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

“I’ll be fine.”

“Well, if you’re not feeling well, maybe you should call Mom and just ask her to keep Curtina overnight for you.”

“No, I’m good.”

“Okay, but I know Mom would be fine with doing it.”

“I know she would. But by the time I pick Curtina up and get her home, she’ll be ready for bed, anyway.”

“All right, well, I’m heading out, and you take care of yourself,” she said, hugging him.

“I will, and you, too.”

Curtis watched as Anise walked away and couldn’t help wondering how she and Charlotte could be first cousins yet be so verydifferent. He wondered why Charlotte didn’t have the same kind of heart Anise had or care about others the way Anise did.

“Pastor, I know you’re not feeling well,” Raven said, now standing before him, “and I’m really sorry to have to bother youwith this. But if you don’t mind, I need you to sign a couple of documents.”

“Sure, let’s head up to my study now.”

“I’ll stop by my office to get the file and will be right in.”

Curtis shook a few more hands, said a few more good-byes, and then met Raven in his office.

“These aren’t anything major,” she said. “Just the normal monthly authorizations for a few special items a couple of the departmentsare in need of.”

Curtis skimmed the sheets in front of him, and she was right. They weren’t anything out of the ordinary or overly important,so he wondered why his signature couldn’t wait until tomorrow. Still, he went ahead and signed them.

“Here you go,” he said, closing the folder and passing it back to her.

“Thanks. And if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to you about something personal. I know you’re not feeling well, so thiswon’t take very long.”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

Raven inhaled and exhaled audibly. “Okay, the deal is this. For some time now, I’ve tried my best to ignore my attractionto you, but it’s now to the point where it’s unbearable.”

Curtis leaned back in his chair. He was shocked, to say the least, but he let her continue.

“I know you’re married and that you’re a wonderful man of God, but I can’t help the way I feel.”

“You’re right,” Curtis said. “I’m married, and I want to remain that way.”

“I understand that, but I just couldn’t keep this to myself any longer. I’ve been struggling with the idea of whether I shouldtell you, but today after I left your office, I decided I had to. Especially when everything in me says that you’re not happyat home. I don’t know what’s going on, but I just have this feeling that you deserve someone so much better than a woman likeCharlotte.”

Curtis wanted to tell her that she was out of line, but the sad thing about her comments was that he had to agree with her.He said nothing, though, and his silence must have made Raven uncomfortable because she quickly stood up.

“I’m really sorry, Pastor. I’m so sorry, and I hope you’ll somehow be able to forgive me.”

She backed away from his desk and then left altogether.

Curtis watched her every move and finally had to admit something to himself. He was attracted to her, too. He’d known it eversince this morning when she’d come into his office, but he’d thought about her even more ever since that big blowup betweenhim and Charlotte this afternoon. He’d had all kinds of thoughts. Sinful thoughts and the kind he wasn’t very proud of.

Thing was, though, he really did love his wife and wanted to remain faithful to her. He wanted them to be happy and enjoytheir life to the fullest, and he wasn’t ready to give up on that happening. He’d been more upset with Charlotte today thanhe’d been in a long time, but during the business meeting he’d reminisced on all the good times they’d shared. He’d thoughtabout all the laughs, all the fun, and all the joy they’d given each other, and while she’d said some pretty harsh thingsto him earlier, he still wanted to keep trying. He told himself that Charlotte loved him as much as he loved her, and thatshe would come around. Eventually, anyway. His prayer was that she would suddenly wake up one day, that she would realize how wrongshe’d been about Curtina, that she would learn to love her, and that their problems as a whole would be solved. Curtis believedall of this and more—because if he didn’t, he knew they were doomed.

Chapter 11

It was shortly after eight p.m., and Charlotte was glad she no longer felt hung over. She’d taken a very long nap, and nowshe was signed onto Facebook and loving every moment of it. She’d made the decision to join this particular social networknot even two months ago, but she was certainly very glad she had. For a long time, she hadn’t seen what all the raves wereabout, not until her stepdaughter, Alicia, had insisted it was the best thing since the introduction of the Internet. She’dtold her how wonderful it was reconnecting with childhood friends and schoolmates, and how convenient it was being able tocommunicate with anyone you wanted to on a regular basis.

Still, for a matter of months Charlotte hadn’t thought it was for her, but as of late, she’d found she could barely do withoutit. She wasn’t addicted per se, but she was on for at least sixty minutes or so every single day—and this evening she’d alreadybeen on for nearly four hours. She’d been making and accepting friend requests, commenting on a number of different statusupdates, and searching for other family and friends who might be members as well.

Charlotte continued browsing for folks she knew, including mere acquaintances, but smiled when she came across her cousinDooney’s name. Of all people. Drug-dealing, hustling Dooney. She was actually pleasantly surprised, because even though Dooneylived a life she would never live, he was one of her favorite family members, and she loved him. He was loyal, too. And shewould always be indebted to him for vandalizing Tabitha’s house. He’d risked