“I’ll probably cut it before the weather gets too hot.”
“You hair looks very shiny. Are you using product on it?”
“No. But I did change my shampoo and conditioner. What did your boss say when you told him you were taking an extra week off?”
“He didn’t like it, but I knew he wasn’t going to fire me because he’s already short-staffed for the late shift. If he wasn’t so damn cheap and paid his workers a little more, he would be able to keep his staff. When he starting complaining about me taking off, I reminded him he was going to save a week’s pay, and that the diner wasn’t going out of business because I wasn’t there.”
“It sounds as if you’re sick of it,” Cherie said.
Edwina sucked her teeth. “I’m more than sick of it.”
“I didn’t tell you that I’m working part-time in a café so that I can keep busy before I go back to school. I work a couple of hours a day six days a week. And that means you’ll be home alone during that time. I’m going to give you a set of keys to the house and my car. Once you’re familiar with driving around the island, you can drop me off at work.”
“How will you get back?”
“My friends can drop me off.”
The sunlight coming through the window and glinting off the bracelet on Cherie’s left wrist caught Edwina’s attention. “That’s pretty.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The bracelet on your arm. I’ve never seen you wear any jewelry except your earrings.”
Cherie touched the small diamond stud in her lobe. Her grandmother had given her the earrings as a congratulatory gift when she’d been awarded the scholarship to the prep school. “It was a gift.”
“From a man?”
“Yes, Mom. From a man.”
“Do you want to talk about him, or he is a secret?”
Cherie’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel. Had her mother known she’d had a secret liaison with a man, or was she just probing for information? “He’s not a secret. He knows you’re coming down and says he wants to meet you.”
“How serious are you and this man?”
“Quite serious. We’re in love with each other.” It felt good for Cherie to admit that to someone—and, even more importantly, her mother.
Edwina clasped her hands in a prayerful gesture. “You don’t know how long I’ve prayed for you to meet someone who will make you happy. Whether you realize it or not, whenever we used to get together, you’d look so sad, and I wanted to ask you what was going in your life that had made you so unhappy.”
“I saw someone for a long time, and I kept hoping it would get better, but it never did, so we decided to break up.”
“How long, Cherie?”
“I said a long time, and please just leave it at that,” she said defensively. “It’s my past, and I’d like it to remain there.”
Edwina stared out the side window. “I hope you told your boyfriend about him, because you don’t want to start over with someone new while you’re still carrying baggage from a prior relationship.”
“I told him the truth. That he decided to marry someone else because I didn’t have the right pedigree.”
Edwina’s head swung around. “That’s crazy, Cherie. What does family background have to do with anything when you love someone?”
“Apparently everything to some people, Mama! Why do you think I never invited him to come and meet my family? I’m certain if he’d parked his luxury car on the street and come upstairs to the apartment, it would’ve been stripped and sitting on crates in under fifteen minutes.”
“Are you saying you were ashamed of where you grew up?”
“Yes. I was ashamedandscared that you were going to bury another son or sons. Why do you think I had Daniel and David stay with me whenever they were out of school? I’m not saying there aren’t good and honest people in the neighborhood, but it was the ones who feel they have nothing to lose that have made it a cesspool for crime and drugs. That’s why I sent you the money for Christmas because I want you to move to a safer neighborhood.”
“I haven’t touched a penny of it. I’m going to look for a place as soon as my lease expires.”
