Chapter 8

Sabrina escaped into the warmth of the kitchen, and pulled out the ingredients to make some apple fritters to go along with some left-over chicken. Last night two, no make that three, men had impacted her life. Pops raised her. Harold was her past. But so was Jamison in a weird way. He’d noticed her in high school, but she’d been terrified of making the same mistake Isabella, her mom, had made – falling in love in high school – that she’d tuned out the male population at her school.

Thinking about her past in those terms made her cringe. Looking back, she could see how her biological parents impacted her life. But she’d outgrown that, hadn’t she?

“What you cooking?” Cory asked as he climbed onto the chair in front of the island.

“I’m making some apple fritters for lunch, want some?” she asked, sliding him a slice of apple from the one she’d been dicing.

He grabbed the treat and bit into it. “Yes, what’s a fritter?”

“It tastes like a fried pancake with apple inside,” Melissa said, entering the kitchen dressed in a pretty sundress and sandals. As usual, her hair lay perfect down her back. She kissed Cory on top of his head, grabbed nana’s apron and wrapped it around her waist. “How can I help?” She looked at Sabrina, who felt grubby in her shorts and tank top.

“Pull the chicken out of the fridge, I was thinking of warming it and placing it on top of a salad.”

“Sounds good, but I have an idea for a simple pasta dish; okay if I whip something up?” Melissa asked from the refrigerator.

“Go for it. Pops and nana went to set up the appointments with Harold. I just got up a little while ago. You going out?” She eyed Melissa’s yellow, white and black sundress with suspicion.

Arms full, Melissa closed the refrigerator door with her hips. “Hmm? Going out? Later, around four or five, why? We’re not doing the sessions with Harold today are we?”

Unsure, Sabrina shrugged. “I don’t know. But I doubt it. They’ll give us some warning before we have to do that.” She stirred the batter and then turned on the stove. “How long is that going to take?” she asked Melissa, pointing to the water boiling on the gas stove.

“I’ll be finished before you.”

“Good, because I’m hungry.” She leaned toward Melissa. “Jamison hasn’t called.”

“He will.”

“Pops played me the other night.”

Melissa snorted. “He played us all. He knew we’d fall when he said, 'do it for me,'” Melissa said, mimicking her grandfather’s deep voice.

Cory giggled and snatched a piece of chicken from the plate.

“I know, it just seems like…what if he’s right? I don’t let anybody get close,” she whispered. “I don’t mean to keep them away…they seem to like me and then I think they don’t know me…and then I think they are falling for someone I’m not because they don’t know me. I’ve never thought about did I make a mistake? Should I have opened up so they could know me? …does that make sense?”

“Yes.” Melissa checked the pasta and then placed another pan on the stove. “Our parents were two horny teenagers who lived to screw each other. We were by-products of that and that’s how we were treated. You handled things in the best way you could.”

“I shut down emotionally, how was that good?” The aroma of tomatoes, onions, and other aromatic flavors filled the room as Melissa created the sauce for the chicken.

“I didn’t say it was good, I said you handled it in a way that worked for you. Angie and I handled things differently. But we survived the emotional fallout because of our grandparents. We owe them this. So we go and talk to their son, our biological parent. Listen to his apology, his excuses, and then be on our way. It’s just one time, and we make nana and pops happy.” The meat sizzled as she added them to the now-creamy mixture that had Sabrina ready to abandon the apple fritters frying in the pan.

“Something smells good,” Angela said, stretching as she walked into the room.

“Hi aunty,” Cory said, sliding off the stool and then running toward Angela, who beamed at his approach.

“Hey, funny bunny.” She lifted him and placed kisses all over his face. “You smell sooo good, I think I’m going to eat you all up.”

His burst of laughter was infectious. “You can’t eat me, I’m a li'l boy.”

“No, you’re a funny bunny and I love funny bunnys,” Angela growled while placing kisses wherever she could.

“Mommy,” he screamed, laughing. “Help me, she’s trying to eat me.”

“Hmmm, well then I’ll get to eat your apple fritter, won’t I?” Melissa said, draining the pasta.

“No,” Cory yelped, almost falling from Angela’s arms. “That’s mine.” He ran to the table, searching for the fritters.

“Wow, kicked to the curb for a fritter, I’m hitting rock bottom these days,” Angela said, walking slowly to the island where there was a large bowl of pasta and plate of fritters. “Want me to do anything?” she offered.

