Sins of the Father (20 page)

S
aralyn arrived home later than planned. It had taken longer than expected for her
to identify the things from the penthouse that she wanted moved to the mansion. She’d
miss living downtown but her place was with Abraham. If he wanted to recuperate here,
she’d be right by his side, as she’d been for all of their marriage, the good and
the bad.

She admitted to herself, though, that these times were as bad as they’d ever been.
Her husband was making decisions about her and Isaac’s future without even consulting
her. Now that she had him out here to herself, she was sure she’d be able to talk
some sense into him.

Mrs. Hall met her when she opened the front door. “Welcome home, ma’am,” the older
lady said.

“I’m sorry I missed dinner, Anna,” Saralyn told her, knowing and appreciating how
much effort she put into her meals.

“Don’t worry about it,” Mrs. Hall said. “Are you hungry? I can fix you a plate.”

Saralyn shook her head. “I had a sandwich and salad when I was downtown. Where are
my husband and son?”

“Mr. Isaac left a while ago,” Mrs. Hall said. “Mr. Martin is in his study.”

“Thanks,” Saralyn said, then turned toward Abraham’s study. She was disappointed she’d
missed Isaac because she looked forward to spending time with both her men tonight.
Family time had been short in the last few months, since Isaac left MEEG and the relationship
between him and his father had grown increasingly strained. She smiled when she walked
through the study doors. Abraham sat slouched back on the couch, his feet propped
on the ottoman in front of him, head back, eyes closed. Love for him flowed afresh
within her.

Despite the doctor’s orders for him to take a break from work while he recuperated,
there was a stack of documents on his lap. A closer inspection showed that some of
them had fallen to the floor. Shaking her head, she bent and picked up the documents
and then collected those on his lap. She scanned them as she headed for his desk to
put them away. She stopped when she spotted the name Michael Thomas.

She read the contents of the document then turned toward her still sleeping husband.
“Abraham Martin!” she yelled. “Are you out of your mind?” She marched toward her husband
as he sluggishly awakened from his sleep.

“Saralyn. What’s going on?”

She dropped down on the ottoman and shoved the document in his chest. “What’s going
on with me?” she parroted. “What I want to know is what’s going on with you? You can’t
seriously be thinking about making Michael Thomas an officer in MEEG. Tell me I read
that document wrong.”

Abraham wiped the sleep from his eyes. “Calm down,” he told her. “We’re not alone
in this house.”

Saralyn jumped up from the ottoman, stomped to the study door, and slammed it closed.
“Now tell me I read that document wrong, Abraham.”

Abraham sighed. “You didn’t read it wrong.”

She stalked back over to him. “Why are you doing this to me? Why are you doing it
to Isaac? Don’t you know what Michael has done to him? Are you trying to push Isaac
away?”

“Of course I’m not trying to push him away,” he told her. “Stop talking crazy.”

She folded her arms and tapped her feet. “You’re the one who’s crazy if you think
I’m going to put up with this.”

“I can’t talk to you when you’re like this,” he said, but she recognized the dismissive
tactic for what it was.

“Oh, no,” she said. “You’re not going to brush me off so easily. You can’t keep making
all these unilateral decisions. You should have consulted me before you offered that
Deborah a job, before you put her and that mother of hers on the board, and definitely
before you did anything for that miscreant Michael.”

“He’s my son, Saralyn.”

“Isaac is your son, too, but it seems you’ve forgotten that in your quest to appease
your other children.”

“That’s not true,” he said. “The problem is that you’ve fought me all the way. You
haven’t tried to understand what I’m going through.”

She wanted to throw something at him. “What you’re going through? What about me? What
about Isaac?”

He sighed. “Why do you have to fight me every step of the way, Saralyn? Why can’t
you work with me on this? Throughout our marriage, you’ve always supported me, been
there with me. Why does this have to be different?”

“Are you crazy? This isn’t a simple business deal, Abraham.
We’re talking about your mistress and her children. This
is
different.”

He got up and came to her. “It doesn’t have to be,” he said, rubbing his hand down
her arm.

She snatched her arm away from him. “Your sweet talk is not going to work this time.
You’ve got to choose: them or us. It’s that simple.”

“Don’t threaten me, Saralyn.”

“It’s not a threat. If you don’t stand up for me and Isaac, I’ll have to do it.”

He eyed her. “What are you talking about?”

She might have been angry, but she was not stupid enough to tell Abraham of her trump
card. Her husband was a smart man, and if he knew what she planned to do, he might
be able to find a way to thwart her. “You heard me. I’ve always stood by you, Abraham.
I even forgave you when I first found out about Leah and those kids. Do you know what
it took for me to do that, knowing that you’d been lying to me for years? It took
a lot.”

Abraham reached for her. “I know, Saralyn. I know.”

She shook her head. “If you did, things wouldn’t be the way they are today.”

He looked away. “They’re my children, too, Saralyn,” he said. “I can’t walk away from
them again. What kind of man would I be if I did that?”

