“Thanks, Ma. I appreciate the outrage.”
“I guess I made a monumental error in judgment about that young man.”
“We both did.”
My mother hugs me and I let her because she hasn’t held me in a very long time. It feels good.
“I was hoping to talk to you about something else too, Kaya.”
“Sure, what is it?”
“On the island, Bruce and I got a chance to talk about the future. A future that the two of us would share together.”
“I see,” I sigh.
“I know you don’t approve, but I’m hoping that since you work closely with Bruce, you can be a bit more open-minded about this.”
“It’s not that I don’t like Mr. Solomon. I’m just wondering, out of all the men in the world, you decide to have romantic feelings for him? He was best friends with dad. It just feels wrong.”
“Your father wouldn’t want me to spend the rest of my life like this, sad and alone, and waiting to find someone who isn’t Bruce just to make our kids happy.”
“How do you know what dad would want?” I say defensively.
“He was your father, but he was my husband. I knew him better than anyone. He would want me with someone that actually cares about me and who wouldn’t hurt me. That’s Bruce.”
“I guess.”
“Kaya, how is this any different from you and Brandon?”
My eyes widen in surprise. Maybe my mother’s acting skills are getting better. Does she know something about me and Brick?
“You know?”
“That something is going on between you two? Yes.”
“Who told you, Uncle Zee?”
“I knew before the wedding.”
“How?”
“I had to use the bathroom on the flight and discovered him holding your hand while you slept. He pretended he was asleep as I walked past, but he never let go of your hand.”
“I was nervous. He was being a good friend.”
“That’s what I tried telling myself, because I thought you were in a committed relationship with Elijah, but even a blind man could see that he was paying you more than brotherly affection. Then later he gets into a fight with your brother and leaves the island early? It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out it had something to do with you. Your brother has always been overprotective of you.”
For so long, I believed that my mother kept her head buried in the sand because of her profound grief that I haven’t noticed how she’s actually been rising from the ashes. She’s not the same person, and that has to be partly because of finding happiness with Mr. Solomon, who, to be fair, hasn’t really ever left her side.
“Are you planning on marrying Mr. Solomon?”
“If and when Bruce asks me, I will probably say yes, but I just want to make sure that the two most important people in my life will stand by me if that day comes. It’s not a traditional way to meet someone and fall in love, but it’s the path I’ve been given.”
“Okay,” I agree. “Maybe you have a point.”
“Are you in this bed today because you care about and miss Brandon or because your brother’s angry with you?”
“Can’t it be both?”
