Blindsided (Indigo Love Spectrum) (23 page)

S
he’d needed that workout. It had kept her mind off of
what’s-his-name.

The sound of the ringing phone quickened Dahlia’s
still-racing pulse.
Norris!
She pushed aside the water
bottle and grabbed the cordless phone. “Hello,” she said,
trying not to sound as anxious as she felt.

“Dee, baby, you okay?”

“Grandma,” she said, always happy to hear from
Grandma Flora, but feeling the slightest bit let down.
“I’m fine. I just finished working out.”

“You do a lot of that.”

“I have to.”

“You going to church today?” Flora asked.

“I’d hope to, yes, ma’am.”

“Think you can pick up your old grandma?”

Dahlia smiled. “You’ll never be old, and I’d love to.”

Her parents had gone to Atlanta to visit the ailing
Leslie. The last she’d heard, her sister was doing better,
and she was glad, but even after a couple of weeks,
accepting that Leslie carried her ex-husband’s baby was
hard to take.

Dahlia drew a breath and concentrated on the
moment. She hadn’t spent as much time with her grandmother as she’d wanted to, but today could change that.
Maybe they could grab a bite together after church, too. “I was planning to attend the first service. Would you
rather I wait for the second?” she asked.

“No, no, first is fine. I can be ready in an hour.”

“Okay, I’ll see you then, Grandma.”

D
ahlia smiled as she made way out of the gym. The
endorphins from the workout had her body humming,
and talking to her grandmother always did her heart
good. She’d be lying if she said Norris wasn’t still on her
mind, but she felt a lot better than she had when she
woke up this morning.

“Hey there.”

Dahlia jumped at the sound of Reese’s voice. She cov
ered her racing heart. She’d finally caught her breath after
exercising and now she couldn’t breathe again.

“I’m sorry,” Reese said, coming out the kitchen with
a glass of orange juice. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s okay,” Dahlia said, still gasping for breath. “I thought you were staying at Diana’s until later.”

“I was, but I needed to unpack a few things and study
for a test. Last week was crazy with preparing for the
wedding and bringing some of my things over here, but
now it’s back to the real world. This is the last test before
finals. Can’t get into Columbia if I let my A average slip.” A curious smile played at the corner of Reese’s lips. “So,
what were you so happy about just now, Dahlia? Did
your guy keep you company last night?” She giggled. “Is he the hottie from the wedding?”

Dahlia lowered her gaze. Reese’s easy-going questioning was a lot more painful than fun.

“Uh-oh. Have I stuck my foot in my mouth again?
Did you and your guy have a fight or something?”

“I never said there was a guy, Reese.”

Reese crossed her arms, clearly not believing that line
for a second. “Or something, huh?” she said.

Dahlia nodded. “Yeah. Or something.” She rubbed
the towel through her damp hair; she’d go with the flat
look today. “I’m heading up for a shower and then going
off to church.”

“Okay, we can talk later,” Reese said, her twinkling
eyes and coy smile reminding Dahlia more and more of
Norris.

Dahlia flashed a tight smile. “Right, later.”

* * *

“That was quite a sermon from Rev. Leonard,”
Dahlia said, opening the passenger side of her car and
helping Flora inside. “He had a little extra fire and brim
stone this morning.”

“He’s a good God man,” said Flora, swinging her legs
inside. “He has a way of bringing the word to people in
the way he feels they need it.”

“Right.” Dahlia closed the door and got in on the
driver’s side. “How about some lunch, Grandma? We can
go to Martin’s.”

“You don’t need to spend all your money when you
can come to my house and eat.”

“I know, but I’d like to do something special for you,
and have somebody cook for you for a change.”

“Child, while I still got two good arms and legs, I’m
going to do whatever I can for myself. ’Sides, I want us to talk, and I don’t want a bunch of strangers around when we do it.”

D
ahlia nibbled on her bottom lip. The unsettling
feeling she got from Reese’s questions this morning
returned to her stomach. Dodging Reese’s questions was
one thing, but Grandma Flora was a different story.

“You know what, Grandma, I just remembered some
thing . . . .”

Flora waved her hand. “Don’t even try that with me, girl. You’ve been keeping away long enough. I woke up
early this morning and baked a ham, made some maca
roni and cheese, perlo rice, collard greens, cornbread, and
pound cake, and you will talk and eat this food with me
today.”

“Grandma,” Dahlia practically whined, not sure if
she was more upset about the idea of facing her grand
mother’s questioning or eating her delicious and
extremely fattening food. She allowed herself to eat what
she wanted, but she always had trouble turning down
seconds from her grandmother’s table.

“One good meal will not hurt you, and I’m ready to hear about this man you haven’t told me about.”

Dahlia froze.
Grandma knew.
Denial was an option,
but after so many months, she really needed to unburden
herself to someone. “How long have you known?”

“A while now.” Flora closed her warm, wrinkled hand
around Dahlia’s. “Go on and drive. We’ll talk at the
house.”

