Samira stared at him in disbelief. “So, you mean to tell me they also hate me because we spent our summers differently? That’s not much better.”
Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. She took in a slow deep breath before her shoulders slumped, and she rested her forehead in her hand. The only sounds he heard were her slow measured breaths.
“Samira? You have to believe me. You’ve got it all wrong.”
He reached out and pulled her close. He couldn’t think of anything else to do. She leaned into him and buried her face in his chest. He was at a loss when he felt his shirt dampen from her tears. Her body shuddered and before long, her silent tears gave way to sobs. Andy wanted desperately to understand where all her emotion was coming from.
He tightened his arms around her and gently stroked her back, giving her time to ride out the storm. Her body was warm, and she fit his arms perfectly. Saying nothing, he continued to move his hand up and down her back. Eventually, her sobs came to a stop and only a few sniffles broke the silence of the house.
“You okay?” Andy asked after a few minutes.
“You just don’t understand,” she answered after a long pause.
“Help me understand. I’ve been trying for a solid week to figure out what has you so upset, and now that you told me—I just don’t know. I’m not dismissing your feelings. I honestly think you have the wrong idea,” he said in exasperation.
“Do I?”
Andy heaved a sigh. He was getting nowhere. There was no other way to tell her she was mistaken. He wished he knew exactly why her parents had been under that impression after their first breakup. It was hard to get answers when his parents flat out refused to talk about it, and Samira seemed to have gotten all of her information second hand.
He raked his fingers through his short hair before trying a different approach. “My parents have always wanted me to take over the business. It was understood that whenever Dad could no longer do it, I would be there to step in. There was no discussion; it just was what it was.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Samira said before taking a moment to blow her nose. “But what does that have to do with us?”
Andy pulled back enough to make eye-contact. “Behind every successful waterman is a supportive wife to make sure everything gets taken care of.”
Samira looked at him, studying his face carefully. “Okay?”
He worked hard to not get annoyed. He didn’t want to spell it out for her. He had hoped she would connect the dots without him having to. The truth wasn’t as bad as Samira thought it was, but it wasn’t pretty.
“Your family didn’t work on the water. My parents always thought you would get in the way or keep me from taking over the boat whenever the time came. Not helping out is the same as getting in the way when it comes to a waterman. They don’t hate you, they just never thought you were the one to help me do what they thought I should do.”
“You should know better than that,” she said quietly.
“I do now. When I was eighteen, I didn’t know as much as I thought I did,” he said with a wry laugh. “I knew they were wrong, but I figured we would just keep going and ignore them. When we were in high school, we wouldn’t let our parents get in our way.”
“Now what? Your parents obviously haven’t changed their minds.”
Andy took a moment to think about that question. Now what? He had already set things in place to step away from the family business. With his mother already upset about his relationship with Samira, he had a fine line to walk. There had to be a way to tell her about his furniture business and not allow the blame to fall on Samira. In that moment, he realized it didn’t matter if his mom became upset. He had to live his truth.
“Things might be rough for a while if you’re willing to still give this a chance. I haven’t told my mom yet, but I’m signing the business over to Eddy. My mom will probably be on the warpath for a while. Even though my furniture business didn’t just show up after you did, she isn’t going to want to hear that it has nothing to do with you.”
“Oh, Andy!” she exclaimed. “I’m so happy that you’ve decided to do what you want to do. Are you sure about totally signing the business over? That’s a big step.”
“The only thing I know for sure is that my parents won’t interfere with us again. I am ready to live my life instead of theirs. I have to stop trying so hard to make everyone else happy.”
Samira surprised him with a short laugh. “I think I have the opposite problem. I’ve been looking out for only myself for so long sometimes I forget how other people should be treated. I’m sorry for that.”
“You’ve done just fine. Other than ignoring me for a week after we finally had sex. I must say that’s not great for the ego.”
Samira’s eyes got wide, and she covered her mouth with her hand. “You have to know that had nothing to do with it!”
“I might be convinced if you ask me to stay…”
Samira laughed and moved closer to him on the couch. He would take that as a yes. He pulled her into his arms. He was not expecting such a difficult conversation. He could only imagine what Samira had gone through, and then she found it in her heart to let him back in. If he thought her parents didn’t approve of him because of the color of his skin, he wasn’t sure he would be willing to let her back in thinking she didn’t stand up against such thinking.
As uncommon as interracial couples were in that town, he never really thought about that aspect of their relationship. It could have been because he had seen her parents all the time, so it just seemed normal. When he looked at Samira, all he saw was her. He needed to stop being colorblind and embrace every aspect of her.
Samira stood and held her hand out, interrupting his thoughts. “I haven’t slept well all week. If you’re staying over, let’s go to bed before I fall asleep on the couch and get yet another terrible night of sleep.”