“I know you don’t want to hear this, Abe, but it’s too late for you to be a father
to them. You can’t make up those years. Bringing them into MEEG is not going to make
them see you as their father. You’re a stranger to them, a rich stranger. Why not
make this simple? Give them some money—a lot of money if you want, I won’t fight you.
Give them the money and let them leave. That’s all they want anyway.”

Abraham shook his head. “You’re wrong,” he said. “Michael told me about your offer.
He’s not taking it.”

“What do you mean he’s not taking it? Of course he’s taking it. The boy’s a lot of
things but stupid isn’t one of them. He’s taking the money, all right.”

Abraham hated hearing his wife speak that way. “He’s not taking it, Saralyn. I don’t
care what he told you. He told me that he’s not taking it. He only said he would so
he could throw your offer back in my face. How could you, Saralyn? How could you try
to buy them off?”

“I’m not ashamed of what I did. I did it and I would do it again. You aren’t the only
fighter in this family, Abraham. I’ll do whatever I have to do to protect my family,
my son. You can be my ally in this or you can be my enemy. It’s up to you.”

He reached for her again. “Saralyn—”

“You have a decision to make,” she said, sidestepping him and heading toward the door.
She opened it and then turned back to him. “I know this is hard for you, Abraham,
but I’m not sorry. You’ve accomplished everything you wanted in life with your charm,
your good looks, and your brain. This time it’s going to be your heart that either
gets you out of trouble or buries you deeper in it.”

She left the room and closed the door behind her. As she made her way to the stairs,
she knew that regardless of what Abraham did, she’d have her attorney file the separation
papers tomorrow. If she couldn’t count on Abraham’s love for her and Isaac to stop
the nonsense, she’d have to rely on the law.

J
osette drove around the block where Isaac and Rebecca lived several times before she
got up the nerve to pull into one of the visitor spaces in front of the high-rise
luxury condo building. She was familiar with the building, as one of Michael’s goals
when he “hit it big” was to buy a condo here. At least now she understood the appeal
the building had for him. She wondered if he had any goals that didn’t stem out of
his disdain for Abraham Martin. Despite everything she’d learned about Michael recently,
she still couldn’t shake the notion that she’d made the right decision when she married
him. And that was totally crazy. How could it be the right decision when her husband
was a habitual liar and, she suspected, a serial adulterer?

Shaking off those thoughts, she headed for the lobby. The doorman greeted her, and
she told him she was there to see Mrs. Martin. “Which one?” he asked, with a grin
that told her he’d asked the question often.

She smiled at him. “Rebecca Martin, Mrs. Isaac Martin.”

“I’ll ring her,” he said, picking up the phone. “Name, please.”

She told him and prayed Rebecca would see her.

He hung up the phone. “Follow me, please,” he said, leading her to the bank of elevators.
He punched the Up button, waited for the doors to open and her to enter, then pushed
the button for the tenth floor. “It’s 1002,” he said. “Take a left after the doors
open. You can’t miss it.”

“Thanks,” Josette said as the doors closed; 1002, she repeated silently.

When the elevator doors opened, she stepped off and followed the doorman’s directions.
She took a deep breath before she rang the bell. The door opened before the first
full ring.

“Come on in,” Rebecca said, as if Josette were a friend dropping by for a bout of
gossip.

Josette grew uneasy as she began to consider the wisdom of her visit. What did she
hope to gain by coming here?

Rebecca pointed to a leather couch. “Have a seat,” she said. “Can I get you something
to drink?”

Josette shook her head. Was this the Twilight Zone? It certainly felt like it. She
had to get things back on keel. “I didn’t come here for tea,” she said, taking the
offered seat.

Rebecca sighed and then sat in the leather chair next to the couch. She folded her
legs under her, as calm as she could be. “So why did you come?”

Josette studied this woman she suspected was sleeping with her husband. She couldn’t
shake the comparison. They were married to two brothers, and this woman had slept
with both of them. Maybe those people on
Jerry Springer
were real, after all. “You have no idea?”

Rebecca laughed, but it wasn’t a real laugh, more a nervous reaction. “You either
came about Michael or about Isaac. They’re all we have in common. So which one is
it?”

Josette studied her. She could see why men were attracted to Rebecca. She was one
of those women who exuded sexuality and self-confidence without even trying. What
Josette couldn’t figure out was how the same man could also be attracted to her when
she was so different from Rebecca. Of course, she didn’t exude sexuality now that
she was pregnant, but she hadn’t exuded it before. She was more the girl-next-door,
while Rebecca was the siren down the street. “I’m here about Michael,” she finally
said.

“Interesting,” Rebecca said. “You spend so much time with my husband these days, I
thought you might want to talk about him.”

“What are you talking about?”

Rebecca unfolded her legs and leaned toward Josette. “First, you’re crying on Isaac’s
shoulder at the hospital, and then you’re crying on his shoulder in his office. It
seems to me you should be crying on your own husband’s broad shoulders, not mine.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“Do I look like I’m joking?” Rebecca said. Her harsh tone signaled there would be
no bout of gossip. “I take women coming on to my husband very seriously. I’ve been
meaning to talk to you about it.”

