“Rowdy? That’s on his birth certificate,” Shyne asked.
“I know you not talking,Sonshyne, spelled with an ‘o’ and a ‘y’,” I teased my brother.
“You right, but still. Rowdy sounds like his parents were asking for trouble,” he said.
I rolled my eyes even though I thought the same thing when Rowdy told me his name.
“Anyway . . . He was the tow truck driver when I got those flat tires. He moved here from Savannah about three months ago to work in his uncle’s auto shop. He’ll be taking over when his uncle retires.”
“Oh, I see we have something in common. I can’t wait to meet him,” Raine said.
Raine and Melodie had moved to Onyx City from Chicago to take over her aunt’s salon before they opened Black Reign.
“We’re all excited to meet him,” Ma added.
Over the next two hours, the rest of my family arrived. Breeze and Melodie were the first to make their appearance with their twin girls, Kadence and Sky. Melodie’s younger sister, Harmonee, arrived with our cousin Adan, which was only a little surprising because I’d noticed them flirting with each other on a few occasions.
Melodie’s parents moved from Savannah to Onyx City when Melodie had the twins. They arrived right before Zayn and his flavor of the week. As many times as we’d told him to stop bringing random women to our family events, he repeatedly ignored us. He and Adan were identical twins but had very different personalities.
Mari and Yvonne, who worked at the spa and had become like family, arrived together, along with Yvonne’s boyfriend, Kayce. He rarely came around, so I was surprised to see him. Once everyone had arrived, I began to wonder if Rowdy had changed his mind. I checked my phone and didn’t have any missed calls or texts from him.
As soon as I was about to call him, he entered the backyard, holding two bouquets of flowers and a bottle of liquor with Ramina and a woman, I assumed to be his mother, behind him. The giddiness I felt when our eyes met could be bottled up and sold for thousands of dollars per bottle. I got up to greet him, and when he wrapped his arms around me, it felt like home.
“I’m sorry I’m late, baby. My mother refused to come empty-handed and decided to bake a cake, and I had to stop at the store on the way here,” he whispered in my ear after kissing my cheek.
“It’s fine.”
“I’m glad you called. I missed you,” he confessed before stealing a quick kiss.
“I missed you too, but we should probably do the introductions.”
“Yeah, we should.” He turned to his mother. “Ma, this is Noelani. Baby, this is my mother, Dawn.”
His mother didn’t hesitate to embrace me. “It’s nice to meet you. I can see why my son has been spending most of his nights with you. You’re absolutely gorgeous.”
“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you too. Hey, Ramina. I see where you get your beauty.”
“Hey,” she returned with a smile. I couldn’t hug her because she was holding the cake that her mother had made.
“I’m glad all of you could come. Let me introduce you to my parents and the rest of my family.”
“Hold up. These flowers are for you. Thank you for inviting us to meet your family.”
“Thank you, baby. They’re beautiful.”
I took the flowers, looped my arm through his, and headed to the deck where my parents were prepping the food to be served. His mother and sister followed us.
“Ma, Daddy, this is Rowdy, his mother, Ms. Dawn, and his sister, Ramina. These are my parents, Jacob and Natavia Townsend.”
Greetings, handshakes, and hugs were exchanged.
“Mrs. Townsend, these are for you,” Rowdy said, giving her the other bouquet of flowers.
“Thank you. How thoughtful. Come with me, Dawn, so I can put these in water, and bring that caramel cake I just know you made from scratch.”
“Oh, Ma. Can you put mine in water too?”
“Of course,” she responded as I gave her the bouquet.
