“Fine. Can we change the subject? I’ll bring him over to your place more, Gran.” Turning to Jillian, she added, “I’ll spend a little more time out of the house so you can give him cookies, Jillian. Is that fine with the two of you?”

“Just so long as you don’t start taking advantage. You know how kids are these days. They act like we didn’t already raise them.” Jillian dashed out another one of her looks and sucked her teeth. “They start dropping off their bundles and expecting us to watch them. That’s exactly what happened to what’s-her-name. You know, she used to work for the Singletons. Anyway, her daughter just left her kids there and never came back.”

“Oh, yes, child. I heard about that. I can’t remember her name, either. Bright-skinned woman, right? Bless her heart. How is she going to take care of those children on her social security?” Primed to move onto the next item on their to-gossip-and-cast-their-opinions-about list, Gran chimed right in, not missing a beat.

Latonya excused herself from the table. As she walked to the restroom, she tried to figure out exactly why they even bothered to ask her to join them.

“Hey, beautiful. Long time no see,” a male voice called to her just before she reached the restroom door.

Turning, she saw her former colleague and friend Jeff Weatherby. Even though it thrilled her to spend time with her son, she sometimes missed interacting with adults.

“Hi, Jeff. Look at you! It’s so good to see you.” Giving him a heartfelt hug, she smiled.

Jeff let out a low whistle as he eyed her. “Look at you, girl!”

She glanced down at her smart designer dress and high-fashion stilettos. With her new layered haircut and makeup, she supposed she did look a whole lot different than she did when they worked together at Harrington Enterprise.

Jeff reached out and touched her cheek. “You look fabulous. Like a million bucks,” he observed.

She grinned and did a little half spin. The dress—a soft yellow raw-silk number—fit like a dream. It had a simple design, which she’d finally figured out she really liked. She found the dress and others like it at a small boutique named for the owner and designer, Frances. The simple-but-elegant clothing she found there allowed her to be somewhat comfortable in her new life.

Faking a pout, Jeff said, “I can’t believe it’s you. I feel like I hardly ever get a chance to see you anymore. What happened? You got married and forget about the little people?”

“No. But having a new baby has been work.”

“Oh, please, your son is two years old now and I know Harry Tres has enough money to spring for help. Or are you the only mommy in the neighborhood without a nanny?” Jeff teased.

“Yes. We have a nanny. But I like to spend quality time with my child. He’s at an impressionable age.” Latonya narrowed her eyes and huffed playfully, “Mind your business! You’re worse than Gran and Jillian.”

“See, I’m sure even they think you should get out and see old friends. Why don’t you come back to work? I’m head of the marketing division now.” He let out one of his most flirtatious smiles and stroked her cheek again. “So you wouldn’t have to worry about working for your husband. You know I’m too awed by you to give you a hard time.”

Smiling, she teased, “Yeah, I heard that you moved on up. You know if I was still on the job that would never have happened. That would be my job.”

“Yes, you were good. Then you married the boss’s grandson and went into hibernation. It was so quick, too. You broke my heart, beautiful.” For a moment he actually appeared somber. Then he let loose one of his fake pouts.

Laughing, Latonya said, “Stop playing. You know you weren’t fazed.”

“No kidding, I was. But I’ll tell you what. If you should ever decide to leave old Harry Tres, don’t forget to look me up.” Jeff stared at her intensely for a moment before cracking a smile and winking.

“You’re such a flirt! Get out of here. We’ll do lunch sometime, okay?” She patted her chest because it had been a long time since she’d laughed so hard. She didn’t realize how much she missed her former coworkers.

“How about next Friday?”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. I want to catch up.” He paused and gazed at her for a moment before continuing. “I miss you. Next Friday, you pick the restaurant.”

Excited, she agreed. “How about the Tavern at noon?”

“I’ll see you then.” Leaning in, Jeff hugged her and held her tightly before giving her a light peck on the cheek.

Smiling after him, she turned to continue her walk into the restroom and ran smack into the elder Carlton Harrington. Speak of the devil! Latonya wasn’t superstitious. But she knew that no good could have come from Jillian mentioning the man’s name earlier.

“Well. Isn’t this interesting. What are you doing out? Shouldn’t you be at home with my great-grandson? He is still sick, isn’t he?” The elder Harrington glared at her with thinly veiled contempt.

“No, Mr. Harrington—uh, Grandfather. He is feeling a lot better, so I came out for a little lunch and shopping with Gran and Jillian.”

“Jillian! Well, who’s with the boy?” he snapped.

His harsh tone almost made Latonya feel guilty for having lunch with her grandmother. It never failed, whenever she started to feel upbeat and excited in her new life, the old man showed up to ruin things. She was convinced he had some sort of radar detector that beeped every time she got a little too comfortable being Mrs. Carlton Harrington III. Hearing the beep, the old man no doubt jumped in his grumpy-old-man mobile and raced to spoil any notions she had that she belonged and that she’d done the right thing in marrying his grandson.

Taking a deep breath, she mumbled, “Pamela, his nanny.”

“Mmm-hmm. Well, don’t let me keep you. Go on and continue whatever it was you were doing,” he sneered. “I’ll stop by and check on little Carl this afternoon.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll see you later, then.”

Latonya hurried into the restroom. The old man always made her nervous. Even though he pretended to tolerate her and clearly adored her son, she sensed an undercurrent of dislike and distrust and she didn’t know what to do about it.

The elder Harrington watched as the little slut went scurrying off into the restroom. He’d tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, especially when it seemed like Carlton was so smitten with her that he wasn’t going to leave anytime soon. The girl even appeared to be a halfway decent mother. But the other one had fooled them all by pretending to care about her child. That is, whenever she hadn’t been running off with her newest lover.

He would never forgive himself for standing by while that woman ruined his family. He wasn’t going to let it happen this time around.

The way that Jeff Weatherby looked at the girl, it would only be a matter of time before the tramp found her way to his bed.

In a few years he would be handing over even more of the responsibilities for running Harrington Enterprise to Carlton. That would mean Carlton would be traveling more. Leaving the girl to run around with God knows who, while he worked hard to give her diamonds, jewels and designer clothing.

Before the elder Harrington knew it, he had dialed Carlton’s cell phone number. If he could stop history from repeating itself, he had to try.

Chapter 13

Even though he was in the middle of a meeting, Carlton answered his cell phone. It had rung several times and he assumed it must have been an emergency. He excused himself to answer his grandfather’s call. His voice sounded urgent and upset.

“What’s wrong, Grandfather? Is something wrong with Latonya or little Carl?”

“No. But you need to get your tail back to Miami and see about that wife of yours. I just saw that fellow we put in charge of marketing groping and kissing her.”

Carlton’s heart stopped and dread seeped its way through his body. “What? You saw her kissing Jeff Weatherby? Are you certain? Where?”

“I saw her in public, hugged up and kissing him just now. She must not know how to act when you leave her alone and up to her own devices. I don’t know if others saw her or not. But you need to come home and straighten her out. It doesn’t look proper, and we have little Carl to think about now.” His grandfather’s voice sounded foreboding.

“Grandfather, do you realize the gravity of what you’re telling me? If there is any way you can be mistaken, then you need to let me know, because you’re leading me to believe that you saw my wife in another man’s arms. Is that what you’re telling me?” Carlton felt as if someone was sucking the air from his lungs. Each word he spoke strained, he tried to take deep, calming breaths.

“That’s what I said. Now, delegate the rest of the business affairs. Hell, I’ll fly in and finish it myself. You get home and handle your personal life. She cannot be seen making such a public spectacle.”

“Fine. I’ll be there this evening.”

“Good.”