Blindsided (Indigo Love Spectrum) (32 page)

“What’s the rush?” Norris asked.

“Doctor’s appointment.” Ryan rubbed Lara’s tummy.
“Once a week every week until delivery day. Fifteen days
and counting, or less.”

“Less?” Norris questioned.

“Twins usually come early, but everything looks good,
so it’s wait and see,” Lara said. “I’m going to stop by the
bathroom before we go. I’ll be right back.”

“
Can you make it?” Ryan asked as she waddled down
the hall.

“Yes, Ryan. You guys talk.”

“She wanted to give us a minute, right?” Norris asked,
when he heard the bathroom door close behind Lara.

“She did, but lately she stays in the bathroom, so she
would have made that run anyway. How’s Dahlia? What’s
the word on her sister?”

“Dahlia is trying to be strong, but she sounded tired
when I talked to her last night. Her sister is still in a
coma, but the baby is holding his own. He weighed only four pounds, but his lungs were fully developed, so doc
tors are cautiously optimistic.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah. I really want to see her. Dahlia puts up a good
front, but I know being there is very hard for her. The
relationship with her sister is strained, and with the emergency C-section, the coma, and the baby’s health, I’m just
very worried about her. I want to be there for her.”

“Has she talked to you about this issue with her
sister?”

“Not really. Just enough to know whatever it is, it’s
very painful for her.”

“Hmm.” Ryan paced around the couch. “I wonder if
Lara fell in.” He laughed nervously.

“It hasn’t been that long.” Norris watched Ryan curi
ously. “You know what it is, don’t you?”

“Not it, they. A boy and a girl. You know that, too.”

“I’m not talking about the babies, pal. You know
what happened between Dahlia and her sister.”

“Lara mentioned something to me, yes. I could tell you, but you don’t want to hear it from me.”

Norris nodded. “You’re right.” He could have hired
any number of detectives to unearth this secret, but he
wanted to hear it from Dahlia. So, he would wait for her
to tell him, just like he would continue to wait to hear
her say she loved him. Two things he had no doubt she
would tell him soon.

Lara returned from the bathroom. “I’m ready to go,”
she said. “I looked in on Reese, and she’s resting peacefully.”

“Thanks, Lara.” Norris kissed her cheek and draped
his arm around Ryan’s shoulder. “You guys are the best,”
he said, hugging them to close his side. “I must be rubbing off on you.”

“Oh, boy,” Ryan grumbled. “That’s our signal to
leave.” He pulled open the door to find Genevieve on the
other side. “You have company, Norris.”

Genevieve flashed a tight smile. “Hello, Ryan.” Her
eyes widened when they dropped to Lara’s distended
abdomen. “Oh, hi, Lori. . . . . . .idn’t see you there.”

“It’s Lara, Mom!” Norris spat, not at all happy to see
his mother darken his doorstep. “This is not a good
time.”

“No, Norris, it’s a great time,” Ryan said. “And, look, your mother just paid Lara the ultimate compliment. I’ve
been telling her for the longest she hadn’t gained that
much weight, considering she’s having twins. Now it’s
been confirmed.”

Norris and Lara laughed as Genevieve stood fuming
outside the door.

Ryan wrapped his arm around Lara. “Come on, babe.”

“Bye, guys.” Norris closed the door and turned to his
red-faced mother who now sat on the couch. “Why are
you here?”

“You didn’t tell me Ryan’s uh-”

“Wife. She’s his wife.”

“You didn’t tell me his wife was pregnant.”

“You didn’t ask. However, I did ask a question. Why are you here? I thought you’d said it all when you said
nothing.”

“I needed some time to think.”

“What’s changed? My daughter is still biracial.”

“How do you know?” Genevieve said.

“What do you mean how do I know?”

“Not that’s she’s biracial. If you say she is, there’s no
disputing that. My question is how do you know she’s
your daughter. Have you done a paternity test?”

“I don’t need to do a paternity test. I can count and
I’ve seen her. I’ve also been added to her birth certificate.
There’s no question of her paternity.”

“Norris, you have a lot of money. Maybe her mother
is . . .”

“Her mother is a doctor. A happily married doctor,
married to another doctor, who doesn’t want or need my
money.”

“You obviously underestimate the power of money.
Being a doctor can’t compare to your wealth. You can’t be
that blind.”

“I’m not blind at all.” Norris walked to his desk and
retrieved Reese’s picture. “Look at her.” He thrust the p
icture into his mother’s hand. “This is your grand
daughter. Your beautiful granddaughter. She’s Katsoros, your family, our family, through and through. You might
not want to see it, but the proof is right there.”

His mother’s gaze stayed on the picture. Tears filled
her gray eyes. An unexpected pang of emotion pricked
Norris’s heart as he watched his mother’s tears. Was this
the breakthrough he’d hoped for in her? “Mom?” he said.
“Are you all right?”

Genevieve reached into her purse and pulled out a
lacy handkerchief, dabbing at her misty eyes. “How can I
be all right? Pay the woman off, Norris. Your life doesn’t have to be ruined by a mistake. The world won’t have to
know about this.”

