Who's Your Boss? (Original Version) Revised version available in eBook/paperback

Chapter 14

Thank you all so much for your support. It means a lot.:)

(Reed)

From my lawn chair, in the backyard, I studied Winnie who was sitting in a rocker glider with Faith. She was dressed in a pair of old faded jeans and an oversized white blouse. Her hair was in a ponytail and her feet were bare. She looked like a girl and not a woman. I watched mesmerized as she laughed at something Faith had said.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Carter said, taking a seat in the chair beside me. "We're lucky they chose us."

"Yes, we are." I took a drink of coke and returned the can to the cup holder on my chair. "I pray they never come to their senses and realize we're not worthy of them."

"Amen to that, brother." He sipped at his coke. "So how are things going between you and Winifred?"

I smiled crookedly. "Things couldn't be better. I have to pinch myself sometimes to convince myself it's real - that she's real. I feel like I'm dreaming and any minute now I'm going to wake up and realize none of it is real."

"If this is all a dream I pray to God I never wake up," Carter said.

"Ditto."

"How's the family?" he asked after a few minutes spent in silence.

"They're-" I hesitated. Telling him they were fine would be lying to him and I had done enough of that. It was time to come clean. He deserved the truth. They both did. "Follow me." I stood and moved toward Winnie and Faith. "Sorry to interrupt, ladies, but there's something I need to say." I cleared my throat. "It's about my brother."

"Carter." Winnie rose from the glider. "Why don't you take my seat?"

"What's going on?" Faith asked, frowning.

"Patience, please." I waited until Carter settled next to Faith before I spoke again. "I've been lying to you both about Mark. He's not living in London." I felt Winnie slip her hand into mine. The contact gave me the courage to keep going. "He's in prison, serving a life sentence for murdering a man and his pregnant wife."

"Oh, God." Faith hugged her belly.

"Easy, sweetheart." Carter slipped his arm around her and placed his hand on her belly. "Damn, Reed. You could've been a little more delicate in how you put it."

"I'm sorry," I muttered.

"How-how did he kill them?" Faith croaked her face white as a sheet.

"You don't need to know," Carter told her.

"Tell me," she demanded. "Please."

"They were shot to death." I ran a hand through my hair and grimaced. "First him and then her."

"How far along was she?" she asked.

I took a deep breath and tried to recall what I had read on the police report. "She was seven - almost eight months."

"Were they able to save the b-baby?" Faith asked.

I couldn't bring myself to tell her that the woman had been shot twice in the stomach. It would've been too much information . . . information that a pregnant woman didn't need to know. It was best for her sake if I kept my answer short and to the point. "No."