“Get that tub of salad and salad dressing out the refrigerator for me, please. Oh, and grab me a bottle of water,” Sabrina said, placing the last of the fritters on the plate.

“I’d like water too,” Melissa said, “I’ll share it with him.”

“I’ve got news,” Sabrina said remembering her meeting with Nikki tonight.

Angela placed the items on the island just as the door bell rang. “Hold on, I’ll get that,” she said and walked off.

Cory stuffed his mouth full of the fritter. “You look like a chipmunk, little bear,” Melissa said.

Sabrina wondered who was at the door. A few moments later, Angela returned.

“Who was at the door?” Sabrina asked when Angela didn’t offer an explanation.

“My worst nightmare.”

“What?” Melissa said, choking.

Angela waved her down and picked up a fritter. “He’s…that was the guy…the guy I’m seeing. I was supposed to call him and when I didn’t he came here.”

Sabrina backed from the table and ran to the living room, looking to meet the man who had her sister so rattled. The room was empty so she returned to the kitchen. “Where’d he go?”

“He went back to his hotel. I’ll see him later. He knew I was coming to be with family and that’s what I plan to do,” Angela said with a stubborn tilt of her chin.

“What’s his name?” Melissa asked before Sabrina could.

Angela sighed. “Bradford White.”

“Let me guess,” Sabrina said with a grin. “He works in corporate America, has lots of money, good looking, tears it up in bed, has a dominate personality, is good to you but drives you crazy.”

Angela’s mouth dropped open. “How’d you…how’d you figure that out?”

The doorbell rang again. Angela’s head dropped to her arms on the counter.

“I’ll get it,” Melissa said, all but running out the room.

Sabrina placed her palm on her sister’s bare shoulder. “I guessed it’s because he’s your complete opposite…well except the good looking part, you rock.”

“He’s…he’s so determined. I’ve never met anyone like him. We met at an art showing and he just, we just clicked. At least I thought we did, but…now I’m not so sure.”

Melissa returned with a slight frown.

“Hello, Brina and Angie, it’s been a long time. How’ve you been? I heard you were here and came by to say hi,” Robert Jones, their cousin, said as he strolled into the kitchen. Something had happened to cause a serious falling out between Harold and Robert. And in that one instance, the girls sided with Harold, taking a dislike to this man as well.

“This is a first, Robert,” Sabrina said, glancing at their tall, dark cousin, and then returning to her food. “You’ve never come visiting before, I wonder why you’re here today.” Somehow the man had discovered they planned to talk to Harold, she’d bet her next paycheck on it.

“Not my fault, I’d like to visit more. How’s Key West, Angie?” He plucked a fritter from the plate, leaned against the counter and waited for an answer.

“Pretty much the same, lots of tourist, beaches, and good food.” She picked up her fork and filled her mouth with food.

“This your son, Missy?”

“Um humm, yeah,” she said, talking around her food.

“So how long is this visit?” he asked, looking around. But his dark brown eyes kept returning to Angela.

“A few days and then we’ll be taking off,” Melissa answered when the silence stretched too long.

“That’s good. I’d like to take all of you out to dinner one night before you leave, will that be possible?” He straightened a bit. For an older guy, Robert had aged well. The snug jeans and tight polo shirt were a testament of hours keeping his forty-plus-year-old body in shape. As an accountant at a large firm in Miami, he lived in a gated community somewhere in North Dade and they rarely saw him or his family. For him to be down south in the afternoon in casual dress smelled like a deliberate move on his part.

“What’s up? This is not what you do. You’ve never had much to do with any of us, why now?” Sabrina said.

He fidgeted but remained quiet. “I just thought it’d be nice, that’s all. We’re family and it’s time we acted like family.”

Sabrina scowled. “Have you already talked to Harold or are you on the list?”

He blinked and then smiled, showcasing a small dimple in one clean shaven cheek. “I’m on the list. I got a call from Uncle Jay telling me Harold wanted to talk and I couldn’t believe it. He hasn’t talked to me since…in a long, long time. Do you girls know what he wants or what it’s about?”

Sabrina winked at Angela. “Just what Pops said. He wants to clear his conscience before… well, you know.”

His face dropped. The man looked like someone kicked him in the stomach. “What? What are you talking about? Is he sick? No one said anything about him being sick. What’s wrong with him? Something from his drug use?”

