“Exile and I are still getting to know each other, so I’m no expert on your brother. But I got the sense he was running from his demons regarding your dad.”
“True, but he didn’t leave his demons behind. He just left Mom and me.”
Unsure how to fix the sadness I saw in her big blue eyes, I mumbled, “I’m sorry.”
“I’m fine with it,” Nova said, sounding like she wasn’t at all fine with the past. “When Dan came back to say goodbye to our mom, he could have left me where I was. He didn’t know Skylar. We weren’t his responsibility, but he still took us with him. He bought the house I wanted. He took care of me when I got hurt.Whatever harm he caused when he left South Dakota has been repaid twice over.”
“Exile was unhappy away from you and the girls,” I said rather than poke at her old wounds. “I knew I’d need to build part of my life in Baton Rouge if I wanted to keep him.”
Nova smiled at me. Her face was so sweet and warm that I couldn’t help reacting to its every expression. When she was sad, I felt sad. When she smiled, I mimicked the gesture.
I understood why an angry, tightly wound man like Exile would become addicted to spending time with his sister. He needed someone to help him tap into the emotions he kept tucked away deep down inside.
“I believe everything will be okay,” I told Nova when her blue eyes revealed a hint of worry. “I’m crazy about your brother, and I need him to be happy. You and the girls own a part of his heart. I promise we’ll figure out a system for everyone to get what they need.”
“This is why I came,” Nova said and admired her girls. “I knew it was crazy to show up. Zodiac told me to be patient. The girls didn’t know why we were packing. My decision seemed overly impulsive, but I knew Dan was stuck on you. Having him come back to check on us felt wrong when we could drive here and check on him.”
“I’m glad you’re here. Now, we can get to know each other and start building a bigger family.”
Nova exhaled uneasily. Like her brother, she could be difficult to read. He exuded tightly coiled aggression despite being an incredibly sweet man underneath. Nova, on the other hand, seemed overly nervous and a little flighty, but I sensed she was actually a tough cookie on the inside.
Though I knew her life was based in Baton Rouge, I couldn’t help wanting to set her up in Little Memphis, where she’d havea better support system. Exile said his sister didn’t have friends back in Baton Rouge.
“I saw the little Eddie Murphy face you taped to Exile’s boot,” I said, smiling at the memory from this morning.
Nova smiled sheepishly. “I was so clingy when Dan brought me to Baton Rouge. I couldn’t sleep at night, so he’d stay up with me and watch movies. I became obsessed with ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ and ‘The Golden Child.’ Then, during the last week of my pregnancy, I watched ‘Trading Places’ every single day. When Lyric was born, I got obsessed with ‘Shrek’ and ‘The Nutty Professor.’ Through it all, Dan would sit with me. Eventually, he claimed he saw Eddie Murphy every time he turned around.”
I laughed at the idea of Exile enduring the same movies to calm his vulnerable sister. “Now, he sees Eddie in his wallet and boots.”
Nova joined my laughter, likely relieved by how I didn’t find their family habits to be odd. Her giggles were so infectious, and her face was so sweet. I couldn’t help wanting her to find love like her brother had.
“Do you have any interest in dating?”
Nova’s eyes widened as if startled by the idea. “The girls are still so little.”
“Skylar will start kindergarten next year.”
“Yeah,” Nova said sadly. “I’m excited for her, but I will miss having my baby around during the day.”
“What about when the girls are older? Would you be interested in dating then?”
Nova didn’t answer immediately, and I realized I had pushed her too hard, too fast.
“I think maybe I’m attracted to bad men,” Nova finally said as she pulled her knees to her chest. “I read that women with bad fathers will sometimes chase bad men because that’s what seems normal to them.”
“Do you remember your dad?”
“A little, but I don’t remember him being bad.”
“Did you know your ex-husband was bad?”
“He was really funny and sweet, but I think there were signs. Maybe I ignored them, or maybe those red flags were why I liked him. I can’t trust my taste in men.”
“I understand,” I said softly as my mind raced with all the available men I knew. “Did anyone warn you about your ex before you got married? Remember how Sabrina said Tricky used to date our friend Cher? Well, we warned her about him since they seemed like a bad fit. Did you have anyone like that?”
Nova shook her head. “My mom didn’t trust her instincts because she never knew my dad was rotten. My friends thought Chris was super sweet, and I was lucky to have him.”
“Well, if you were to date someone around Little Memphis, we’d make sure he was a good guy. Rowdy has a nose for sniffing out bad people. We could test any guys you liked. And if someone you were dating got rough, we’d handle him immediately.”
