A Heart to Heal Read online

  She hadn’t lied when she told Devin she’d stayed with Mark because he was fun. From the moment she’d met him, he was charming and easy going. She may not have loved him, but she’d believed he loved her. It wouldn’t have been long before she would’ve eventually allowed herself to drop the shield around her heart and try to love him.

  With a disgusted grunt she got out of bed. She tested the pressure on her foot and was relieved that it didn’t hurt as badly as yesterday. Leaving the crutches where they were, she half walked, half hopped into the bathroom and flipped on the lights. Halfway through brushing her teeth she remembered the lack of a shower. With an eye roll, she turned on the water in the tub and finished brushing her teeth. Too impatient to wait on the tub to fill, she stopped the flow when there was enough water reached her calves. It wasn’t as if she could soak with her foot wrapped up anyway. A bath was good after a long day, but not as the sole source of cleanliness. One more reason to get the hell out of this house and this town.

  She dressed in a red and black sequin halter top and a pair of skinny jeans. Frowning at her wrapped foot, she opted out of matching heels, and slid on a pair of red flats before putting on a thin black leather jacket and leaving the house. Remembering Devin’s disapproval at her leaving the door unlocked, she made sure to lock it even though she was only going down the street to her mother’s. It was after eight thirty, so her mom would already have left for her job as a custodian at the high school. Hopefully she’d left her newspaper so Shayla could look through the classifieds. She had a laptop and an iPad, but of course neither Mr. Porter nor her mother had internet. So searching for a job the traditional way was what she was stuck with, unless she visited the Helena library and used one of the public computers.

  She hated having to drive the short distance, but didn’t want to draw more attention to herself limping down the street. She slid into the driver’s seat of her Audi — thank goodness it wasn’t her driving foot that she’d hurt — backed out and drove to her mom’s house. She parked beside her brother’s old Toyota Camry.

  Her cell phone rang as she put her car in park. It was her friend Tasha. She ignored the call. She loved Tasha, but right now couldn’t face talking with her friend. Tasha knew about the scandal in Atlanta, but Shayla was still too embarrassed to discuss it with her. Tasha was the good person in her life who gave her friendship without judgment. But she didn’t think her newlywed friend could really hide her disappointment that Shayla had slept with a married man. Eventually, she’d have to make the drive to see Tasha. Sooner or later the heat from the rumors in Helena would get too close to her heart and she’d run to her friend in Columbia, just like she’d done when they were younger.

  She got out of the car and limped up the porch steps. She knocked on the screen, before opening it and turning the knob on the door. It was locked. With a sigh she rang the bell before banging on the door. After a few minutes of constant bell ringing and knocking, she finally heard the heavy footfalls of her brother in the house.

  “Who the hell is knocking on the damn door like the police?” He yelled as he swung the door open. His scowl turned into a look of exasperation when he saw her. “Shayla, why are you banging on the damn door? Ain’t you got a key?” He turned and headed back into the house.

  “As if Momma’s gonna give me a key.” She said following him.

  Their mom’s house hadn’t changed much in the years since she left. The living room furniture was new to her, but the thin spots in the flower pattern proved it was probably another second hand purchase. A plastic runner made a path from the living room to the kitchen and a matching one lead down the hall to the bedrooms. Pictures of her and Kenny from grade school adorned the wall and a curio cabinet overstuffed with inexpensive figurines. The smell of bacon filled the house and years of eating healthy were forgotten as she entered her mom’s kitchen. A plate of bacon sat on the old white stove, next to a pot of grits.

  Shayla walked over and turned off the stove. The grits were still smooth and her stomach growled as she breathed in the buttery smell. “Momma, forgot to turn off the stove.”

  Kenny plopped down in a chair at the kitchen table. He scratched his chin with one hand while pulling the black wave cap off his head. “She didn’t forget, she left it on so I’d have something to eat when I got up.”

  “I didn’t know you liked burned grits.” She said getting two bowls out of the cabinet.

  “Nah, Momma adds extra water before she leaves and turns it way down.”

  “If I remember correctly, you don’t get out of bed before noon. Even with extra water they’d be burned.” She spooned grits into both bowls and put them on the table before grabbing the plate of bacon and setting it down.

  Kenny laughed. “I got class this morning, that’s the only reason I’m up.”

  She cut her eyes at him. “Then why were you screaming at me for knocking on the door.”

  “I’m sitting in the bathroom minding my business and someone comes banging on the door. What would you do?”

  She grimaced. “Sorry I asked.” She looked in the fridge for some juice. The only thing in there was Kool-Aid and milk. She grabbed milk and two cups out of the dish drainer next to the sink before sitting down.

  Kenny held out his hand. “I need a spoon.”

  “I fixed your grits and brought you something to drink. The least you can do is get your own spoon.”

  He leaned back. “You need one, too.”

  She glared and he grinned. With an exasperated sigh she got up and took two spoons out of the dish rack. “Here, fool.” She said tossing his spoon on the table. He laughed and she sat down with a smile. “Man, you’re spoiled.”

  “No one to blame but you and Momma.”

