Best She Ever Had (9781617733963) Read online

  He better not be playing with himself in there, Korey thought. He pounded on the door again. “Boy, are you done yet?”

  “Almost finished, Pops!” Jared yelled through the closed bathroom door. “Just a sec!”

  Korey dropped his hands to his hips and silently fumed.

  It had been a long, tiring day. In addition to the usual oil changes and switching out of air filters, Korey had to do the normal office work and management stuff that came with being a business owner. He had fielded calls from two angry customers who swore one of his mechanics had overcharged them for shoddy work. Korey had promised them that they could bring their cars back and get them serviced again, free of charge. He then had made a mental note to talk to the mechanic in question when the guy got back from vacation later that week. He had been on the phone for an hour with his accountant, who droned on and on about some change in the tax code for high earners that still left Korey confused. Korey just assumed that it meant he would have to pay more taxes. And finally, he had answered a call from a good friend and valued customer, Derrick Winters, who had gotten himself into a bind by rear-ending some woman in the middle of Main Street.

  Korey hadn’t expected that woman to be Cynthia Gibbons—his old flame. The instant he climbed out of his truck and saw her, he felt like he had been given a kick to the chest.

  He had thought it odd that he and Cynthia hadn’t run into one another in the whole year and a half that he had had his shop downtown. (Chesterton wasn’t that big.) He had suspected she had been avoiding him. Now he knew for sure that she was purposely steering clear of him this whole time.

  “She should after what she did to you,” a voice in his head argued.

  Cynthia had dumped him. She had decimated his heart almost twenty years ago to marry some older guy who could buy her diamonds and furs. It had taken him a few years to get over her rejection. Even when he married his now ex-wife, Vivian, Korey still had been dragging around a broken heart from his breakup with Cynthia, angering Vivian.

  “I can’t believe you still have a thing for her, Korey! Can’t you get it through your thick head that she doesn’t want your ass anymore?” Vivian had said once during one of their fights.

  Seeing Cynthia today had brought back all those old feelings—a tangled mass of longing, sadness, frustration, and hurt. If he had felt tired before he saw her, now he was damn near exhausted. He was even skipping going to the gym tonight.

  All Korey wanted to do was take a shower, put on clothes that didn’t smell like gasoline or transmission fluid, drink a cold beer, and veg out in front of the television for a few hours. Maybe he could even catch a Nats game. But instead of lounging on his vibrating leather recliner, remote control in hand, he was standing in his hallway still filthy and still exhausted while his unemployed son, who wouldn’t know a water bill if it was engraved in gold, monopolized the one shower in the entire house.

  Korey slumped against the doorframe. He supposed he should be happy that Jared was at least here. Usually Jared would be at Vivian’s house. They had arranged since the divorce that Jared spend the week with his mother and his stepfather, and spend his weekends with Korey. Korey had made sure to rent a 1950s bungalow in Chesterton with a spare bedroom so Jared would always feel at home when he was in town. Jared had since decorated the room with the football and basketball jerseys of his favorite teams (the New England Patriots and the Lakers, to his father’s great disappointment), posters of busty bikini models, and a few posters of tattooed rappers. But now that Jared had just turned nineteen, the shared parenting arrangement had officially ended. Jared could spend his time however he wished. Korey, who always felt his relationship with his son was tenuous thanks to his ex-wife’s manipulations, expected that he would see less of Jared. But to his surprise, for the past several months, he had seen even more of his son. When Jared wasn’t away at school, he was staying in Chesterton. But Korey soon figured out why. It wasn’t that Jared was eager to spend more time with his old man. He was eager to spend time with a girl he had fallen madly in love with.

  Korey still hadn’t met her yet, but he didn’t have to meet her to know Jared was head over heels in love with her. He could hear their whispered late-night conversations on the phone. Jared would monopolize Korey’s landline for hours talking to that girl. Jared no longer boasted about all the phone numbers he got from girls he met at the mall or around town. His girlfriend was the only one he had eyes for. And while returning clean laundry to Jared’s sock drawer a week ago, Korey noticed the box of condoms he had given Jared a year ago. He had purchased Jared that twelve-dollar gift after making the boy sit through a lecture about safe sex. That sad little box had sat full for months. Now, more than half of the condom packets were gone.

