The Best Thing He Never Knew He Needed (32 page)

His secretary answered,
then transferred him to Sam.

“
Sam Cartwright
here.”

“
Hey, Sam. It’s
Desmond.”

“
Desmond Champion…how goes
it, man?”

“
Everything is good on my
end.”

“
I know it is. I heard The
Champion Corporation secured a multi-million dollar contract with
Victor Westwood.”

“
We did, and we’re in the
final stages of completion for his new project. Look for some ads
in the near future. It’s going to be major.”

“
It better be for that
kind of money.”

The men laughed.

“
So what can I do for you,
Desmond?”

“
I just need some
advice.”

“
Shoot.”

“
I need to add my wife
to—”

“
Hold up…wife?”

“
Yes. I’m married
now.”

“
Since when?” Sam
asked.

“
Since about four months
ago.”

“
And I didn’t get an
invite to witness this monumental occasion?”

Desmond grinned. He
remembered how he had also told Sam he would never marry. He also
recalled how joyless his marriage ceremony had been. How love had
nothing to do with it. They’d just met in the parking lot at the
courthouse, said stale vows and drove away in separate cars.
Sherita deserved so much more.

“
There wasn’t an actual
wedding. It was a justice of the peace wedding.”

“
Oh…I see. It happened
fairly quickly.”

“
It did,” Desmond said,
flicking his pen between his index and middle fingers, looking at
the photo Dante had left on his desk – the picture of himself,
Sherita and his niece and nephew.

“
I’m starting to worry
about why I didn’t get a phone call to draw up a prenuptial
agreement?”

“
Because I don’t need
one,” Desmond said. “I want her to have everything I
have.”

“
And if the marriage
fails?” Sam asked.

A smile came to Desmond’s
face. “It won’t fail, but if it does, I would gladly give her half
of everything. I would give her all of everything, which brings me
to my reason for calling. I need to add her to the deed for my
house here in Asheville and my vacation home at Myrtle
Beach.”

“
Are you sure about this,
Desmond?”

“
I am. Can you get this
done for me?”

“
Yes, sir. I’ll take care
of the forms. What’s your wife’s name?”

“
Sherita.”

“
Sherita Champion,” Sam
said, writing her name down. “I’ll get the forms ready and fax them
over to you.”

“
Perfect. Appreciate it,
Sam.”

“
No problem. And
congratulations on finding
the
one
. She must be a special
woman.”

“
Thank you, and yes, she
is a special woman.”

CHAPTER 42

Sherita unlocked the
storage unit, removing four boxes of photo albums. She lifted the
lightweight boxes and placed two in the back seat and the other two
in the trunk. Then she did something she hadn’t done in a long time
– she invited her mother to lunch. They hadn’t sat down and
actually talked like a mother and daughter should. And then there
was the fact she hadn’t told her mother she was pregnant – this
would be the perfect opportunity to do so.

She pulled into the parking
lot of the restaurant, saw her mother’s car there then went on in,
spotting her at a two-seater table in the center of the
restaurant.

“
Hey, Mom.” Sherita
glanced at her watch. The time was close to one. “I know it’s been
a while since we had an actual, real conversation, and I just
wanted us to start over.”

“
I would like that too,
Sherita,” Carol replied.

“
Good.

“
And I promise I won’t say
a word about…you know…Thane.”

“
Thank you,” Sherita said,
relieved. “I am curious though…has he been bothering you and
Dad?”

“
Yes he has. He asked your
father if he needed more money. When your father told him he didn’t
need anything, he looked confused. Then he asked us if we knew what
was wrong with your phone.” Carol chuckled. “He still has your old
number, you know.”

“
Yes, and that’s the way I
want it to stay. Thane needs to move on with his life.”

“
He does, and I understand
why you were upset with me and your father. We had no right to do
what we did and, as a mother, I should know better than to talk you
into being with someone you don’t love. I’m sorry,
dear.”

“
No worries, Ma. Thane was
just as much at fault. I doubt if he’ll be bothering me
again.”

“
Good.” Her mother took a
sip of water, then glanced at Sherita’s hand. “Am I to assume the
ring on your finger is proof you’re either engaged, or done ran off
and eloped without telling your parents?”

Sherita looked at the mega
rock on her ring finger and forced herself not to frown. The ring
meant a lot to her, but at the same time, she knew it wasn’t a
genuine gift. She wouldn’t care if it was merely a silver band or a
microscopic diamond as long as the man who’d given it to her did so
from his heart. Desmond didn’t give her the diamond from his heart.
He gave it to her out of a showy display of his wealth.

“
Sherita Wilkins, do you
hear me, young lady? Looks like you drifted off into
dreamland.”

Sherita blinked out of a
trance, looked up at her mother and smiled. “You’re prying again,
mom.”

Her mother furrowed her
brows. “You’re wearing a diamond about the size of The Rock of
Gibraltar, and I’m prying?”

A bemused smile shone
brightly on her rosy-cheeked face. “You and your
exaggerations.”

“
Oh come on, Rita. It must
mean something.”

It means something to me,
but not to the man I love.
“All right, Ma.
Since we’re starting over, I’m going to come clean with you, but I
need you to listen and not judge me. Can you do that?”

“
Umm…”

“
Mother?”

“
Sure. I can do that,
dear.”

Sherita pulled in a breath,
released it slowly then began, “I am married, but it’s not a
traditional marriage. It was more of a business deal than anything
else.”

