“Kyle, I told you when we met her that she’d be perfect for Knox.”
“You did, and I’m glad you let it play out instead of trying to play matchmaker,” Pops said.
“I know how to mind my business.”
I chuckled because Mareen St. Patrick was a trip, and she was the last person to mind her business.
“I told you I was seeing someone seriously, but I didn’t tell you it was Skye because we wanted to keep a low profile at first.”
“Keeping a low profile doesn’t mean keeping it from your mother. Do you know how worried I was that you’d let that trifling girl weasel her way back into your life?”
Without the mention of her name, I knew the woman my mother was referring to was my ex-fiancée, Olivia. She was the last woman I’d introduced to my parents, and the only one of my exes my mother called trifling.
I’d only told Skye the abbreviated version of the story because I didn’t want to get into it, although I was sure she had more questions. Thankfully, we were interrupted by Kilo and Nyomi’s visit, and the topic hadn’t come up again.
One day, I came home, and Olivia had packed all her shit. She told me she loved me but wasn’t in love with me, and she expected me to give her a better lifestyle than what I’d been providing. I argued that we lived well, but she said she expected more and that she shouldn’t have accepted my proposal.
As I’d told Skye, and my mother on several occasions, I was hurt, but when I took the time to reflect, I realized Olivia’s leaving was for the best. She was an educated, high-maintenance girl from the hood, and because I grew up with a father who played professional football, and I had been coaching at the collegiate level for a while, she expected us to live a certain way.
When our modest lifestyle didn’t meet her lavish expectations, she bounced. I couldn’t even be mad, because she saved me from going through a lot of unnecessary drama. I didn’t hate Olivia, but we simply weren’t a good match.
“My son may have gotten his heart broken, but he’s not dumb enough to fall for her again,” my father said, annoyed.
He wasn’t very fond of Olivia either. In fact, he’d warned me about her, but I was too blind to see it and didn’t take heed.
“She didn’t break my heart, and that’s definitely a stretch. Nothing would make me take her back.”
“Good. You know, I heard she got divorced from that man she married.”
I couldn’t lie; hearing that Olivia ran off and got married a few months after we broke up was a blow to my ego, but I got over it quickly. I assumed she married someone who met her financial and materialistic expectations.
“Really? That’s too bad.”
I didn’t bother asking who she’d heard it from for a few reasons, but mainly it was because I didn’t care. I didn’t doubt that it was true, though. My mother had some reliable sources.
“That’s what she gets for breaking my son’s heart. I never did trust her, but I tried to like her for your sake. She’s out here in California somewhere too. That’s why I got a little nervous when you didn’t want to tell me who you were seeing.”
I didn’t know how many times I’d told my mother that Olivia didn’t break my heart, that woman was still hellbent on believing it.
“A man likes a little privacy sometimes, that’s all.”
“Good luck with that,” Pops muttered, gaining the evil eye from my mother.
“I’m just a concerned mother. Anyway, Skye is such a sweetheart, just like Nyomi. Do you know how lucky I’d be to have her and Nyomi as my daughter-in-laws? I was talking to Sandra the other day. Do you remember Sandra? Her son’s wife is the devil, and they don’t get along at all. She’s not the only one of my friends whose sons married heathens. Do you remember?—”
“Ma, chill.”
“Baby, stop gossiping.”
My father and I spoke at the same time, causing my mother to huff and roll her eyes at us. I shook my head, holding back a laugh, because this woman was too much, but I loved her dearly.
“I’m sorry, Son. I’m just excited for you. I can tell you already love her.”
I thought back to the moment I told Skye I loved her. I thought we might discuss it later that night, but the day was long, and we were too exhausted to do anything but sleep. It wasn’t a conversation I wanted to force, so I hadn’t brought it up.
She’d become content with never finding love, never getting married, and not having more children. Although she’d changed her outlook on the future, it was something she was still getting used to, and my professing my love for her might have been overwhelming.
“How can you tell?” I asked.