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He shrugged. “So am I.”

Doing a walk of shame that started in your boss’s office and ended in the dark heat of a parking garage was not an experience I recommended for anyone. I skulked the few thousand steps with my mind in a whirlwind. I climbed into my car, turned the AC on full blast, and reversed. Adam’s accusations left a guilty stain on the passionate encounter of minutes before. But that encounter… oh, my God. As hurried and desperate as it had been, I had never felt anything like it in my life. It had felt like the most exquisite fire, burning me from the inside out. The intensity of his deep strokes inside my body and his fervent whispers against my ear had almost undone me, almost had me confessing an emotion I wasn’t even sure I felt. I wanted to say I couldn’t believe this had happened. But part of me, another more honest, reflective part, argued that this had been inevitable, that I had seen it coming even as I did everything I could to avoid it. There had always been a spark, a little hint of something between my boss and me that kept us bantering and bickering, the only outlets we allowed ourselves for the undeniable chemistry we shared. After the first couple of years, that spark had grown steadily, becoming a greedy flame and then a blazing inferno that had caught and burned down everything around us on that desk today.

And just that quickly, if the cold look on Saadiq’s face was any indication, it had been extinguished. Now, I worried that everything I had feared would come into play. I loved this job too much to be terminated or to be squeezed out by a hostile environment. It’s not that I even thought Saadiq was that much of an asshole, not purposely, at least. But if the way he looked at me bled over into action…

I sighed as I merged into the freeway, the stress of it all resulting in the beginning of a headache. The worry over Saadiq didn’t fade until the sound of my ringing phone filled the car. I smiled as I saw my mother’s name appear on the car’s center touchscreen. I tapped the screen and waited until the connection was solid.

“Hey, Ms. Melody!” I sang, trying to disguise my mood.

It rarely worked. My mother could read me as easily as the novels she loved, and she knew about what had happened with Adam this weekend. She’d taken one look at my face yesterday at church and pulled me right to a quiet niche in the fellowship hall. Dry-eyed, I’d spilled it all to to her. She’d sighed loudly before asking God to help her remember that she was in church. Then, instead of taking her regular place in the choir, she sat next to me on a pew near the back. She didn’t cluck and coo a lot, but she knew how to sit with me when I was hurt.

“Topaz…”

The way she sighed my name had me instantly on alert. “What’s wrong? You and Daddy okay?” I asked, sitting up out of my slouch.

“Yeah. You know Daddy surprised me with a visit to our favorite little bed and breakfast after church yesterday,” she began.

A smile flitted around my mouth. It was so like him to spring that on her. Daddy had cheated on Mama once, years ago. She made sure he knew he could either have them raggedy ass streets or Melody Montana-Waters. Faced with that, he decided the choice was simple. Still, he would forever be putting in work to make that up to her.

“Mm-hmm,” I responded, then waited.

“Your MiMi has a checkup with her cardiologist today. You know we don’t miss those since she had that heart attack scare.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She was right. No one in my family played about Lydia Waters or her health. My daddy’s mom and my mama’s father, Reid, were the only biological grandparents Jerod, Jeron, and I had left. I wanted them around as long as possible.

She sighed again, breaking my reverie. “Mama, what is it?” I pressed.

“Your daddy asked Jerod to take her once he decided to bring me here.”

It was my turn to exhale slowly. Jerod was my older brother, but you’d never believe it. He managed to shirk any responsibility that fell on the adult children in my family. He wasn’t a terrible person, exactly; he was just selfish enough that he never quite managed to put anyone else first. I, on the other hand, had a bad case of oldest daughter syndrome. If it needed to be organized, done, or handled, Topaz Waters was on it. It was the reason I could neither understand nor stand Jerod. I just did the best I could for my parents.

“I’ll take her.”

“Paz—”

“Mama, it’s okay.”

There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. “It’s not okay. You think I can’t hear it in your voice? I’ll see if your daddy can get your aunt Tamesha⁠—”

“Ma, I love my TeTe, but you know she and MiMi can’t ride in the same car together without someone there to separate them. And even that’s not enough now that MiMi got her concealed carry permit. My auntie will be in pieces all over I-45! I’ll take her.”

I signaled, ready to take the next exit so I could redirect myself to my grandmother’s little luxury townhouse. Fuck Jerod. He always did this, always left everything to fall on me.

“Topaz, when are you going to get some rest?” Mama asked quietly.

“As soon as I drop MiMi off, I’ll grab something to eat and then I swear I’m going to bed,” I promised her.

“I don’t mean for a night. I mean extended.”

I rolled my eyes. Here we go again.

“Dang, I look that bad?” I joked. The quiet let me know it fell flat. “Soon,” I murmured.

“Paz—”

“Ma, let me call MiMi so she’ll know to be looking for me,” I interrupted hurriedly.