“Well, you can always leave. Spend your Sunday with your family.”
She sighed. “No, I’m not going to do that. I want this too bad.”
“What’s going on?”
Dallas bit down on her bottom lip. “That’s right, you probably don’t read the blogs or watch YouTube videos.”
“No. Am I missing something?”
“Yeah, kind of.”
An older woman walked over to us. “Dallas, is everything okay?” The lady smiled at me and held out her hand. “Hello, I’m Maya. And you’re Preston Hayes.”
Confused by this turn of events and curious how Maya knew who I was, I glanced at Dallas. Only, she didn’t look at me because she was laser focused on her plate. I shook Maya’s hand. “I am. I’m sorry, I don’t remember meeting you.”
“Oh, we haven’t met. But I’ve seen you.”
“Preston?” my aunt called. “I’m heading back to the table.”
“You’d better go,” Dallas said. “We’ll talk?”
Something was going on, but I would wait until I could talk to Dallas in private. I nodded. “Call me.” I said my goodbyes and went back to our table.
When I sat down, my aunt smirked. “Who was that beautiful young woman?”
I glanced back at the buffet, meeting Dallas’ gaze briefly before she disappeared. “She’s a friend.”
“A friend who obviously has her eye on you.”
I smiled. “How do you figure?”
“I’ve been married for over forty years, nephew. I know when a woman is interested in a man.”
“I don’t know about that.” Yet, even as I said the words, I couldn’t help but wonder if Aunt Dot was on to something.
We ate in silence for a few minutes before my aunt brought us back to the subject at hand. “Are you going to talk to me?” I eyed her over the rim of my glass. “You’ve always been so closed off, quiet. I worry about you.”
“I’m fine,” I assured.
“It’s in your eyes. You do a great job of hiding it, but I saw it then. And I see it now. You’re not fine. Tell me what’s wrong.”
I set my glass down. “Mom told me something the last time I saw her, and I can’t wrap my brain around it. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
“Your mom says a lot of things that don’t make sense. It’s the liquor.”
“Aunt Dot, I don’t think it was the liquor this time. I think she was angry, and she wanted to hurt me.”
She put her fork down. “Oh, boy. Lord, help us.” She blew out a slow breath, then said, “Okay, hit me with it.”
“Before she closed herself in the bathroom, she told me my father wasn’t my father.”
Aunt Dot’s eyes widened, but she didn’t look shocked. “Wow.”
“You knew?” I asked.
Her gaze darted around the room. “I…I had suspicions. Your mother loved Hayes, but she wasn’t faithful to him.”
“Why am I just now finding this out?” My body tensed as anger welled up inside me. I expected my mother to lie, but I’d never thought Aunt Dot would know something this important and not say anything. “Why wouldn’t you tell me?”
