Blindsided (Indigo Love Spectrum) (37 page)

“No, you don’t see.” Norris rubbed his hands over his
face, feeling the rough overnight stubble. “I want you to
leave. You’re not going to destroy the life I’m trying to
make.”

“It seems to me you’re destroying your own life.
You’re drowning in a sea of bad choices. I’m throwing
you a life preserver, and you won’t take it.”

“Getting me to disown my daughter is your way of
helping me? No thanks, Mom, I’m not interested.”

“She’s not interested in you. What is it, Norris? You
want to be so much like Ryan, you’re going to take in this
brown child to make it happen?” Genevieve’s face reddened. “I bet the next thing you’ll be telling me is you’re
going to marry some black woman!” She folded her arms.
Her face an angry scowl of disapproval.

Norris looked at Genevieve, the woman who had
given him life, and saw her for the first time. His eyes were
tired, burning for sleep, but he’d never seen a clearer pic
ture of his mother than he did at this moment. She wasn’t
misguided; she was lost. He didn’t have the desire to lead
her from her darkness. But he would prepare her for this
worst-case scenario she’d already dreamed up in her head.

“It’s funny you should mention marriage, Mom. I
have some news that should make you really happy.”

The light of happiness dissipated the anger in her
eyes. “You’ve met someone?” Genevieve said. “Our kind
of woman?”

“
She’s definitely my kind. She’s beautiful, successful,
an Ivy League graduate. MBA.”

Genevieve clasped her hands. “Norris, this lady
sounds perfect,” she gushed.

“I think she is. She’s also African-American.” He
smiled. “Is she still perfect, Mom?”

Genevieve recoiled. “No.” She backed away, shaking
her head. “This isn’t true. You wouldn’t do this to me.”

“I’m not doing this
to
you. I’m doing it
for
me. For
years I’ve gone from woman to woman, seeking cheap
thrills and nothing more. Commitment wasn’t in the
cards for me, until I met this woman. She’s shown me a
happiness I didn’t think existed, and if she’ll have me, I’m going to spend the rest of my life with her, and hopefully
populate this earth with more brown babies.”

Tears streamed down his mother’s face. Norris shook
his head, not the least bit affected.

“Why do you want to hurt me like this?” Genevieve
said.

“Get it into your head, Mom, this is not about you.
But perhaps the reason it’s taken me so long to find
someone to love is because the first woman a boy should love, his mother, was missing from my life. You were too
busy jet-setting to be a parent. Hired help raised Lane,
Julia, and me. And when we got used to one set, they
were gone and new workers came in. Had it not been for
Ryan’s folks, I wouldn’t have known what a real, stable
family looked like.”

“And you think this girl and your Ivy League woman
will give you a real family?”

“
I know they will. I’m going to be a good spouse to
my mate, and a good parent to my child. Two things you
and Dad have never been.” Norris pointed to the door. “I
want you out of my house, out of my life, and I don’t want you to come back.”

“You . . . you don’t mean that.”

“No, Mom, I mean it. You’ve made it clear you don’t
think my daughter is good enough to be a part of your
family. Well, I’ve decided you’re not good enough to be a
part of mine.” Norris walked to the door and pulled it
open, bringing in the muggy heat of outdoors, making
him more exhausted. “It’s not bad enough you’ve insulted
my closest friends, but you refuse to accept your one and
only grandchild because her skin is darker than you’d
like. That’s pitiful, you are pitiful, and I want you gone.”

Genevieve stuck out her chin and grabbed her purse.
“Fine. You know how to reach me when you change your
mind.”

“My mind won’t change. Good-bye.” Norris closed
the door behind his mother and waited for devastating sadness to fill his heart. No sadness came, but he did feel
the weight of a boulder leaving his shoulders.

“Norris?”

He turned around to find Reese in a pink nightshirt,
wearing the devastating sadness missing from his heart
on her face. A knot formed in his throat. “How—how
much of that did you hear?” he asked, fearing the answer.

Tears filled Reese’s sad eyes. “All of it,” she said.

“Oh, baby.” Norris held his crying daughter in his
arms as the shards from his broken heart fell with his
t
ears. “I’m so sorry, Reese. I’m so sorry you had to hear
that.”

Reese’s arms curled around his shoulders, alerting
him of a most ironic fact. His mother’s stupefying igno
rance had provided his first embrace with his daughter.
Thanks to his mother, he was hugging Reese.

Minutes later Reese pulled away. “I’m sorry about
this.” She sniffled.

Norris brushed away her tears. “Why are you
apologizing?”

“Because I was a fool yesterday. You were trying to
protect me, and I accused you of being ashamed of
me.” Reese hunched her shoulders. “She seemed nice
yesterday.”

“That’s what she wanted you to believe. My mother
is not a nice person.” Norris cupped Reese’s face, forcing
their eyes to meet. “I want you to understand, Reese,
when it comes to you, there’s nothing I won’t do. I want
to protect you from everything harmful. I know I won’t
always be able to, but I’ll try. You mean the world to me,
and I want you to be happy.”

