Lindsay's Legacy

by Janice Jones

Genres: African American; African American Christian; Christian Fiction

Synopsis

Lindsay Renee Westbrook Taylor, a Christian young woman better known as Nay or Nay-Nay, was married to Shaun Taylor, a notorious Detroit City drug dealer, until his swift and untimely murder. Their marital union was plagued with baby mama drama, infidelity, deadly violence and in-law issues. Now widowed and walking even closer to Christ, Lindsay is remarried to Shaun's former attorney, Cody Vincini. Lindsay feels like she has been blessed with God's ultimate favor in her new life. However, she soon discovers that the sins, secrets, and mistakes of her past are rampantly invading her present and weaving dangerous and destructive paths to her very uncertain future. Will Lindsay stand firm in her faith this time and let God guide her through the dramatic twists and turns of her new life, or will she again let human nature rule her decisions, actions, and reactions? Can she avoid getting pulled back into the situations she barely escaped before and walk away again with everything, including her life, intact?

Release date: April 24, 2012

Publisher: Urban Christian

Print pages: 304

Sample

“Lindsay Renee Westbrook. Today is supposed to be a day of joy, happiness, and love. You’re going to have to stop all this crying, sweetheart.”

The tears continued to flow unchecked. It was a good thing her makeup had not yet been applied; otherwise, it would be ruined by now. Her children were beautifully attired, sitting in the hotel clubhouse with her grandmother, waiting to serve as her attendants. The most important person in the world to her was in his dressing room with his brother, who served as his best man, calmly getting dressed. The ten or so guests that included Cody’s parents, his sister, and a few of the people he had met here at Martha’s Vineyard sat in the hotel chapel awaiting the ceremony to begin. Her beautiful silver dress hung on the back of the dressing room door. Her mother continuously tried to compose her as she sat creating rivers in her bathrobe. She wanted so badly to get up, get beautiful, and get married, but her feet were held hostage by the lead of guilt and sorrow she felt in her heart.

“Mama, I don’t think I can do this. I can’t do this without Shyanne.”

“Yes, you can, Nay. Shy would want you to be happy, baby. You know that. She is in your heart and in the beautiful memories the two of you created together.”

“But, Mama, the only memory that’s in my head right now is the memory of how I got my best friend, my sister, killed.”

Lindsay thought about the day that Shyanne lost her life. It was her thirtieth birthday, and Shaun had given her a royal beat down as a birthday present. Shyanne went in search of Shaun to deal with him for what he had done to her best friend and found herself caught in the line of fire of other drug men who had come to gun Shaun down. That was actually the most painful day of Lindsay’s life, one she would probably relive every year on her birthday.

“I know she would want me to be happy, but I feel bad because she doesn’t get to see me in my happiness. All she ever got to witness was my pain and distress while I was with Shaun; pain and distress that caused her death. Then when I think about that, I think about how I killed Shaun to avenge Shy’s death. Then I killed Rhonda, and I started to realize that maybe I don’t deserve to be happy.” Lindsay grabbed more of the nearly empty box of tissues and sobbed even louder.

She was definitely grateful to have been given such a light sentence. Two years for murdering two people had been merely a slap on the wrist in the eyes of most people. As a result of Cody’s great skills as her defense attorney, he was able to convince the district attorney not to take the case to trial. Had he taken the case to trial, Cody would have gotten her completely off on a temporary insanity charge for killing Shaun and a self-defense charge for killing Rhonda. The DA saw the validity of Cody’s arguments and decided to offer a plea bargain. After all, Shaun was a notorious drug dealer, and Rhonda had attacked Lindsay first.

Lindsay was so sure that she had truly dealt with the pain of Shyanne’s death during the two years she spent in prison. If anyone had asked her, she would have been willing to bet her life that she had sincerely forgiven herself for what she believed to be her part in the murder of her best friend. Today, however, all of the guilt, pain, and regret came flooding back as if Shyanne had died just yesterday. Why? Lindsay wondered. Why today of all days?

“Nay, sweetheart, you love Cody, don’t you?”

“Of course, I do, Mama. I love him with all my heart. My fears and doubts are not about whether I want to be married to him. I know I do. I just don’t know if I feel worthy enough to be his wife after all the wrong I have done. He deserves a wife who is better than the wretched mess that I am.”