Sabrina shrugged, enjoying seeing the normally calm man fall apart. “I don’t think so. But I’m not sure.”

Robert ran his hand over his close cropped wavy hair. His dark face was wreathed in concern. “Damn, I hope it’s not AIDS. That’d be tough, I told him to leave those drugs alone. They make you do all kinds of things.”

Sabrina’s brow rose.

“What kinds of things?” Angela asked, looking at him fully for the first time.

He stared at her for a long moment and then blinked rapidly a few times. “You know…you live in Key West.” He waved away her question.

“Yeah, I live in Key West, but I don’t know what that has to do with him being sick.”

Robert glanced at Sabrina and then shook his head. “When people run out of money to buy drugs, they do things to make money. Things that they wouldn’t normally do.”

“Just a minute, before this conversation goes any further let me get my son settled in the other room.” Melissa stood and tugged Cory so that he fell in her arms. “Let’s get your train and airplane so you can play.”

“And my car?”

“Yeah, your car too.” The two of them strolled out the kitchen. “Wait for me before you say anything else,” Melissa yelled.

Sabrina chuckled and finished her food. Rising, she rinsed her plate and placed it in the dishwasher just as Melissa bustled in.

“So you think Harold wants to talk about the things he did while he was strung out on drugs?” Melissa asked, scooting back on her stool.

Robert shrugged. “I don’t know what he wants to talk about, that’s what I’m asking you.”

“Like I said, maybe he just wants to get some things off his chest before…well, before things get worse,” Sabrina said, ducking her head so he wouldn’t see her smiling.

“Look,” Robert said, pulling back a chair and joining them at the island. “What happened in the past is just that, the past. There’s no need to dig up dirt. I miss my cousin, the man he was before…before I messed up. Maybe I should just go, apologize, and ask for his forgiveness before he…while he…Can he understand things?” he asked, frowning.

Now he had everyone’s attention. “Yeah. That’s why he wants to talk to everyone. What’d you do, Robert?” Melissa asked.

“Yeah, what happened that broke up your friendship?” Sabrina had always thought Harold had offended Robert in some way and that had caused Robert to turn his back on Harold. It sounded as though she was wrong.

His eyes flicked over her and then he shook his head. “No need to go into all that.” He glanced at Angela.

“Okay, but why do you keep looking at Angie? What’s up with that?”

Angela started and then met Robert’s gaze with a frown. “What’s going on?”

He released his breath on a long stream of air. “It’s just some…long ago…”

“What happened?” Angela demanded.

“I had sex with Isabella and Harold thought…he wasn’t sure. We weren’t sure…”

A bad feeling rose from the pit of Sabrina’s stomach as she listened to him struggle for words over what he’d done. It couldn’t be.

“You’re the reason Harold thought Angie wasn’t his?” Melissa asked in a pissed off tone.

“No. Maybe. It was all mixed up and crazy back then –”

“You had sex with your cousin’s girl? The girl he loved, who he had kids with?” Sabrina asked, trying to wrap her mind around the idea that family could or would do that.

Harold ran his hand over his head, glancing at a silent Angela. “It wasn’t like that. I…she was pretty and all of us hung out together. We’d been drinking and things…things got out of hand, you know how that goes.”

“The hell if I do,” Melissa said mockingly. “I went out with Angie and, what was that boy’s name you dated in high school, the one with the big forehead.” She looked at Angela.

“Mike? Mike Bevins?” Angela asked, frowning.

“Yeah, him –”

“He didn’t have a big –”

Sabrina waved Angela down. “What’s your point, Missy?”

“We double dated, drank and partied and I never had any inclination, not even the tiniest bit of interest in him. Still don’t. Never will.” She tapped the table top with her finger for emphasis as she leaned in his direction. “Know why? I’ll tell you why,” she continued without giving him an opportunity to speak. “Because the moment my sister told me she was interested in him, he was dead to me as a potential date. Period. He’s not even in the friendship column because I will always choose my sister over any man she dates or even marries.” Red faced, narrowed eyes, she pointed her finger at him and said. “You never, ever screw where your family screws or lay where your partners lay. That’s some deep betrayal and that shit ruins families and friendships. Do you have any idea what you did when you fucked over your cousin?”

Our family fell apart.

