After the split, my stepdad left and accepted a position in Raleigh. I didn’t see him often, but there was no bad blood between us. He and my mother spent sixteen amazing years together. Their marriage gifted me with the people I loved the most. If Rico hadn’t become my brother, I don’t think I would have ever had the nerve to make friends with him. Or Christian and Soul.
Brock was the blueprint for the good man Rico had become.
Like his dad, he was a quiet provider, kind and always worrying about other people’s needs.
His protectiveness could be suffocating but I knew it came from a place of love.
At least most of the time.
Although right now he was looking at me like love was the last thing on his mind. There was a hunger shining in his eyes that couldn’t be satiated with the plate of soul food in front of him.
“You remember that sweet potato pie I made last Christmas?”
My grandmother was loud. And I’d never been more grateful for her inability to regulate her volume because it snatched me away from thoughts that were too dangerous to be having at the dinner table.
“Yeah, I remember.” My mother sounded weary, like she didn’t know where this conversation was going. You never knew with Edith Westbrook.
“That shit was so stringy you could floss your teeth with it,” Edith announced, picking up her sweet tea.
Laughter filled the dining room. One thing about my grandmother, she was honest as hell about her strengths.
She’d never been the cooking type.
And when she stepped in the kitchen from time to time it just confirmed what she already knew. If the recipe was more complex than a three-ingredient loaf of bread or a sandwich, she wasn’t doing it.
Cooking wasn’t her ministry.
She and Soul had that in common.
I turned to my left and found him smiling into his plate.
When he’d sat down beside me earlier instead of Rico, I’d been relieved after the tense way we’d left things last night.
But now Rico was seated across from me, focused solely on me, and I was second guessing that whole train of thought.
My mother grinned at me from the head of the table. “Lo, it’s so good to have you home for a while. Have you decided what you’re gonna get up to this summer?”
“Not yet,” I gave her my default answer, pushing the food around on my plate. My mother’s cooking was divine. And I wasn’t trying to disrespect her by not eating after she’d gotten back in town this morning just to stand on her feet in the kitchen. But my appetite was playing hide-and-seek right now.
“Well, it’s a good thing you’re staying with Rico. He always took good care of you growing up. Now y’all have the summer to bond as adults.”
Rico’s stare grew more intense, heating my skin as a smirk slanted his lips.
I just knew he was about to say something slick, but he shoveled a forkful of baked mac and cheese in his mouth instead.
Thank God for small mercies.
“Ooh, have you thought about dating while you’re here? You spend so much time on the road alone, I worry about you.” Her face, which just so happened to be identical to mine, fell in a frown.
“I—”
“You know what I could do? I could set you up on some blind dates. Maybe you’ll meet someone worth visiting home for.”
She winked but I could hear everything she wasn’t saying. I needed to visit home more.
Just as guilt settled like a lead weight in my stomach, Rico cleared his throat across the table, cutting a glance at me before he announced to the table, “I don’t know, Ms. Yvie. You know Harlow likes to be alone. She might mess around and disappear as soon as he starts falling in love.”
Soul coughed beside me. My grandmother was too busy devouring her food. But my mother tilted her head at Rico’s claim and split an unsettled glance between us.
