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She picked up her glass of strawberry lemonade with a nervous twitter in her belly. “What are we toasting to?”
“You and me.”
She froze. “Excuse me?”
A grin stretched over his face, and excitement glittered in his eyes. “Come on, Solette. You already know you’re going to give in to me, girl. Stop fighting it.” He reached across the table and grabbed her wrist with too much force, but he lightened his hold immediately. “I’ve turned over a new leaf. I’m a good man now.”
Did a good man call himself that, or did he let others do it for him? She wasn’t about to ask out loud.
“I never stopped loving you, baby.”
She felt a little something in her throat and chided herself. Joe Sr. wasn’t all bad. He took care of his responsibilities for the most part. She had never had to borrow from family or friends because she didn’t have diapers for Joseph. Joe Sr. made sure of that.
Why are you trying to convince yourself, Solette?
She pulled her hand from his and cleared her throat. “Joe, we broke up a long time ago, and Joseph and me have been doing all right alone.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You’re saying you don’t need me?”
“I-I’m not saying that.”
“Look, I know I wasn’t always nice to you. I might have let my anger get the best of me sometimes. But I told you. I’m over all that. It’s in the past. You’re not going to find a man as good as me, ready to take care of you.”
Her jaw locked, and she couldn’t form words. A rock sat in the pit of her stomach, and she was sure she couldn’t stuff another bite of food into her mouth although she hadn’t eaten much.
“Dad, you’re upsetting Mom,” Joseph interrupted. “Why can’t you let her eat?”
“Boy!” Joe Sr. growled and then sucked in a breath. He blew it out noisily. “This doesn’t have anything to do with you, Joseph. I’m trying to prove how I feel about your mom. You should be excited because you’re getting your family all together again.”
He was already convinced she would give in to him. Solette didn’t blame him considering she had always gone back. Even when he wasn’t nice about demanding she accept his apology. She had always given in, slunk back, curled in on herself, just hoping this time would be different.
The last breakup lasted longer than any other time, and she had thought she was free. That is until Joe Sr. started sniffing around her again. As she thought about it, the only reason she lasted this long was because her work with Cason had consumed her for more than six months.
“Come on, baby,” Joe Sr. said. “I know you love me, or you wouldn’t be thinking about it this long. You just want to see me sweat. Well, okay. How about this?”
Dread washed over her. She hoped he wasn’t doing what she thought he was doing as he reached into his pants pocket. A few seconds later, he pulled out something cradled in his fist and slapped it on the table. When he moved his hand, her breath evaporated. Not even in a box but by itself, a diamond ring sat there—a tiny diamond that looked real.
“There.” He nodded in self-satisfaction. “Now you see how serious I am?”
“Ye—I…see.” She switched her words up in case he took them wrong. A desperate need to get out of there washed over her. She needed to think. “Joe, do you mind if I have some time to think?”
He blinked at her and then slammed an open palm on the table, making not only her and Joseph jump but several people nearby. A waiter on the other side of the restaurant glanced in their direction with raised eyebrows. Did they need him to come over there, his expression seemed to say. Solette gave him an apologetic one back and then faced Joe Sr.
“You’ve had months to think about us, Solette. Why you so confused? Don’t tell me there’s someone else. There better not be.”
She bristled. “We’re not together, Joe. I have a right to see anyone I want.”
He swelled bigger.
“I’m not seeing anyone else. I’m just saying I have a right.” Moisture gathered on her upper lip, and she wiped it with her napkin.
“All right, look,” he said. “I’m going to give you another week. Here. You take the ring and let it remind you about us and our family.”
“No, I can’t.”
He forced her hand open and shoved the ring into it. There couldn’t be a worse marriage proposal on the books as what she received that night. Actually, come to think of it, he never asked. He just slammed the ring on the table.
“Okay.” Joe Sr. rubbed his hands together grinning. He was always convinced of his own plans working out in the end. “Let’s finish our food. Joseph and me’s got some games to get to at home, right, Joseph?”