“Hey…it wasn’t like that. We were drunk and messing around…”

“There’s a guy who was at a party, laid out drunk. A girl gave him a blow job while he was laying there, made him hard, and then mounted him. She had sex with him while he lay beneath her drunk. Then she got pregnant,” Angela said in a somber tone. “Did that happen to you?” she asked. “Did Isabella take advantage of you while you were drunk?”

“What? No…no, that’s just…that’s crazy.”

“She sued him for child support and the court gave it to her. They said he should’ve been more responsible. Not allowed himself to get in that position. So the 'we were drunk' thing…it doesn’t hold up,” Sabrina said.

He looked frustrated as though they didn’t understand. He looked at her. “I apologized, tried to make things right…he was my best friend. But he was so mad, we got into a fight, he broke my nose and then took it out on Isabella. She told him we hadn’t done anything but Harold didn’t believe her.” He dragged air into his lungs and looked away. “He changed after that. I don’t think we’ve spoken three words since then. So to hear he wants to talk…I’m happy and I’m apprehensive.”

“Did you have sex with Isabella?” Angela asked.

“I…I think so. But we might not have. Like I said, I was drunk and don’t remember most of what happened. Just that we were in a compromising position when Harold walked in. I think … that was the beginning of the end for them. Those two… I’ve never seen anybody care for somebody like the way those two were about each other. When he thought she cheated on him, he fell apart. They had the real thing…”

“And you ruined it. Is that what you’re thinking? Is that what this is about? You feel bad because you ruined your best friend’s life and now he might be dying and you’re feeling guilty? You’re looking at Angela wondering if she’s yours. Are you wondering how you can make this right with Harold? With Angela and all the abuse she took from Harold over the years because he swore up and down she wasn’t his kid?” Sabrina asked in a tight voice. Anger boiled and she wanted to explode.

He dropped his forehead into his palms. “I’ve lived with this guilt for years. That’s why I gave him money whenever he asked for it, hoping to make-up in some way.”

“That’s not making up, you just fed his habit. Giving him money for drugs and booze just pushed him closer to the grave. I can’t believe you did that,” Melissa said, staring at him.

“What the hell was I supposed to do? He’s my cousin.” Robert pushed back from the table and stood, looming over them. “My best friend who I wronged. You think I didn’t know he was going to buy drugs or liquor? I knew. Every time I saw the man he’d become, I died a bit inside. We spent summers together as kids growing up. He’s the brother I never had, we were close. Damn close. But I was young and stupid. I messed up and touched the one thing I never should have.”

Heart breaking, Sabrina sat in silence, watching the tear roll down Robert’s face.

He chuckled. “When he met Isabella, I’d just turned sixteen, he’d been sixteen for two months. He called me on my birthday and said, “I just met the woman I’m going to marry.” He told me her name and talked about her non-stop for over an hour. He was in love with her before any of you were born and I was the first person he told. When I met her, I was skeptical, we were sixteen and she was a year older. But she loved my cousin. They had something special and if you hung around them, you felt special. They loved big and hard.”

Sabrina’s throat tightened as she heard this accounting of her parent’s relationship for the first time. Her heart raced in her chest as she tried to remember her mother. There were vague images of a pretty dark haired girl, but she couldn’t see her clearly.

“One thing about Harold and Isabella, yeah, they were young. But they’d found true love. I’d bet my bank account on that. When she left, he searched for her for years. Even after I left for college, some of our friends said he was still looking for her.” He looked at Angela. “I’m sorry for causing you and your sisters pain. Your mother was a sweet person and she loved her girls so much. But she was young, her family had put her out after she got pregnant with the second child. She was dependent on Harold and his people.” He closed his eyes and hung his head. “Look, all I’m saying is there are a few sides to the story. A lot of stuff happened that never should’ve. If God is merciful He will allow those two to see each other one last time and get things straight between them. Because no matter who they end up with, they will never love that person the way they loved each other. If there is such a thing as soul-mates, then that’s Harold and Isabella.”

No one spoke. Sabrina toyed with the idea of telling Robert that Harold wasn’t dying, but decided against it. Let someone else clear that up. She still held a grudge for him dipping in the family pool.

“I don’t remember her, so thank you for telling me about them as a couple. I’ve spoken to her once, when her daughter, Faith, tracked me down. Isabella’s married, and has a son and daughter. So she bounced back just fine,” Angela said without resentment.

Robert nodded. “She was beautiful, inside and out, so I’m not surprised. But that doesn’t change what I said. My cousin is her soul-mate and they should talk.”

