Page 86 of Betrothed To Love

“I’ll just get on your calendar,” he counters with a sigh. That is not what he wanted to hear.

Kyrah and Alex walk out with us and follow me to my ride. They hug her again before we pull off. As soon as we are on the road, her cell rings.

“Giselle,” she utters before she answers. “Hey… You didn’t do anything… Giselle, stop apologizing… I said what I said tonight and I’m standing on it…I know. I know… I don’t know either… But not tonight… I’ll stop by after court tomorrow… Okay, then after three… I love you too.” The moment she ends the call, her phone rings again. “Damn, back-to-back.” She looks at the screen. “Oh, it’s Shuga.” This time she answers on speaker. “Hey.”

“Hey. Are you okay?” Shuga asks with concern.

“Yeah,” Mireya sighs. “I’m okay. We’re in the car heading home to Diamond Falls. Niya has school in the morning.”

“Don’t worry about her. I can take her,” Shuga says.

“Her lunch box and food are at the house, Shuga. We’re coming,” I interject.

“I’m sure I have something to put lunch in, and if you remember, I had five boys. I know how to fix a lunch and I know what my little princess likes. I got this.”

“Shuga, you also packed a whole fish for our lunch. Please don’t do that to my baby girl,” I say, remembering the lunches she would pack. If we had it for dinner, we were having it for lunch. I was glad when I made it to middle school and ate the school lunches.

“She likes fish,” Shuga says.

“Shuga, no,” I say.

“I can order something and have it delivered. I’ll see what she wants,” Shuga says.

“Her new obsession is charcuterie boards. You know that container you use for your Suya dips? You can fill that with different things you might have: grapes, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, and little rolls of lunchmeat,” Mireya says.

“And no fish,” I add, and my wife grins, replacing the tight look on her face.

“Yeah, Nana. I want that,” Niya says in the background and my wife looks at me. We had no idea she was around or could hear us.

“Hey, sweetie,” Mireya says. “Help your Nana make your chuttery for lunch, okay? Show her how.”

“I got it,” Niya assures her.

“Hey, baby girl,” I greet.

“Hey, Daddy. You coming here?” Niya asks.

“No. But I’ll pick you up from school tomorrow. You’re staying with Nana and she’s taking you to school. Be good for her, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Good night, baby girl.”

“Dream sweet,” she says.

“Alright, Shuga. I’ll call you tomorrow. Good night.”

“Y’all have a good night,” Shuga says, then ends the call.

“I guess we’re going to the condo,” my wife says, then places her hand on my leg. “I need a hot bath and the bed.” She sighs. “And I have to tell you what that was all about. But after my bath, okay?”

TWENTY-FIVE

How the hell did Richardson know about that one date?

One date that ended in the middle of the damn dinner.

Shit!