Tag: Lisa Davenport Collins

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Kingsport #54

“Thank you for meeting me off-site, Dylan.” Meredith McCarthy, the CEO of Davenport Technology, sat on the edge of a sofa in Dylan’s sitting room. She surveyed the man for whom she technically worked for as she cleared her throat. “The board and I are concerned…”

Dylan Davenport nodded slowly. “I don’t think Nicholas will be a terrible board member. Despite what people think about him, he’s very smart. Don’t let the guileless demeanor fool you.”

“I haven’t come here to discuss Nicholas.” Meredith leaned into Dylan with grave concern. “My sources on Wall Street have told me that someone is buying up Davenport Technology’s debt.”

“Excuse me?”

“My friends in the bond market tell me that entities from Hong Kong, Sydney, and Geneva are making very attractive offers to buy our bonds from our existing bondholders.” Meredith took a deep breath before saying, “Who’s to say why they’re doing it and what for.”

Dylan listened to Meredith carefully. While he didn’t always agree with how she ran his family’s company, she hadn’t run it into the ground. She was beyond competent and furthermore, she wasn’t one to let a battle stand in the way of her vision. “Who have you talked to, Meredith?”

“I can’t reveal my sources…”

“Fair enough, but I don’t think now is the right time to employ diplomatic immunity. If shadowy entities are buying up our bonds, I want to know why.”

“I think we both know the reason why,” muttered Meredith.

“No,” Dylan said after a brief moment. “No. If someone wanted to take over the company, they could do it through our publicly traded stock.”

“Could they? Dylan, you and your family own the biggest share of stock.”

“I’m aware of that, Meredith!”

“Don’t snap at me! Dylan, look… Why on earth would someone want to buy our bonds? We’re a reliable player in the tech world, but we’re not setting the world on fire. Davenport Technology is solid and steady. Our bonds yield a nice return, but the stock is a better play.”

Dylan eyed Meredith carefully. In that instant, he could feel the wheels begin to spin and turn in his brain. Dylan knew that Meredith’s point was salient. Why buy up the bonds of a company like Davenport when the stock was a better play. “How many people know about this, Meredith?”

“So far, it’s just me and my sources. It’s only a matter of time before the financial papers find out. They’ll have a field day humiliating us in the business press.”

“I won’t let that happen.”

“You’re not the CEO anymore,” corrected Meredith.

“I’m not your adversary, Meredith. I need you to trust me. One hundred percent.”

She eyed Dylan carefully. “Dylan, I don’t know…”

“I know. That’s exactly why you need to trust me. When you get home today contact your sources and get the names or any relevant information concerning the entities buying up our bonds.”

“What good will that do?”

“If the Panama Papers have taught us anything it’s that all roads usually lead back to one source…a single point of origin.”

“Dylan, I don’t understand…”

“You will,” he assured her. “However, I need you to trust me. We will keep this out of the press for as long as we can, but whatever you do, do not tell the board. Do not tell your husband. Do not discuss this on your business cell phone or while you’re in the office. Is that understood?”

Meredith eyed Dylan carefully before saying, “If you’re sure…”

“I am. No one buys corporate bonds just because. These entities are up to something. Give me some time and I’ll find out who’s behind it.”

“How can you be so self-assured that you’ll be able to figure it out?”
Dylan never answered Meredith’s question because he knew in his heart of hearts that something was amiss. And if it took him six years and ten million dollars, he would find out who or what was behind this assault on his company. Nothing ever happened in a vacuum. Sooner or later, the whole thing would blow wide open…

“Are you surprised?” Lisa Davenport bit into a club sandwich in the kitchen of her well-appointed mansion. “She’s always been that way.”

Nicholas Davenport took a sip of iced tea before saying, “I don’t like being accused of something that isn’t my fault, Lisa. You should have seen how smug and accusatory she was to me. She treated me like some interloper when I’m a denizen of this world as much as she is!”

Lisa surveyed Nicholas carefully. “Nicky, I’m going to ask you something and I don’t want you to get upset with me.”

“What?” he asked carefully.

“Could it be possible that you and Will have unfinished business and that’s what Alison picked up on the other day at the country club?”

“No! God, Lisa! What is it with people in this town? In all of the times I’ve come back to Kingsport, I haven’t seen Will. We were together from eighteen until I broke up with him when we were twenty-two. I moved to Los Angeles and he moved to Amsterdam. The end. No more. At this point, we’re barely even friends.”