  Well, look at that, Korey had thought as he gazed at the half-empty box. So Little Jared is getting more ass than his Pops!

  Yes, things between Jared and the mystery girl were definitely serious. He bet this was Jared’s first love, and Korey was happy for his son. Maybe Jared’s first serious romance would work out better than Korey’s had. Korey certainly hoped it would.

  Korey perked up when he finally heard the squeak of a faucet handle. The sound of running water ceased. Seconds later, Jared opened the bathroom door, sending out a billowing cloud of steam that slowly rolled into the hallway. The steam departed, revealing Korey’s blue-tiled bathroom.

  “Hey, Pops!” The young man wiped at the fogged-up bathroom mirror. He stood on the fuzzy navy blue bath mat with one tan towel wrapped around his trim waist and another dangling around his damp shoulders. He turned to his father and gave a dimpled smile. “Are you just getting in?”

  “No, I’m not just getting in,” Korey answered testily. “I’ve been home for an hour now . . . and waiting in the damn hallway for half of it!”

  Jared laughed, ignoring his father’s irritation. He grabbed a can of body spray and began to spray it around himself, making Korey cough into his fist. Jared then turned on the hot water in the sink and sprayed shaving cream into the palm of his hand.

  “Don’t tell me you’re still grooming!” Korey closed his eyes. “Jared, when will I get to use my own damn bathroom?”

  “But, Pops, I gotta shave! I’m supposed to go out with my girl tonight.” He rubbed the invisible stubble on his dark brown cheeks. “You don’t want me to look grubby, do you?” He wagged his finger at Korey playfully. “You know, that’s not a good look. Women like a sharp dude.”

  Korey sighed, opened his eyes, and smiled. He could never stay mad at Jared for long. He watched as his son lathered his cheeks, opened a cabinet door, and pulled out a clean razor from underneath the bathroom sink.

  “So when do I finally get to meet this girl? I don’t even know her name.”

  The razor froze in midair. Jared glanced at Korey out of the corner of his eye. “Why do you want to meet her?” The young man then began to shave.

  “Because you’ve been with her for four months now! I think you’ve officially set a record. You’ve definitely been with her longer than the last one. You know the one”—Korey snapped his fingers, trying to remember her name—“the girl who sounded like she sucked on helium.”

  Jared laughed. “Michelle did not sound like she sucked on helium, Pops! Her voice was a just little high, that’s all.”

  “And I want to meet this one because I’m your father, Jared. I changed your dirty diapers. I taught you how to ride a bike without training wheels. I taught you how to aim in a toilet. Remember?” He raised his thick brows. “It only seems right that I meet the girl you’re serious about.”

  Jared shrugged. “I don’t know, Pops . . . maybe.”

  “Maybe? Has your mother met her?”

  Jared rinsed his razor in the pool of water in the sink. “No! Are you crazy? Ma would scare her off!”

  Korey nodded. In Viv’s eyes, no girl would ever be good enough for Jared, “her little baby.” She had frightened many girls away with her heavy line of questi
oning and her insinuations, driving a few almost to tears. She acted as though every date was a potential wife for Jared, and she’d put the girls through the third degree before she would ever accept them into her family.

  Jared wiped at his newly shaven face with his towel, removing the last traces of his Martian-green shaving cream. He admired his reflection in the mirror, then suddenly paused. “Hey, what time is it?”

  Korey raised his wrist and looked down at his watch. “It is twenty minutes after six. Why?”

  Jared’s eyes widened to the size of quarters. He tossed his towel aside and it landed on the tiled floor. “Damn, I’m late!” He rushed past his father and ran into his bedroom at the end of the hall, sliding on the hardwood floors.

  “What time are you supposed to meet her?” Korey called over his shoulder as he grabbed the discarded, dirty towel and tossed it into the bathroom hamper.

  “At six o’clock!” Jared madly dug through his dresser drawers, looking for clothes to wear. “I’m late, Pops! I’m late!”