“You can’t be serious,” Josette sputtered. “What are you accusing me of?”

Rebecca shrugged. “I’m not accusing you of anything…yet. Isaac wouldn’t cheat on me.
But I’m sure he’s told you that we’re having problems, and you wouldn’t be the first
woman to take advantage of a man when his marriage was on the rocks.”

“Maybe you’re reflecting your lack of morals onto me,” Josette said, unable to believe
how quickly the conversation had turned against her. “I am not making a move on Isaac.”

“Actions speak louder than words,” Rebecca said. “Try staying away from him.”

Josette stood. “I came here to ask you one question, but I don’t
even have to ask it now. You’re sleeping with Michael, aren’t you? That’s why you
see evil wherever you look.”

“I am not sleeping with Michael,” Rebecca said.

Josette studied her. “Why should I believe you?”

“Because I’m telling you the truth. I’m not sleeping with Michael, but I did in the
past, long before I met Isaac.”

The truth sent Josette back to the couch with a thud. The truth hurt. But she’d come
for answers and she wouldn’t leave until she got them. “How long were you and Michael
an item?”

Rebecca leaned close again. “I’m going to be honest with you because I’ve already
been honest with Isaac. I started sleeping with Michael before the two of you got
married, and I continued sleeping with him for a few months after you were married.”

Josette blinked rapidly. Rebecca’s words pierced her heart. It was one thing to think
your husband was a liar and a cheat. It was quite another to know it for a fact. She
rubbed her hand across her belly. Thank God for her baby. This child was the only
thing keeping her from screaming and tearing into Rebecca.

“I’m sorry,” she heard Rebecca say. “I know it’s not much, but I really am sorry.”

“Sorry Isaac found out,” Josette spat out.

Rebecca looked away. “That, too.” She turned back to Josette. “I told him the truth
before he found out. I had to tell him.”

Josette nodded. She understood. “Before Michael told him.”

“You know your husband, don’t you?”

She smiled a little. “It seems we both do.”

“Look,” Rebecca said. “Let’s talk woman-to-woman for a minute. Isaac’s feeling lonely
and betrayed right now and he’s wondering if he made a mistake by marrying me. And
you’re probably feeling the same way. Michael lied to you about a lot of stuff, I
know, and you’re wondering if you made the right choice when you chose him.”

Josette looked way, blinking back tears. Rebecca had read her very well.

“We have two very different marriages here,” Rebecca said. “I’m not interested in
swapping partners and I don’t think you are either, not really. You’re angry with
Michael just like Isaac is angry with me. I only ask that you don’t let the anger
make you do something you’ll regret. You and Isaac don’t have a future together, any
more than Michael and I do.”

Josette looked down at her fingers. “Did you love Michael?”

Rebecca shook her head. “No. Michael and I had more of a business relationship, though
there was a time when I had hoped there would be more. Michael didn’t want more, at
least not with me. The sex was something that just happened. It didn’t mean anything
beyond physical release to either of us.”

That there was no love between Rebecca and Michael didn’t ease Josette’s pain. Michael
had still betrayed their marriage vows.

“Because I love Isaac, you’re in a position to hurt me, to do to me what I did to
you by sleeping with Michael after he married you. I can’t hurt you the same way because
Michael doesn’t care about me and I don’t care about him. So you have the upper hand.
I want my marriage to work, Josette. I love Isaac, but he’s never going to believe
that if you’re always hanging around him.”

“I’m not trying to take Isaac from you.”

“You don’t have to try. I’m sure you’ve noticed that Isaac is a caretaker. He knows
you’re hurting and he wants to stop it. That can easily lead to something else, especially
when you’re always in his face reminding him of what monsters Michael and I are.”

It was Josette’s turn to give a nervous laugh. “This conversation is certainly not
what I expected when I walked through your door.”

Rebecca laughed, this time genuinely. “You were going to scratch my eyes out?”

Now Josette gave a real laugh. “After I cussed you out and told you to stay away from
my husband.”

“I really am sorry for what I did, Josette. I can only imagine how hearing about it
makes you feel. I get sick to my stomach every time I think of something happening
between you and Isaac. We women have to be better to each other than we are. I was
wrong.”

Josette thought of her baby and this woman who would be her baby’s aunt. “I forgive
you,” she told Rebecca, surprising herself. “Life’s too short, and I’m having a baby
who’s going to be your niece, if you can believe that.”

Rebecca laughed. “Think we can get on an episode of
The Maury Show?”

Josette chuckled, having thought something similar. “Saralyn would shoot us both before
she’d let that happen.”

Both women were silent for a few moments. Rebecca spoke first. “What are we going
to do about our husbands, Josette?”

Josette rubbed her belly. “I have no idea, but we have to do something. More than
anything, I want peace in this family.”