His Third Wife

“What does what mean?”

“What you said.”

“Never mind.” Kerry threw the mugs into the sink.

“No more coffee left?” Jamison asked. “I wanted more.”

“No.”

“No?” Jamison looked at the opaque carafe. “You sure?”

“Just tell me!” Kerry leaned against the sink.

“Tell you?”

“About Coreen.”

“What about her?”

“Don’t mess with me, Jamison. Not right now! You showed up at my house drunk and you’re in here drinking my coffee and I have to carry your ass home before my mother gets here with Tyrian and he’s looking at us crazy because you’re here.”

“Shit!” Jamison said.

“Tell me!”

“Okay. You know about Coreen.”

“Tell me.”

“Val told you?”

“Why would Val tell me anything? How would I even talk to her?” Kerry said. “Just tell me.”

“Why would I tell you what you know?”

Kerry crossed her arms and pressed her lips together. The steam coming from her brain was almost visible.

“Okay. Okay.” Jamison gave in. He knew sooner or later he’d be having this conversation with Kerry. He’d planned it in his mind so many times, but never did his rationalizations sound right or the blows come easily to someone he was tired of hurting. “I have a son. His name is Jamison. That’s all.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“The same reason I didn’t tell anyone else. I was ashamed. I wasn’t raised to have chi

ldren out of wedlock,” Jamison said.

“So you were raised to have children in secret?”

“You don’t understand. That’s not how it was. Coreen—she’s different. Worse than before.”

Kerry remembered the psychotic break Coreen had had when her dwindling affair with Jamison had fallen through before she left Atlanta. She was a widow. A young widow. Her hurt and all the loss had led to a full unraveling, and Jamison’s presence had been the only thing that kept her from suicide. That was how she’d lured him to California for those weeks. She’d needed him.

“What does Coreen have to do with you telling me about your child?” Kerry asked.

“I didn’t even know about him. When she called to tell me about Jamison, he was already walking and talking. She just asked me for money. Said she didn’t want me in his life. She just wanted the money,” Jamison said. “Then, when I became mayor—”

“She’s been blackmailing you?”

“Kerry, I wish it was that simple,” Jamison said solemnly.