Sabrina snorted. “Maybe she’s on the list.”

Melissa and Angela laughed.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Robert said. “Chances are they’ll click and go at it again, though.”

Sabrina gazed at him. “What? Are you crazy? Remember that thin line between love and hate? I think it’s been crossed. She ruined him when she left.”

Robert snickered and returned to his seat. “Have any of you ever been in love?”

Sabrina looked at her sister and saw her answer reflected in their eyes and posture. “No.”

“I love my wife, but if she cheated on me, it wouldn’t destroy me. I’d be hurt, possibly devastated for a short time, but I’d move on. But I never gave all of me to her, not yet. After seeing what happened to Harold, I never wanted to love that hard or deep. When you let someone all the way in, the way those two did, it’s like they merged or something. As long as things were good, they owned the world. I’m telling you the truth, I was there, seeing Harold and Isabella together made me want a woman to love. They’d do anything for each other. It was in their eyes, she lit up when he walked into a room. He constantly stroked her arm or leg or anything he could touch. It wasn’t sexual, it was like they needed the connection.” He shook his head, his eyes had a faraway look in them and she was sure he saw the things he spoke of.

“I remember they had just bought the baby home from the hospital. Isabella had moved in with Harold, and he was holding one baby in his arms beaming with pride as she showed off the newborn to me, Uncle Jay, and Aunty. I think he was working at a store at night stocking the shelves, and he had brought home two cases of diapers. One for each, he said. Remember, he was only, what? Eighteen and taking on the responsibility of a woman and two kids. But he was so proud, so happy. He’d go to school, come home, go to work. He lived for you guys.”

Sabrina couldn’t reconcile that man with one she’d come to know over the years. No, the man she knew smelled of alcohol, staggered down the hallways of her grandparents’ house yelling and cursing, and made her keep secrets.

Melissa wiped her face and cleared her throat. “I wish I could remember him like that. He sounds…like a good guy.”

“This is my take on it,” Robert said, clasping his hands together. “Love, the true kind that burrows deep in your soul, won’t let you go even when you walk away; it’s always there like a habit that needs a fix. People try and drown it with alcohol, or avoid the memories by staying high. But love is the ultimate soul-tie that bends but never breaks. It doesn’t happen often, and a lot of us never experience it, all because you have to open yourself for it, become vulnerable. When you’re sixteen, you don’t know any better, so you give your all without thinking of the consequences.”

Sabrina mulled over what he said and on some level, agreed with him. She’d seen the ramshackle results of love by watching her father fall deeper into despair and blamed it on falling in love so young. Part of that was true. But what if Robert hadn’t been in the equation, would her parents still be together? Would her view of love and life be different? Probably.

Robert stood and stretched watching them. “Nobody’s ever told you girls much about your parents, huh?”

“No,” Melissa said. “I knew they were high school sweethearts, but I never thought they were that close. Nana told us she lived with them before she left, but no one ever really said much about their relationship. I never heard they were mad in love, you Brina? Angie?”

Angela shook her head. “No. But things make a little more sense now. How come you never told us this before?”

He snorted and walked away from the table. “I have not been invited or welcomed into this house in twenty-five years. I only came today because of the call from Aunty yesterday. I figured somebody’d tell me something.” He exhaled. “I’m not proud of what I did. I was young and stupid. I made a mistake that my cousin paid for. I’m hoping when I get a chance to talk with him we can…” He released a long sigh. “We can try and mend this thing, I miss my brother. I lost him, my aunt and uncle, and even you guys. I have kids that have never met this side of the family and that…that’s not right. To answer your question, I know what I did impacted a lot of lives besides mine.” His voice caught and he swallowed hard. “I’ll do anything to fix that.” With that proclamation he left the kitchen and headed outside.

No one said anything until they heard the slamming of the front door. “You know, Angie, you could’ve told him about the paternity tests that proved you were Harold’s kid. That man still thinks you might be his,” Melissa said with a sly grin.

“Yeah, and Brina could’ve told him Harold wasn’t dying. Or you could’ve told him that he wasn’t responsible for the decisions Harold made. That man was not in his teens when he got strung out on drugs.”

“I know that’s the truth,” Sabrina said.

“Robert didn’t wrong me, per se. Harold will tell him about the paternity results and relieve his guilt. That’s who he screwed over anyway,” Angela said.