Sherrie Westbrook kneeled in front of Lindsay and firmly gripped both of her wrists in one of her hands while she used her other hand to lift the bowed down head of her only daughter.

“Lindsay Renee Westbrook, you listen to me, and you make sure you hear me. I love you with a love that is indescribable. You love Cody with every fiber of your being, and he feels exactly the same way about you. You love your children so very much. Now, you take all that love and multiply it by one hundred and you still have not touched on how much God loves you. He loves you, Nay-Nay, and He has forgiven you. You have suffered the consequences of your actions by serving your time in jail and being away from your children for two years. You have suffered from all the pain you have endured since the day you met Shaun Taylor, including the death of Shyanne.”

Lindsay appreciated her mother’s words of assurance and love. She needed to be reminded right now how much God loved her. Even more so, she needed to hear and be convinced that He had forgiven her. As Sherrie continued talking to her daughter, Lindsay knew, in complete faith, that the Holy Spirit spoon-fed into her mother’s mouth every word she spoke.

“Today is the beginning of a brand-new life for you. You are a child of the King and deserving of every promise in His Word and His Word promises His forgiveness if you repent. You have done that, child. So you stop letting the devil talk you out of what you have a right to, Nay-Nay. Shyanne is also God’s child. She’s fine, resting in Him, at peace. Take comfort in that, Nay. Please, baby. There is nothing that you can do to bring her back. So wallowing in self-pity and self-imposed guilt will do no one any good. Marry the man that you love and be happy. Be happy, Nay, for your good and to the glory of God, because not even this is about you. It’s all about Jesus.”

Before Lindsay even knew what was happening, Sherrie began to pray.

“Father God, I come right now in the mighty name of Jesus, praising you, Lord, for your mighty works, for your precious grace and mercy, for your overwhelming love. Lord, I come to say thank you for a beautiful day that we have never seen before and for all the blessings this day holds for us. Master, I come right now asking that you shower down your peace, your wisdom, and your joy. This is the day my daughter is going to marry the man that you created just for her. Lord, give her the assurance that she needs to follow through with the plans that you have for her and Cody and guide her, Lord, so that she is the wife that you purposed her to be. This is my prayer in Jesus’ matchless name ... Amen.”

By the time Sherrie released Lindsay’s sore wrist, her tears had dried, her spirit had lifted, and she was ready to marry the man her heart desired.

“Okay, Mama. I can do this, for myself, for Shyanne, and for Jesus. Thank you so much for always allowing God to use you to help fix me. I love you, Mama.”

“I love you too, baby. Now come on. Let’s get you into this dress and all beautiful for your new husband.”

For the next forty minutes, Sherrie helped Lindsay apply makeup, put the finishing touches on her pre-styled hair, and helped her into her beautiful, although nontraditional, silver tea-length wedding dress. She then got herself dolled up and outfitted in her lavender sheath dress. The silver and lavender color combination had been Shyanne’s favorite colors.

While she and her mother primped, Lindsay was reminded of how she did this for her first marriage with Shyanne. She expected the memory to be painful, but she found it rather to be bittersweet; the sweet being that no matter what mistakes she made in her life, Shyanne had always been by her side to see her through them. The bitter had been that her first marriage had been such a disaster to such a horrid man. But Lindsay refused to allow even that thought to place her back into the funk her mother and God had just coaxed her out of. Together, she and Sherrie put the final touches on their wedding looks and headed out to meet her brother Kevin, the man who would serve as her escort down the aisle to her betrothed.

Sherrie signaled a hotel staff member to go and alert Cody and tell him it was okay for him to make his way to the chapel. She also told her to let everyone know the bride was ready and that the ceremony could begin.

The procession began with Cody’s best man, Thaddeus, escorting Sherrie to her seat in the front of the chapel where the ceremony would take place while the song “Nothing Has Ever Felt Like This,” by Rachelle Ferrell and Will Downing, played. He then joined Cody at the makeshift altar and arch. Next, Lindsay’s grandmother, Linda, was escorted by Li’l Shaun, to the seat next to her daughter. Following Linda and Li’l Shaun were Margaret and Anthony Vincini, Cody’s parents. All of the members of the wedding party were handsomely attired in the chosen colors of lavender and silver.