  “Yeah, I know.” She said eating a spoonful of grits. She looked around the kitchen. “Did momma leave the paper?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I had it in the bathroom; you want me to get it?”

  With an exaggerated cringe she shook her head. “That’s okay, I’ll go to the library later. I need to look for a job.”

  “What’s the rush? You took a pretty hard hit down there in Atlanta, take some time off. Relax and regroup before putting yourself out there again.” He said in between shoveling large spoonfuls of grits into his mouth.

  She raised an eyebrow. “What, you majoring in psychology now?”

  He grinned flashing even white teeth. Neither she nor her brother looked like their mother who was short, plump, and fair skinned. They both inherited height and chocolate skin from their dad. Shayla hadn’t seen her dad in years, but Kenny was a mirror image of the man. Bald head, thick build, and winning smile. Still, she was the child her mom resented.

  “Nah, just a suggestion. You out of money?”

  She shook her head. “No, I was smart enough to save, and Mr. Porter’s rent is much lower than what I paid in Atlanta. I just need to get the hell out of Helena.”

  Her brother frowned and put the spoon in his bowl. “Why you always hating on Helena? It ain’t so bad here.”

  She picked up and bit into a crispy slice of bacon. “Maybe to you, but I don’t have many good memories here.”

  He shook his head. “You didn’t have to leave town and become a wild child.”

  “I didn’t become a wild child.”

  “That’s what everyone round here was saying.”

  She slapped her spoon on the table. “That’s exactly why I left. People in this town feed off rumors. Where did this come from? All I know is that one day mom calls me at Spelman saying I’ve embarrassed her by going off to college and sleeping with every man who visited our campus.”

  Kenny’s brows came together in confusion. “Peaches visited you and met the two different guys you were dating. Then she told Momma about three other guys coming to your dorm when she was there.”

 
Shayla sank back onto the seat. Peaches had been a part of her high school clique. There were six of them: Shayla, Devin, Tony, Jermaine, Peaches, and Roxanne. Devin, Tony, and Jermaine grew up beside each other and played football and basketball together since little league. She, Peaches, and Roxanne cheered together since junior high. High school social dynamics pulled the six together more than true friendship. She’d only considered Tasha her true friend after meeting her one summer at a cheerleading camp.

  Peaches had come to visit during her freshman year of college. It was true there were two guys interested in her at the time. But after escaping Tony and the relationship he’d forced on her, she hadn’t been interested in becoming tied to another guy.

  She wasn’t surprised Peaches lied. Their friendship had been more rivalry than anything. Each year they’d gone against each other for head cheerleader, Homecoming and Prom queen. Swapping wins every year. Peaches couldn’t stand not being the center of attention, so Shayla took pleasure in stealing some of her thunder. She’d even gone so far as to date a few guys that Peaches liked in high school. Not something she was proud of, and it didn’t help her reputation for being loose, but at the time it seemed fitting. It all seemed so silly now; being “friends” with someone you didn’t like much.

  “Peaches lied, I had a few guy friends, but I wasn’t doing everything she apparently led you all to believe.”

  Kenny shrugged. Her brother rarely passed judgment on others. A shrug and an “oh well” were as far as he’d go into anyone else’s drama. “You know how things go. She came back blabbing, and everyone ate it up.” He finished off his glass of milk before standing. “You can take it up with her later. Last night she and Roxanne came by looking for you.”

  She sputtered in the middle of drinking her milk. “What? Why?”

  He laughed. “Why do you think? To see you. I think they want to have a party to welcome you back.”

  She got a napkin out of the holder on the table and wiped up the milk. “Only they would have a party to welcome back someone who came home in disgrace.”

  “Either way, they said they were coming by again today to see you.” He leaned against the door jamb and crossed his beefy arms. “I see you already reconnected with Devin.”

  Just as she suspected, the gossips were on patrol the night before. “We didn’t reconnect. I was jogging and fell. He saw it and helped me out.”

  He looked at her foot. “So that’s why you’re limping. I wondered.”

  She raised a brow. “Why didn’t you ask?”

  “Figured you’d tell me eventually.” He pushed away from the door. “Tell Devin I said ‘what’s up’ when you see him.”

  “I won’t be seeing him.”

  “Why not, the band’s back together now.” He said laughing as he turned to go down the hall. “I gotta get ready for class.”

  Shayla picked up her spoon and played with the remaining grits in the bowl. The band was back together. It’s funny how she hadn’t thought about Peaches or Roxanne in years. After Peaches’s one visit freshman year, she’d hadn’t kept in contact with her. At the time, she hadn’t wanted the visit from Peaches, who was a reminder of all she’d lost and all she wanted to get away from. After Peaches’s visit, she had reached out and called Devin, but he’d said Peaches told him she’d moved on and he hoped for her sake she knew what she was doing. She hadn’t called him again. Seeing him in Atlanta a year ago was the first time she’d laid eyes on him in years, and of course it had to be when she was with Mark.