Lisa studied her baby brother carefully. “If that’s true, then why are you so annoyed with Alison? She loves to rile people up which is why I don’t bother talking to her.”

“It was more than her trying to rile me up, Lisa. She…she accused me of being the reason behind Connor not showing up to their wedding. I told Will…”

Lisa sat up with a shot. “What did you tell Will?”

Nicholas averted his sister’s inquisitive gaze. He knew he’d said too much. “I told Monty…Will, sorry, that if he didn’t want to marry Connor, then he shouldn’t.”

“Nicky!”

“I also told him that I didn’t want to get sucked into his orbit again and here I am!” Nicholas pushed his plate away from him. “I know it was a mistake even thinking about coming back to Kingsport.”

“This isn’t a Kingsport problem, it’s a you and Will problem!”

“No, it isn’t, Lisa. I’m not the reason Connor ditched Will at the altar. Whatever happened to make Connor run off has nothing to do with me.”

Lisa deftly arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow. “Are you sure about that, Nicky?”

“Lisa…”

“Hear me out: If Will expressed these feelings and urges to you, what’s to say he didn’t express them to Connor? Let’s say Connor realized that you and Will had been spending time together and, well, maybe their wedding being a bust is kind of your fault…by proxy.”

“No. I will not be held responsible for other people’s actions. Not again!” Nicholas rose from the kitchen table as he said, “I knew I should’ve stayed in Manhattan. The minute I step foot into this incestuous town, everything comes down on me like acid rain.”

Lisa tried to stop her brother as he began to storm out of her house. “Where are you going? Nicky!”

With that, her front door slammed shut. As Lisa tried to understand what had just happened, only one thing made sense for sure: Whether he wanted to admit it or not, her brother still had feelings for Will Montgomery…and that scared her more than anything else in the world…

 

In our next installment, Nicholas confronts Will as Alison’s suspicions are confirmed…

 

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Kingsport #50

“All of Kingsport, Manhattan, London, Paris, and Hong Kong are a twitter with the news of today’s wedding of Montgomery scion, William Harrison Montgomery to Dr. Connor Lorenzo Windsor, both of Kingsport, Connecticut. The wedding ceremony will take place at a private chapel on the Montgomery Estate for close family and invited guests before the reception which is rumored to be hosted in the grand ballroom on the estate for three hundred and fifty people,” explained the Kingsport Press in breathless detail. “William Montgomery, the youngest child of Charles Montgomery, IV and Alison Farrell Montgomery, is the owner of the Kingsport Polo Club as well as the captain for the King’s Polo team. Dr. Connor Windsor, the eldest child of Alistair and Raquel Windsor, is a surgeon at Fairfield County Hospital…”

Jill Stanhope Montgomery tossed the newspaper aside as she took a deep, cleansing breath. Although she tried to block out the events of the other from her mind, she couldn’t stop thinking about her moment of passion with Connor. Her body ached for him. He still knew everything that made her quiver, cry, moan, and melt. Warren hadn’t had sex with her in three months. To have a man inside of her…on top of her…and ravaging her made Jill want nothing more than to run off with the man who was due to marry her brother-in-law at eleven o’clock this morning.

“Are you ready?” Warren Montgomery walked into his wife’s dressing room as he fastened his nineteenth century cuff links.

“DeShawn will be here to do my hair in a few minutes. We won’t be late.”

Warren eyed Jill carefully. “We can’t be late for my brother’s wedding,” stressed Warren. “I’m his best man.”

Jill fastened an emerald and sapphire bracelet around her wrist. “We’ll be early,” smiled Jill, lightly.

“We should’ve stayed at the estate last night,” muttered Warren. “With all of the out of town guests coming in today, there may be traffic.”

“We’ll be fine,” sighed Jill. “Warren, I want to apologize.”

“For what?”

“Everything. I know I haven’t been myself recently and I am sorry. I should have put my personal beliefs and feelings aside when it came to Will’s wedding.”

Touched by his wife’s sudden about face, Warren kissed her forehead. “That means a lot. Thank you, Jill.”

Just then, the doorbell rang as Jill’s phone bleated to life. “That’s DeShawn. Showtime,” tittered Jill.

