Page 52 of Played
I laugh. “Sure will.”
“Grammy! Grandad!” He turns around and waves at an older couple standing behind him.
I hadn’t noticed them until now, and even if he hadn’t called them out as his grandparents, I would’ve recognized them. Her, especially. I admit, after reading Solomon’s journal entries, I looked up him and his wife, the curiosity to see what the woman who owned his heart looked like, a relentless itch that wouldn’t let go until I satisfied it.
Tall, slender, with thickly lashed hazel eyes and fine bone structure, her mother is an older replica of her daughter, except she has beautiful dark-brown skin, and gray streaks her dark natural curls, while Kendra had a lighter skin tone and chestnut brown curls, courtesy of her Caucasian father.
Another difference? In every picture I saw of Kendra, she was smiling, the very image of a happy, content wife and mother. Her mother? Her reserved, solemn expression has me slowly standing, a heaviness weighing down my belly.
Yeah, they don’t like me.
As soon as the thought pops into my head, I dismiss it. These people don’t know me, and I definitely don’t know them well enough to determine their feelings toward me. Especially when we haven’t spoken one word yet. I’m being ridiculous.
Forcing a smile to curve my lips, I stretch out my arm toward Solomon’s mother-in-law.
“Hello, I’m Adina Wright. It’s very nice to meet you.”
There’s a beat of hesitation—so quick I could’ve imagined it.
But I didn’t.
Glancing down at my hand before meeting my gaze once again, she clasps mine for a polite, perfunctory shake.
“I’m Caroline Talley. This is my husband, Nathaniel Talley. It’s nice to meet you as well.”
Mr. Talley takes my hand as well, giving it the same courteous but abrupt shake as his wife. Several moments of silence follow, and it seems thunderous, drowning out the noise in the arena. Even Khalil is quiet, as if sensing the undercurrents of ... what? Awkwardness, tension? Anger?
“You look familiar, Ms. Wright,” Nathaniel finally says. “Have we met before?”
“She’s a firelady!” Khalil says, clasping my hand and swinging it back and forth. He likes to do that. He did the same at the firehouse.
His grandparents’ gazes briefly dip to our hands. When they’re looking at me again, I force myself to stand in place, to not shrink from the pairs of eyes trained on me. One pair might be hazel and the other blue, but both hold the same emotion.
Disapproval.
No, I’m not imagining it.
And I would lay money from my not-so-abundantly-blessed paycheck that they saw the picture of me and Solomon kissing.
Shit.
“Right, that’s why you look familiar. The firefighter who came to the office looking for Solomon,” Nathaniel says, the tone polite butcold. “I wasn’t aware you and my son-in-law were so ... friendly. He never mentioned it. But you must be, for him to invite you to one of his games.”
“He didn’t say anything about you meeting Khalil either.” Caroline moves forward and cups Khalil’s shoulder. And I get the sense that’s she staking claim over her grandson. Over her family. “How well do you two know each other?”
I’m almost speechless at the questions that feel more like an interrogation than a friendly getting-to-know-you conversation. But I scramble to gather my thoughts—and my voice.
Clearing my throat, I say, “Uh, not very well. Solomon and Khalil came by the firehouse a couple of days ago. But a person needs just minutes in this little guy’s company to fall for him. He’s amazing.”
I smile down at Khalil, who happily returns it.
“I met all the firemen, Grammy! And Ms. Dina let me slide down the pole. And I played on the fire truck. It was fun!” He’s practically bouncing on his feet, and despite the discomfort of this meeting, I chuckle.
Khalil’s joy is infectious. Even the ice coating his grandparents’ expressions thaws just a bit. But it freezes right back over, harder than ever, when they return their attention to me.
“Our grandson is very special,” Nathaniel says. “We’re just a little surprised, because Solomon doesn’t just let anyone around his son. He’s very protective.” He pauses. “We all are.”
One of the skills a firefighter has to develop is quickly reading the lay of the land. Yes, we get information about a structure’s layout before heading into a fire. But once you’re in there, with smoke, flames, and gases, things can get disorienting. So yeah, learning how to read your environment is vital.