About an hour later, Dahlia sat at her grandmother’s
kitchen table with a steaming plate of the Sunday
lunch/dinner before her. Flora sat across from her and
offered the blessing.

“
Amen,” they both said at the conclusion of grace.
“You can eat and talk,” Flora said, waving her fork at
Dahlia’s plate.

Dahlia had a bite of the macaroni. The distinctive
flavor of the three cheeses her grandmother used
enlivened her taste buds. She smiled. “It’s even better
than I remember.”

“There’s more than macaroni on your plate.”

Dahlia took a bite of everything. Soul food definitely
had the right name. She hadn’t even started talking yet,
and her soul felt better already.

“All right, now. Tell me about him,” Flora said.

“I don’t know where to start.” Dahlia ate a few more
bites of food. “It’s complicated, Grandma.”

“One thing’s not complicated. Do you love him?”

Dahlia pushed back the plate and nodded as the first
of her tears streamed down her cheeks. “Yes, Grandma, I
love him.”

“Now, child.” Flora used a paper napkin to dab at
Dahlia’s tears. “Does he love you?”

“He said he does.”

“Then why are you so upset?”

“I don’t want to love him,” Dahlia said between sobs.

“I don’t want to love anybody. Love hurts too much.”

“Baby, love doesn’t always hurt. This man can be the
one to show you that.”

“No, he can’t show me that. He says he loves me, but
I don’t think I can trust that.”

“Why not?”

“
Because our . . . The way we got together is not what
you’d call traditional.”

“What you mean, child?”

Dahlia reached for her glass of tea, gulping the sweet
beverage until it was gone. She lowered the glass to see
her grandmother’s unflinching brown-eyed gaze.

“Are you really going to make me say it, Grandma?”

Flora shook her head. “Uhm, uhm, uhm. My Lord, my Lord.”

“You’re disappointed in me, aren’t you?”

“I’m surprised. You’re not a loose woman. You were
raised in the church. Why do that?”

“I can’t explain it, Grandma. It just happened.”
Flora moaned. “Go on with your story, Dee.”

“I guess you can figure out the rest. I met him at the
movie rental store back in February. I thought it would only be one time, but one time turned to two, and two
multiplied. We agreed it would be what it was.”

“You were some man’s bootie call?”

Dahlia gasped. “Grandma!”

“That’s what you’re saying, ain’t it?”

“He was mine, too, okay? We understood each other.
And then he had to ruin it by saying he loves me.” Dahlia
scoffed. “Jonah said he loved me, too.”

“You can’t measure every man by Jonah. I never really
liked that boy, but I tried for you.”

“I remember.” Dahlia laughed. “You were right about
him.”

“Maybe I’m right about this man, too. What’s his name?”

“Norris Converse.”

“The Norris Converse with that business down
town?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Flora’s eyes widened. “Dahlia, he’s white.”

Dahlia nodded. “Yes, he is.” She didn’t have to
address the comment again. Flora had told many stories
about the inequity she faced growing up in the Jim Crow
South, but she didn’t hold hostility, insisting hate was
taught and she wouldn’t allow the unfairness she faced to
compel her to treat people she didn’t know the way she
had been treated. If she showed hostility toward anyone,
it was because they brought it on themselves. “He’s also
Reese’s father,” Dahlia said.

“The girl staying with you?”

“Yes, ma’am. I don’t know who was more surprised by
that revelation—Norris, Reese, or me.”

“My Lord, my Lord.” Flora drank some tea. “Why do
you doubt his love? Did he say the words at a time you’d
have reason to doubt them?” Flora asked with a raised
brow.

“Grandma!”
Dahlia dragged out in stunned disbelief.
“No, he didn’t. Goodness.” She shuddered, shocked at
her grandmother’s implication and even more by the level
of detail she’d shared. Talking about her sex life with her
grandmother. These were definitely some strange days.

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Norris. He has a reputation with the ladies, and he’s
not the committing type. To keep saying he loves me
when he freely admits he’d never said the words to
a
nother woman troubles me. He’s like Jonah in a lot of ways. I didn’t find Jonah with lots of women, but I’m not so foolish as to believe Leslie was the only one. I know
Norris has a reputation with women.”

“Is that the problem?”

“Yes.” Dahlia nodded. “That is the problem. I chose
to get involved with Norris because he didn’t do relation
ships, and I didn’t want to do them anymore. He was
safe. When I fell in love with him, I knew it didn’t matter,
because I still didn’t want a relationship, and I believed he felt the same. But then he said the words. And he keeps
saying them, and he says them with such conviction.”

Dahlia sighed. “How could I fall in love with a man exactly like the one I left? And not just love him, but like
him, care about him, want to share everything with him. Grandma, I don’t want to be like those women who leave
one abusive relationship only to fall into the same kind of
relationship with a different man. I’m not stupid, but I
feel that way. How could I let myself fall in love again?”