  Teenagers, Korey thought wryly. He shook his head in exasperation and strolled down the hall with his hands in his pockets. He stood in the doorway of his son’s bedroom while Jared hopped on one foot in his gray boxer briefs, shoving his leg into a pair of jeans.

  “Just chill out and take a deep breath, son.”

  “I can’t chill out!” Jared shouted. His jeans were still around his ankles. A white T-shirt dangled around his neck. “I’m late, Pops! I was supposed to meet her at—”

  “Yeah, I heard you the first time. So just call her and apologize. Tell her the time got away from you. No big deal.”

  Jared eagerly nodded as if that was the most original suggestion in the world. “You’re right. You’re right! Why didn’t I think of that?” He rushed across the room to his dresser, raising his jeans to his waist. He dug through a pile of papers, baseball caps, and loose change before finally finding his cell phone. He swept his finger over the phone’s touch screen. “I’ll give her a call and tell her that—Oh, no!”

  “What now?”

  Jared lowered his phone. He gulped. “She texted me. I wasn’t answering her calls, so she wondered if something was wrong. She’s on her way here!”

  Korey grinned. So he would finally get to meet the mystery girl. “And what’s so bad about that?”

  The doorbell rang. Both men turned and gazed down the hallway at the bungalow’s front door.

  Jared cringed. “That’s probably her.”

  “Probably.” Korey walked out of his son’s bedroom and down the hall. He’d prefer to meet Jared’s girlfriend wearing something nicer than an oil-stained shirt and pants, but his current outfit would have to do on such short notice.

  Jared raced after him and grabbed his arm, clenching it in a death grip. Jared looked frantic.

  “Pops, I really like this girl. Please, don’t embarrass me!”

  “Embarrass you?” Korey slowly pulled his arm out of his son’s grasp as the doorbell rang again. “Son, I’m not the one standing in the hallway in my underwear.”

  Jared looked down at himself. His pants had fallen to his ankles again. He hopped back to his bedroom and resumed dressing for his date.

  Seconds later, Korey unlocked the front door and swung it open.

  She was a tall girl. She almost reached Korey’s chin and he was six-foot-two. She had a sweet face: big brown eyes, a slightly pointed nose, and a pouty lower lip. Her long dark hair was held back with a simple black headband. She wore a peach halter top that showed just a hint of cleavage and snug-fitting jeans that showed off her curvy figure. She fidgeted nervously on Korey’s welcome mat.

  You done good, son, Korey thought as he looked at her. She’s a cutie.

  “Hey,” Korey said, extending his hand to her. “I’m Korey, Jared’s dad.”

  “Hi, I’m Clarissa! Pleased to meet you, sir.” She smiled and shook his hand. “Is . . . is Jared home? Is he ready to go?”

  “Almost.” He ushered her inside. “And Jared apologizes for being late.”

  She stepped past him into the small living room. “That’s okay. I just wanted to make sure our plan of where and when to meet didn’t change or anything.” She looked around her, biting down on her pouty bottom lip. “You, uh, you . . . you have a nice home, Mr. Walker.”

  “Thank you for saying so.”

  She was polite too. That was a plus. He’d challenge Viv to find fault with this one.

  “Jared should only be a few more minutes. Would you like something to drink?” he asked as he walked into the adjoining kitchenette. “I could get you some water or maybe some—”

  “No, that’s okay, Mr. Walker.” She anxiously fingered the zipper on her purse. She still stood in the center of the living room. “I’m not thirsty, but thanks.”

  Korey nodded and opened the refrigerator door. He pulled out a beer from one of the shelves and popped off the cap. As he drank, the room fell into awkward silence.

  “So . . . ,” he said, trying desperately to think of something to talk about while they waited. “Do you and your family live near here, Clarissa?”

  She nodded eagerly, sending her long hair flying. “We do. We live about fifteen minutes from here . . . on Pembroke Lane.”

  Korey raised his eyebrows in surprise. That was a pretty nice neighborhood with fairly expensive houses. The people who lived there were well above the income bracket of Korey’s neighborhood. Everyone in Chesterton referred to it as Millionaire Row.

