An Unexpected Love (Women's Fiction/BWWM Romance) (19 page)

Corrine’s doorbell rang that night. She stopped
stirring the cake batter and rushed out of the kitchen. “Just a minute!” She made
it to the front door. She looked out the peephole and right into Valerie’s
face. “Shit.”

She’d longed to talk to Valerie and make amends, if
possible. Now she had to put on her big girl pants and face the music.

Please, don’t
let there be any drama.

“Yeah, like that’s possible,” she whispered as she opened
the door. “Hey, Val.”

“Hey.” Her gaze trailed down Corrine’s apron. “This is
a new look for you.”

“What are you talking about?” Corrine pulled at the
apron. “You know I like to bake. Come on in.”

“Wow.” She leaned back. “You’re actually inviting me
in?”

“I don’t have a problem with you, Val. It’s the other
way around.”

She walked in. “Why are you baking?”

 
“I’m on my
period and got a monster sweet tooth.” Corrine went down the hall with Valerie
right behind her. She entered the kitchen while Valerie stayed in the doorway.

 
“I’m craving
like you wouldn’t believe.” Corrine started stirring the cake batter. “I’m
making Momma’s coconut cake. Want some?”

“I didn’t come here for cake.”

Valerie put her purse on the table.

“I’m glad you came.” Corrine got her
bundt
pan off the counter. “I’ve been wanting to talk to
you, but hadn’t worked up the nerve.” She poured the batter into the pan. “Ah
shit.”

“What?”

“I forgot to grease the pan.” She kept pouring. “Remember
making cakes with Momma when we were kids? We always had to take turns who got
to lick the spoon and the mixing bowl or who got to eat the soft moist cake
that was left when she turned the cake out the cake pan.”

Valerie clasped her hands. “I came here to get an
honest answer, and I don’t feel like I can get that from David.”

“This is about David again.” Corrine shook the
bundt
pan to even out the batter. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Sorry I keep singing this tune, but I have reason
to.” Valerie held out her hands. “Believe it or not, I didn’t come here to
start shit.”

Corrine put the cake in the oven. “Really?”

“I’m tired of fighting with you and David. I just want
the truth.”

Corrine checked the oven’s temperature. “What is it
now?”

 
“I wanna talk
about last night.” Valerie crossed her arms. “David didn’t come home. He spent
the night at a motel.”

“Let me guess.” Corrine wiped flour off her arm. “You
don’t believe him.”

“Sleeping at a motel or not, I don’t believe that’s
the only place he visited last night. I’m not in the mood for games. This is my
husband we’re talking about. I want the truth. Was David here last night?”

“Yes.”

Valerie opened her mouth then took a deep breath. “He
was?”

 
“Yes.” Corrine
stood against the sink. “Is there anything else?”

“Did you sleep with him?”

“No, but he wanted me to.”

“He…” Valerie exhaled. “…he wanted you to?”

“Yes.” Corrine took off her apron and laid it on the
microwave. “He came on to me, and I said ‘no.’”

“Whoa.” Valerie chuckled. “Wait a minute.
My
David came on to you last night?”

“Yes.”

“I suppose you didn’t have anything to do with that?”

“Nope.” Corrine shook her head. “He came here. He was
grabbing at me and tried to kiss me.”

Valerie frowned. “David?”

“
Yes
, David.”

“Wait a minute.” Valerie paced, rubbing her brow. “I’m
supposed to believe he came on to you, and you didn’t take him up on it…when I
know you’ve been wanting David since I first introduced him to you?”

“I can’t help what you believe or don’t believe,
Valerie. But I didn’t sleep with your husband last night. I told him I wasn’t
sleeping with him because I cared about you and didn’t wanna hurt you like
that.”

She squinted. “Bullshit.”

Corrine pointed toward the doorway. “Maybe you should
leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere. You must be a damn fool,
Corrine, if you expect me to believe you turned David down. You’ve been waiting
eleven years to get my husband into bed.”

“Yes, I have.” Corrine sashayed up to her. “But I love
you too much, and the last thing I wanna do is hurt you.”

“Why can’t you just be woman enough to admit it?”
Valerie waved her hands. “I know you slept with him. Just admit it!”

“Jesus,” Corrine whispered. “I wanted to make things
up to you, but I don’t know if I can. You have too much hate in your heart.”

