Thad and Nadia both looked at each other, their mouths falling open at the exact same time.
“Grams.” Nadia was the first to find her voice. Thad was still searching for his. “Youknowher?”
“Do you children think I’m stupid? Do you know how long I’ve been on this earth?” his grandmother asked. “I knew he was up to something from early on. There aren’tthatmany damn dry cleaning conventions in a single year.”
“But… but…” Nadia stuttered. “You knew about it and you didn’t say anything?”
“I didn’t say anything toy’all. Why would I tell my grandchildren what’s going on in my marriage? That wasn’t nobody’s business but mine and your grandfather’s. And Sybil Jackson’s, I guess.”
Nadia brought her palm to her forehead, her eyes still wide with shock. “But how did you just let him get away with this without doing anything about it?”
“Let him get away with it? How do you think I got that man to put both his houseandhis business in my name?”
“Holy shit,” Thad whispered.
His grandmother wiggled her fingers toward the kitchenette. “Grab me a fork so I can try this cake. I hope it doesn’t have that waxy fondant icing. I hate that kind.”
“Grams!” Nadia said. “You can’t drop this bomb on us and then eat cake.”
“I’m not letting my cake get stale.” She shrugged. “And what else is there to say?”
“How did you stomach it for all those years?” Nadia asked.
“Thank goodness they went with buttercream,” his grandmother said as she peeled back the foil. She set both the cake and fork on the coffee table and addressed Nadia.
“Look, times were different back then. Your grandfather was a deacon in the church and a pillar in the community. If word got out about his second family in Mobile, that status would have been lost. Never mind what it would have done to the business. I wasn’t about to sully my good name or mess up my money because he wanted a little something extra on the side.”
Holyshit. His grandmother was savage.
“I hope you children haven’t spent any time getting worked up over this. There are more important things to be concerned about, like why Thaddeus is dragging his feet when it comes to Ashanti.”
Thad dropped his head back and sighed up at the ceiling. “Nadia, isn’t it time for you to get to the airport?”
“No, I’ve got time,” his sister said. “And I agree, Grams. I met her last night and I love her already. We gotta figure out how to get those two together, permanently.”
God, save him from the women in his family.
38
You have got to be kidding me,” Ashanti said. She held up a hand. “Nope. I take that back. You’re not kidding, because I can totally see Mrs. Frances pulling a move like that.”
“Straight up gangsta,” Thad said. He picked up a rock and pitched it into the Mississippi River. “Grams had her mind on her money and her money on her mind.”
Despite how busy she had been all morning, Ashanti hadn’t hesitated to drop everything and meet Thad back at Crescent Park when he’d texted. He’d contacted her while still at the airport after dropping Nadia off for her flight home. Ashanti was waiting for him when he pulled into the same parking lot they’d parked in the last time.
She had been prepared for a somber retelling of his morning with his grandmother, full of hurt and pain. What shehadn’texpected was Mrs. Frances to turn out to be an extortionist.
“Does it help, knowing that your grandmother was okay with what your grandfather did?” Ashanti asked.
He shrugged. “In a way.”
He switched Puddin’s leash to his other hand and captured hers, entwining their fingers. They continued walking upriver, the sun reflecting off the buildings of the New Orleans skyline.
“I don’t think anything will ever take away my disappointment,” Thad said. “I truly believed that my grandfathercould do no wrong. It hurts to know that he was living this lie, even if my grandmother was okay with it—which I still think isn’t entirely the case. Can a woman really be okay with her husband fathering three children with someone else while they’re still married?”
“Couldn’t be me,” Ashanti said.
“Yeah.” He shrugged again. “Like Grams said, it was a different time, and he had a reputation in the community to uphold.”
