Page 198 of When Love Takes Root

The kids knew we were talking again. They didn’t know everything, because I wasn’t raising investigative journalists with boundary issues, but they knew enough. The girls had spent the morning pretending to be normal, which meant Skye changed clothes three times, Zuri asked whether “Mr. Josiah was my boyfriend now,” and Maya kept sketching in the corner of her notebook while pretending she wasn’t listening to every breath I took.

Kayden barely said a word.

That worried me most.

He sat in the passenger seat with his hoodie strings pulled unevenly, one knee bouncing and his thumb worrying the seam of his jeans. His eyes stayed fixed on the restaurant window like BTB was about to cross-examine him, but every few seconds, his jaw shifted like he was chewing on words he hadn’t decided whether to release. JJ had driven in early and met us there, and when he stepped out of his car, he gave Kayden one of those big-brother looks that said I love you, but don’t embarrass us in public.

Kayden rolled his eyes, but his shoulders loosened.

Inside, the restaurant smelled like brown sugar, coffee, fried catfish, and somebody’s grandmama’s skillet. Gold-framed scripture prints lined the lavender walls, and a mural of Black families gathered around a Sunday table stretched across the back wall like a blessing somebody had painted into permanence. I smoothed my blouse down, even though it wasn’t wrinkled, then adjusted my purse strap because my hands needed something to do besides reveal me.

Josiah was already there, standing near the hostess stand in a cream sweater, dark jeans, and a calm that looked unfair on a man who had every right to be cautious. His eyes found mine first, and the warmth in them moved over me slowly, careful and familiar.

Skye beat everybody to him.

“Mr. Josiah!”

He crouched just enough to receive the hug she threw at him with her whole little body. “Good morning, Skye.”

She pressed her face against his sweater, inhaled like a tiny quality-control specialist, then leaned back with a serious nod. “You smell like soap and outside.”

He looked at me over her head. “That’s a review I’ll accept.”

Zuri stepped around me with narrowed eyes, one hand on her hip and the other holding her little purse like she was arriving with documents. “Do you own your whole business or just some of it?”

Josiah blinked once, then smiled. “Good morning to you too.”

“I said good morning in my heart.”

JJ coughed into his fist. Maya hid her smile behind her sketchbook, but I saw her shoulders shake.

Josiah nodded like Zuri had asked a reasonable tax question. “I own it. J. Brooks Hardwire Electric & Co. is mine.”

“So you’re the boss?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Can you fire people?”

“If they don’t do right, yes.”

“Do you fire people nicely?”

Josiah rubbed his chin. “I fire people legally.”

JJ laughed first, and Kayden’s mouth twitched before he remembered he was trying to be tense. I pressed my lips together, but the sound in Josiah’s chest warmed something in me that fear had been keeping cold.

The hostess led us to a large table near the window. Maya slid into her seat and tucked one foot beneath her like she planned to stay awhile. Her pencil tapped twice against her notebook before she looked up.

“Did you always know you wanted to be a business owner?”

Josiah’s face softened. “No. I knew I wanted to be useful. The business came after I realized useful needed structure.”

Maya wrote that down immediately.

Kayden glanced over, brows pulled together. “Are you interviewing him?”

Maya didn’t look up. “Yes. For my personal archives.”