“Really?” Valerie got the flour off the table and
poured it on the floor. “And you got flour on your floor. So what?”

“You…” Corrine gawked at the mess. “I just mopped my
floor last night.”

“Looks like you’re gonna need to mop it again.”

“No I won’t, but you will!”

Corrine bent down, scooped up flour, and threw it in
Valerie’s face.

“Oh!” Valerie shook her head and blinked her eyes.
“You little bitch.”

She shoved Corrine into the table.

Corrine returned the favor. “You must be
outta
your damn mind to shove me!”

Valerie pushed Corrine onto the floor. “I’ll shove you
any time I want to!”

Corrine jumped up, half-covered in flour. “Is that
right?”

“That’s what I said, bitch!” Valerie shouted as she slapped
her.

Corrine slapped her back. “I know damn well you didn’t
just slap me!”

Valerie slipped in the flour. “Oh!”

Corrine got on top of her. “You must be crazy putting
your hands on me!”

“Get off me!” Valerie snatched Corrine’s hair. “I’ll
tear out every inch of this cheap weave!”

“You’re not gonna tear out nothing in this house!”

They rolled around the floor, tussling and tugging
hair.

“Ah!” Valerie got on top of Corrine. “I hate you!
Admit you slept with my man!”

“I didn’t sleep with him!” Corrine rolled her over and
ended up back on top. “Listen to me, Val! Don’t make me kick your ass.”

Valerie ripped Corrine’s blouse. “You ain’t kicking
shit!”

“My blouse!”

“Ha!” Valerie stuck out her tongue. “You wanna walk
around with clothes off half the time…well, there you go.”

“Well, here
you
go!”

Corrine ripped Valerie’s blouse, sending buttons flying.

“Oh, I know you didn’t!” Valerie covered her bra. “You
know how much this blouse cost?”

Corrine got on her knees. “You ripped my shit, and now
I’m gonna rip yours.”

“I’m ripping something else!”

Valerie stormed out of the kitchen.

“What?!” Corrine ran out. “Val?!” She stomped down the
hall. “Don’t do it. What are you gonna do?!” She shouted as she ran into the
living room to see Valerie tearing her curtains off the hook.

“Those are designer curtains!” Corrine slapped her
hands on her face. “They cost a fortune!”

“Hmm.” Valerie flung them across the room. “I’d say
you paid too much.” She picked the lamp up off the end table. “This is cute.”

“Val, don’t!” Corrine pointed at her. “Do
not
break my lamp.”

Valerie threw it at the wall, shattering the glass
base.

“Are you crazy?!” Corrine jumped up and down. “You’ve
lost it, Val! I always thought you were nuts, but now I know for sure!”

“You gonna come up in my house and tear up my shit?”
Corrine raced out of the living room. “I got something for your ass, Val.”

Valerie ran after. “Corrine?!”

Corrine snatched Valerie’s purse off the kitchen
table.

“Wait a minute!” Valerie huffed and puffed. “That
purse cost five hundred dollars!”

Corrine opened it and snatched out the phone. “Brand
new iPhone, huh?”

 
“No!” Valerie
lunged at her. “Give it to me.”

“Catch me!” Corrine threw Valerie’s purse across the
kitchen and ran out.

“Corrine, don’t!” Valerie chased Corrine down the hall
and grabbed her at the front door. “Don’t you dare mess with my phone!”

“Get off me!” Corrine struggled to open the door with
Valerie’s arm around her neck. “Gonna come in my house and tear up my curtains
and break my lamp? Oh no,
sista
! It’s not going down
like that.”

“Corrine, don’t!”

“Let’s see if iPhones can fly, Val!” Corrine shouted
as she managed to get the door open.

“Corrine!”

Corrine stepped out onto the porch and tossed the
phone down the street. As it smashed on the pavement, she smiled at Valerie and
went back inside. “How you like them apples?”

 
“I’m gonna kill
you!” Valerie planted her hands on Corrine’s neck and shoved her all the way
down the hallway.

“Ugh!” Corrine tried to pry Valerie’s fingers out of
her skin.

 
“You’ve made my
life miserable ever since you were born!” Valerie forced her into the living
room and threw her on the couch. “I’ve had enough of it!” She kept her hands
clamped around Corrine’s neck. “Enough!”