            “I don’t think we should be talking right now,” Nicholas said into his cell phone as he waited to climb into an idling black town car. “What we did the other night…”
“We didn’t do anything wrong. It was just a kiss,” whispered Will.

“You’re getting married today. I knew it was a bad idea letting myself get sucked into your orbit again,” snapped Nicholas.

“Please don’t be mad at me, Nicholas. I… I was in a weak state and I should’ve known better,” stammered Will. “I just… Help me make sense of what to do, Nicholas.”

“I can’t, Monty. You’re on your own.”

“Nicholas…”

“Monty, I can’t be your talk-to. If you want to marry Connor, marry him. If you don’t, call it off. Either way, the decision is yours. I can’t… No, I won’t be your consolation prize or back-up plan. Whatever you do next, you have to do it on your own.”

The chapel on the Montgomery Estate was last used on the occasion of Warren’s wedding to Jill. Outside of that, the chapel sat dormant except of weekly cleanings and the off times when the Montgomery family would use it to repent for sins of the past, present, and future. Sheila Davenport, Dylan Davenport, Lisa Davenport Collins, Jackson Collins, Oliver Collins, Elijah Davenport, Faren Davenport, and Nicholas Davenport made

their way into the chapel past the assembled press dressed in their finest wedding couture. Eli led Faren towards the holding area where she joined her cousins, Hannah and Kate Montgomery, the other flower girls in the wedding party.

“How tastefully done,” Sheila said to Dylan, who walked by her side.

“I suppose,” muttered Dylan. “I’m surprised Charles allowed the press to attend.”

Sheila pursed her lips. “Raquel Windsor begged for press coverage. People like Raquel think the Montgomerys are a royal family.”

“Aren’t they?” mused Dylan.

“Royalty doesn’t have this much money,” tutted Sheila.

“I didn’t think you’d come to your ex-boyfriend’s wedding,” Lisa whispered to Nicholas as they made their way to their pew.

Nicholas lowered his eyes before saying, “If I didn’t come, people would talk. I’m happy for them.”

Lisa gave Nicholas a curious stare. “All right. If that’s the story you want to tell…”

“Drop it,” Nicholas ordered his sister. “Let’s enjoy the wedding.”

In a small sun drenched waiting room, Will waited calmly as Warren finished tying his bow tie. “Is everyone here?” worried Will.

“Yes,” said Warren, calmly. “Uncle Walton and his brood just showed up.”

“How do you know for sure?”

“Jill texted me. Everything is going to be fine, Billy.”

Will forced a smile onto his face. Despite everything that had happened, he could feel the clouds lift. He was getting married today to the man he loved! Will couldn’t think of anything more wonderful. A second later, the clock stuck eleven. Without a word, Will drew a deep breath before leaving the room and walking towards the altar.

It had been agreed that Will would begin the processional with Alison and Charles followed by Connor and his parents. After what seemed like years of stress and worry, Will cast a confidant eye over the his wedding guests. They were dressed in their finest morning clothes just for the occasion. Even his sister, India, and his sister-in-law, Jill, looked good. Will smiled confidently at Nicholas Davenport because he knew his future was with Connor. As Will took his place at the altar with Warren by his side, they faced up the aisle to await Connor’s entrance. The music swelled and…

Nothing.

Silence.

Three seconds (which felt like six years) ticked by.

More silence.

Someone coughed.

Silence.

People looked at each other with mounting concern coupled with polite society smiles.

More people coughed.

Will turned to Warren with pensive dread in his eyes.

Alison grabbed Charles’ hand with a heavy squeeze. Their eyes locked ever so briefly before they both cast them to the stone floor.

Suddenly, the door to the chapel opened.

Everyone turned around with eager anticipation.

Alistair Windsor stepped into the chapel with a worn look on his face. “We… He’s gone. We don’t know where he is. Will…I’m so sorry.”

Will let out a scream so deafening, it sounded primal. His blood ran cold before he collapsed into Warren’s arms in front of the entire congregation. A second later, everything went black.

 

In our next installment, questions abound in Kingsport…

 

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Kingsport #49

“Lisa, I have to talk to you!” Jill Stanhope Montgomery grabbed her best friend by the hand as they marched across the overly manicured lawns of the Kingsport Country Club towards a secluded gazebo. “Oh, Lisa, I’ve done…the worst thing possible.”