“I am.” She walked to the couch and sat. “You come
off a bit gruff sometimes, but I believe you do things with
my best interests in mind. You really do love me, don’t
you?”

“Absolutely.” He moved to the couch and cupped her
chin. “More than anything.”

“Even that Ivy League woman you’ve fallen in love
with?” Reese smiled. “You’re in love with Dahlia, aren’t
you?”

N
orris nodded and smiled. “Yes. I love her very
much.”

“I should have known. Her interest in Tawny, your interest in her whereabouts, always finding you two hud
dled together. And then her phone call yesterday.”

“She phoned?”

“Yeah. The usual talk she gives me. I should cut you
some slack and try to see things from your point of view.
Yesterday, with everything going on with her sister, she
calls me to sing your praises. You went to Atlanta, didn’t
you?”

“I wanted to give you some space.”

“And you wanted to see Dahlia, too, right?”

He nodded. “That, too.”

“I knew there was a guy, but Dahlia denied it every
time.”

“You knew there was a guy?”

“Of course.” Reese nodded. “She was always smiling
or looking sad. Only a man could give a woman such
high highs and low lows. How long have you guys been
together?”

“We met on Valentine’s Day.”

“Why did you two keep it a secret?”

“It’s rather complicated, but it’s what Dahlia wanted.”

“She loves you, you know.”

“I do know, but she doesn’t want to own up to it.”

“Neither did I, but you kinda make it hard not to.
Dahlia’s going to come around, just like I did.” Reese
kissed his cheek. “I’m going to try to get some sleep, old
man.”

N
orris touched his stubbly cheek where Reese had
placed her kiss. His daughter loved him. His lips curled into a wide smile. Reese loved him.

* * *

Norris drew a breath and grabbed the colorful bou
quet of tulips from the passenger side of his car. How hard
could this be? He was doing an unasked favor for Dahlia.
Checking in on Grandma Flora. Dahlia had made it clear
the older woman was self-sufficient and hated the idea of
people checking up on her, but he could tell Dahlia was
concerned, and he wanted to reassure her. After being
away from the office for two days, he couldn’t get away
yesterday, but visiting today topped his “To Do” list.

He walked up the brick steps of the large white house,
but before he could ring the doorbell, he heard a voice
from the right side of the wrap-around porch.

“Over here, child.”

Norris made his way around to see Mrs. Best
watering the colorful flowers growing around the base of
the porch.

“Mrs. Best, I’m . . .”

“I know who you are,” she said, interrupting his
words but never deviating from her task at hand. “Took
you long enough to get here. Put the flowers next to the
lemonade on the table and sit yourself down. When I
finish with my flowers, we’ll talk.”

About two hours later, Norris was waving goodbye
and making his way back to his car. He couldn’t
r
emember when he’d enjoyed a conversation more. He was in no way ready to give up on Dahlia, and after the
talk with Grandma Flora his convictions remained
strong.

It had surprised him to learn how much Dahlia had
told her grandmother about him and their arrangement.
Flora confessed the details surprised her, but she wanted
to draw her own conclusions about Norris, and all in all
he seemed like a pretty good man, and she could see why
Dahlia loved him. When he admitted being inconsistent
in attending church, she made him promise to attend
with her the coming Sunday.

A smile stayed on his face as drove to the office.
Things in his life had definitely taken a turn for the
better. Reese met his siblings yesterday and they were hit
ting it off, and he and Dahlia kept the telephone lines
burning. Absence definitely made the heart grow fonder,
and he was counting the days until he could hold her in
his arms again and never let her go.

“I gonna miss you, Sammy.”

Dahlia smiled down at her sleeping nephew, tucked
nice and cozy in his crib at Leslie’s apartment. Leslie had given her the honor of naming the newest Sinclair, and
considering his entry into the world and his amazing
strength through it all, the name Sampson seemed ideal.
Sampson Aaron Sinclair. Aaron after Grandma Flora’s beloved husband, and Sammy’s great grandfather. Jonah
was none too pleased he didn’t have a junior, but man
aged to keep his disappointment to a minimum in order
to hash out an agreeable visitation schedule with Leslie.

Dahlia brushed her fingertip against Sammy’s soft
little cheek. Her love for him filled her heart.

“You’re a natural, Dahlia,” Leslie said, brushing the
downy thatch of black hair on her son’s head.

“He makes it easy.”

Leslie sat in the nearby rocker, hugging a blue teddy
bear to her chest. “I can’t believe how fast the last two weeks
have gone. I don’t know how I’ll make it without you.”

“You’ll be fine. You’re amazing with him. You’ve
found your greatest love.”

Leslie nodded. “I have. And what about you? I didn’t
get to meet Norris, but Mama and Daddy think he’s
made quite the impression on you.”

D
ahlia managed a tight smile. She and Leslie had
gotten closer, but she was nowhere near ready to discuss her personal life with her baby sister.

“You don’t want to talk about him with me, do you?”