Carol’s frown grew deep.
Grand Canyon deep. “A business deal? Now Sherita Wilkins, I know I
raised you better than—”

“
Ma,” Sherita interrupted.
“No judging.”

Her mother blew an even
breath. “Okay. Continue.”

“
It’s a long story and I’m
not going to go into it, but just to answer your question, I am
married, and…” Sherita paused.

“
What, dear?”

“
I don’t know how to say
this, so I’m just going to come out with it. I’m pregnant.” Sherita
watched as her mother’s eyes grew big.

“
You’re what!”

Sherita glanced around the
restaurant. They now had an audience thanks to her mother’s scream.
Looking at her mother, she couldn’t tell if she was happy about the
news or angry. Her face just looked like a confused, mangled mess.
“Ma, lower your voice a little, please.”

“
You drop this bomb on me
and tell me to keep my voice down? This is…this is wonderful news,
Sherita. I’m going to be a grandmother?”

Sherita nodded, felt tears
flood her eyes. “Yes.”

Before she could tell her
mother there were actually two babies and not just one, the excited
grandmother-to-be had already rounded the table and wrapped her
arms around Sherita’s neck. When they separated, she pulled her
chair close to Sherita, sat down and asked, “How far along are
you?”

“
Almost four
months.”

Her mother looked at her
stomach, then touched her there. “You don’t look pregnant at all.
That’s a good sign, Rita. You’re going to carry well.”

“
You think so?”

“
Yes. Honey, when I was
pregnant with you, nobody knew until I was about seven
months.”

“
Really?”

“
Yes. I carried well.
Plus, you were a winter baby, so I was covered in clothes, jackets,
coats…you know.”

Sherita nodded.

“
When are you
due?”

“
March, but my doctor
already warned me that twins usually don’t make it to their due
date.”

“
What’d you say?” Carol
asked.

Sherita smiled. “You heard
me. You always wanted grandchildren…now you’re getting two at the
same time.”

“
Twins?”

“
Yes. I’m having twins. A
girl and a boy.”

Her wide-eyed mother
covered her opened mouth, while her eyes brimmed with tears. After
it all sunk in, she wrapped her arms around Sherita’s neck
again.

“
Mom, I’m breathing for
three. Don’t strangle me to death.”

Carol released her. “Oh,
stop it. I’m so happy right now, I could just scream.”

“
Please don’t. They just
might kick us out of here.”

Carol dabbed her eyes.
“Your father is going to pass out when I tell him this. Wait…it is
okay for me to tell him this, right?”

“
Yes. It’s
fine.”

“
Good. He’s going to be so
happy. You know he was a twin, but his brother died when they were
two. He drowned on a fishing trip.”

“
That’s terrible. I didn’t
know that.”

“
That’s because your
father doesn’t talk about it. He was only two at the time, so he
doesn’t remember anything, but he does remember how heartbroken his
parents were as he grew up, especially into his teenage years. To
this day, he thinks it’s the reason why they died so young. They
were heartbroken.”

Sherita shook her head. “I
can only imagine.”

“
So I take it this
pretend
husband of yours
is the father of my grandbabies.”

“
He is.”

“
Now would this be the
same man who paid off our mortgage? Tall, light-skinned, about
six-two with hazel eyes. Clean cut. Clean shaven. Dressed
sharp.”

Sherita hid a smile. “Yes.
That’s him.”

“
So is that the business
deal you worked out with him? You give him some babies, and in turn
he would pay off our mortgage?”

“
No, mother. You’re way
off, so stop speculating.”

“
I’m just trying to figure
out what’s going on because he stopped by the house earlier this
morning.”

Sherita narrowed her eyes.
“Who stopped by this morning?”

“
Your pretend husband.
Desmond Champion, right?”

“
Yes. What did he
want?”

“
He wanted to talk to your
father alone, so I went to the kitchen. And you know me…I stood
right there at the door and listened. It ain’t nothing going on in
my house that I’m not going to know about.”

“
What happened? What did
they talk about?”

“
Desmond started off
talking about the marriage…said it was quick and
unplanned.”

Sherita squinted. “So you
already knew I was married before you asked me about the ring,
huh?”

“
I did.”

Sherita laughed and shook
her head.

“
Mama had to hear from you
what was going on firsthand, honey,” Carol said. “Anyway, Desmond
apologized to your father for not asking for his
permission.”

Eyes widening, Sherita
asked, “Permission to do what?”

“
To marry you.”

Thoroughly confused,
Sherita said, “I can’t believe he did that. It’s…it’s so out of
character for him to do something like that.”

“
Well, he did it. He
didn’t say anything about the babies, though. He must have wanted
to leave that for you.”

“
I…I don’t know what to
say. I’m shocked.”

“
Oh, and there’s more,”
her mother said. “This debonair, Champion fellow also said he
thought the world of you. Said you were caring, loving, giving, and
that he’d never met a woman who could hold a candle to
you.”

Sherita cocked her head to
the side. “Okay, Mother. I see what’s going on here. You’re making
this stuff up so I can think Desmond actually wants this
marriage.”

“
Rita, I’m telling you
what the man said, and he was serious, too. Said you were an
amazing woman but he feared he wasn’t good enough for you…that he
wasn’t what you needed. I don’t know what he meant by that because
he looks like a decent young man. I know looks can be deceiving,
but from what I witnessed, he seems like he came from a good home.”
Carol took a sip of water. “Your father said those Champion men
were millionaires, too, which would explain why he had enough money
to pay off our mortgage. Is that true? Is he a
millionaire?”