Lisa Davenport Collins straightened the cuff on her end of summer pant suit while balancing a glass of wine in the other hand. She always loved the annual Labor Day at the Kingsport Country Club because it signaled the end of summer and the winding down of the year at hand. “Jill, what on earth…?”

“I… I went to see Connor the other day…”

Lisa heaved a heavy sigh. “Jill! You have to stay away from him. Connor is bad news.”

“I couldn’t help myself. I went to his house to ask him to cancel his wedding to Will.”

“I can’t believe you thought that was a good idea. If Warren finds out…”

“He won’t!”

“He’s good friends with Connor! What’s to stop Connor from telling Warren what you did? Jill, with all of the problems you’ve told me about your marriage, it’s really insipid of you to try to interfere with your brother-in-law’s marriage.”

Jill took a deep breath as she added, “It’s…”

Lisa raised a deft hand. “Stop. Jill, I don’t care what happened with Connor because you shouldn’t’ve gone to see him. We’ve been friends since college, but when it comes to Connor, you lose all sense of yourself. That man has brought nothing but misery to your door.”

“Lisa…”

“No. Forget whatever happened with Connor. Forget that you tried to ruin Will’s wedding day. Focus on Warren, Hannah, and Kate. Everything else doesn’t matter… Not in the least…”

“Billy, Connor. I have a little surprise for you.” Alison Farrell Montgomery waved her son and future son-in-law to her table at the Kingsport Country Club. While she loathed dining in public, Alison always liked the club’s annual Labor Day extravaganza. No expense was spared, which made the ridiculously high price of annual admission somewhat justifiable. “I’ve found the perfect house as my wedding present to you.”

Connor turned his gaze to Will, who did everything in his power to hide behind his aviator sunglasses. “Alison, that’s sweet…”

“It’s the old Havermeyer Estate,” interjected Alison with great excitement. “It turns out Bitsy and Joanie have finally decided to unload it after letting it sit empty for almost a quarter of a century!”

“Alison, that’s…” Connor cleared his throat before saying, “Will and I would like to graciously decline your gift.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Alison glared at Connor before turning to Will. “Billy, what’s this all about?”

“We think,” began Connor.

“I was speaking to my son,” snapped Alison, briskly. “William Harrison Montgomery, what is the meaning of all of this?”

Will shifted uneasily in his deck shoes as he said, “Connor…we…think we’re going to live at Connor’s house.”

“It’s far too small,” exclaimed Alison. “It’s practically a guest house on his parents’ estate! No gardens, a shared pool…there isn’t even a chef’s kitchen!”

“I’ve lived there for years and it’s served me just fine,” sniffed Connor.

Alison narrowed her eyes as she surveyed the smug doctor. “I’m sure it has, Connor. However, you’re marrying my son. He’s been raised in a very specific way that he’s grown accustomed to despite what he may tell you when you’re having sex.”

“Mom!”

“Billy, please. The Havermeyer Estate is the right home for you and Connor. If you want to live at Connor’s while the house is being renovated, then that should be fine. Have your honeymoon period. I’ll pay for all of the renovations and upgrades, so the matter is settled. I won’t hear another word about it!”

“This isn’t your decision to make,” Connor said through clenched teeth. “You don’t even live in America. Don’t you have a broom or something to whisk you back to Paris.”

Without a word, Alison stood up, gave Connor a contemptuous scowl, and disappeared into the country club.

“She’s a bit much today,” sniffed Connor.

“Don’t you ever speak to my mother like that ever again.”

“Will, I…”

Without a word, Will pushed past Connor and into the throng of revelers. He didn’t know what to do or where to go when he looked up to see Nicholas Davenport eating a hamburger at a table with their old friends, Eileen Owens, Journey Adams-Woole, and Ryan Mansky. A surge of nostalgia washed over Will as he surveyed the happy scene. He and Nicholas had been happy together. They were the same people from the same world who both sneered at microwave meals and loved Russian caviar on Ritz crackers. In that moment, Will wondered what his life would have been like had he and Nicholas worked through their issues as young men in their twenties rather than breaking up in search of something better. Will thought Connor was his something better, but they kept fighting. He and Connor were very different people who couldn’t agree on where to live, let alone on how to approach the differences between them. With Nicholas, Will knew they would have moved into the Havermeyer Estate without a question. Alison and Sheila would’ve paid for it and put it in trust for them without a second thought. No guilt. No arguments…just a thank you. In that moment, Will made himself stop thinking such ludicrous thoughts because he and Nicholas were no more…and he was going to marry Dr. Connor Windsor the day after tomorrow.

