A rush of color darkened the cook’s face even more. “I will. Do you mind if I let Leah know you’re going to move here?”
“Of course not. Although we probably won’t officially reactivate our book club until sometime early next year, I’m really looking forward to it.”
Kayana smiled and nodded. “So am I. Derrick and I have decided to close the restaurant for two weeks around Christmas and New Year’s, so hopefully you’ll move before that so we can help you settle in.”
“It all depends on Mr. and Mrs. Murphy. If I unload my condo before closing, then I’ll put my furnishings in storage down here and check into a motel on the mainland.”
“You don’t have to do that, Cherie. You can always stay in the upstairs apartment now that Leah is living with Derrick.”
“Thanks, but no thanks. Staying on the mainland and checking out the neighboring towns will help to familiarize me with my new surroundings.”
“Why spend money when you can live here rent-free?”
A beat passed before Cherie said, “It’s not about money, Kayana. If it was, then I never would’ve been able to quit my job before securing another. Money isn’t the problem. Changing my life is.”
Kayana’s smile was more of a grimace. “Okay.” She hugged her again. “Don’t forget to text me to let me know you arrived safe and sound.”
“I will.”
Cherie left the patio, walked out of the restaurant, and got into her car. As she drove along the bridge linking the island to the mainland, Cherie shuddered noticeably, as if she’d been dowsed with a bucket of ice-cold water. In that instant she wondered if relocating—or, if she were being honest with herself—running away from all she’d known was the best course of action. Her eyelids fluttered as she blinked back tears. It was something she would never know unless she did it.
* * *
As planned, Cherie checked into a Philadelphia hotel, showered, ordered room service, and then watched a cable news station until she turned off the television around two in the morning. She slept in late, checked out, and was back on the road by five. It felt liberating not to have to set the alarm on her cell phone as a reminder that she had to get up and go to work.
Years ago, Cherie had arranged with her mother to allow her twin brothers to stay over with her on weekends once she moved out of the studio apartment and into one with a bedroom. The boys took over the bedroom, while she slept in the living room on a convertible sofa bed. Straight-A students, both boys had talked about enlisting in the army to take advantage of the military’s educational benefits, but Cherie had another plan for them once she realized her affair with Weylin Campbell had benefits beyond his securing apartments for her in his family-owned properties. She’d solicited his assistance as a congressman to get them into military academies. And when they’d received their acceptance letters, she told her lover that there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for him, unaware that he would take her up on that promise.
She pushed Weylin and what had been their fifteen-year relationship out of her mind as she maneuvered into the lot of the twenty-four-hour diner and parked in one of only a few empty spaces. She called her mother, something she rarely did, to inform her she would meet her at the diner, knowing it would be the last time they would get together in person for a long while.
Chapter 2
Cherie walked into the diner and spied her mother sitting at a table in a far corner, talking to another waitress. At fifty-two, she was still an extremely attractive woman, and despite giving birth to four children, her petite body was still slender, a body type Cherie had inherited from her mother. That was their only physical similarity other than their eye color. People in her old neighborhood had called Edwina Kitty, the latter because of her shimmering, gold-green eyes and flawless mahogany complexion.
“Would you like a table or booth?”
Cherie smiled at the man monitoring the front. “No, thank you. I’m here to see Edwina Thompson. She’s my mother,” Cherie added when he continued to stare at her.
“She’s on her break. You’ll find her at one of the back tables.”
Cherie nodded. “Thank you.” She headed for the rear of the diner.
Edwina saw her and stood. She said something to her coworker, who glanced over her shoulder at Cherie, then slipped off her chair and walked away. “Come and sit.”
Cherie took the chair the other woman had vacated. “I’m not going to take up a lot of your break time, but I felt you should hear from me in person that I’m planning to relocate to North Carolina.”
Edwina looked at her as if she’d spoken a language she didn’t understand before her expression changed—became crestfallen.
She lowered her eyes. “Why?”
“Because there’s nothing keeping me here.”
“What about me?”
“What about you, Mom?” She answered Edwina’s question with one of her own.
“I can’t believe you’re deserting me, too.”
Cherie stared at her mother as if she’d taken leave of her senses. But the acerbic words on her tongue vanished the instant she saw tears welling up in Edwina’s eyes. It was only the second time she had seen her cry. Her mother hadn’t even cried when they’d buried her firstborn. It was as if she had been in denial, believing Jamal wasn’t dead but sleeping and would wake up whenever he chose.