Norris wanted to kick himself. Once again he wanted
to expect the best from his mother, and like every other
time, he got the worst. He picked up Reese’s picture and
pointed to the door. “I want you to leave.”

“We need to discuss how to handle this.”

“We have nothing to discuss.”

“Norris, I really think . . .”

Genevieve stopped talking when Reese walked into the room.

“Sorry,” Reese said, tugging on a gray T-shirt that
almost totally covered red and black plaid shorts. “I
thought Ryan and Lara were still here.” Norris watched
as his daughter waved at the woman she didn’t know was
her grandmother. “Hi.”

Genevieve’s angry face became the picture of pleas
antness. “Hello, dear, how are you?” she said warmly.

N
orris eyeballed his mother suspiciously. Genevieve’s
cordial greeting and bright smile worried him more than
her unexplained suggestion on how to deal with his “mis
take.”
What the hell is she up to?

“I’m fine, thank you,” Reese answered.

Norris cleared his throat. “You need something,
Reese?” he asked, more than ready to get her away from
his unpredictable mother.

“I got a little hungry. I thought I’d have some cereal.”
Reese pulled her dark mane of curls behind her ears,
glancing from Genevieve to Norris. “Why do I feel like I’ve walked in on something?”

Norris glared at his mother. Reese had definitely
walked in on something. Something his daughter might
be better off not being exposed to.

Reese continued to stare. Her eyes widened with real
ization. “Oh, wait a minute. Is this . . . is this your
mother?”

Norris nodded grudgingly. “Yes.”

“You weren’t going to tell me?”

Norris had no idea how to answer that question. He
wanted Reese to know her family, but more often than not his mother didn’t feel like family.

“You weren’t, were you?” She shook her head. Her
humorless chuckle pierced his heart. “I don’t warrant an
introduction to my own grandmother. You’re more disap
pointed in me than I thought.”

Norris looked at his mother. The makings of a smile
tugged at her lips. The heat of rising anger burned his face. She wanted this. Norris turned to his daughter.
“Look, Reese . . .”

“
Forget it. I’m hip to what’s going on here. I’ll go
back to my room. I see it’s where you prefer me.” She
stormed off.

“Reese!” Norris started after her.

“Let her go, son.”

Seconds later Reese’s door slammed.

He turned angry eyes to his mother. “Did you see the
look on her face? She thinks I’m ashamed of her.”

Genevieve nodded. “Appears so. It’s for the best, really.”

“Best? So, that explains the sweetness and light
show.” Norris rubbed his face, not knowing if he felt
more angry or frustrated. “You pretend to be some kind
old lady for Reese, instead of presenting yourself as the
barracuda I know you to be, so I look like the bad guy
who’s too ashamed to introduce my daughter to her nice
grandmother, when all I’m trying to do is protect her.” Norris dropped to the couch. “I’ve been bending over
backwards to get close to her, and look what you’ve
done.”

“This way she can go back to her family—her own kind—and not have any residual feelings where you’re
concerned. It will be a clean break.”

“I don’t want any clean break! She’s my daughter, and
I love her. And her kind is us, whether you like it or not!”

“I don’t like it!”

“You’ve made that crystal clear.” He pointed to the
door. “I suggest you leave before I say something no son
should say to his mother.”

Genevieve picked up her purse and turned to him
when she reached the door. “Think about what I said. I’ll
set up a nice trust fund for the girl, she’ll never want for
anything, and . . .”

“Mother!”

“Fine, fine, but this problem must be dealt with.”

Norris looked toward the hallway when the door
closed behind his mother. How could trying to do the
right thing for his daughter always turn out so wrong? He
drew a breath and walked to her room. “Reese?” he said,
knocking on her door.

“Leave me alone.”

“I thought you were hungry.”

“I lost my appetite.”

He twisted the knob. Locked. “Look, honey, I want to . . .”

“I’m not your honey and I don’t want your explana
tions. I may be black, but I’m not stupid.”

Norris flinched. “Reese, do not do that to me. You
know me better than that.”

“Do I?”

“You know you do. Open the door so we can talk.”

“There’s nothing more to talk about, Norris. I’m
through with this bonding crap. We tried it, and it didn’t
work. As soon as Dahlia is back from Atlanta, I will be
out of your hair, and you can continue to keep your dark
child a dark secret from your family.”

“Reese, it’s not what you think.” He knocked on the
door. “Reese?”

L
oud music smothered his words, making it clear she
had little use for anything he had to say. Norris pressed
his forehead to the door. He needed to see Dahlia.

He pulled out his cell phone and returned to the
quiet of the living room. “Hi, Agnes, it’s me. I need a
favor.”

Dahlia entered her nephew’s room in the NICU to
find her father sitting in a rocker near the incubator
staring down at his youngest grandchild. Dahlia touched
her father’s shoulder and gazed at the tiny, wrinkled little
baby with tubes running from his little body to the
machines all around him.