Page 124 of Can't Get Enough

“Pretty good now.” Soledad shrugs. “Judah says it’s gotten easier over the years. Partly because the boys are getting older and have routines and tools that work, and also because the rest of the world is finally catching up with understanding and accommodating differences better. Stuff like line passes at theme parks or sensory rooms in big stadiums. It can still be stressful because they need that routine and travel’s so unpredictable.”

“I can imagine.”

“But we’ll be fine. What about you? How was Malibu?” Soledad waggles her brows. “How’s your billionaire boyfriend?”

“It sounds so weird and cheesy when you say it like that. But he’s pretty amazing.”

“And Zere?”

“No word.” I sigh and tap a pen on the desk. “She’s still thinking about whether she can be in business with me for the show. It’s probably gonna be a no.”

“How’s that make you feel? Any regrets about choosing Maverick?”

I swivel in Daddy’s old chair, smiling at the familiar creaky sound it makes. “Ya know, I thought I’d be more in existential crisis mode because I’ve always been so determined I wouldn’t choose a guy over my career or ambition, but that’s not what this was. I chose myself because I’m choosing my happiness.”

“Atta girl.” Soledad snaps as if I just dropped bars of spoken word. “Can’t wait to meet him IRL.”

“The girlies got you talking their talk.”

“What can I say?” Soledad runs her curly ponytail through her fist and smirks. “They keeps me young.”

“I saw that trend you did with Deja and Lupe. How long did it take you to record that dance?”

“Hours to learn and record, but it was worth it.”

“Lots of views?”

“Lots of time with the girls. Theygraduatesoon, Hen.” Soledadlooks a little misty in the eyes. “The momancholy is gonna be so bad. Oh, speaking of the pending emotional destruction of graduation, the girls are doing a short summer program at A&T when we get back from the cruise. We won’t be too far from you and were thinking about coming to visit when we pick the girls up.”

“Oh gosh, Sol, that would be amazing.” The offer makes me realize how much I need my friends. Things have been good here so far, but there is always this tension like anything could go really wrong at any minute, a constant low-level anxiety that becomes exhausting.

“And Yasmen wants to pop by the Grits in Charlotte.”

We both widen our eyes meaningfully because the woman who dated Josiah briefly while they were divorced is also head chef at their Charlotte location.

“Gurhhhhlll, hide the knives,” I say.

“It’ll be fine,” Soledad chuckles. “We’re all adults, and Vashti is now engaged and has a baby on the way. She ain’t thinking ’bout Josiah like that.”

Seeing how things turned out with that messy situation gives me a little hope that Maverick, Zere, and I will get our awkwardness sorted and one day live in perfect harmony. Zere in a relationship and pregnant would be the best we could hope for. It’s exactly what she wants. She just wanted it with the wrong man.

My man.

“Anyway, so we’ll definitely be in Charlotte for a bit and will come see you. Can’t wait to meet your mom and Aunt G.”

“They’ll love that, but don’t you come without the girls. I want to see them.”

“You want tospoilthem.”

“I may have done a little shopping,” I admit with a grin. My phone alerts me to the next meeting starting soon. “Sol, I gotta bounce, but I’ll follow up with them about next steps and hope to see you guys soon!”

The internet holds on through back-to-back video calls, and I have acatch-up with Skipper to make sure all is well in Atlanta. The day zips. Mama’s pretty quiet in her bedroom, and besides a mixture ofGeneral Hospitaland Fred Hammond’s greatest hits, I don’t hear much from Aunt Geneva either. By the time evening rolls around, I’m done and starving.

The doorbell rings every night around this time, though, so my stomach is now set to this schedule. I open the door to yet another lady from Mama and Aunt G’s church bearing an aluminum foil–covered casserole dish. This meal train thing their church does is on point.

“Just pop it in at three fifty for about twenty minutes,” says Mrs. Redmond, tonight’s church lady, handing over the dish. “I gotta get to choir practice, but tell Geneva I’ll be by soon to visit.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you.”

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