That. Was. It.
She wouldn’t stand by and be silent while Adam’s father tried to strip this man of his accomplishments and his dignity.
“With all due respect, Mr. Henderson.” All eyes landed on her as she walked into the room. She was sure her pinched face and lifted brow showed that she didn’t think the man deserved any respect in that moment. She took a calming breath, trying to keep her words as civil as she could because she didn’t want to hurt Mrs. Henderson or Adam.
“You’re wrong about your son.” She sat her bags on a nearby table and turned her attention back to Adam’s father.
“Adam stepped away from a game to make a difference in the lives of children, and there could be no braver or more virtuous thing to do. Adam is one of the smartest people I know, the only person who could give me a run for my money academically when we were in school. Knowing that he’s been willing to put his big brain to use to help the children in our community instead of using his body to profit makes him the best kind of man there is.”
She stepped closer to the side of the bed to make sure Grady Henderson saw her when she said what she had to say next.
“You won’t find anyone… and I do mean anyone… who can compare.”
The old man looked like a petulant child stewing in his juices sitting in that hospital bed with his lips poked out and his arms crossed against his chest.
He looked to his son and then his wife, and when neither of them said anything to defend him, he returned his attention to Janae.
“Just who the hell do you think you are coming in here talking to me like that?”
“I’m someone who cares for your son, and you’re hurting him. Can’t you see that? Can’t you see how hurt your wife is listening to you speak about her son like that?”
Adam’s mother’s eyes watered as she fought back tears. And the pain in her eyes told Janae that hurt had nothing to do with her husband, and everything to do with her baby boy.
Mothers recognized mothers.
“You better get this piece a woman of yours outta here before I call security.”
“Call ’em,” Janae encouraged. “They’ll throw you out before they’ll come for me.”
“Boy, you better get her.”
Adam stood up, Janae could see the cords of his neck straining. Couple that with the tight lines on his face and the ruddy flush under his skin, and Janae knew that this was Adam pissed. His eyes were dark with rage and fixated on her, making her feel boxed in like a hunted animal.
In that moment, the part of her that had always had to fight for herself sounded the alarm that she needed to prepare to fight again.
She bristled against that thought. Adam couldn’t be angry at her for speaking to his father like that, could he?
Adam was different, she needed him to be different. Would he be different?
“Janae.”
The sound of her name on his lips matched with the gold flecks of fire in his hazel eyes was all her fight-or-flight instinct needed to kick in.
She refused to run. She never had. She damn sure wouldn’t start now. Not even when the sight of his anger directed at her made her want to curl up in a corner and cry.
She didn’t want to cry because she was afraid of Adam. No, she wanted to cry because just this morning she’d languished in the vulnerability she felt with him. And now she was back to the same old same old. On her own, with her back against the wall, squaring up to protect herself.
“Nope. You don’t have to say anything. If you can fix your lips to call my name after your father disrespected me while I was attempting to defend you, then you don’t have front to say that I want to hear.”
Her head told her to slow down. Take a minute. But the ball of anxiety and hurt sitting in the middle of her chest wouldn’t allow her to let reason abide. The reason she’d always survived was because she checked folks the second they crossed her boundaries. It worked when her ex-husband imploded their family. It worked when her mother had done her level best to destroy Janae’s confidence. Her protective instincts told her it had to work now when the ache of disappointment and heartbreak felt like a vise around her throat, blocking the life-giving air she needed.
No, she wouldn’t stay a moment longer. Because this time, if she stayed, she was certain this would be the first time she’d lose at keeping herself safe.
Without a single second of hesitation, Janae opened the door to the small room and kept putting one foot in front of the other, even when she heard Adam calling for her to come back, to wait, to not go.
“Dammit!” Adam bellowed, trying to figure out how he’d screwed things up so quickly, even though that wasn’t his intention. He’d let his anger at his father permeate him, and when he’d turned to Janae to ask her to tell him that she was okay, she’d thought he was about to defend his father.
There wasn’t a chance in hell of that then or now.