“Don’t just stand there! Come and join us,” Nicholas shouted to Will. When Will remained frozen in the grass, Nicholas put down his burger to check on his old friend and ex-boyfriend. “Are you all right, Monty?”

“I… I don’t know, Nicholas.”

Before Will could say another word, Nicholas led him into the country club where they found the Red Parlor to be empty. Nicholas sat Will in a chair as he closed the door and surveyed him. “Talk.”

“I… Nicholas, I don’t think I can go through with this wedding.”

“Monty, you… You told me you love Connor.”

“I do! It’s… God, Nicholas, it’s everything else. The way he talked to my mother… Whatever his past is with India… Nicholas, I…I can’t do it. I…just can’t.”

“Then call it off. Get out of town.”

Will looked up at Nicholas and gazed into his soft brown eyes. “I’m being stupid. Everything will be fine once we’re married. I’m just…in my feels… That’s all.”

Nicholas sat next to Will with grave concern. “Monty, don’t deflect because you’re trying to make everyone else happy.”

“I don’t…”

“You do. You do it all the time. Whether it’s your father, your brother, your mother, and now, Connor, you’re always trying to make someone else happy. If marrying Connor won’t make you happy, then don’t do it! For God’s sake, Monty, put your happiness first for once.”

And in that moment, Will put his happiness first as his lips met Nicholas’ and the first kiss they shared in over fifteen years seemed to last an eternity…

 

In our next installment, it’s Will and Connor’s wedding day…

 

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Kingsport #41

“Mom… What are you doing here?”

Sheila Davenport took a deep breath before saying, “Dylan and I had some business to discuss. How was your holiday?”

Lisa Davenport Collins surveyed her mother carefully as she sat in a chair at the far end of Dylan’s drawing room. “It wasn’t a holiday,” Lisa replied, crisply. “I had a lot of thinking to do…my therapist was indispensable.”

“Oh.” Sheila deftly touched the silk pillow which sat by her side. “I don’t know what is keeping your brother… I’m supposed to meet Alison in an hour.”

“He’s probably busy with something.”

“Well… I should go…”

“That’s it?” Lisa called after her mother. “We’ve barely spoken in weeks and now you’re avoiding me?”

“Don’t you take that tone with me, Lisa. I have plans.”

“Yes, you always have plans. Were your plans so important that you couldn’t be bothered to wish Nicholas a happy birthday?”

“Who told you that?!?”

“Dylan told me. That was cruel, Mom. He’s your son.”

Sheila let out a frustrated sigh. “You children are getting more and more difficult the older you get! I sent Nicholas a gift the next day. It was a bespoke chess set…”

“Nicholas hates chess,” interjected Lisa. “Eli likes chess.”

“See. I can’t do anything right! No matter what I do for you children, it’s never enough.”

Lisa glared at her mother with bewilderment. “You try to control us! Me, Dylan, Nicholas, Eli…it’s what you do.”

“I’ve never…”

“The minute one of us does something to upset you, you ice us out. You’ve done it to all of us! It’s the one thing we four have in common.”

“I do not have to listen to such slanderous lies,” spat Sheila, hotly.

“You didn’t call me once the entire time I was in Arizona. Not once. Everyone else called to check on me, but not you,” snapped Lisa.

“I was giving you space…”

“No, you weren’t, Mom. You were upset with me because I made a decision about my body without consulting my husband!”

“He has a right…”

“No, he doesn’t! No one does. What I do with my body is up to me. I am not Jackson’s property. No one owns me.” Lisa stood up, walked over to her mother, and said, “Mom, I love you, but you have to stop trying to run our lives.”

“I do not try to…”

“You do! Dylan told me how you reacted when Nicholas said he wanted to sell his shares in Davenport Technology.”

“That has nothing to do with you or Dylan. Nicholas’ shares are held in trust. I’m the trustee because he’s too impetuous and irresponsible to manage his own financial affairs.”

“How can he become responsible if you won’t let him try? He’s thirty-six! Dylan, Eli, and I can vote our shares in the company which are held in trust, so why can’t Nicholas?”

