Temptation - Brenda Jackson [41]
But Zeke had been the exception. He had wanted to keep her close. Now she knew the reason why.
She drew in a deep breath. When Zeke returned she would tell him she wanted to go home. He would wonder why, but frankly she didn’t care. Nor would she tell him. It was embarrassing and humiliating enough for her to know the reason.
One day she would learn her lesson.
Zeke glanced over at Sheila, surprised. “You want to go home?”
She continued packing up the baby’s items. “Yes. The only reason Sunnie and I are here is because of your generosity in letting us stay due to the power being out at my place. It’s back on now and there’s no reason for us to remain here any longer.”
He bit back the retort that she’d known the power was back on days ago, yet she hadn’t been in a hurry to leave…just as he hadn’t been in a hurry for her to go. What happened to make her want to take off? He rubbed the back of his neck. “Is something going on that I need to know about, Sheila?”
She glanced up. “No. I just want to go home.”
He continued to stare at her. He’d known she’d eventually want to return home. Hell, he had to be realistic here. “Fine, we can take some of Sunnie’s things now and you can come back for the rest later on in the week.”
“I prefer taking all Sunnie’s items now. There’s no reason for me to come back.”
That sounded much like a clean break to him. Why? “Okay, then I’d better start loading stuff up.” He walked out of the room.
Sheila glanced at the door Zeke had just walked out of, suddenly feeling alone. She might as well get used to it again. Sunnie’s days were numbered with her either way. And now that she knew what Zeke was about, it would be best if she cut the cord now.
In the other room Zeke was taking down the baby bed he’d gotten used to seeing. Why was he beginning to feel as if he was losing his best friend? Why was the feeling of abandonment beginning to rear its ugly head again?
Waking up with her beside him each morning had meant more to him than it had to her evidently. Having both Sheila and Sunnie in his home had been the highlight of his life for the past four days. He had gotten used to them being around and had enjoyed the time they’d spent together. A part of him had assumed the feelings were mutual. Apparently he’d assumed wrong.
A short while later he had just finished taking the bed down, when his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his back pocket. “Yes?”
“I just got a call from my attorney,” Brad said. “There’s a possibility I might get the results of the paternity test as early as tomorrow. Hell, I hope so. I need to get on with my life. Get on with the election.”
“That’s good to hear.” At least it would be good for Brad, but not so good for Sheila. Either way, she would be turning the baby over to someone, whether it was Brad or the system. And the way he saw it, there was a one-hundred-percent chance it would be the system.
“Let me know when you get the results,” he said to Brad.
His best friend chuckled. “Trust me. You’ll be the first to know.”
A few hours later back at her place Sheila stood at the window and watched Zeke pull off. He had stayed just long enough to put up the crib. No doubt he’d picked up on her rather cold attitude, but he hadn’t questioned her about it. Nor had he indicated he would be returning.
However, since his sole purpose in seeing her was to spy on her, she figured he would return eventually. When he did, it would be on her terms and not his. She had no problem with him wanting to make sure Sunnie was well taken care of, but he would not be using her to do so.
She turned from the window, deciding it was time to take Sunnie upstairs for her bath, when she heard the phone ringing. She crossed the room to pick it up. “Hello?”
“Ms. Hopkins?”
“Yes?”
“This is Ms. Talbert from Social Services.”
Sheila felt an