“True.” Melissa wiped her palm over her face. “Anybody feel like they’ve been gut-punched.”

“Me,” Sabrina said with feeling. “I’m the oldest, I should remember more, but I can’t even remember her face.”

“I have a picture of her,” Angela said quietly.

Sabrina’s head whipped around. “You do? How? You talk to her?” She hadn’t meant to make her last question sound like an accusation, but when Angela had turned ten and Isabella hadn’t contacted them, they’d all agreed not to deal with the woman.

Angela sighed and looked at the counter before gazing at Melissa and then Sabrina. “Faith contacted me two and a half years ago on my social media site, and introduced herself. We talked off and on, and after a couple of months she asked me why I never asked any questions about Isabella. Only she said, 'Mom.' I told her I didn’t want to know anything about the woman who left me. We went back and forth for a while, and a week or two later, I got a picture from Faith of her and her mom.”

“You have it with you?” Melissa asked, softly covering Angela’s hand.

Angela nodded but didn’t look at Sabrina.

“Will you share it with me…us? I don’t remember what she looks like either,” Melissa said, releasing a stream of air.

Angela nodded, pushed back from the table and left the room.

“This morning is turning out to be way more than I thought it’d be,” Sabrina whispered. “I planned to call Jamison to talk. Maybe we’d go on another date, and hopefully have some serious sex. Now I’m rethinking things I thought I knew. It’s like I’m on shifting sand, trying to find something solid.”

Melissa wrapped her arm around her and squeezed. “I’m solid. So is Angie, and Pops and Nana. We’re all solid. Hold onto that because it’ll never change.”

“Yeah, but I think I’m changing. Did you hear me say I planned to have sex with Jamison? While Robert was talking, I kept thinking I want to experience that kind of relationship with someone at least once before I die. I want someone to light up when they see me. Someone who gets me. I’m not Isabella, but it sounds like what she had with Harold was good, for a little while at least. Maybe that’s all we get, small pockets of time that lights up dark moments in time.”

“And Jamison lights up?”

“Like a Christmas tree.” Sabrina chuckled. “But it’s more than that. It’s hard to explain, but he doesn’t put on airs and I like that. He probably makes more money than most of the men I’ve gone out with, but he doesn’t talk about it. He doesn’t brag about what he’s accomplished and who he knows. He comes across as a simple man with problems like the rest of us. He asked for a small block of my time and treats that time as though it matters, like he appreciates me spending it with him.”

Plus, he’s dark, dangerous and that appeals to me. Those words remained locked in her throat, as long as her sisters thought he was hot and sexy that was cool. But she didn’t want them to remember her wild episodes from her youth and Jamison would’ve been the perfect complement to the girl she’d been then. She’d worked so hard to change and present a different image to everyone. But there were times, especially lately, when she wanted to break free, let her hair down, get drunk, or party to ridiculous hours, or hang out with some bad dudes. Something edgy to ease her spirit.

“Then that’s what he is…right for you, even if that’s just for right now. Don’t over-think this, Brina. We just found out our sperm donor got shafted and may not be the ass we always thought he was. Jamison is probably exactly what you need. Hell, I intend to release all kinds of tension with Sebastian when I see him. That sucker better not have been teasing me either. I hope to hell be brings his A-game, because I’m going to need all kinds of stress relief after that load Robert just dropped.

Sabrina frowned. “Sebastian? Who’s that?”

Angela walked back in the kitchen holding a photo toward them. Melissa took it and stared at it for a few seconds, then passed it across the table to Sabrina. In a few years, if fate was kind, Sabrina knew she’d look like the woman in the picture. With the image in front of her, memories of Isabella flowed through Sabrina’s mind.

“She’s very pretty,” Melissa said.

“Yeah, she is,” Angela murmured. “Looks like she spit Brina out. They could be twins.”

“You favor her, too,” Melissa said, glancing at Angela who sat next to Sabrina.

“True, but I got the Jones nose.”

Sabrina passed the picture back to Angela without commenting.

“You remember her?” Angela asked her.

“Yeah, bits and pieces,” Sabrina said closing her eyes. “She used to sing songs to us and play games. I remember her changing a diaper and saying something like, you’re the big girl so we are going to do something…” Sabrina opened her eyes and laughed. “She played me. It was a game when I went to fetch something, a diaper or wipes or a bottle. I used to think it was games.”