Sheila let out an exasperated sigh. “Lisa, this is none of your business. I don’t even know why you’re concerned about Nicholas’ affairs.”

Lisa let her mother’s words sit with her for a moment before saying, “Because no one ever holds you to account. You have so much privilege that no one would deign to tell you when you’re in the wrong. What your adult children do…the mistakes they make…are none of your business.”

“You children will always be my business! Lisa, I think you’re mistaking interference for love. I’m sorry I behaved so badly when you told me about your surgery. I shouldn’t have been so impulsive.”

“I suppose that’s as much of an apology as I’ll ever get from you.”

“You needn’t be so hostile.”

“Then learn to apologize with sincerity!” Lisa grabbed her purse and turned to her mother with mounting annoyance. “Mom, I love you, but you need to take a good, long look in the mirror. There’s a reason why you and Eli don’t talk, why Nicholas refuses to come home, why Dylan keeps you at arm’s length, and why I can’t deal with you right now.”

“Lisa! Where are you going,” Sheila called after her daughter. “Lisa!”

With that, Sheila watched Lisa storm out of Dylan’s house with more hurt and fury than she’d ever seen from her daughter in her entire life.

 

In our next installment, Charles demands something from Alison…

 

 

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Kingsport #31

“Mom… What’re you doing here?”

Sheila Davenport watched as her daughter walked across the well-appointed drawing room and sat in an overstuffed leather club chair. While Lisa looked a little worse for wear, Sheila was pleased to see she’d still managed to put herself together. “Jackson asked me to stop by.”

“He shouldn’t have done that,” replied Lisa, wearily.

Sheila took a deep breath before sitting in the chair across from her daughter. “He’s worried about you. So am I.”

“There’s nothing to worry about. It’s a common procedure. I trust Dr. Shearer.” Lisa fiddled with the cashmere blanket carelessly draped over the arm of the club chair.

“It’s not about trust, Lisa. What you’re going through…”

“Mom, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You need to…”

“No,” interjected Lisa. “No, I don’t need to talk about it. I need some peace and quiet before the surgery on Wednesday. That’s why Jackson took Oliver to his sister’s summer place in Nantucket. I just need…some peace and quiet.”

“Lisa, you like to sweep every emotion under the carpet as if nothing matters. But, sweetheart, I can’t even imagine what you’re going through right now. If you need me to come with you on Wednesday…”

“I don’t. Jackson will be here. His sister, Veronica, will bring Oliver to Kingsport on Saturday.”

Sheila shook her head, knowingly. “Are you going to tell Oliver about your pregnancy?”

Lisa shot her mother a furious glare. “No. He doesn’t need to know, Mom.”

“Maybe it’ll help him understand…”

“He’s nine years old! He doesn’t need to know every detail of my failed reproductive system!” Lisa bit her lip as she stared out of the bay window. “I’m sorry,” she said in a low voice. “I don’t know how to feel.”

“Lisa, you are one of the strongest people I know.”

“Ugh. Don’t even start with that!”

“It’s true!”

“I don’t want to be a strong black woman right now, Mom. I want to grieve. I want the world not to make sense. I don’t want to be strong for my husband or my son. I want to… God, I just want to sit in my house and let the silence be my friend. I don’t even know why you’re here!”

“Your husband asked me to check on you, Lisa! Jackson is worried about you and, quite frankly, so am I.” Sheila surveyed her daughter before saying, “I think it would be prudent for you to talk to a professional.”

“I don’t need to talk to a professional,” hissed Lisa. “I need to be left alone! I’m a forty-year-old woman! I don’t need my mother or my husband thinking they know what is best for me!”

“You don’t let people in! You never have!”

“Because people meddle. They think…they assume!…they know what’s best for you when it’s all dressed up in their ego.” Lisa turned her back to her mother as she sat in the window seat. She took in the sight of her swimming pool before saying, “You can go home.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

“I want you to leave, Mom,” said Lisa, evenly.

“No. You’re my daughter. You’re obviously in pain! I want to help you!”

“I don’t need help!” yelled Lisa. “I don’t need it! I don’t want it! The only thing I want is to have this…pregnancy over with, Mom! I don’t want anything else. You haven’t a clue what it’s like to have so many miscarriages and now this ectopic pregnancy. It’s been hell for me. Just hell. People look at me all the time and think that just because I’m rich with a handsome husband and smart child that my life is dandy. It’s not. The pain I’ve endured for years… A husband who’d rather spend time in New York with those whores rather than with me… The son who’s growing up so fast that before I know it, life as I’ve known it will be over…and it’ll just be me. Alone.”

