Page 27 of Father of the Bride
“Good. Now loosen up. How you gon’ be stressed out here on the water? Go play.”
Dav gave a nod and stood, making his way back to the group.
Satisfied, Mark started back toward the helm, his cigar smoldering between his fingers. His mind was working. Analyzing.
She was bringing a date.
Mark knew exactly who Orion was. Man was purely an inconvenience, like a small fly that gets in the house when you open the door to go out.
But the date…that was something else to deal with. Something he wasn’t prepared for.
But nothing was ever easy with Cici. Which made this whole thing more frustrating. Two grown ass adults having to hide their feelings and sneak around when all he wanted to do was declare to everyone in earshot that the first woman he ever loved, and lost, was his again.
And for Orion and the mystery date, the message was even clearer: Stay the fuck away from her.
“Hey, Brookie. How’d it go?”
Brooklyn plopped down on the sofa in Mark’s study, toeing her sandals off with a sigh. “Fine.”
“Where’s your dress?”
“It’ll be ready tomorrow.”
He brought his eyes back to his screen, cool as a cucumber when he said, “Where’s Davion’s mom?”
She shrugged. “Probably went to take a nap. I think I tired her out.”
“Why do you say that?”
“She got a little irritated.” Brooklyn looked behind her as if she thought someone was lurking. “Daddy, she showed me her dress for the wedding. It’s kind of…basic. So I suggested we look for another one.”
Mark sat back in his chair, rubbing his chin. “Did she find something she liked? Wait, let me rephrase that. Did she find somethingyouliked?”
Brooklyn laughed. “Whatever, Daddy. But seriously…” she stood and stepped closer to Mark, lowering her voice to just above a whisper. “I kinda get the feeling she couldn’t afford a new dress.”
“You took her to Aurora?”
“Of course.”
“Yeah, that’s not a place you take regular folks, Brook. She was probably embarrassed.” He tapped the side of his head and said, “Think about it for a minute.”
It was times like these when he questioned his parenting. He and Alayna used to talk about it all the time. As black parents, they never wanted their children to struggle the way they did, but then one day you wake up and them kids are spoiled as shit and out of touch with reality.
He stared at his daughter and wondered what possessed her to take Sunny to a store that sold shit thatstartedat five figures.
“Should I apologize?” Brooklyn finally said.
He lifted a shoulder. “It’s probably not that deep. But baby, that’s something you need to be mindful of. I’ve told you that.”
“Davion is an engineer, Daddy. I guess I thought—“
“Have y’all talked about finances?”
Brooklyn’s perfect little nose crinkled. “What’s there to talk about? He’s an engineer.”
“And the economy is shit right now,” Mark retorted. “The cost of living has gone up. His salary might not go as far as you think it does.”
He could see the wheels turning in her head.
