Love, Honor, and Betray by Roby, Lawson (ebook reader ink txt) 📕

euphoric feeling for anything. She loved it anddidn’t want it to end.

Another hour passed, and Charlotte decided it was time to head home. She still felt a little light-headed, but not so muchthat she couldn’t drive back to Mitchell. After all, it was only ninety miles, and at this time of night there wouldn’t beany traffic to complain about. On the other hand, since she’d been drinking a lot more than normal, maybe it was best to justcrash at her parents’ house, as they lived maybe ten minutes away. She didn’t want them seeing her in an intoxicated state,but she also didn’t want to be caught driving under the influence, nor did she want to hurt anyone.

So, yes, spending the night with her parents was a much better idea. Curtis wouldn’t be happy about her absence, especiallysince he had no idea where she was anyway, but he would just have to deal with it. If he couldn’t, well, then it was justtoo bad.

Chapter 8

Curtis was completely beside himself. Last night, when it had gotten to be pretty close to midnight, he’d become worried andhad begun calling Charlotte’s cell phone. He’d called several times. She’d never answered, though, so he’d then called Janine,and Charlotte’s aunt Emma. They hadn’t heard from her either, so finally, he’d called her parents around three a.m. Her mother,Noreen, had summoned her to the phone, and after the first few words she’d spoken he’d known for sure that she’d been drinking.Not once had he imagined that this issue with Curtina would cause Charlotte to resort to doing such a thing, but now he knewthis matter was serious and that she wasn’t planning to get over it. Worse, while very short, their conversation hadn’t gonevery well and Charlotte had hung up without even saying good-bye.

Now, as he sat in his office at the church, he decided to try her again.

“Hello,” Noreen answered.

“Hey, how are you? Is Charlotte still there?”

“She is. Let me get her for you.”

Curtis waited maybe a minute before Charlotte picked up on another extension.

“Hello?”

“Where were you last night?”

Charlotte sighed loudly, already irritated with him. “I was out.”

“Out where?”

“Just out.”

“Out drinking?”

“Curtis, please. I’m really not in the mood for all these questions, so if you don’t mind, I’m going back to bed.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Hanging out and getting drunk?”

“You know what? If I were you, I wouldn’t worry about it. What I would do is continue focusing solely on your precious littleCurtina the same as you’ve been doing for weeks now.”

“I just don’t understand you. I don’t get your attitude at all.”

“And I don’t get yours either.”

“Well, let me tell you this,” he said. “I’m not about to be okay with you staying out to the wee hours of the morning wheneveryou feel like it. I won’t stand for it, Charlotte, so I suggest you make last night your final night hanging out like somestreet person.”

“Excuse me? Because I just know you’re not trying to play daddy to me. You can play daddy to that little heifer you call your daughter, but sweetheart, I’ma grown woman. A full-grown woman who will do whatever she pleases whenever she gets ready to.”

“‘Heifer’?”

“Well, it’s not like I whispered it, so I know you heard me.”

“The only heifer I can think of right now is your little ignorant drunk behind.”

“Ignorant?”

“Like you just said, it’s not like I whispered it, so I know you heard me.”

“Jackass,” Charlotte said and slammed the phone down.

Curtis pressed the Off button on his phone, leaned back in his leather chair, and rubbed both his hands from the top of hishead to his neck. He was so livid with Charlotte, but he was also devastated because reality had finally set in. He wasn’tsure how they’d ever be able to work out their differences, especially since there was no way he could ever stop being a fatherto his daughter and wasn’t planning to. He even hated having to leave Curtina this morning when he’d had to come to the church,and he would always be indebted to Aunt Emma for agreeing to keep her. He’d finally explained to Aunt Emma how bad thingswere between him and Charlotte, and Aunt Emma had told him she would keep Curtina whenever he needed her to. She’d retireda couple of years back and said she was glad to have the company.

Curtis heard a knock at his door and looked up. “Come in.”

“Hey, Pastor,” Lana, his longtime executive assistant, said. She was also the woman Curtis looked to for motherly advice,as she treated him more like a son than her boss. “Here are the revisions to the agenda that Elder Jamison wanted me to giveyou. We had one of the other girls make the changes and print all-new copies, so we should be all set for this evening.”

“Good. And Lana, if you don’t mind, can you shut the door and have a seat for a few minutes?”

“Sure, Pastor.” Lana did as he’d asked and then sat in front of Curtis’s desk.

“I really need to talk to you about Charlotte.”

Lana nodded. “Okay.”

“Long story short, she hates Curtina and is demanding that I send her to live somewhere else.”

“Well, as much as I hate to say it, I’m not surprised.”

“Really? Why?”

“Because whenever I see Charlotte and Curtina in the same room, I can always tell Charlotte isn’t very happy. Oh, she alwaysdoes a very good job of pretending, but I’ve always seen right through it. Although, I’m not sure I thought she hated her.Just disliked her and didn’t want her around.”

“Well, she does hate her, and she now treats Curtina pretty badly. Even in front of Matthew and me.”

“Goodness gracious. So, what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. Because Lana, as much as I love my wife, I’m not going to neglect my daughter. It’s bad enough that she’s alreadylost her mother, so sending her elsewhere is simply out of the question.”

“I don’t blame you. Curtina isn’t responsible for the selfish decisions her mother made, and let’s be honest—because you knowI’m