“I have to admit, I like this new Ella,” Kyra gushes. “She’s so free and bubbly. That man has you glowing.”
There was nothing to dispute there. Mitch was definitely having an effect on me.
“Which is another reason we need to meet him.” Jada rolls her eyes.
I playfully stick my tongue out at her, causing her to laugh.
“Let her take her time,” Mama says with a big grin. “I’m just glad there is some man out there keeping my baby happy.”
“Thanks, Mama.” I cup my hand over my heart.
“And by happy, I mean on your back with those legs spread.”
I choke on my saliva. The girls nearly fold over as they laugh so hard.
“I know that’s right, Mama Faye,” Jada sings giving my mom a high five.
“Now, Mrs. Alexander, what do you know about that?” Pam teases.
Mama kisses her teeth. “You young girls think ya’ll doing something new. We were getting and keeping men way before ya’ll came along. Ya’ll ain’t done nothing we haven’t.”
We all laughed, even Ari burst into laughter as if she knew what we’re talking about. The ladies helped me finish setting up the party room. We were all laughing and enjoying each other until my mother spoke, getting our attention.
“Lawd, this man gone make me kill him.”
Pam and I were hanging the Happy Birthday sign. She and I both stopped what we were doing to give our attention to my mother.
“Is that the fiancée?” Kyra gasps.
I turn to look out the window to see what has all their attention. Immediately my body goes rigid. Talking to one of Cameron’s friends’ father is Andrew. He’s wearing a linen button-up shirt untucked and a pair of dark-wash jeans. His beard and goatee are trimmed to perfection. Although seeing Andrew was startling, it was the person he had with him that had my heart pounding in my chest.
Standing beside my ex-husband was the woman he told me not to worry about. Kiely was biracial like Andrew. Her golden-brown skin was as flawless as a twenty-five-year-old's should be. Her chocolate-brown hair hung bone-straight and down to her shoulders. The crisp white off the shoulder shirt she wore matched Andrew’s. Even her dark-wash skinny jeans were the same shade. And of course she’s wearing heels to a kid’s party.
Without even trying, my brain immediately compared her to myself. She was model-tall and just as skinny. Her breasts were small and perky in her fitted shirt. Even before the boys, I was never as skinny as her.
“Somebody take this baby. I’m going to need my hands free for this,” Mama says, however, I don’t take my eyes away from the couple in the window.
Andrew placed his arm around Kiely’s narrow waist, pulling her into his side. He looks down into her face in a way I don’t remember him ever looking at me. He looks at her as if she were the most precious thing in his life.
The pain is sudden. A tightness clogs my throat, constricting my breathing. My heart knocks painfully against my chest.
I shut my eyes and clutch a hand to my chest.
“Oh God, Ella, are you okay?” Pam asks beside me.
I can feel her arm on my shoulder, but I can’t yet open my eyes. I’m fighting to keep my heart in my chest and my breathing normal.
“That’s it,” my mama announces. “Jada, hand me my purse. I got something in there for his ass.”
Faye Alaxander is licensed to carry. Nothing good can come from my mama getting that purse.
I take a deep breath, tamping down on the sudden pain. That’s when I hear a voice in my head. One that is deep and strong and has the ability to pull me out of the darkest of thoughts.
“I got you, El.”Mitch’s voice is so prominent in my head, it’s as if he’s standing right beside me. A calm washes over me like a summer rain. The same rain that we got caught in months ago when we made love in his truck.
A smile graces my face right before my eyes open. All the girls are staring at me. Jada has my mother’s purse in her hands as if she were seconds away from handing it over.
My shoulders drop as I let out a sigh.
