Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 131486 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131486 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
“Show-off,” I mutter.
“You love him,” Deja teases.
“Whatever.” I roll my eyes and clear my throat. “So your mom tells me you’re skipping class. What’s up with that?”
“Oh, my God.” Deja groans and presses a hand to her eyes. “She keeps making it a big deal. It was one period so I could watch an important broadcast. I wish she’d just leave me alone.”
“Yeah, that’s not exactly how parenting works. No social media for the next week.”
“Dad! No. I’ve already scheduled posts.”
“Unschedule them.”
“You can take anything else,” she pleads.
“Which is exactly why we’re taking this.”
“We?” Suspicion narrows her eyes. “Did she put you up to this?”
“It was my idea.” My brows lift to the level of now what. “Your mother’s not the enemy. She wants what’s best for you. We both do. We’re not paying tuition for you to goof off at Harrington.”
“Who says I even want to be at Harrington anyway?” she mumbles, kicking at a pebble along the river.
“It’s one of the top schools in the state, Day. Do well there, and you’ll have your pick of colleges.”
“Who says I want that either? College isn’t for everyone.”
I don’t get to respond to that because my phone signals an incoming text.
Vashti: Hey, babe. I’m at the restaurant getting ready for the lunch rush. You coming in?
Me: Yeah. At the river with the kids now. We’re leaving soon, but Kassim has soccer at two. I should be in before the dinner crowd. Anthony’s there, right?
For so long I did a little bit of everything at Grits. Now that things have settled and we have an executive chef, a sous-chef, and Anthony, a great manager I wooed from one of Atlanta’s top restaurants, I have a little room to breathe.
Vashti: Yeah, Anthony’s here. Everything’s under control. I just want to see you and maybe we can hang after closing?
She’s dropped a few hints about wanting to spend the night. We haven’t been together long, but the attraction is there, and I like her a lot. I haven’t dated anyone in a really long time, but I do remember this is how relationships progress. I’m a red-blooded male. I want this.
Don’t I?
Me: I want to see you too. Yas is taking the kids after the soccer match. I’ll come by then.
Vashti: So Yasmen’s not coming in?
I frown, thumbs hovering over the screen. Despite the tension between Yasmen and me, I’m very clear that our business would not be what it is now had it not been for her ideas and her passion early on. We may not be married anymore, but we’re still partners.
Me: She probably won’t make it in today. You need her?
Vashti: No, not at all. It just feels a little awkward now that she knows we’re together. I want everything to work. I want us to work. I want things to be right here at Grits, and I just don’t want to upset any of that. Am I being silly?
Me: No, but you don’t have anything to worry about.
Vashti: Okay. See you soon. <3
I stare at the <3 for long seconds before shoving the phone into the pocket of my jeans. It’s not even an actual heart, but it gives me pause. I need to be careful with this relationship. I care about Vashti and have no desire to hurt her. I’ve been up front that I want to see where this goes, but this is the first relationship since my divorce. I’m not trying to get too serious right now.
“Was that Vashti?” Deja asks, not looking up from her own phone.
“Yeah, we were just talking about tonight’s shift.”
“Come on, Dad.” Deja smirks, raising laughing eyes to look at me. “Kassim and I figured it out.”
“Figured what out?” I play dumb.
“You.” She toggles her head back and forth. “Vashti. Dating. We know.”
“What makes you think that?”
“For one, the way she looks at you.” Deja bats her lashes exaggeratedly. “Like you so fine.”
“I am so fine.” I tug one of her braids. “Had to be more than that.”
“She’s been coming around more even when you guys aren’t at work.” She shrugs. “I don’t know. I can just tell you like her.”
“I do,” I say, laying the words out with caution. “I wasn’t sure how you and Seem would feel about it. You okay with me dating someone?”
“Why wouldn’t we be?” She sucks her teeth. “You deserve some happiness after what she put you through.”
She?
“Um…Do you mean your mother?”
“Of course. Who could blame you for moving on? Mom went crazy and ruined your life and—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I shake my head and look at her full in the face so she’ll understand. “Don’t ever let me hear you call your mother crazy again. You hear me, Deja Marie?”
“But Dad, she—”
“She was severely depressed, not crazy. Do you understand all we lost as a family in a matter of months?”