Perfect Timing Read online

  Maxi had seen Dr. Frazier for a checkup and he’d informed her that her pregnancy was progressing nicely and there was no reason she couldn’t have a problem-free delivery. However, because of her fibroids he would need to keep her under close observation for a while.

  “Hi, sweeties, Mommy is here,” she cooed softly to her plants when she entered her home. She had gotten into the habit of holding conversations with them every day. They’d almost died while she’d been on the cruise and after nursing them back to health she had promised never to neglect them again. Believing her word as the gospel, the plants had decided to give her another chance and were now huge, healthy looking, and growing all over the place.

  Thinking about the cruise made her think about Christopher. Who was she kidding? Everything single thing made her think about Christopher, especially when she noticed her stomach was showing signs of expansion. And it didn’t help matters that she had a photograph of the two of them on the cruise in a picture frame on her dresser. The more she looked at his handsome, smiling face the more she loved him. At first a part of her believed that deep down he truly loved her, too, but since she hadn’t heard from him in two months—not even a phone call to see how she was doing—had made her realize, that no matter how wonderful the time had been when they’d been together, the only thing he felt toward her was gratitude and friendship, nothing more. And those were the reasons he had unselfishly given her the child she had wanted.

  She had made the mistake of calling him one night a few weeks ago, to tell him about her first visit to Dr. Frazier. A woman had answered his phone. His female visitor had enjoyed letting her know he was in the shower at the moment and couldn’t possibly come to the phone. That night she’d finally accepted what he had told her all along. He didn’t want a relationship, serious or otherwise, with anyone.

  Her thoughts then drifted to Mya. They had talked that morning and she knew things between Mya and Garrett hadn’t gotten any better. Mya still refused to talk to Garrett about anything, yet he hadn’t given up trying. Maxi couldn’t help but admire his determination in getting his family back although Mya was making it downright difficult for him. She and Mya made a point to talk at least two or three times a week. A lot had happened in both of their lives and they needed each other more than ever.

  Maxi was about to go into the bedroom to change into more comfortable clothing when the doorbell rang. “Must be the pizza I had Mom order for me,” she told her plants as she passed them on her way to the door. But still out of habit she glanced through the peephole.

  She blinked. Taken aback. It definitely wasn’t the pizza man. “Christopher!”

  Taking a deep breath she opened the door and there he was, standing less than three feet away. “How are you?”

  “I couldn’t be better now that I see you.”

  Maxi swallowed and held his gaze, not ready to buy into anything he said—not when he hadn’t called in two months. “Would you like to come in?”

  Christopher immediately picked up on the coolness of Maxi’s tone. The coolness, he noted, was also there in her forced smile. His gaze shifted from her face to her stomach and noted she wasn’t showing yet. What did he expect? She was only two months along. He moved his gaze back to her face. “Yes. I’d like to come in.”

  She stepped aside and when he entered and glanced around the first thing he noted was that she had a number of large plants all over the place. He hadn’t noticed the plants the last time he had visited. “Looks like a greenhouse in here,” he commented just to have something to say. A part of him tensed. In all the years he had known Maxi he had never felt this uncomfortable around her.

  “I like the effect they give,” she said, closing the door and walking pass him to the living room. “What brings you back to Savannah, Christopher? Another scandal?”

  Christopher lifted a brow. Only a dumb person would not pick up on the fact that she was angry with him about something. Like Blackwell had said, he was smart, although slow at times. “No. I came to see you.”

  “Why?”

  His brow raised a little higher. “You have to ask me that?”

  “Yes,” she said lifting her chin high and proud.

  “Because I care.”

  Some of the bitterness left Maxi. “Yes, I’d buy that. If you didn’t care I wouldn’t be pregnant.”

  Christopher crossed the room to stand before her. “I do more than care, Maxi. I love you.”

  Maxi’s heart gave a funny little lurch at his words. If he had said them two months ago she would have been overjoyed. Now she was only filled with doubt. “And when did you decide that you love me, Christopher? I know it wasn’t on the cruise and I know it wasn’t during the time we were making a baby. Heavens forbid it was that evening I called to let you know I was pregnant. And I know for certain it couldn’t have been two weeks ago when I called you and some woman answered your phone and told me, quite gleefully I might add, that you were in the shower and couldn’t possibly come to the phone.”

  “Maxi, I—”

  “No, it doesn’t matter because I’m the fool, Christopher. You told me all along what the score was but a part of me didn’t want to believe it. But now I do,” she said wearily.

  Christopher became angry, not with Maxi but with himself. He should have been man enough to face his feelings for her long ago but he hadn’t. And now it could possibly be too late. No, he refused to believe that. If ten years hadn’t destroyed what was once between them, he refused to believe that two months could.

  “Can we sit and talk about it?”

  She glanced up at him. “What is there to talk about?”

  “I can think of a number of things. How about let’s give it a try.”

  Sighing, Maxi sat down on the sofa and Christopher sat down beside her. “First, I want to know if you’re feeling all right?”