  She put her elbows on the table and dropped her head in her hands. She was destined to always look bad in front of him. It would be so much easier to take if he’d grown into a fat, ugly toad. Instead he looked even better than he had in high school. Now his bronze skin covered the sculpted muscles of a man, not a boy. He had his own practice and from what she’d learned, everyone in town loved him. He became a pillar of society, and she became a tainted woman.

  Pushing back the frustration that always came when she thought about what could have been with Devin, she got up from the table and put the dishes in the sink. Her ankle would prevent her from painting today, but she could unpack her bags this morning before going to the library to look for a job. She doubted Peaches and Roxanne would show up before noon and if she could get most of her unpacking done by then, she’d be long gone before they came looking for her. Although it was only a matter of time before they caught up with her and she’d have to face them, and Tony.

  Chapter 4

  Devin swung his car into the side parking lot of his office at 8:30 the next morning. His receptionist Anna’s blue minivan, and his nurse Lisa’s red Malibu were already in the lot. He breathed a sigh of relief as he cut the engine and jumped out of the truck. His rounds at the hospital had taken longer than he’d expected. With a glance at his watch he entered the building to prepare for his first patient at nine. Memories of being there the night before with Shayla were fresh as he walked down the hall to his office. Instead of proving that seeing her didn’t affect him at all, he’d acted jealous and condescending. It was no secret Shayla didn’t care about his opinion, yet he still felt the need to lecture her.

  She was probably sitting at home now calling him a pompous ass, or was on the phone with one of her friends in Atlanta laughing at him. He hoped she didn’t call Tasha and tell her about it. The last thing he needed was for his friend Jared to know he’d lost his cool. While he was happy to give his friends advice when it came to women, he preferred to keep his relationships — or lack thereof — to himself.

  He entered his office and sat in the leather chair behind his desk. Unlike other doctors he knew, his office wasn’t adorned with family pictures of a wife and children. The only embellishment to the bookshelf filled with medical texts and his degrees on the wall were a few potted plants Anna insisted he needed and some awards received over the years. A stack of faxes with the results from various patient labs samples sat on his desk. He reached for them as he flipped on his computer and waited for it to boot up. He was shuffling through the results of his first patient when Anna came in.

  “You’re here. Lisa and I were wondering what was keeping you.” She said placing a steaming cup of coffee on his desk. Anna was in her late fifties, but still had the smooth skin and toned body of a woman in her thirties. Whenever someone complemented her on her good looks, she always grinned and said it was because her husband made her so happy. Her dark eyes sparkled with curiosity behind stylish red glasses.

  With a sinking feeling he guessed what was going on beneath her salt-n-pepper cropped hair. “Rounds took longer than usual. I’ll make my patient follow up calls during lunch.” He said taking a sip of coffee. He sighed with satisfaction; besides Annie’s ability to keep his office running smoothly, he kept her around because she made the best coffee.

  She leaned against the desk and grinned. “I wondered if you were up late last night.”

  He stopped shuffling through the lab results and looked at her from the corner of his eye. “Why would I be up late?”

  Annie waved a hand and shrugged. “I thought you may have been busy, that’s all.”

  Not buying it, he flattened his hands on the desk and raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you ask whatever question is bouncing around that head of yours?”

  “He’s here. Did you ask him?” Lisa, his nurse said from the door. If Lisa was 100 pounds soaking wet it would surprise him. But she ate more than most men he knew. She made her own scrubs, like the purple butterfly pair she wore today, because she couldn’t find any small enough to fit her slim frame. The sharp lines of her face were almost as sharp as her attitude, but she was the best nurse he’d ever had.

  Devin rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Okay, what is this about?”

  Lisa placed a thin hand on her hip. “Don’t act like you don’t know. You passed right by my cousin’s house
last night when you took that Shayla Monroe home. I was sitting on the porch and saw you with my own eyes.”

  “Then you would have seen when I drove away from her house.” He said with a tone of forced patience. “She was out jogging and fell. I saw her, brought her here to wrap her ankle, and took her home.”

  Lisa straightened up and pointed at him. “You brought her here? So you two were in here alone last night.”

  He scoffed and rubbed his hand over his face. “Just so I could check out her ankle.”

  Annie motioned for them to calm down. “As long as that’s all that happened it’s no big deal.”

  He froze and brought his hand to his chin. “Why is that?”

  Annie shrugged. “I’d just hate to see you mixed up with someone like that.”

  “Like what?”

  “A slut,” Lisa said.

  He glared at Lisa. “She’s not a slut. She’s an old friend, so please watch what you call her.”

  Lisa harrumphed and crossed her arms. Anna smiled at him as if he were a child. “You’re a man, so of course you see it that way. I’m a married woman and I don’t have any remorse for a woman who fools around with a married man.”

  “He lied to her and said he was getting a divorce.” He said.

  Lisa harrumphed again before Anna replied. “Doesn’t change what she did.”

  The accusing tone in Anna’s voice caused him to regret even more the way he’d spoken to Shayla the day before. Everywhere she went in town she must get the same response from other married women. Although he didn’t condone what she’d done, the situation wasn’t entirely her fault. “All I’m saying is that if he hadn’t lied about his marriage, she wouldn’t have been with him.”