Sheila rushed over to her sobbing daughter and scooped her up in her arms. “My little girl,” Sheila said after a long while, “it will be okay.”

“You don’t know that,” replied Lisa as she wiped her eyes. “All I know…I just want this pregnancy over with, Mom. I can’t bear it anymore.”

“I know…”

“Over the last few days, I can feel myself growing closer and closer to this child when I know how it will end. It’s horrific.” Lisa walked away from her mother, her mind swirling around her. “I… I haven’t told Jackson yet, but I have asked Dr. Shearer to tie my tubes as well.”

Sheila let out a stunned gasp. “Lisa! I know you’re hurting, but that’s…that’s a huge decision to make without consulting your husband!”

“It’s my body,” retorted Lisa, hotly. “I don’t need Jackson’s consent!”

“You don’t know if, one day, you’ll change your mind and want to have another child.”

“I’ve accepted that Oliver will be my only child,” sighed Lisa. “He’s enough. I can’t go through this pain again, Mom. I won’t do it.”

“Maybe it’s wise to hold off on making this huge decision until you have more clarity of mind,” reasoned Sheila.

“I don’t need more time. I’ve already made up my mind, Mom. The doctor knows what to do. I’m not confused.”

“Surely, you want to consult, Jackson…”

“Enough!” Lisa shouted at her mother. “Jackson is not my keeper! He doesn’t own me. He loves me as I am.”

“How do you know for sure that he doesn’t want another child? Neither of you have been using birth control, so it’s very likely that Jackson may want another child one day.”

Lisa stared icy daggers at her mother. “If that’s what Jackson wants,” started Lisa, “then he’ll have to find it somewhere else. I’m done.”

“You’re willing to throw away your marriage and the potential of another child to – what? – prove a point?”

“You don’t understand!” snapped Lisa. “The emotional upset and tumult I’ve gone through since last Friday have been awful. I know my chances of carrying a child to term are low. I’ve accepted that. If Jackson wants another child, then I won’t be able to help him, with or without having my tubes tied. I’m doing this for me, Mom; not for Jackson.”

“I’m wholly aware of that,” retorted Sheila. “Sometimes I worry that your insistence on being so independent will be your downfall. If you do this without telling Jackson, it’ll haunt you for the rest of your life with him, Lisa. I can guarantee that.”

“I need to rest. You should go,” Lisa said, evenly. Without looking up, she waited until her mother had left the house, closed the door, and driven away in her car before she let the tears flow. Lisa knew her mother had a point, but in this moment of pure agony, all she could do was mourn the future…and the child which was not meant to be.

In our next installment, Jackson lays down the law with Sheila…

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Kingsport #30

Alison Farrell Montgomery laid by the outdoor pool at the Montgomery Estate as the humidity clung to every inch of her toned body. She pulled her sunglasses tight against her face as a shadow cast over her. “Move.”

“You do know how to speak,” snapped India. She folded her arms while her mother sighed and rolled over to her side. “Mother, I’m speaking to you!”

“I’m trying to have a few moments of peace and quiet before I meet my friends for dinner.”

“You’ll look like an old weather-beaten suitcase,” clucked India, ruefully. “You haven’t spoken two words to me since you arrived from Paris.”

Alison sat up, removed her sunglasses, and gave India a terse stare. “India, I don’t want to talk to you. In fact, I think it would be better if you stayed out of my way.” With that, Alison grabbed her robe, sunhat, and started for the main house.

“Why?” called India as she ran towards Alison. “Mother, please! You can’t ignore me! I’m your daughter!”

“India, will you please leave me alone?!? My god! I can’t have a moments peace without you demanding every spare second of my time!”

“But you always have time for Billy! It makes me sick!”

“I have time for Billy,” began Alison, “because he didn’t have an affair with my boyfriend and then accuse him of trying to force himself on her!”

India stood in absolute silence, like the world had stopped without any intention of every resuming its usual hum of the last four billion years. “That’s not true,” insisted India. “I never even looked at Count Andre du Renault!”

“You used to be a much better liar,” spat Alison. “I know all about it. Andre told me what you did to him!”