  So Jared was dating a rich girl too.

  Korey leaned against the cracked laminate of his kitchen counter before taking another drink. “Your dad must have a pretty nice job to live there.”

  “He does . . . but he doesn’t live there with us. He lives in Chicago with his other family. My parents are divorced. It’s just me and my mother.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

  She shrugged. “It’s okay. They divorced a long time ago when I was little. I barely remember them being together.”

  “So you moved here from Chicago?”

  “No, Mom and I lived in D.C. for a while when she got remarried, but then after she divorced my stepfather, we moved back here. She’s lived in Chesterton her whole life. All her sisters are here. So is my grandmother. Mom said it only seemed right to buy a house in Chesterton.”

  “She’s lived here her whole life, huh?” Korey tilted his head. “You know, I grew up in Chesterton too. I wonder if I know her.”

  “You might. I wouldn’t be surprised if you did.” She laughed. “I think everybody in Chesterton knows who Cynthia Gibbons is!”

  At mention of Cynthia’s name, Korey almost spit out his beer. He caught himself just before he did, but then his beer lodged in this throat and he started to choke. He set his bottle on the countertop and pounded at his chest.

  Clarissa’s face contorted in a look of horror as she rushed toward him. “Mr. Walker, are you okay?” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “Do you need help? I know the Heimlich!”

  “Pops?” Jared asked as he finally opened his bedroom door. He raced down the hallway to the kitchenette. “Pops, what’s going on?”

  “I think your dad’s choking, Jared!”

  “What?” He then ran to his father’s side.

  Korey held up his hand. He gave one last cough and finally cleared his throat. “I’m not . . . I’m not choking”—he said between gasps—“anymore.”

  He grabbed the edge of the counter, took several deep breaths, and blinked his reddened eyes. He then stared at Clarissa. “Your mother is Cynthia Gibbons?”

  She slowly nodded, looking confused.

  Cindy’s her mother!

  How the hell was this possible? What was the likelihood that out of all the girls in the world that Jared had to choose from, he had fallen in love with the one girl who was the daughter of the one woman who had haunted Korey for the past twenty years? What kind of prank was the universe trying to play on him? Whatever prank it was
, it sure as hell wasn’t funny!

  Korey turned to look at his son. “Did you know Cynthia was her mother?” he asked accusingly.

  “Yeah, I knew.” Jared shrugged, taken aback by his father’s tone. “Why? What does it matter?”

  Clarissa nervously twisted the straps of her leather purse in her hands. “Mr. Walker, I . . . I know the reputation my mom and my . . . my family has around town. B-but we’re not that bad . . . really. And I’m . . . I’m nothing like my mom! I don’t even want to marry a rich guy! I’m okay with being poor!”

  Korey gazed at her. He could see it now in her face, those traces of Cynthia: the narrow nose, the stubborn set of her chin, and the arch of her brows. Yes, this was definitely Cindy’s daughter.

  “Does your mom know that you and Jared are together, Clarissa?”

  Clarissa hesitated. She looked up at Jared.

  “Tell me truth,” Korey ordered.

  Clarissa’s eyes shifted to the stained linoleum tiles underfoot. “She wouldn’t understand, Mr. Walker,” she said quietly, gnawing on her lower lip again. “I know Jared’s great, but my mother has different ideas of who would be the right guy for me. She wouldn’t accept us.”

  That sounded familiar. Korey could remember Cynthia using those very words the night she broke up with him almost two decades ago.

  “I love you, Korey. I really do,” she had said. “But mama doesn’t think you’re the right guy for me. She just wouldn’t accept us. It’d never work out!”

  “You’re not going to tell her mom, are you?” Jared asked, sounding desperate. “She’d make us break up, Pops. Please don’t tell her!”

  Korey shook his head. “I won’t tell her. It doesn’t feel like it’s my place to tell her anyway. Besides, Cynthia and I aren’t on the best of terms,” he said, remembering his encounter with her earlier that day. She acted like she couldn’t get away from him fast enough. “I doubt she’d want to talk to me.”

  Clarissa looked up at him with puzzlement. “What do you mean?”