Corrine coughed and choked. “I can’t breathe!” She
pulled at Valerie’s arms. “I love you, Val!” She felt weak. “Please…I love you!
Stop!”

“Corrine?” Valerie let go of her neck, realizing that
she was really hurting her. “Oh God.” She got off Corrine and pulled her into a
sitting position.

Corrine coughed and tried to catch her breath.

“Are you all right?” Valerie held her. “I’m sorry,
Corrine. I…I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”

“I love you, girl.” She coughed. “I just want us to
start over.” She held her neck. “I didn’t kill the baby, Val. I swear to God I
didn’t.”

“
Oh
.”
Valerie leaned over and burst into tears. “Why is everything going wrong?”

“Come here.” Corrine hugged her. “We both gotta let go
of all the shit that’s happened between us.” She wiped Valerie’s tears with her
hand. “I love you, and I always will.”

“I’m drowning, Corrine. I’m losing control over
everything. David’s gonna leave me. I know he is.”

“David loves you.”

“Then why did he come on to you? Why does he act like
you’re perfect and that I can do no right?”

“Because he’s lonely and misses his wife.” Corrine
pushed Valerie’s hair out of her face. “David never has and never will love me.
He wants nothing but to have his wife back. You haven’t been acting like the
Val he married. Shit, you haven’t been acting like the Val
we
all know.”

“I’ve been so depressed.” She wiped tears and looked
at her hands. “It’s so hard to look at yourself and see a failure.”

“You’re not a failure.”

She scoffed. “I can get a degree and good job, but I
can’t make a child? Something women are made to do? What kind of woman am I?”

 
“Making a baby
does not make you a woman.” Corrine dabbed Valerie’s tears. “What makes you a
woman is perseverance and rising to any challenge. Val, you’ve been an
overachiever all your life. You think you should be perfect, and no one is
perfect.”

“I just look back and wonder if I did something to
deserve not being able to have kids.”

“Things happen to good people for no reason all the
time.” Corrine locked her arm around Valerie’s shoulders. “We both need to work
on ourselves and do better. Let’s start now. I’m tired of fighting with you.
I’ve missed you, Val. We weren’t ever that close, but we used to be closer than
this.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“I don’t know how many times I can say it or what I
can do to make you believe it, but I did not push you down those steps. Even if
I wanted David, I’d never hurt my own nephew or niece. Family is very important
to me because it’s all I have.” Corrine let her go. “I realized I gotta be a
better woman in order to be happy. That’s why I want us to make up. Please, can
we just forget the past and start over?”

“You know it’s always been hard for me to trust people
after they’ve hurt me. You did a lot to me when we were growing up, Corrine.”

“I apologize for that from the bottom of my heart.”
She clutched Valerie’s hand. “But please know that going forward I would never
hurt you on purpose. I was hurting when we were kids. I was devastated to see
Dad go through what happened to him and then see Layla have the same mental
illness. I didn’t know how to deal with that, and it all turned to resentment
and jealousy toward you. You were an easy target, and I’m sorry.”

“Funny.” Valerie chuckled. “David says I seem jealous
of you, and I think I have been.”

“Why were you jealous of me?”

“You’ve always been comfortable in your skin. I never
have been at home in my own body, and not having kids makes it ten times
worse.”

“You’re a beautiful and intelligent woman.” Corrine kissed
her cheek. “
You
gotta see that for
yourself. What do you want most out of life besides a baby?”

“To be happy.”

“Does David make you happy?”

“Oh yes.” Valerie smiled wide. “David and I were made
for each other. We used to have so much fun. We used to laugh all the time. We couldn’t
get enough of each other. You know how we were.”

Corrine nodded and smiled.

“I guess I hadn’t noticed how bad things had gotten
because of my obsession. Am I supposed to pretend like I don’t want kids?”

“No, but you can’t focus on what you don’t have to the
point where you drive away what you do have. You keep pushing David away and
then one day he won’t come back.”

“You’re right.” Valerie dabbed her eyes again. “Layla
said I might need to talk to someone, and I think she’s right. I got a lot of
stuff inside of me that I need to let out.”

“That doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.” Corrine put
her hand in Valerie’s lap. “In fact, I could be up for that.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, we both got issues. Why not work on them together?
It’ll be our first step to a new relationship.”

Valerie smiled. “I’d like that.”