Forbidden Son (11 page)

“You
okay, Honey Belle?”

She
nodded, because the pain had passed. “Yes, ma’am. I’m fine.”

She
met her aunt’s serious gaze and felt the warmth of a smile such as she’d never
known from her own mother.

She
kissed her aunt’s cheek. “I have lots to think about. Good night, Aunt Tess.”

“Rest
well.”

Honey
Belle climbed the stairs to her room. After listening to her aunt’s tragic
story, she wanted to be alone to figure out the next phase of her own life. And
she didn’t want to think about Tripp Hartwell the Third or his father.

Chapter
Sixteen

“Not
again.” Honey Belle rolled out of bed and rushed to the bathroom. She sat on
the edge of the bathtub, gulping deep breaths until the moment subsided. When
the rolling nausea passed, she moistened a washcloth and pressed it to her
face.

“I
have peppermint tea.”

She
turned and Tess stood in the doorway, already dressed for work. Honey Belle
looked down at her rumpled pajamas, inclined to return to bed and pull the
covers over her head.

“I
don’t want tea. I want to die.”

Tess
laughed and headed for the stairs. “Peppermint will settle your stomach. Come
downstairs. I’ll brew you a pot, and there are saltine crackers in the pantry.”

Honey
Belle groaned. She used her foot to close the bathroom door as she took up a
position next to the commode.

Her
aunt’s voice called upstairs. It wasn’t a good thing, her aunt’s insistence,
not this morning.

“Give
me another minute, Aunt Tess.”

Honey
Belle leaned toward the mirror over the sink. Wide eyes, bruised with shadows
beneath them, stared back at her. She hadn’t slept well. Visions of Tripp and
Hutu warriors had swirled around in her dreams, leaving her with images she
couldn’t blink away.

She
leaned against the sink, turned on the faucet, and splashed water over her
face. She caught water inside her cupped hands to rinse the rancid taste from
her mouth.

The
soothing aroma of peppermint tea drifted to the upstairs hallway.

Honey
Belle rinsed her mouth one more time and dried her face. She lifted her chin,
opened the door, and stepped out of the bathroom. When she entered the kitchen,
Tess pointed to the cup on the counter. Honey Belle picked it up and inhaled
the minty fragrance.

“Go
ahead, sip it. Guaranteed to settle your stomach.”

Tess
placed a poached egg on a plate and slathered a slice of toast with butter and
homemade strawberry jam.

“If
it does, I want two eggs and two slices of toast.” Honey Belle sat down with
the cup of tea and watched her aunt break an egg and gingerly slide it from the
shell into a pot of boiling water.

It
was just the two of them—and with baby, soon to be three. Honey Belle sipped
her tea and wondered what the future held for her.

Her
insides shook, and she felt cold and clammy as a wave of nausea swept through
her again. Tess touched her arm. “Why don’t you go back to bed?”

Honey
Belle set the cup on the counter. She didn’t argue.

****

That
afternoon, Honey Belle pushed through the glass doors of the local vocational
school. The queasiness in her stomach had nothing to do with morning sickness.
Just a case of old-fashioned nerves, she told herself.

Doubt
tugged at her as she walked down the carpeted corridor looking for classroom
4A. In the three years since she’d quit high school, she’d done nothing to
better her education. Once, English had been her best subject. What if she
didn’t remember a noun from a verb, what if she couldn’t write a proper
sentence? What if she made a complete idiot of herself in front of the entire
class? And then there was algebra. Math had always challenged her.

A
war of words flittered inside her head.
I can’t do this.
O
nly cowards
run away. Coward...coward...coward. Okay, then I’m a coward. I still can’t do
this.
She turned to leave the way she’d come, and someone said, “You look
lost. May I help you?”

Honey
Belle gave a resigned sigh. “I...umm...sure. I’m looking for Mrs. Keller. Room
4A.”

Honey
Belle towered over the diminutive, delicate woman with short gray hair curling
around her face. She wore tan slacks with a matching tan cardigan. Her brown
eyes twinkled when she smiled. “I’m Kathy Keller. My room is at the end of the
hall. Follow me, Miss—”

“H.B.
Garrett.”

The
woman glanced down at the clipboard in her hand. “Garrett, H.B. Oh, yes, here
you are.” She made a motion for Honey Belle to follow. “How far along are you?”

