Jada sat in the truck and could feel that something was different about Reiner. His body was tensed as he drove through the city of Waco.
“Is everything all right?” she asked softly and glanced to him. She wasn’t quite sure what happened between him and his mother in the kitchen, but she was fairly certain she was at the center of it.
His attention seemed to be elsewhere since he’d come back to the family room. They’d both freshened up and changed clothes before heading out for dinner. Where their day had been magical getting to know each other by exploring each other’s minds and bodies, it was now gone, having disappeared behind a thick steel door that had slammed shut.
“Yeah. Everything is good.”
His eyes flickered to her, but she sensed that he was hiding the truth from her. He must have felt her body tighten when he glanced over at her again. He let loose a deep sigh. “It’s not you. My mother and I just have been having a disagreement about something, and it’s eating at me. I promise, I won’t be a bump on a log for our dinner.”
He tried to smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. She chewed on her bottom lip, trying to get up the nerve to say what she wanted.
When have I ever not spoken what was on my mind? she thought to herself.
Nope, might as well clear the air.
“It’s me. She doesn’t like me, does she?”
His eyes flew to her in shock, but she could read right through his mask.
It wasn’t the first time someone didn’t like her because of the color of her skin and it sure wouldn’t be the last. As she was growing up, her parents had always stressed to her and her brother, Sky, that they would have to work twice as hard in life just because they were black.
“What? She doesn’t even know you—”
“It’s okay, Reiner. You don’t have to say it, but I felt it by the way she looked at me. There are only two things that could make her think less of me without getting to know me. Either it’s because I’m not rich and well off or it’s because I’m black.”
There. She’d said it. It was hard to believe that his brother and father had been accepting of her immediately, but his mother couldn’t. She sighed and looked away, focusing her attention on the scenery that passed by.
“She’s not a snob. She would never look down on anyone for not being wealthy,” he began.
“So it’s my skin color?” She refused to hold back the punches. She would rather know what she was dealing with than to have it hidden behind her back.
Reiner turned the truck into a parking lot of a large steakhouse. There were people milling around on the front patio with drinks in their hands. He parked the truck, and the sounds of music and laughter filled the air.
He faced her and grabbed her hand.
“Jada, look. My mother doesn’t have a racist bone in her body. Let’s not think of anything but us tonight. Please. I like you. A lot.” He brought the back of her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on it.
Her skin tingled where his lips touched, and she felt herself soften.
“I like you, too.” She smiled. “A lot.”
His face brightened with a true smile before he exited the vehicle.
Her heart told her that she wasn’t beginning a relationship with Reiner’s mother. But her mind told her that getting in a relationship with him meant that his baggage came with him.
Was she really wanting to deal with that kind of baggage? She took her seat belt off and watched Reiner walk around the truck. He opened the door just like she was sure all southern boys were trained to do, and her heart melted.
“Where have you been?” Clare Dalton’s concerned voice burst in Jada’s ear.
She cringed as she parked her car in the salon’s parking lot. She hadn’t spoken with her mother all weekend, which was not like them. They were very close, and Jada felt guilty that she had not told her mother about Reiner.
Frankly, she didn’t know how to break it to her that not only had she met someone, but she had already gone away for the weekend with him.
“Oh, I was out and about,” she began.
“And you couldn’t stop by your parents’ house? I sent Sky over to your apartment, and he said that you weren’t there and it looked as if you hadn’t slept in your bed.”
Jada leaned her head back against the headrest and rolled her eyes.
“Really, Mom? You sending Sky over to check on me?”
“Well, it’s not like us to not talk for a day, much less two. All I could think was that you were laying facedown, dead in your home. You hear about stuff like that on the news all the time, and the poor person wouldn’t be found for weeks on end,” her mother huffed.
“Why would I be dead?” she scoffed.
Her mother’s imagination could run wild sometimes. She already felt guilty for not calling her. Clare Dalton knew how to lay the guilt on her children something crazy.
“I don’t know. You know I worry about you children—”
“Mom, we’re grown—”
“Doesn’t matter. You could be sixty and you would still be my baby.”
Her mother’s voice softened, and Jada’s guilt increased. She knew her mother had her best interest at heart. She let loose a deep sigh and decided to come clean.
“Well, if you must know, I met someone,” she admitted and was met with silence. She glanced down at her phone to make sure the call hadn’t dropped.
“Really?” her mother gushed.
Jada smiled at the excitement that lined her mother’s voice. She looked around the parking lot to find it still empty. She was usually the first one to arrive at the salon, but today was Monday, which was usually a super-slow day. Most of the hairstylists took Sundays and Mondays off so that they could have two days off a week.
Her salon was more than a place for women to get their hair styled. It contained a small store that focused on natural hair and skincare products. They were even open on Mondays to meet the needs of more of their clients. She usually covered that day and took another day off in the week if she needed it. Six-day weeks were rough, but it was totally worth it to ensure that her salon was a success.
“Yes, really. You’re saying that like you are shocked or something,” she said, pretending to be hurt.
