I shake my head, finding it hard to speak. “Drew told her she'd have to choose, and she couldn’t choose me. And I couldn’t continue to love her in secret. So I decided for her, and I let her go.”
Devon’s head rears back. “That’s it? You’re going to let her go just like that?”
I turn away from him. “What the fuck am I supposed to do?”
“Shit, fight for her.”
When I turn back to him, my face is scrunched up in confusion. Is this not the same man who told me this would happen? The same one that said we were risking a lot.
“Huh?”
He shrugs. “I wasn’t lying when I said I always knew there was something there between the two of you. I caught that the first time you introduced her to us as Drew’s girl. Q and I thought you were fucking her back then. Now I know you were just in love with her.”
“Since high school,” I admit.
He shakes his head before placing a hand on my shoulder. “If you’ve loved Ella for that long, ain’t no way you can let her go that easily.”
“She doesn’t want me. And I love her enough to let her be happy, even if it’s not with me.”
Devon takes a step back. “That’s some white folk’s shit. Cause ain’t no way. Sonya’s ass would be handcuffed to my damn bedin her drawers until she came to terms with the fact that she and I were going to be together.”
His words bring a chuckle out of me. I came here to get the truth and now I have it. There was nothing else for me to do.
“Thanks, Dee.”
He dips his chin. “No problem.”
I walk away, but turn back around when he calls my name. Devon tosses something at me. I catch it in my hand and look down. It’s a pair of handcuffs. When I look back up at him, he’s grinning.
“Just in case you change your mind and decide to try it my way.” He then tosses me a set of keys. I catch them in my other hand. He winks with a smirk.
With a grin, I stuffed the cuffs and keys in my pocket and headed to my truck. Once I climb in, I pull my phone out to make one more phone call. A call that I should’ve made two days ago.
“Hello?” the unsteady voice on the other end of the phone answers.
“Hey, do you have a few minutes?”
The Talk
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ella
After putting away all the food and cleaning the dishes, I felt more like myself. There was so much that I still needed to do, but talking with my mother and the girls today has truly opened my eyes to what I wanted.
I toss the dish-drying towel down on the counter and head out of the kitchen.
“Mama, I’m going to head over to—”
She holds up her hand to stop me from talking. “You’re going to sit down, because your sons and their father are outside.”
“What?” I nervously wipe my hands down my summer dress.
“Yes. It’s time y’all talked. I called Andrew and told him to bring the boys over.”
I’m completely at a loss. For the last two days, I’ve been trying to do the same thing, and Andrew has been telling me it's too soon.
“How did you do it? I’ve been asking him for this meeting for two days.”