Lindsay could see the procession from where she and Kevin waited for Shauntae, the final person in the wedding party, to walk the aisle. Much to her surprise, however, another couple was standing ready to head down the aisle. When Lindsay looked closer, she realized the male and female, all decked out in the appropriate attire, were Shyanne’s parents, Gregg and Tonya Kennedy.

Lindsay had no idea Shyanne’s parents were going to be at her wedding, and much less of an idea that they were going to be a part of her wedding party. It took every ounce of self-control she possessed for her to not break free from Kevin’s grasp on her arm and bolt down the aisle after her godparents. What a wonderful surprise wedding present. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that her wonderful, soon-to-be-husband was behind the whole thing. She would be sure to properly thank him tonight.

Next and last to proceed down the aisle before the bride was her beautiful daughter, Shauntae.

Finally, the music changed from Rachelle Ferrell to BeBe and CeCe Winans’s song, “If Anything Ever Happened to You.” Kevin looked lovingly at his big sister and in his eyes Lindsay saw love, respect, and admiration. With his voice he said, “Nay, I am so happy for you and for Cody. You have been through so much in your life. You have made some bad decisions and had to live with them. But you are so strong. I love how you have rebounded by trusting God and changing your life.” He then bent slightly so he could place a tender kiss on the cheek of his hero. “Now, let me get you down this aisle and to the man who is worthy of a lady as special as you are.”

Lindsay stood rooted in her spot, staring and smiling at Kevin with a remarkable love of her own for her baby brother. She willed the two tears in her eyes not to fall so she would not mess up her makeup, but they had a mind of their own. “Kevin, you are so wrong for making me cry like this. I’m telling Mommy on you after my wedding, you bigfoot bozo.” She figured if she could make the two of them laugh, she wouldn’t completely break down. The sibling duo burst into giant smiles. She returned her brother’s loving kiss and the two proceeded down the aisle still grinning from ear to ear.

As Lindsay and Kevin slowly made their way down the rose-petal-strewn aisle, keeping time with the song playing, her eyes found those of her intended. She locked in and focused on the beautiful face of the man she knew God had created just for her as everything else around him seemed to have disappeared from the vicinity of the garden theme they chose for their ceremony.

When she and her mother had chosen the music for her wedding, Lindsay had been quite pleased with the songs they selected. As she and Kevin crawled at a snail’s pace down the aisle, she was now angry at herself for not having picked an up-tempo song with a fast beat so that she could have sprinted toward her man and still been in rhythm with the music.

Cody looked absolutely perfect standing at the altar awaiting her arrival. His beautiful heart and soul were encased in his magnificent six foot three inch frame. He had not gained or seemingly lost a pound since the day she initially laid eyes on him more than six years ago. All 190 pounds of him were flawlessly poured into the black tuxedo, lavender shirt, and silver vest he wore. He proudly wore his Italian ancestry as his dark olive skin radiated splendidly in the sunlight of the day. With the exception of the few unruly strands that always lay across his forehead, every other strand of the jet-black hair that God had so lovingly placed upon his head was in its proper place. The dark brown eyes that watched her every move as she gradually inched toward him glowed with love for her. The teeth that were the backdrop of his drop-dead gorgeous smile sparkled. Her sexy Benjamin Bratt/Ben Affleck look-alike still had the power to make her body tingle and her heart race.

Finally, after what seemed like a ninety-minute walk, Lindsay made it to the altar where the man of her dreams awaited her. Kevin stood holding her arm as the pastor from the church Cody attended whenever he was at his cottage in Martha’s Vineyard began the ceremony, waiting for the proper moment to hand his sister over to her very soon-to-be husband. Kevin proudly announced, “I do,” as the pastor asked, “Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” He kissed Lindsay on her cheek, placed her hand in the hand of his future brother-in-law, and took his seat.

The moment Lindsay’s hand connected with Cody’s, her entire body began to tingle. Her heart began beating so hard, she assumed her wedding guests could probably see her chest thumping as a result of the powerful force slamming inside it. She became so overwhelmed with love for the man that literally held her life in his hands that she had to keep herself from blurting out loud and insisting the pastor hurry up before Cody had an opportunity to change his mind.

