Love softened her stance, dropped her arms, and nodded once. She turned and walked toward the stairs. “I’ll handle it.”
Love saw Juwon watch her walk up the stairs from the corner of her eye. She turned the corner and rolled her eyes and continued toward Yana’s bedroom. She thought of ways to talk to her daughter about letting her father linger around the house. She was old enough to understand this now.
When she reached the bedroom door, she knocked twice, then turned the knob and opened the door before waiting on an invitation. Yana was curled up under her comforter, her favorite hoodie pulled over her head, eyes red and puffy.
“Hey, baby,” Love said gently. She entered the room and sat on the bed beside her.
Yana looked up and immediately sniffled. “He said he liked me. Then I see him dancing with some girl on Snapchat.”
Love exhaled slowly, and suddenly, her anger for Juwon’s presence was pushed to the back of her mind. She reached out and took her daughter’s hand. “Boys . . . they’re complicated like that. Weird, even. Loud at first, quiet when it counts.”
“I feel so stupid,” Yana whispered.
“You’re not stupid, baby. You’re learning. Hurt is a part of it, unfortunately.”
Yana stayed silent but watched her mother through glassy eyes.
“You wanna know what your grandpa once told me?” Love said softly and brushed Yana’s hair out of her face. “He said that you’ll know when a boy is the right one. It won’t be through flowers or the little lies they tell to get close. It’ll be how you feel when they leave the room. How quiet everything gets when they’re gone. A good man won’t just pull you in. He’ll make you feel safe.”
Yana blinked. “Did you listen?”
Love smiled. Her memory flashed back to that night in her bedroom after her father left. How she had given her virginity to the man she was certain would be her forever. But then her smile faded when she thought about the night it all ended. “Eventually, baby. Eventually, I did.”
Yana paused. Then her voice came through, quiet and low.
“I miss Grandpa.”
Love’s throat tightened. “Me too.”
She leaned in, hugged her daughter, and rocked her gently.
“Thanks, Mom. For everything.”
“I’ll always be here for you, baby girl.”
And she was. She stayed with her daughter until she fell asleep in her arms. When Love heard her faint snores, she slipped out of the bed and out of her bedroom door. She shut the door carefully behind her and walked the hallway back down the stairs.
When she reached the top of the stairway, she glanced down and saw Juwon still sitting in the living room.
He looked up and pressed mute on the TV. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said. She jogged down the stairs, past the living room, and walked into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and grabbed a water bottle.
Juwon stepped into the kitchen and stood at the edge of the island countertop. “I wasn’t trying to cross any lines. I just wanted to be there. For her. For you.”
She took a sip out of the bottle and closed the fridge door. “Stop saying things like that to me. I’m not trying to stop you from being there for her, but being in my house . . . You keep popping up and walking around here like things aren’t different. Like you didn’t make them this way.”
He opened his mouth.
“No,” she cut in. “Please, it’s late now. Just leave.”
He looked like he wanted to argue, but the steel in her voice told him better.
He turned around and walked out without another word. She heard the door shut and the automatic lock turn behind him.
She turned off the kitchen light, water bottle in hand, and walked up the stairs to her bedroom. She peeked in Yana’s room along the way and saw she was still fast asleep. She smiled, closed the door, and then continued down the hall to her bedroom.
As she stood in her room, the moonlight bled through the blinds. She walked to the edge of the bed and sat. Then she reached behind her neck and unclasped the silver chain with the diamond heart that had rested against her collarbone all day.
