One Special Moment - Brenda Jackson [58]
Colby sighed. She couldn’t believe Sterling had actually listened to anything she had said that night on the beach when she’d gone off on him like a raving lunatic. But he had done more than just listen to her, he had taken it upon himself to make the lives of Otis and Maria a lot better.
She had called Sterling to thank him for what he had done for her two students, but Simon had told her he had gone out and that he would give him the message when he returned. She was sure he had done so, but Sterling had not bothered to return her call. But she knew for a fact that he checked in with Mac every day. He was making it very clear that whatever harmony that had existed between them during the last days they’d spent together was over. He was now taking the same position he had taken in the beginning. Their relationship was strictly a business deal and nothing more. And by ignoring her, he was reinforcing that fact.
And he was doing a pretty good job of it, Colby thought as she moved around the room keeping herself busy until Mac showed up. But she was just as determined not to be ignored. She picked up the phone and began dialing his number when she heard a knock at the door. She hung up the phone knowing it was probably Mac to take her to the gym. She would try calling Sterling again when she got back.
Sterling took a deep breath when he heard the soft knock on the study door. “Come in.”
He braced himself when Angeline Chenault walked in, convincing himself that how she felt toward him no longer mattered. She had chosen not to be a part of his life nearly thirty-five years ago, and like Colby said, it was her loss and not his.
The woman who entered the room had dark hair and delicate features. She didn’t look the age of a woman who had a thirty-five-year-old son…or a thirty-year-old son, for that matter. The years evidently had been good to her.
“Hello, Sterling.”
Sterling nodded. “Mrs. Chenault. This is a surprise. Why are you here?” He frowned. To his way of thinking, she looked calm. Too calm. Like it was an everyday occurrence to pay a visit to a child she had walked out on thirty-five years ago. “Is there something I can do for you since I’m sure this isn’t a social call.”
Angeline Chenault sighed appreciatively. “You inherited more from Chandler than just his good looks, Sterling. And I’m glad of that. You’re upfront and to-the-point like he was.”
“My father was a hard-working man, so am I. He didn’t believe in playing cat-and-mouse games and neither do I. So I’m going to ask you again. Is there a reason why you’re here?”
He watched the coloring slowly drain from Angeline Chenault’s face. She dropped her head and closed her eyes before lifting her head and looking back at him, meeting his gaze directly. “I’m here to try to right a wrong. Turning my back on you was the worst thing I could ever do, and I know that before I leave this earth, I’ll pay for how I treated you that day when you approached me in North Carolina. You weren’t any older than—”
“I frankly don’t want to talk about it,” Sterling said with a definite hardness in his voice.
“But I have to. I want to apologize for the pain I caused you that day. I called you the day after the incident, but Chandler wouldn’t let me talk to you. He said if I ever hurt you again, he would tell Alan all about my past. And at the time, I thought I would lose Alan if he found out. So I never contacted you again. I don’t want you to hate me any longer.”
Sterling rubbed his hand across his forehead, feeling a tension headache coming on. “Lady, I don’t hate you. In fact, I have no feelings for you whatsoever. Now if that’s all you came here to say, I’m through listening. I have work to do and would appreciate if it you left. Please have a nice trip back to Florida.”
Angeline Chenault nodded. When she spoke again her voice was subdued. “I also wanted