Page 59 of Whirlwind

The four of us danced and laughed, check out the diverse crowd, got each other drinks, talked over the loud music.

“Hey, is that Beck Lanier?” sprang past me.

“Oh my God, you guys, it’s Beck Lanier!”

“Who’s he with?”

“Who is she?”

Violet stiffened at my side, her fingers digging into my waist. “Should we leave?”

“I think so.” I slid an arm around her, holding her close.

“I know the exits here.” Dré clamped a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s go.”

“Let’s do it.” I took Violet’s hand in mine and we followed Dré and Tara, pushing and weaving through the crowd in the dark.Flashes of light went off, disorienting me, but I kept my head tucked down, held onto Violet, and kept following Dré.

“Here you go. Stay in touch, man.” Dré turned, blocking us with his massive form.

“I will.” Dré and I hugged. “We’ll talk soon. Tara, great to meet you.”

“You too, Beck” Tara waved.

“Great to meet you, Dré.” Violet hugged him and turned to Tara. The two cousins hugged goodbye, and she took my hand again as I pushed open the exit door, the fresh air washing over us.

I texted the driver, and in a few minutes, he pulled up, and we got into the car. “Dré’s girl is your cousin? How crazy is that?”

“Very, very, crazy.” Violet’s teeth dragged along her lower lip as she gazed out the window, letting out a short breath.

“Was there something going on with the two of you?”

“No.”

“Violet, what’s going on?”

Her head fell back against the seat. “I forgot how I can’t fudge things with you.”

“Stop trying.” My hand slid over her thigh and squeezed.

“Tara came to Nashville, not only to see me and for the bride party but to see Dré. They have a long distance relationship—for Tara, a secret relationship.”

“Secret?”

“None of her family or friends know about him.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because he’s Black.”

“Are you serious?”

“Her dad is a super conservative racist. It’s disgusting. Her mom, who’s my mom’s second cousin, divorced him a long time ago. I knew Tara was seeing a guy she really liked secretly, but I’d assumed it was because he was a musician. That’s all she’d told me about him. She comes up to Nashville whenever she can to be with him, which is why I asked her to meet me here this weekend. We told our families that we were spending the weekend here together.”

“Did you tell her about me?”

“I told her, but I didn’t say who you were. I protected your anonymity. The point here is that Tara is a debutante, cotillion-going, white princess of the south, so a Black musician is definitely not on the menu, shall we say.”

“Jesus. You okay?”

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