Honey
Belle misunderstood the question. Heat raced up her neck to flush her cheeks.
“Today is my first day. I-I quit school when I was sixteen. I’ll work hard to
get my GED. I’d really like to begin college in the fall.”

“I
have every confidence you’ll do well, H.B., but I was referring to your
pregnancy. When is your due date?”

Honey
Belle flushed. She placed the notebook she carried in front of her belly as if
to hide it. “Why, are pregnant students not allowed to take classes?”

A
warm glint lit the teacher’s face. “I didn’t mean to upset you. Anyone who
passes the entrance exam may attend. My concern is whether you’ll complete
course requirements before graduation.”

“Oh,
sorry. Between morning sickness and hormones, I get a little snappy sometimes.
I’m due the end of May.”

Mrs.
Keller pursed her lips and blew out a low whistle. “Graduation is the middle of
May. Let’s hope baby doesn’t decide to arrive early.”

“Come
hell or high water, Mrs. Keller, I’ll graduate. You’ll see.” Then, with a stab
of guilt, she added, “Sorry, didn’t mean to cuss.”

Mrs.
Keller rewarded her with a smile. “Since you’re the first to arrive, you have
your choice of desks.”

Honey
Belle listened to Mrs. Keller as she greeted other new arrivals. A charge of
excitement filled her as she picked her way toward the front of the classroom.
After sliding into a desk, she bent her head and whispered, “We’ll do this
together, baby. You’ll never have reason to be ashamed of your mama. I
promise.”

She
opened the notebook and removed paper and pencil. She was ready when Mrs.
Keller stood in front of the room and said, “Welcome, class. Open your English
books to page...″

****

All
afternoon a storm had been building. The sky took on an ominous gray, and
thunder sounded closer. A few scattered drops of icy rain struck the sidewalk.
Honey Belle shivered against the chill. She tucked the blue canvas notebook and
the English textbook beneath her zippered jacket to keep them from getting wet.
Rain in January meant Valdosta was in for an exceptionally cold winter. She
wished she had a pair of gloves to keep her hands warm, as she bent her head
against the wind. Two miles to Aunt Tess’s house wasn’t far to walk. After all,
she’d easily done the distance to Barrington Place to meet Tripp. But only on
warm sultry days and nights.

Relief
settled over her when a car horn beeped and a little yellow Volkswagen Beetle
pulled alongside her. By now, the rain was falling in earnest. Dampness had
plastered Honey Belle’s hair to her head. She blinked to clear droplets of
water from her eyelashes.

Her
aunt shouted through the open door, “Get in, you’re soaked.”

Honey
Belle scooted inside the car’s warm interior and slammed the door against the
downpour. She spoke through chattering teeth. “Geez, am I glad to see you.”

“You
are as bullheaded as your mama. Why didn’t you just wait at the school? Didn’t
common sense tell you I’d come for you? Didn’t you even think about catching
your death and endangering the life of your baby?”

Tess’s
angry questions swirled inside Honey Belle’s head like a volley of rifle fire.
“Stop shouting, Aunt Tess, you’re right on all counts. I didn’t think.”

Tess
maneuvered the little car down the street. In minutes she pulled up the
driveway to her house and parked under the carport. She said heavily, “I’ll
make dinner while you change into dry clothes.”

Honey
Belle felt the weight of responsibility as she entered the back porch. She
kicked off her wet sneakers and removed her jacket to hang it across the
clothesline Tess kept for drying nylon pantyhose. Gathering her schoolbooks,
she followed her aunt into the warm and inviting kitchen. “Aunt Tess—” Honey
Belle’s face crumpled into a mass of emotional tears.

Tess
opened her arms and Honey Belle walked into them, cherishing a moment she’d
never shared with her own mother. “You must think I’m the stupidest person in
the whole world.”

Tess’s
voice was quiet. “Far from it, sweetie. Forgive me for overreacting.”

“After
I shower and change into something comfortable, I’ll come down and help with
supper.”

“You’ve
had a long day. Maybe you should lie down and rest. Later, you can tell me
about your classes.”

The
storm struck overhead, and wind rattled the windows, closing out the rest of
the world.

****

Two
hours later, Honey Belle helped her aunt load the last dish in the dishwasher.
“Aunt Tess, do babies come on time?”

“Give
or take three weeks. It depends on how closely you calculated the date you
conceived. Do you think you miscalculated?”

“Not
really. My English instructor, Mrs. Keller, is concerned I might deliver before
graduation. If that happens, I won’t get my GED because I’ll miss the final
exams.”

