“Yeah, I did.”
“Where did you go?”
“I went to Dallas.”
Shaking her head, she gave me a suspicious glare. “What’s in Dallas?”
“Don’t start with that. You already knowwhois in Dallas.”
“Do I have to remind you that you’re still a married woman?”
“No, I don’t need a reminder. How about you go remind Jayson that he needs to sign the divorce papers so we can change that?”
“Nova, darling, why are you so damn stubborn? Fix your marriage.”
Rolling my eyes, I hurried into the building. “Aunt Patricia, I don’t have time for this today. I had a good weekend, I feel energized, and I just want to get in the shower.”
“You know, you and your cousin love giving me a headache. If it isn’t one thing it’s another with you two.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” I replied in a nonchalant tone.
Quite frankly, I was tired of hearing about how me and Kendra were this huge disappointment. It didn’t matter what good we did, when it came to men, we were the ultimate failures.
As soon as we made it to my floor, I saw flowers sitting in a cute vase in front of my door. My eyes lit up as I hurried to read the card that was inside.
Ignoring the fact that my aunt was right behind me, I pulled the note from the envelope and read it out loud. “Thank you for making this weekend beautiful, and thank you for being my woman. Love, Don.”
I couldn’t stop smiling, and my insides were overflowing with butterflies.
“Did you just say, woman? As inhiswoman?”
I groaned. “Please don’t start.”
Not giving a damn about anything I said, she followed me inside and rambled off everything that was on her mind. “I can’t believe you. How in the hell are you going to be someone’s woman and—”
“Give it a rest. What I do in my free time is none of your business. Despite what you may think, I’m grown, and I can do what I want.”
“You’re making a mistake, Nova.”
“That’s according to you. I don’t know what kind of hold Jayson has on you and the rest of the family, but that shit needs to end.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard what I said. You need to cut that off. I’m your blood, I deserve loyalty.”
“This isn’t about loyalty. This is about you honoring your vows. You can’t run every time there’s a problem. That’s not what marriage is about.”
Pressing my hands into my face, I felt like my head was going to explode. “Please stop talking to me. I can’t do this.”
“Nova—”
“Leave!”
She shot her head back, shocked by the sharp tone in my voice. “Have you lost your mind? Just because you’re grown doesn’t mean you can raise your voice at me. I’m still the woman that raised you and don’t you forget that.”
Taking a deep breath, I took a moment to remind myself that shewasthe woman that raised me, and she did deserve the utmost respect. “Look, I’m sorry for getting so heated. I just want this thing with Jayson to stop. I don’t want to talk about him every time I see you.”
“Mmhmm,” she replied. “I just want you to see the bigger picture.”