“I do that with Cory. It works.”

“You remember her and Harold?” Angela asked.

Sabrina shrugged. “He was always around, they were together. He used to pick me up, swing me around, call me his baby girl. That type of thing. I don’t remember them arguing or having fights. I remember more about the time after she left than when she was here.”

“So…he didn’t change until after she left.” Angela looked up at Sabrina.

“I guess so. I was only three or four, but I remember crying and asking for her, and she never came. Harold would pick me up and rock me until I stopped crying.” She smiled and looked at her sisters. “I had forgotten that.”

“I hate I don’t remember her or him from back then. Maybe if I did, going to see him would be easier, “Melissa said. “Even though I feel bad for him, I don’t want him to be a part of my life.”

“Whoa…” Angela said, staring at Melissa. “I’m just going to allow him to vent, get things off his chest, apologize…that kind of thing. Who said anything about him being a part of our lives?” Her head swiveled between Melissa’s and Sabrina’s. “Did I miss that part of Pop’s meeting or something?”

“No…” Sabrina said, understanding where Melissa was coming from. “You have to look at this from the grandparents’ perspective to get what Missy’s saying. Their son is making things right with them and his kids. In their minds that means he’s back in the family. Holidays, family events, Harold will be included. This is the second step in reuniting the Jones family. The first was making up with pops and nana. Next it’s us, and then everybody else.” Sabrina placed her finger beneath Angela’s chin to close her mouth. “Yeah, he’ll be around.”

Angela closed her eyes and shook her head. For a long moment she didn’t speak. When she opened her eyes, there was a defiant gleam in them. “If I have to deal with him, then I’m going to talk to Isabella, get her side of the story. I want to know what the hell happened.”

“Do you really want to know?” Melissa asked in a quiet tone. “That door, once opened, can’t be closed. Be very sure you want to walk through.”

“After listening to Robert, I want the blanks filled in. I plan to ask Harold, but he can only tell me his side. So…” She inhaled deeply and released it in slow increments. “I’m going to take Faith up on the invitation to talk to Isabella.”

“Good for you,” Sabrina said, covering Angela’s shaking hand and squeezing it.

“You mean that?” Angela asked, looking up at her with a measure of uncertainty.

“Yeah. You want to know, ask questions. Me, I’ve just discovered I have a love-jones gene somewhere inside that’s defective. The only person I want to discover right now is me. I promised to talk to Harold, and I will. I’ve allowed what I remembered about Harold and Isabella’s relationship to color everything and I was wrong. The least I could’ve done was remembered it right,” she murmured, thinking how she’d always limited herself from social outings because she didn’t want to get stuck in a relationship.

“See, that’s what I was talking about. You’re over-thinking this, Brina.” Melissa pointed at her. “Call Jamison, invite him out and see what happens. Just because he’s not the kind of guy your normally date, doesn’t mean he’s not a good person. He might be the kind of man you need, especially since none of the shirt and tie dudes worked. All relationships start somewhere, they don’t all end up like Harold and Isabella. I think if you let Jamison in just a little bit, you’d be surprised.”

Melissa was right and Sabrina knew it. She was attracted to Jamison but they’d start nice and slow, with a date.

Angela looked at Sabrina. “Missy’s right. Brad is my opposite; never in a million years would I have picked someone from corporate America, I’m into artsy, vague things. But when he looks at me, it’s like he searches beneath my face and sees what nobody else sees and addresses that. At some point, I was comfortable enough to allow him a peek at the real me. I was open, vulnerable. The reason we’re still together is not because of the great sex, and believe me it is damn good. But because he responded correctly when he caught glimpses of the real me, so I allowed him to see more, and he has never abused that trust.”

Brow raised, Angela gazed up at Sabrina. “You’ve already tested the waters with Jamison, opened yourself a bit and he didn’t scare you, didn’t take advantage of the knowledge you shared with him. Let him see a little more of the real you, if he handles it right, keep going. You’re a tough woman, Brina. You appear strong, confident, and act like you don’t give a damn. It’ll take a strong man to handle you…I think Jamison can do it, and I’m not just talking about sex.” Angela rolled her eyes at Melissa.

“You’re right, it takes more than sex to have a good relationship,” Melissa said, nodding. “But sex is good.”

Sabrina laughed and threw her napkin at Melissa, who ducked. “Call that man and get laid,” Melissa said, running out the kitchen.