Heartbeat Read Online Free Page B

she rocked her back and forth. “She gets more and more beautiful every day, Lake.”
    “Thank you.”
    Denise looked up at me. “What’s wrong?”
    It was really weird how Denise always seemed to know something was wrong without me ever saying anything. I sighed, “Girl, what isn’t wrong?”
    Even though I didn’t know Denise that well it was very easy to talk to her. On many occasions, I found myself telling her more of my business than I’d like to. But she never told me how stupid I was like Charlie and Kesha did, like they were perfect or some shit.
    “Hard adjusting to being a new mother?”
    I shook my head as I watched her rock my daughter. “No, hard adjusting to being a single mother.”
    Denise’s mouth dropped. “You and Greg broke it off?”
    I got up to get one of Destiny’s blankets. I handed it to Denise who wrapped her up in it. “Might as well say that. He’s been gone for two weeks and ain’t been by or even bothered to call or nothin’.”
    Denise gasped then sucked her teeth. “He ought to be ashamed of himself.”
    I went on to tell her how much I wanted to leave Greg’s no good ass alone but there was just something holding me back. I could never tell Kesha and definitely not Charlie these things. Denise just nodded her head and told me how much she understood. She even told me about one of her no good boyfriends and how he used to dog her out, too. It felt good to be able to vent and then hear someone say they been through the same thing.
    “But girl, you gotta leave that dog ass nigga alone. He ain’t ever gonna do right by you if he done went M.I.A just two weeks after his baby girl was born.”
    I nodded my head because I knew what she was saying was true.
    “I don’t know how I’ma tell my mama that there ain’t gonna be no wedding.”
    Denise laughed and waved her hand as if to wave off my concern about my mama. “Girl, she’ll be alright. She ain’t the one who gotta live with his dog ass. Don’t let your mama bully you into marrying a nigga who ain’t shit.”
    That was easy for Denise to say. Although, I wasn’t fool enough not to her the reason in her voice.
    I sat and talked to Denise for fifteen more minutes but once she left I was still stuck with the same problems.
    I attempted to call Greg again and my call was sent directly to voicemail so I knew that son of a bitch had blocked my number. Yep, I knew as sure as my name was Lake that he was laid up with some bitch. It wasn’t like it shocked me that Greg was sleeping with other women. I knew that much. But it was the fact that he was disowning his only child for some new piece of ass.
    I screamed at the top of my lungs in hurt, frustration, and remorse. I should have left his ass long before I ended up pregnant by him. The thought of Destiny growing up without her dad and ending up with daddy issues because of it, made me sick to my stomach. I told myself I’d limit the amount of pills I was going to take since I was breastfeeding but I felt the urge and need for a Xanax now more than ever. One Xanax couldn’t hurt, right?
    I ended up taking two and made a mental note to run to the store and buy Destiny some formula for the rest of the month. I sipped a glass of wine and waited for the pill to work its magic. I didn’t feel like moving but once I heard Destiny crying in the next room, I forced myself off the living room couch and went to tend to my daughter. 

Charlie
    Rick took his coffee cup off the granite kitchen island and took one sip before replacing the cup. He totally ignored the three cheese egg-white omelet, bacon, and toast I’d put on a plate in front of him.
    “You’re not eating?”
    He looked up from his cell phone and glanced at me before looking back at his phone. “Nah, I’m sorry babe, I gotta get to the hospital.”
    Even though I didn’t want to, I felt some kind of way. I’d gotten up earlier than usual because I wanted to make him breakfast and he didn’t even look at