however, the doorbell rang again. It was Royce.

“Hello, Royce. You’re right on time. Just let me put Sydney to bed and I’ll be right with you,” Sherri ushered him in.

Sydney, never one to miss an opportunity to meet a good-looking fellow, introduced herself. She held out her hand and said, “Hello, I’m Sydney. What’s your name?”

Obviously charmed by her winsome smile, her pink-striped pajamas and her pink robe, Royce smiled broadly as he shook her tiny hand. “I’m Royce Griffin. It’s very nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too. I have to go to bed now. Good night, everybody!”

Alexis stopped Sherri from going upstairs. “I’ll take care of her. You go handle your business and I’ll be right back.”

So Sherri was able to introduce Jared and Lucas to Royce. She sat on the love seat next to Lucas, while Royce took the big armchair.

He addressed his first remark to Sherri. “Is everyone up to speed on the situation?”

She shook her head. “Lucas is, but Jared and Alexis don’t know everything yet. You can go ahead, and I’ll fill them in later on whatever they don’t pick up from your comments. Is that okay?”

“Works for me. First and foremost, I think that Trevor is in a fairly fragile mental state right now, so by no means does he need to be anywhere around you or Sydney. She’s a little doll, by the way,” he added with a grin. “I know grown women who don’t have that much poise.” Sherri smiled her thanks.

Royce continued, “I’m going to be filing a restraining order against him first thing in the morning so if you see him or hear of him within one hundred feet of either of you we’ll have a legal means to keep him away, so that’s that.”

Sherri made a sound of relief and Lucas gave her a squeeze with the arm that was around her shoulders.

“I used the words fragile mental state because of information I received this afternoon. As I told you, we were classmates and fraternity brothers. I’ve stayed close to my frat brothers. I made a few phone calls and I think I got to the root cause of him showing up in Columbia talking about marrying you. It all has to do with money.”

Sherri protested, “But I don’t have any money except for what I earn, and it’s not like I’m rolling in the big bucks. I do okay, but I’m no Oprah or close to her in terms of money.”

Royce smiled grimly. “It’s not your money he’s after, Sherri. It’s the family money. His grandfather changed his will and instead of the lion’s share going to the oldest son, which Trevor is, or even being divided evenly between his grandchildren, the old man has come up with a new plan. Whoever gets married and produces a child first gets to be CEO of Barnes Pharmaceuticals and gets the biggest piece of the inheritance pie. It’s that simple. And stupid,” he added.

“Seems like Grandpa Barnes is tired of his progeny acting like spoiled dilettantes and he wants them to settle down and act like responsible adults, which to his mind means marriage and family. There’re four children and three of them are married but they prefer living the high life instead of popping out some babies. And Trevor is just buck wild. He’s got women all over the place and no wife in sight. So Grandpa thinks that this is going to make them toe the line,” Royce said dryly.

“Well, his siblings are back in L.A. humping like rabbits trying to produce an heir first. So Trevor gets this brilliant idea—he’s going to marry you and bring Sydney home to the old man because that will make him first and he’ll have it all without lifting a finger. See, no one knows about you and Sydney. Because you never asked him for anything, he never had to own up to the fact that he’s a father and he’s trying to use that to his advantage.”

Alexis had returned to the living room by then, and the look on her face was priceless. “So why is he being so greedy? He’s this big-time attorney, so why is he trying so hard to get the promise of an inheritance?”

Royce gave her a crooked grin and said, “Sherri hasn’t had a chance to give you all the dirt. Trevor is not a practicing attorney. As I told her today, we went to law school together and he was at the bottom of our class. He has a law degree, but he hasn’t managed to pass the bar yet. Right now he sells used luxury cars in Pomona and, as you can imagine, the market isn’t too good for them right now. Not only that, he’s in debt up to the top of his head. He owes money to everybody, including the IRS and a couple of loan sharks. From what I can gather, he’s in deep, deep financial trouble and he’s grasping at any straw he can, which is why he suddenly showed up talking about marriage and family. He’s a desperate man and judging by his actions today, a potentially dangerous one.”

Jared spoke for the first time and he didn’t sound happy. “What actions today? What did he do?”

Sherri took a deep breath and explained the situation as succinctly as possible. Jared’s neck turned a deep red then spread to his face.

“Oh, hell no,” he growled. “Do we need to go have a talk with him? Because he’s gonna have to stay clear of Sherri and Sydney if he wants to live.”

“The restraining order should be enough to keep him at bay,” Royce said, “but I’d suggest that Sherri take extra precautions until he gets out of town. He’s not in any position to try to get custody or visitation, but he’s determined so I think that Sherri should consider getting an escort until this is over. He obviously knows your schedule and your locations, so just to be on the safe side, a bodyguard wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

Lucas spoke in a low, lethal voice. “She doesn’t need one—she has me.”

There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Lucas would protect her to the death, but Royce had one more suggestion. “If it’s possible, I’d take Sydney out of daycare for a few days. Is there somewhere else she can go, someplace that he wouldn’t know about?”

Lucas spoke again. “Absolutely. My folks will be up here tomorrow to pick her up and take her to their place on Hilton Head Island. Not a problem.”

Sherri looked at him in surprise while Royce nodded his approval.

“That’s a great idea. My feeling is that Trevor’s not going to be able to obey a restraining order, and he’ll be in custody before long. It sounds cold, but it’s probably the best thing for him. His family can cite extenuating circumstances and get him back to California for some much-needed treatment, and he might be able to salvage the rest of his life. In the meantime, I know it’s probably going to be annoying, Sherri, but you don’t need to go anywhere by yourself.”

Lucas’s eyes had darkened until they looked almost black instead of their normal green. “Don’t worry. She won’t.”