  She looked at him and decided not to make some smart remark about it taking two months for him to ask. “Yes, I’m fine.”

  “And the baby?”

  “He or she is fine, too.”

  “I’m glad.”

  Maxi studied his features. He was handsome as ever and a part of her wanted to trace the tip of her finger around his lips before kissing them. She held her hands together tight in her lap, not believing she could think such a thing. But then, having such thoughts were normal. She and Christopher had spent some hot and heavy days and nights together while making their baby. Just thinking about those times made heat pass through her body. “Why are you here, Christopher?”

  “I’ve told you already. I love—”

  “Besides that.”

  “There’s no other reason why I’m here.”

  His statement had been blunt. “So, I’m to believe that you woke up this morning and decided that you loved me?”

  “I wish it would have been that simple. It would have saved me a lot of time and expense.”

  “Not to mention a lot of condoms, I bet,” Maxi remarked with bitter humor.

  Christopher looked at her, surprised at her apparent anger. He’d been upfront with her from the beginning that his life was filled with fast women and meaningless affairs. “Is that what has you upset, Maxi? The fact that I haven’t been celibate since the last time we were together? You knew I was into women. You also knew I would resume my lifestyle once I had given you a child.”

  “Yes, but I—I thought…”

  “You thought what? That a man who’d been a loner all his life could miraculously fall in love overnight? I had loved you for twelve long years, Maxi. Twelve long years. Do you know that on most days the only reason I went to school every day, rain or shine, was because I knew you would be there. When I left Savannah ten years ago, the only way I could survive without having you in my life was to forget you and get involved with other women. And for the past ten years that’s what I’ve done.” He knew he had to make her understand.

  “But a part of me knew I could never treat you like I treated them. In my mind
, the only reason we slept together—no matter how enjoyable it was—was to give you my child. It wasn’t until later, that I realized it was for more. It was only recently that I realized that each and every time I made love to you, that you became a part of me because I shared a part of myself with you that I hadn’t shared with any woman. I finally admitted to myself that I still loved you, the same way I had loved you in school, which was with a possessiveness and an insane longing I couldn’t get rid of. Do you know I carved your name on every damn tree in the Vine?”

  She shook her head. “No, I didn’t know that.”

  “Did you know that I used to dare the other boys to go near you and ended up kicking a few behinds because one or two did it anyway?”

  “No, I didn’t know that—at least not until the cruise.”

  “Did you know that the day I left Savannah, for an entire hour I stood in your backyard underneath your bedroom window, hoping that I would see you one last time before I left?”

  She wiped a lone tear from her cheek. “No, I didn’t know that.”

  “Did you know that the first major chain store that Gabe and I built and owned in Detroit I had the honor of naming Maxi.”

  Maxi lifted a brow. The Maxi department stores were sprouting up all over the country and were on the same scale as a Bloomingdales—very elite and high class. “No, I didn’t know that either.”

  He slid a little closer to her. “And do you know how hard it was for me to tell you I didn’t want to be a part of my child’s life? Especially when you would be that child’s mother? So don’t tell me that I don’t love you, Maxi. I’ve had other women, true enough, but none of them has ever meant what you mean to me. The condition you’re in proves that.”

  He stood. “I hope I’ve given you something to think about. I love you and I want to marry you.” Ignoring the shocked look on her face when he mentioned marriage, he continued. “I’ll be in town for the rest of the week and will be staying at the Marriott on the ocean if you want to talk.”

  Maxi then watched as he crossed the room and walked out of her house.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  “You’re asking the wrong person if you want advice on love and happiness, Maxi.”

  Maxi shook her head. “No, I think you’re the perfect person to ask, Mya. No matter what has happened between you and Garrett, you can’t convince me that you don’t still love him.”

  “Of course I still love him but I can’t live with him, not with anger eating away at me like it is.”

  “And you still haven’t gone back to see your minister?”

  “No.”

  Maxi decided not to push Mya on the issue. She was still hoping and praying that things would work out between her and Garrett.

  “At least he’s as miserable as I am,” Mya said softly. “I talked to his mom the other day and the family is really concerned.” She inhaled deeply. “They ought to be concerned because a part of me isn’t sure Garrett and I will be able to work through this.”

  “You will, it will just take some time.”

  “It’s been three months and I still can’t stand the sight of him, Maxi. When I see him I envision him kissing her.”

  “Then envision him kissing you.”

  “I tried that but it doesn’t work. The thought that he let another woman—”

  “Don’t think about it, Mya. It won’t do you any good. Try putting it behind you.”

  “It’s hard, Maxi.”

  Maxi heard the tears in Mya’s voice. “I know, but you’re going to have to let it go sometime. There are women who have patched things up with their husbands for more serious charges. I read in a book where a woman actually caught her husband in bed with another man and forgave him.”

  “She had a bigger heart than I have then.”

  Maxi giggled. “Bigger than mine too.”

  After a long moment, Mya asked. “So what are you going to do about, Christopher?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Do you love him, Maxi?”

  “Yes, with all my heart.”

  “Do you want to marry him?”