“Of course not. It’s more like an ‘about time’ type of reaction, my dear. So tell me all about him.”
Well, here goes.
“His name is Reiner—
“That’s a different name,” her mother stated, cutting her off.
Jada rolled her eyes, deciding to go ahead and make her way inside the building. This was going to take a while. She grabbed her messenger bag and exited her car. She had thought it had died, but amazingly it had risen from the dead once more in the auto shop.
“It is. Tall, muscular, athletic, and a super-nice guy,” she rushed out as she let herself into the salon. She quickly disarmed the alarm system and made her way into her office. She sat her things down and booted up her computer.
“Sounds nice. Where did you meet Mr. Tall, Muscular and Athletic?”
Jada caught her mother up on the details of how she’d met Reiner. Her mother first acted hurt that she was just hearing about Reiner now, but she finally settled down, citing understanding that this was all new.
“Well, what does he do for a living?”
It was now or never to fill her mother in on the rest of the details. It was best that she heard it from Jada first than anyone else. Her mother would be hurt if Jada kept this type of secret from her.
“Is it a secret or something, Jada?” her mother asked gently. “What are you not telling me?”
Jada sighed knowing their mother had certain intuitions when it came to her and Sky. Clare could always sense when something was wrong.
“He plays professional football. He plays for the Knights,” she admitted.
“Well, for someone who knows nothing of football, what would you two have in common?” Clare Dalton rarely held her tongue, and now would not be the time.
Jada thought about what her and Reiner had shared and realized that even though they were from different worlds, they were much alike.
They both had a drive to be the best, him in football, her with her salon. They both loved the same type of movies and food. Even after the disastrous meeting with his mother, they’d ended up having a good time at dinner. They had drawn some looks that had left Jada feeling uncomfortable, but Reiner’s attention was on her. Even when someone stopped by for an autograph or picture, he’d graciously smiled, complied, then turned right back to her.
“There’s more to him than football,” she mumbled as she entered her password into her computer. She switched the call to speakerphone so she could start working while on the phone. “But there is one more thing that I should tell you.”
“What, darling? You can tell me anything. I don’t like hearing the hesitation in your voice. Spill it,” her mother demanded.
“He’s white.”
“Okay. And?”
Jada blinked a few times, and a smile spread across her face. Why did she even think that it would be a problem? Relief spread through her chest.
“I just thought—”
“Honey, don’t tell me you thought I or your father would have an issue with you dating someone from outside our race.”
Jada paused and sat back in her chair while she stared at her phone. Did she really think her parents would have an issue with Reiner being white? In her heart she already knew the answer.
No.
“I know you wouldn’t. I just never dated someone outside of my race, and it’s new for me.”
“Well, as long as he treats you right and you’re happy then that’s all that matters,” her mother said. “But my concern isn’t that he’s white, it’s that he’s Reiner Strickland.”
Jada paused. How would her mother know his name? She wasn’t that big into football, either. Clare’s favorite sport was basketball. Her mother was a die-hard fan of the local basketball team who Jada knew was in the playoffs.
“Wait! How did you know his last name?” Jada sat forward in her chair in shock. She knew she hadn’t said it.
What in the hell?
“Honey, it’s all over the news and gossip sections. Imagine I turn on the television to my favorite early morning sports talk show and see my daughter out with a handsome football star at some popular steakhouse in Texas.”
Jada’s eyes widened. All this time her mother had known about Reiner and had let her continue on and on, not once mentioning that she had already heard about them being together. She couldn’t believe her mother had learned of Reiner from the television—
Shit!
“Mom, I gotta go,” she rushed, scooping her phone up from her desk. She had to call Reiner. If this was all over the television as her mother had said, then she needed to call him.
“Okay, dear. We would love to meet him. Bring him by sometime soon.”
“Yes, Mom. Gotta go. Love you.” She didn’t give her mother a chance to respond before she disconnected the call.
She scrolled through her contacts to find Reiner’s number and hit the button. She put her phone to her ear and waited. It went straight to voicemail. She ended the call and tried it again—voicemail. This time, she decided to leave a message.
“Hey, Reiner. It’s me, Jada. Call me when you get this.”
She hung up, not sure what else to say. She placed her phone down and grabbed the mouse to her computer and clicked on the internet. She typed in Reiner’s name, and her stomach plummeted.
Sure enough, there were pictures and stories of their weekend together.
And the blogs were not nice at all. She fought the bile that threatened to make an appearance. Her eyes were glued to the words that were splashed across the screen. She sat there, clicking on every single article and picture.
Mysterious. Black woman. Interracial. Overweight. Plump. Gold-digger. Poor. Struggling business owner.
All the words that were constantly used to describe her in every article. Her heart slammed against her chest as she looked at the pictures that were taken of them while out at the restaurant.
She roamed the images of his previous women that the media compared her to and chewed on her lip while tears pooled in her eyes. She knew the world could be vicious but had never had the brunt of it thrown her way like this.
She wasn’t cut out for this. She didn’t want to hurt Reiner’s career or image. She wasn’t worth this. Realization came to her.
She’d have to let him go.