AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sydney hugged her midsection. “The truth is, I want to be able to date and sleep with Kofi or whoever, without feeling guilty. But thinking about Joel even finding someone else attractive? Itkillsme.”
“Sydney, you’re going to have to change your expectations,” Ayesha said. One of her less admirable traits was the inability to coat the truth in sprinkles and icing. “Look, neither of you are bad people. Good people get divorced every day. There’s always this need for drama or to point the finger at a cheater or an abusive spouse. That’s not always the case. Sometimes, it’s as simple as growing apart. What you can’t do, however, is make selective rules. What applies to him applies to you. You neither own nor control him. He neither owns nor controls you. That’s selfish thinking, and it won’t end well unless you realize life doesn’t owe you the favor of having things both ways.”
Sydney groaned and fell back on the bed, her taut boxer’s arms stretched above her head. “Damn, Ayesha. You don’t pull your punches for shit.”
“Unless your name is Josiah, Theo, or Thandie, I won’t coddle your feelings. Once he’s old enough, Grey gets added to that list.”
“I see that.”
The back door chimed.
Joel and Theo were back, and hopefully, Theo had left enough of Joel’s DNA behind for them to identify him.
Dez poked his head inside the bedroom doorway. “Knock, knock. Hey, baby. I made you some tea.”
Larke cocked her head to the side. “Tea?”
“Because you’re not feeling well, sweetheart.” He held out a hand. “And I saw some Saltines and those nausea lollipops we have back home in the kitchen. I can get you some if you’d like.”
Larke gave Sydney a hug and then floated over to Dez, fingers slipping between his.
“Are you feeling any better?” he asked, his voice growing quieter as they disappeared down the hallway. “Whatever you need, just tell me, okay?”
Ayesha, after hugging Sydney, went to her room just as Joel set Theo in one of the extra cribs Tayler and Gage had picked up to keep at their place. With how things were going, they would all need extra cribs for the next several years.
She leaned against the trim. “You’re alive.”
“He didn’t give me any trouble, to be honest.” He smoothed Theo’s hair, the ringlets flattening before popping back up again. “We talked, and he told me about themoo,thekhy,and the‘tars,and it was quitefascinating, let me tell you.”
She laughed.
“Then, he fell asleep.”
“Just like that?” she asked.
“Just like,” he snapped his fingers, “that.”
“You won’t always be that lucky.”
“It’s okay. Even if it had taken an hour, I don’t think I’d mind. Actually, Ayesha, I’ve been meaning to tell you…never think, for a second, I won’t come flying down to Maui if you need someone there. Call me, text, email, smoke signals—whatever. After everything you’ve done for me, I’ll come. I swear I’ll come. As soon as I can.”
The thing she couldn’t place, like brush strokes through her nerve fibers, reappeared, but Joel didn’t give her a chance to analyze it.
“Want to walk on the beach with me?” he asked.
“You need to talk?”
He shrugged. “Or just want to.”
“Let me change into something lighter.”
“No problem. I’ll wait for you downstairs.”
CHAPTER12
They walked in silence, bare toes sinking into the wet sand. Every so often, Joel glanced at Ayesha, and every so often, he caught her smiling as if a sweet memory came across her thoughts. Those hairs that seemed to love being free of the bun whipped through the air whenever a breeze blew, which was often.
Apparently, dressing lighter had meant removing her contacts, so a pair of clear-rimmed glasses sat on her nose bridge, and a light sweater covered her mismatched pajama top and bottom.