  “Yes, with all my soul.”

  “Then what are you waiting for? Your child to grow up and plan the wedding for you? No matter what happens between us, I’d never regretted marrying Garrett.”

  Maxi smiled. “I’m glad to hear you say that.”

  “Yeah, me too. Look, I better end our call. I have to get up early tomorrow. I’m flying to Orlando. I’ll call you when I get there and leave my hotel number on your answering machine just in case you need to talk.”

  “All right. Take care, Mya, and have a safe trip. Love you.”

  “And I love you, too.”

  The next day when Maxi left work, instead of going home as usual, she took the scenic road that lead to the ocean and the Marriott Hotel where Christopher was staying. He had been in town only two days and already news had spread around town about his return.

  Her mother had phoned her at work to inform her everyone was curious to know why bad boy Christopher Chandler was back after ten years. And of course, everyone wanted to know what he was up to since rumor had it that he’d met with the mayor yesterday. And according to her mother, everyone was shocked to find out that he hadn’t been in jail during the ten years he’d been gone but was a highly successful and wealthy businessman living in Detroit. Her mother had also indicated that she’d heard Ronald Swindel was still in shock; especially after he’d used the tax payers’ money to do a background check that revealed the state of Christopher’s finances were more fact than rumor.

  After parking her car and walking into the hotel Maxi wondered what she would say to Christopher when she saw him, but in her heart she knew.

  “I wondered if you would come.”

  She turned at the sound of Christopher’s voice and noticed he had just stepped off the elevator. “Hi,” she said studying the features that were also studying hers just as intently. “Going someplace?”

  “Yes, to get something to eat. Want to join me?”

  She nodded. “Yes, I’d like that.” She didn’t bother to ask where they were going. And when he automatically slipped his hand in hers, she didn’t resist, not caring that a number of local people who worked at the hotel were watching them with keen interest.

  They went to a seafood restaurant not far from the hotel and enjoyed their meal. During dinner they talked about a lot of things, mostly how much Savannah had changed. The last time he had come to visit her, he had come at night and had left early the following morning, without seeing much of the city in the daylight hours.

  “I remember when an old shack used to sit on this very spot,” he said while they waited for the waiter to bring him their check.

  “Yeah, I remember that shack, too. I also remember Lover’s Cove wasn’t too far from here.”

  He raised a brow. “And what do you know about Lover’s Cove?”

  She chuckled as she glanced over at him. “Not much, since you managed to scare all the guys away from me. But thanks to Mya, I knew enough. Lover’s Cove used to be one of her and Garrett’s favorite hot spots.”

  Christopher chuckled. “Yeah, I bet it was.” He leaned back in his chair. “I understand they still aren’t back together.”

  Maxi nodded. “How do you know that?”

  “From Garrett. I talk to him occasionally.”

  Maxi looked at him, surprised. “You do?”

  “Yes and he’s pretty torn up about it still. Mya refuses to give him any slack or any forgiveness. But he is determined to get his family back.” He then looked at her intently. “So am I, Maxi. I am determined to have you and the baby in my life. The two of you are my family.”

  She lowered her head for a second then lifted her gaze back up to him. “Are we, Christopher?”

  “Yes.”

  A short while later they had arrived back at the hotel. “Would you like to come up to my room a while?”

  “Umm, I don’t know.
It might cause a scandal.”

  “But it’s a scandal I think we can handle.”

  Maxi thought he could handle just about anything. At least a lot better than she could. All during dinner she could feel sexual tension radiating between them and he hadn’t seemed particularly bothered by it. However, she had almost been tempted to jump his bones.

  “So, do you want to go to my room for a while to talk?”

  Maxi doubted they would get much talking done. At least not tonight. “Yes.”

  Once in his room, as soon as he closed the door Christopher gathered her into his arms and kissed her. Moments later when he ended it she looked up at him. “I thought we were going to talk.”

  “We are. Don’t you know that kissing is the best form of communication between two people who love each other?”

  “And do we love each other?”

  “I believe so. Am I right?”

  “Yes, you are right. I do love you, Christopher, and your baby loves you, too.”

  He stared down at her, with such deep emotion in his eyes that it nearly brought tears to hers. “How can you be so sure my baby loves me?” he asked huskily, in a voice that trembled slightly.

  “Because the baby feels what I feel and right now I feel so much love for you I can’t stand it.”

  He studied her features. “And can you handle the fact that there have been other women?” he asked softly, watching her reaction to his question.

  Maxi knew why he was asking her that. “Yes, because in my heart I know that none of them meant anything to you. I’m the only one you cared enough about to give such a precious gift to. I’m the only one.”

  “Yes, you are the only one because I love you.” He reached out and cradled her face in the palms of his hands. “Will you marry me?”

  She stared at him as tears formed in her eyes. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  And then he kissed her again before taking her to bed and making love to her. Tender, passionate love. Afterwards, they lay wrapped up in each other’s arms, glorying in being together. “Everyone is wondering why you’re back,” Maxi whispered softly, in the quiet stillness of the room.