"You heard her," I whispered into her hair, holding her tight enough to feel her heart finally slowing down. "You’ve always been enough. More than enough for me."
Nique pulled back just an inch, her eyes still shimmering in the sunset. She wiped a stray tear with the back of her hand, a skeptical look crossing her face. "She’s probably just playing nice because we’re in public, Dex. She doesn't want to make a scene at London’s rehearsal dinner."
"My mama don't play anything," I told her, tucking a loose curl behind her ear. "If she said it, she meant it. You just didsomething nobody else has ever been able to do—you made Lisa Nash check herself."
Before she could respond, the sound of sand crunching behind us cut the moment short. We turned to see Nel, Whitley, and Deuce walking toward us. They looked a little somber, the high-energy vibe of the party not quite reaching them.
"Where’s Stella and Wendell?" Nique asked, looking around for them.
"Mom is not feeling good," Whitley said, looking down at her sandals. "She’s been in bed all day.”
Nel looked at Nique, his expression heavy. "I think we should go check on her. Just to make sure she's actually okay."
Nique nodded, the lingering tension with my mother taking a backseat to the reality of her own. She turned to Whitley and Deuce, giving them a small, encouraging smile. "Can y'all go save us a seat? We'll be back in a minute."
The younger siblings nodded and headed toward the long tables where the food was being served. Nique turned to me, resting a hand on my chest. "I’ll be back," she promised.
"I’m not going anywhere," I said, watching her and Nel walk off toward the resort.
I stood there for a moment, taking a breath of the salt air, before heading back toward the bar. I needed a drink to help clear my head. As I got closer, I spotted Kam sitting on a stool by himself, staring out at the ocean with a drink in his hand.
I walked up and signaled the bartender for a bourbon. "Aye," I said, leaning against the bar next to him. "Thanks for looking out for Amina today. I know she can be a handful."
Kam chuckled, taking a sip of his drink. "Ain’t no thang, bro. She’s actually cool as fuck."
I raised an eyebrow, a bit surprised. "I’m glad you think so. Usually, people are trying to figure out how to escape her after twenty minutes."
"Nah," Kam said, turning his stool toward me. "You never told me she was a veterinarian."
"Yeah," I said, nodding. "She's been at the clinic for a few years now."
"That’s cool as fuck. She told me she originally wanted to be a marine biologist, but life kind of shifted things for her."
I looked at him, realizing he was being dead serious. "Y’all talked a lot, huh?"
"I mean, shit, it was just us. What else were we supposed to do?" Kam shrugged, but there was a certain spark in his eyes I hadn't seen in a long time.
"You got that look, Kam," I said, narrowing my eyes at him.
"What look?"
"That same look you used to have for London," I said, calling him on it. "You remember how that turned out."
Kam shook his head, looking back out at the water. "Man, stop. It ain't even like that. I was just being a good cousin, doing you a favor."
"I hear you," I said, picking up my glass as the bartender set it down. I took a slow sip, letting the burn settle before I looked him dead in the eye. "But I’m warning you, Kam don’t fuck my baby mama."
Kam didn't say a word, his jaw tightening just enough for me to know the warning landed. I didn't wait for a rebuttal. I turned and walked away, leaving him at the bar with his thoughts while I went to find my seat.
Chapter thirty-three
Sheltered
Reconciliation wasn't supposed to be pretty. I always imagined it as some clean, cinematic moment where everything finally made sense. But as we stood outside the door to Stella’s suite, the only thing I felt was a heavy knot in my stomach. Stella telling her story had opened an emotional wound that had been festering for twenty years, and now the blood was everywhere.
Wendell opened the door shortly after we knocked. He looked drained, like he’d been fighting a losing battle all day.
"Stella," he called out softly, looking back into the room. "It’s the twins."