Preacher's Wifey Read Online Free Page B

wasn’t thinking about that then. Everything about the deal favors him. After all, he was the one who came up with it, and I was the one who agreed. I’m sure whoever this woman is, if she’s in love with him, she won’t be saying anything to anybody about him being the father of her child.”
    â€œI still say you need to find out who she is. We need to make her go away.”
    â€œGo away?”
    â€œYes, go away. Especially if she lives around here.”
    â€œI never even considered that she might live here in Atlanta. Oh my goodness. What if she does? How often does he see her? Is that where he is when he isn’t here at home?”
    It was too much. The thoughts. The questions. The what-ifs. All. Too. Much.
    â€œAllyson, now is not the time to allow yourself to be frazzled. You are smarter than this. Byran is not the only successful man you have been with. You are accustomed to money and to men catering to you. You seem to be getting soft when it comes to him. First thing you have to do is push your feelings aside and handle this like business, because that’s what it is—business. You made a mistake by allowing yourself to fall in love with him.”
    â€œWho said I was in love?” I said, trying desperately to hold back the tears.
    â€œI am an old woman, and I have been around love’s circle a time or two in my life. I know you think I am coldhearted, but I was not always this way. I know you are in love because you are crying. You are worried. Women who don’t care . . . don’t care. Let me ask you a question. Are you thinking about keeping this baby?”
    â€œExcuse me? Of course I’m keeping my baby!”
    She held up her hands in defense. “Calm down. It was just a question.”
    â€œNo. It was not just a question. How could you ask me that? You act as if there is another choice.”
    â€œThere is. An abortion.”
    My mother was losing her mind. No. She had lost it.
    â€œMom, I don’t want to continue this conversation,” I said as I got up to leave.
    I put my hand on the doorknob to go inside the house, but her next statement stopped me in my tracks.
    â€œIf you have the abortion, you’ll win his heart.”
    I stood staring at the door. She continued.
    â€œThis other woman . . . I’m sure she is thinking that by having his baby, she will keep him. Truth is, neither one of you can keep him with a baby. A man who’s going to cheat will do so with or without a baby. And usually when a woman is pregnant, be it his wife—or wifey, as you call it—or the sidepiece, he finds a new piece of tail he can run to. Neither of you is fun to him anymore. He has chased and conquered.
    â€œSweetheart, if you have the abortion, he will see how selfless you are, and he will see the extremes you are willing to go to in order to keep him happy. You will use the same mind game on him that he uses on you. It will confuse him, and he will begin to question if he really even loves this other woman. As for her . . . well, she will get big and out of shape. She will be sick and in pain, while you and Byran continue on with your lives. He will come home more often, because who wants to be around a whining and complaining woman? I have been pregnant, and that is what most women do—whine and complain.”
    I gave what she said some thought. My mother had never steered me wrong. She was a genius when it came to men. If it had not been for her, I would have never landed my first athlete. It was because of her, and her long friendship with one of the ladies who attended the church that Byran was the pastor at before going to Cornerstone, that I even met him. She had taught me a lot, and it had gotten me everything I had wanted out of life. Except for one thing. Love. But maybe she was right. Maybe I needed to have an abortion and wait for Byran to want me to have his baby.
    I turned to face her.
    â€œWhat if you are