“What I did to him?!? Mother, I didn’t do anything to Andre. He’s lying! He always tried to come on to me, but I stopped him. He would tell me how he wanted someone more nubile…more experienced… Mother, you have to believe me that I never tried to have sex with him!” exclaimed India.

Alison grabbed India by the arm. “Keep your voice down. You sound like a common guttersnipe.” She dragged India into the pool house and slammed the door. “Now you listen to me, India, I am not your father. I see you exactly for who you are. I have since you were a child. I’ve seen the essence of who you really are and always have been. You’re a mean, spiteful, vindictive woman with no regard for anyone around you. It’s anathema to who you really are.”

India’s eyes narrowed in horrified anger. “You have no proof…”

“Very few people know of the lengths you went to in order to get Connor for yourself. The lies you told… The people you hurt…” Alison folded her arms with fury in her eyes. “India, what Count Andre told me you did to him tracks entirely with what you did to Connor. It was like listening to an old record.” She looked India once over. “You disgust me.”

India stood in absolute silence before saying, “You’re just jealous. He wanted me, Mother. That’s not my fault.”

“You accused him of drugging you and trying to sleep with you, India! Have you any idea how damaging that could be to his life if it ever got out?!?”

“I don’t see how that’s my problem,” simpered India. “He never told me to stop.”

Alison let out an exasperated cry. “You’ll never learn, will you, India?”

“I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“You have to stop this! What you did to Connor and Andre…”

“They both wanted me!! It’s not my fault that Connor was desperate to have me, just like Andre. Men find me sexual. They want to be with me, Mother! Connor doesn’t love Billy and Andre certainly didn’t love you!”

Alison’s hand stung from the slap she’d laid across India’s face. “You have no concept of the meaning of love!”

India rubbed her throbbing cheek. It had been years since anyone had hit her, but she wasn’t going to cry or give her mother the satisfaction of seeing her in pain. “If I don’t have a concept of love, it’s because you ignored me during my childhood while you were off being a slut in Europe. You made me this way, Mother. I’m not to blame for my behavior; you are.”

Lisa Davenport Collins sat in the examination room when Dr. Shearer entered the room followed by her husband, Jackson Collins. For Lisa, the last few days had been a special kind of hell. After four miscarriages in the last eight years, Lisa had given up all hope of every having another child and, now that she’d made peace with her present, the future was turning out to be an unkind little stranger. Jackson took his wife’s hand as Lisa said, “What is the result, Dr. Shearer?”

“Mrs. Collins, you are pregnant…”

“Wow,” muttered Jackson. “It happened, Lisa.”

Lisa watched Dr. Shearer’s face. It was a stony mask which told Lisa all she needed to know. “It’s not good is it,” she asked the doctor.

“Lisa, you’re pregnant! This is a wonderful thing,” interjected Jackson.

“Dr. Shearer,” began Lisa, “please tell me what’s wrong.”

Dr. Olivia Shearer quietly said, “Our transvaginal ultrasound has detected that you are having an ectopic pregnancy. That means…”

“I know what it means,” Lisa said, ruefully.

“Due to your age…” began Dr. Shearer, “there are…”

“I don’t want it.” Lisa felt like the world was beginning to lose its color. She felt numb. She felt cold. She felt dead. “Do whatever you have to do to get rid of it.”

Jackson turned to his wife with grief written all over his face. “We need to discuss this, Lisa. Dr. Shearer, it’s possible this could be a viable pregnancy, isn’t it?”

“Due to Mrs. Collins age and other factors, it may not be as viable as we would hope it to be. I’ll give you two time to talk this through…”

“I don’t need time,” said Lisa, gravely. “Tell me when I can come back for the surgery. I will find time in my schedule.”

Jackson waited for Dr. Shearer to go before saying, “Lisa, you can’t just end your pregnancy! We should be able to talk this through.”

Lisa turned her face away from Jackson. She knew he was hurting because she was hurting on a level she never knew existed. The mere fact that she had become pregnant was a miracle, but God was playing a horrific joke on her. She and the doctor knew her odds of carrying this pregnancy to term were unlikely. The thought of growing attached to…and loving…a baby which may not survive crushed every bit of Lisa’s soul. “I’ve made up my mind, Jackson. I can’t go through with it. I won’t…”

In our next installment, Lisa rejects Sheila’s help…

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