The preacher began the ceremony with all of the traditional words and vows. Before they all knew it, he had pronounced the couple man and wife and stated, “Mr. Cody Vincini, you may now kiss your bride.”

When the newly married couple broke the kiss, Cody had to literally hold his wife up to keep her from falling to her very unsteady knees. Lindsay declared the very first kiss that she shared with her new husband had been the very best kiss of her entire life. Once she was able to compose herself, she and Cody stood together as their few guests came to greet and congratulate the newlyweds. When Shyanne’s parents approached, a wee bit of the guilt from earlier resurfaced. Lindsay held her emotions in check, however. The last thing she wanted to do was upset her second set of parents by blubbering about Shyanne not being there because she had gotten her killed.

Tonya Kennedy hugged Cody first. “You make sure you take good care of our very special daughter. Do you understand me, young man?”

Gregg Kennedy followed his wife and cosigned her declarative. “You need to make sure you listen to my wife, Cody Vincini. If you ever cause our little girl here one ounce of pain, I will hunt you down no matter how far you run to hide and chop off both of your feet, Kunta Kinte-style.”

The Kennedys’ claim of her being their daughter was nearly Lindsay’s undoing. But she held strong to the turmoil swirling within her. Both the Kennedys embraced her simultaneously, each feeding her soul with words of love.

“We are so happy for you, Nay. We love you so much, and your happiness is paramount to us. Shyanne would be so proud of you. I’ll be praying each and every night for complete joy and peace in your marriage.”

Again, Mr. Kennedy followed his wife’s words with sentiments that were a little harder to hear without crying. “Nay-Nay, losing Shyanne was the hardest thing Tonya and I have ever had to endure, but knowing that we still have a beautiful daughter in you makes our loss just a bit easier. We want you to know that we will always be available for you no matter what you need us for. We love you, young lady.”

Again, the three shared a warm and tender hug in unison. Lindsay allowed the tears in her eyes to run unchecked. Mrs. Kennedy also cried uninhibited. Lindsay wanted to tell Shyanne’s parents how much she missed her; how much she wished she were here to be a participant in this very important day. She refrained, however. She did not want to do anything to shatter the loving moment they were sharing.

After the Kennedys and the rest of the wedding guests had given their congratulations, Lindsay and Cody, along with all of the wedding party, took pictures in various locations around the beautiful hotel where the wedding took place. Immediately following the photo session, everyone proceeded to the reception area of the hotel to continue the wedding celebration.

Lindsay and Cody stayed with their guests for approximately an hour after they had all eaten dinner; then the newlyweds excused themselves and headed for their own private celebration in the room they reserved for their wedding night. Lindsay’s mother, grandmother, Kevin, and her children would spend the night at Cody’s and her Martha’s Vineyard cottage. The Kennedys and Cody’s parents had rooms reserved in the hotel for the evening. Tomorrow, all the respective families would fly home. Cody and Lindsay would fly to the tropical paradise of Ocho Rios, Jamaica, to honeymoon for seven days. When they returned from their honeymoon, they would move into the wonderful new home they purchased since her release from prison. Prayerfully, she would leave behind all the debilitating baggage of her first marriage and her old life with Shaun as she and her children stepped into new lives filled with God’s presence and His overflowing blessings.

“Mom, would you please tell your son to stay out of my room and away from my things? If you don’t, I’m going to strangle him,” Shauntae yelled her frustration as she entered the kitchen where Cody and Lindsay sat enjoying a morning cup of coffee along with each other’s company.

The new family now lived in a four-bedroom, three-bathroom home in the Green Acres subdivision of Detroit, near Seven Mile and Livernois. On the first day of Lindsay’s release from prison, she and Cody went house hunting. The couple immediately fell in love with the beautiful home they and her children now shared. Cody made an offer on the house, and blessedly, they were able to close on the home in just thirty days because of the housing market and the economy in Detroit. During those thirty days, Lindsay and her mother planned her small wedding. While she and Cody were on their honeymoon, Kevin and Sherrie took care of having all of the couple’s and the children’s things professionally moved into the home. Sherrie also handled registering the children in the private school they now attended not far from the house. Cody still . . .