“When’s that?” Cherie asked.
“September, but I plan to stay on until October to live out my security.”
“Mama, stop! September is more than six months away, and a lot can happen before that time. Look at Jamal. He was killed days before he was to be sworn into the army. I told you before that if you find a suitable apartment, I’ll help you, and I’m willing to cover the remaining months on your lease.”
“I didn’t have my children so they could take care of me.”
“There you go again, Mama, with your false pride. I won’t take care of you. I just want to help you out.”
“You bought me the car.”
“I gave you the car as a birthday gift. And if I offer to pay the remaining months on your lease, I want you to think of it as an early Christmas present.”
“I still remember the times when I asked you for money and you gave it to me. But I also can’t forget the one time you told me that, if I need money, I should look for one of my baby daddies and hit them up for some cash.”
Cherie recalled the incident as if it had occurred the day before, and that had been the last time her mother had called to ask her for anything. “I’m sorry about that. It was rude and uncalled for.”
Only hours before her mother called, Weylin had told her he wanted her to become a surrogate for his wife. She’d just completed her first trimester when he dropped the bomb that the baby she was carrying wasn’t going to be their love child, but a son or daughter for him and his wife. She hadn’t been just angry when Edwina called, but enraged to the point where she’d been totally unreasonable about everything.
“I’m glad you said what you did. It was a wakeup call for me to stop playing cards every weekend where I’d lose more than I’d win.”
“Do you still play cards?” Cherie asked.
“No, because I work weekends. I’ve learned to put myself on a budget. After I pay rent and utilities and put gas in the car, I add what’s left over from my paycheck to my tips and put it in the bank.”
Cherie signaled and left the parkway when she saw the traffic sign for Shelby. “What about food?”
“I eat at the diner. I have a dinner break, and one of the cooks will occasionally surprise me with a takeout container.”
“How occasionally, Mama?” she teased. “Everyday?”
“There’s nothing happening. The man’s just trying to be nice.”
Perhaps because she’d never seen her mother with a man, Cherie couldn’t conjure up that image. However, Edwina was only fifty-two and very pretty, and she could see why men would be attracted to her.
She entered the city limits for Shelby and slowed to allow Edwina to sightsee. “Shelby is our county seat and where we come to shop if we need something sold only in big-box and chain stores.”
“You don’t have stores on Coates Island?”
“The mainland has stores, and there’s only one business establishment on the island side, and that’s the Seaside Café.”
“What do you do there?”
“I clean up after it closes. They’re open from ten to two during the off-season.”
“You went to Yale to do maintenance work?”
“Now you sound like an elitist. I’m helping my friends out until I begin classes.” Cherie told Edwina how she’d met Kayana and Leah and, through their love of reading, had formed a book club. “They’re one of the reasons I decided to move here.”
“What’s the other reason?”
“You’ll see,” she drawled mysteriously.
* * *
Cherie stood on the porch with Edwina. “Mama, you need to come inside and relax.”
“I just want to hang out here just a little longer, then I’ll unpack.”