Tess
dried her hands on a dishtowel. She filled the teapot with freshly brewed hot
tea while Honey Belle set two cups on a tray along with a plate of homemade
rice crispy squares.

Tess
laughed. “Babies set their own time schedules, Honey Belle. All you can do is
hope your little one won’t be anxious to leave the nest.”

Honey
Belle followed Tess to the den. She set the tray on the coffee table in front
of the fireplace, then nestled on the sofa, wedging herself comfortably against
its overstuffed arm. She tucked a hand-crocheted afghan around her feet, and
accepted the cup of tea handed to her.

She
was the first to break the silence. “Aunt Tess,” Honey Belle spoke over a
clamoring heart.

“Hmm-uh?”

“Last
night you shared with me a very painful part of your life. I think it’s only
fair that I tell you about my baby’s father and why I don’t want him in our
lives.” She held up a hand to quell the questions she saw building in Tess’s
eyes. “Mind you, I won’t name names. When I finish, I think you’ll understand
why.” Honey Belle set the cup aside and clenched her hands together.

Tess
peered over the rim of her teacup. “I’m listening.”

Honey
Belle sucked in a large breath and exhaled slowly. “Okay, here goes. It all
began this past May, on my nineteenth birthday, when a handsome young man
driving a white BMW convertible drove up to the service window at the Burger
Bin, where I worked—”

She
spent the next hour explaining how she’d fabricated lies about where she lived.
“He comes from an extremely wealthy family. There was no way I could ever let
him know where I lived. I couldn’t even begin to think about bringing him to
the house, and I’m ashamed to say I didn’t want him to meet Mama.”

Honey
Belle went on to describe the fancy restaurants and the romantic walks on the
beach. “I didn’t mean to fall in love. I knew I was playing with fire. Somehow
it just happened.”

She
told about the night he’d asked her to marry him, and the plans they’d made to
move close to the university he would attend. “It was a beautiful moonlit
night, and when he proposed, it was the happiest moment of my entire life. He
actually got down on his knees, right there in the sand.”

She
included details about deceiving him into thinking she also planned to attend
college. And she fumbled with embarrassment when she simply stated, “I never
intended to have sex, much less unprotected sex. I don’t know what else to say
other than...it happened.”

She
gave her aunt a quick look. Tess’s eyebrows went up, yet she remained silent.
She stared at Tess, searching for a hint of recrimination. When there was none,
Honey Belle continued.

She
explained about the photographs that had been used to blackmail her into
fleeing South Carolina. “His father is a powerful criminal court judge, Aunt
Tess. I took the money he gave me, and that’s when I called you. Except for
naming names, you know the rest, because I’m here.”

Tess
looked at her. “If you tell me the names, I promise I’ll never breathe a word.”

Honey
Belle licked her lips. Though the thought of saying Tripp’s name pattered her
heart, revealing the Judge’s identity horrified her. “His father said if I was
pregnant I should get rid of ‘it.’ He said he didn’t want a bastard sullying
their family’s good name. He called me a whore. Believe me, I know this man’s
reputation.” Honey Belle snapped her fingers to make a point. “Poof, just like that,
he can ruin people’s lives—make them disappear.

“Oh,
no, Aunt Tess, the daddy of my baby will never know he exists because I’m
afraid of what his father will do to my child if he finds out I didn’t get an
abortion.”

With
her heart racing and bile rising in her throat, it seemed to Honey Belle the
room had suddenly grown cold. She pulled the afghan closer to her body to ward
off the chill that threatened to set her teeth to chattering.

Tess
blinked. “Merciful heavens, child, that judge sounds like a despicable man. I
fully understand now why you wish to keep the names secret. I’m wondering,
though, what you will do when your baby gets old enough to ask about its
father?”

Biting
her lip, Honey Belle considered the question. It was a fair one—one she didn’t
know how to answer. “I don’t know, only that I’ll cross that bridge when I come
to it.”

“Honey
Belle has there ever been any question in your mind about not keeping this
baby?”

“What
do you mean, not keeping it?”

“You’re
young, single, an entire life ahead of you. There are families who’d love to
adopt a child.”

Honey
Belle’s stomach filled with butterflies. She responded in a low, unshakeable
voice. “I want this baby with all my heart. I’m not giving it up.”

Tapping
her fingers against her lips, Tess’s eyes narrowed and fixed on Honey Belle
with an unnerving intensity.