A Silken Thread - Brenda Jackson [82]
“Brian…”
“No, Mom, I’d rather not discuss anything here. Besides, I need to go catch my flight. I need to try to convince Erica not to postpone our wedding. We’ll talk when I get back.”
Without saying anything else, he turned and moved quickly toward his gate.
For as long as Erica could remember, she’d always gotten filled with excitement at the sound of her father returning home from a day at the office or a business trip. Unfortunately, this was not one of those times. She tossed aside the magazine she was reading when she heard the front door opening and closing.
She had checked on her mother earlier and found her resting. Whether it was peacefully or not, she wasn’t sure. Karen’s eyes were closed and Erica could only surmise that she was asleep. Her father’s last voice mail message said he wouldn’t be arriving until after midnight and the clock on the wall indicated he’d been right.
For years she and her mother had suggested that he purchase a private jet for the company, so he could come and go when he pleased without being dependent on commercial airlines. But he’d flatly refused saying it was a luxury he didn’t need and that he actually enjoyed spanning the globe like a regular person. Now she couldn’t help wondering if perhaps Rita weren’t his first affair and not having a private jet had made things easier for him. Employees had a tendency to talk.
Moving toward the door, she walked out of the study at the same time he dropped his luggage in the foyer and glanced her way. Surprisingly, if he was harboring any guilt she didn’t see it. But then she wasn’t sure she would recognize it in him anyway, since it was something she’d never suspected before.
“Dad,” she greeted as calmly as she could.
“Erica.”
“Where’s your mother?”
“Upstairs sleeping.”
He nodded and moved toward her. “Is there somewhere we can talk privately?”
“At this point, Dad, I’m not sure there is anything you can say.”
She saw a flash of something in the dark depths of his eyes. It wasn’t guilt but hurt. How dare he let what she’d said hurt him after what he’d done.
“Please. Don’t shut me out, Erica.”
“What do you expect?”
“Your respect, for starters. And then your ability to be fair and not judgmental.”
She pushed her hair back from her face. “Are you saying those pictures that were sent aren’t real? That you and Rita are not having an affair?”
He met her eyes and without a waver in his gaze, he said, “Those pictures are real and yes, Rita and I are having an affair.”
Erica had known all along, but hearing him admit it so easily without a tinge of regret or remorse in his voice was like a slap to her face.
“Then what can you honestly say to me, Dad? Besides, it’s not me you need to explain things to, it’s Mom. However, I’m warning you not to upset her any more than she’s already upset. She passed out and I called Dr. Cobb. He’s given her something to make her rest. He also told me something— Mom has a heart condition she’s been keeping from the two of us and shouldn’t get stressed out in any way. He suggested that she go on an extended trip someplace. I’ve discussed it with her and she wants to do a twelve-day cruise and from there spend a month or so at the cabin in Lake Tahoe. I’m going with her.”
Wilson raised a brow. “But what about your wedding?”
“I’ve called it off. At least for now.”
“Erica, please don’t let what I did keep you from marrying Brian.”
She drew in a deep breath. “How can I not, Dad? Thanks to you and Rita, Mom is more against the wedding than before.”
“But what happened is between me and your mother. It doesn’t involve you.”
She frowned. That was the same thing Brian and April were saying—she disagreed with them and she disagreed with him. “You’re wrong, Dad. It does involve me because you and the mother of the man I’m engaged to marry hurt my mother in the worst possible way. Not only did the two of you betray her but you also betrayed me and Brian.