A Silken Thread - Brenda Jackson [81]
“Oh, yeah, go ahead and blame my mother for everything now,” Erica said, almost raising her voice while throwing up her hands. “I’m sure she had a lot of fun forcing my dad and Mrs. Lawson to sleep together. Just like I’m sure she’s going to love the embarrassment when word gets out as to why I’m postponing my wedding. You know my mom, April. You know how she prides herself on being above any scandal.”
“What I believe and what I know is that she would seize any opportunity to keep you and Brian apart so she can get Griffin back in the picture.”
“April, you know as well as I that that won’t be happening.”
“But you know as well as I that your mother still hasn’t gotten that point yet, and she never will until you marry Brian. So yes, Erica, I wouldn’t put it past her to do anything to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Erica nearly bit the inside of her mouth to keep from screaming out at her friend. She had it all wrong about her mother this time. “Look, I’m ending this conversation now before I say something I might regret.”
“All I know is that someone sent those pictures, and until I can come up with someone else who wants you and Brian not to marry then it makes good sense to me for your mother to be the prime suspect,” April said, not backing down on her theory.
“But Brian and I are still getting married,” Erica broke in to say. “Our wedding will be postponed, not cancelled.”
“Not if your mom has anything to do with it.”
“Look, I have to go. I have to check on my mother.”
“Where’s your dad?”
“He’s on a business trip and I haven’t talked to him. But he did leave a voice message on my phone saying he’ll be arriving around midnight.”
“You need to let your parents work things out, Erica. It’s between them,” April said. “It’s no different than if you and Brian were married and your parents interfered in one of your arguments with him. What happened is really your parents’ business and not yours,” she added.
Erica ran her fingers through her hair, a good indication she was getting angrier by the minute. April sounded too much like Brian to suit her. “I happen not to agree with you on that, April. If anything were to happen to my mother I would never forgive myself. Look, I love you, and I’ll talk with you later.”
“Erica,” April called out.
But she had hung up the phone.
“Brian?”
When Brian entered the airport’s terminal, he turned at the sound of his name being called, recognizing the voice immediately. “Mom?”
He then glanced at the woman by his mother’s side. “Goddy,” he greeted, calling his godmother Lori the named he’d called her since he learned to talk.
He then glanced back at his mother as numerous emotions tore into his insides. He loved her as deeply as a son could love a mother and he’d always been proud of the strong, self-assured and confident woman she was. A woman who, after losing her husband, had become a single mother and devoted all her time and attention to her son. But the one thing that was rushing fast and furious through his head at that moment was that his mother’s recent actions could cost him the love of his life.
He had tried convincing Erica that their parents’ affair didn’t concern them, but even he was finding it hard to separate the two while standing here right now and seeing the look of remorse in her gaze. The same question was still ramming through his mind. What could she and Mr. Sanders have been thinking?
“You’re leaving town?” his mother asked him in a soft tone.
“Yes. I was able to get a last-minute flight to Hattersville.” He figured he didn’t have to go into any great explanations as to why.
“Will we be able to talk when you get back?”
He drew in a long deep breath. Although he’d rather not, he realized they had to do so. Maybe then she could answer that question presently ramming through his mind. “Yes, I think we should.”
She hesitated before asking, “And how is Erica?”
Brian