Chapter 4 #2
“Missed a week of school because I couldn’t even put on a shirt, I was hurting so bad.”
“Oh, Jimmy, no,” she whispered.
He was silent for a moment as if thinking back. “A few days later, my mother explained why he’d done it. You know he hated your people.”
She did. His father James Redding Sr. had been a proud member of the local Klan.
“He said he’d kill me if I even looked at you again.”
Her lips tightened in response to such cruelty.
“So, I loved you from afar and never told anyone until Reverend Paula this past winter.”
“You told Paula? She never said anything to me.”
“She’s a priest, Tam. She’s not supposed to spread folks’ business.”
“You’re right.”
He chuckled softly and sipped in silence.
Tamar still found his confession shocking. “Does Mabel know?”
He shook his head. “Telling her would be the same as telling you. She can’t keep a secret any more than we can fly.”
He was correct, of course. Mabel Franklin was her best friend, and Tamar vividly remembered sixteen-year-old Mabel letting the cat out of the bag about the fancy diamond necklace her father planned to give her mother for their wedding anniversary, and how angry he’d been upon finding out his wife knew about the gift beforehand.
Mabel had spoiled surprise birthday parties, baby showers, and Christmas presents.
Not because of evil intent; she just seemed incapable of holding information inside.
Jimmy asked, “Have you spoken with her recently?”
“I have. She fell and broke her hip about a month ago and is in rehab in a fancy assisted-living facility. She said it’s so nice she might just move in permanently.”
“Those places can put a person in the poorhouse, but Mabel has the money.”
“Yes, she does.” She was the granddaughter of Franklin’s founder.
The family’s wealth was built on the selling and leasing of land swindled from the native tribes.
Mabel tried to balance that injustice by giving as much money as she could to organizations that helped people.
Her late husband had been a Klan member too.
Every time he and his hooded goons burned a cross or engaged in some other intimidating activity, she gave money to the NAACP.
It made him furious, but she held the family purse strings, so there was nothing he could do but fume.
“But you loved your wife.”
“I did. Muriel gave me my three beautiful girls, and I loved her with all my heart, but you, I loved with my heart and soul. There’s a difference.”
The seriousness in his gaze filled her with emotions she couldn’t name. Nothing had ever rattled her so completely.
“When the truth about Joel Newton came out on your wedding day, I wanted to tie him to a saddle and drag him to Topeka and back. I confronted Thad later that day, and he and I wound up in a fight that left him with two black eyes and me with a broken nose. I was so furious at him. Newton was his friend, but you were his sister.”
Her heart stopped. “He told me Daddy gave him that licking because of Joel.”
“No. It was me. We didn’t talk for quite some time afterward either.”
Another astonishing piece of information. “My goodness.”
“I’d’ve taken on the world for you that day. You deserved better.”
She didn’t know whether to weep or run from what he was making her feel.
“I often curse the times back then because I’ll never know what might’ve been had this country been open to letting me express my feelings for you. Granted, you probably still would’ve turned me down flat, but at least you’d’ve known.”
She didn’t reply. She didn’t know how.
“My apologies if this is making you uncomfortable, Tammy. That wasn’t my intent.”
She waved him off. It was all she had. There was no sense in speculating. Marrying outside the race just wasn’t done.
“How about we talk about something else?”
“Please,” she replied, her voice lacking its usual strength. She wondered if she’d ever recover from this conversation.
So instead, they talked about family; Jimmy about his girls and grandkids; Tamar about Bernadine and Mal’s unconventional living arrangements; before moving on to Reverend Paula and Thorn’s trip to Europe, and when the Three Spinsters restaurant might open.
He asked, “Is this going to be one of those fancy Dan places where you get a sprig of parsley, two carrots, and a sliver of meat the size of a french fry for five hundred dollars?”
She laughed. “I hope not. Paula’s beau will be run out of town if it is.”
“Then we should go to dinner there after it opens.”
“I’d like that.” And it was the truth. They’d been friends a long time and always enjoyed each other’s company. Today’s revelation hadn’t changed that even if she was still left reeling.
They talked a short while longer about the political shenanigans in Washington, DC, then it was time for Tamar to head back. He walked her out to Olivia.
“You be careful driving home.”
“And you stay off that ladder. I’ll send Trent out to take care of whatever that gutter needs.”
“Yes, Mom.”
Laughing, she started the engine.
He smiled. “That motor still purrs.”
“It helps to have your own personal grandson mechanic. When are you going to get rid of those Cadillacs?”
“The day you stop asking me when I’m going to get rid of them.”
She shook her head. “Goodbye, old man.”
“Bye, Tammy. Give the Scrabble king my regards.”
“Will do.” She backed Olivia down the drive, threw him a wave, and drove off.
As she turned off the dirt road and onto the blacktop that led to Henry Adams, she still didn’t know what to do with what he’d just shared or how it made her feel, because she’d never been truly loved in that way.
Due to Joel’s betrayal, she’d refused to open herself to such heartbreak again and convinced herself that the love of family and friends was more than enough.
Now she could only wonder what she might have missed, not necessarily with Jimmy but with any man.
His voice rose in her memory. I would’ve taken on the world for you that day.
She was certain she’d remember those words for the rest of her life.
BERNADINE LOOKED AROUND the conference room approvingly.
The sandwiches and small bites provided by Rocky and her minions at the Dog were nicely displayed, along with water, soda, coffee, and tea.
Plates were stacked and at the ready as were cups, glasses, flatware, and condiments.
According to Sheila, there would be three people representing Dark Horse, and depending on how many of the town’s executive committee members showed up, Bernadine thought twelve chairs at the long table would be enough.
There was a chair positioned at each end—one for Sheila, and the other for whoever the Dark Horse power holder turned out to be.
Usually, Bernadine would be in one of those seats, but this was Sheila’s baby, and she had no intention of undermining her authority.
Her last action was to take a moment to silently call on all the blessings so the meeting would be successful and so Dark Horse would be a good fit for her little town and its future.
Sheila breezed in, clipboard in hand. “Are you ready?”
“I am, Madam Mayor.”
“Preston and I set up the electronics last night, so we should be good to go with the slides and the rest. Everyone has RSVP’d. The only person who didn’t was Tamar, but I just saw Trent, and he assured me that she’s coming.”
“Can’t take the town forward without her input.”
“Or her blessings,” Sheila added.
Over the next few minutes, the Henry Adams Executive Committee members arrived, along with Franklin’s mayor Proctor.
As they mingled and waited for the other side to show up, Sheila received a text from the town’s driver, TC Barbour.
“They’re here. TC just pulled into the parking lot.
I’ll go and meet them at the door.” She made a quick exit.
Reg said, “I hope they’re not tech bro jerks.”
Luis Acosta raised his coffee cup. “Hear! Hear!”
Reg sort of got his wish. They weren’t bros. Sheila returned with three women. Whether they were jerks remained to be seen.
Bernadine knew Dark Horse’s founder was a Black woman but didn’t expect her team would be all women as well. She was pleasantly surprised and, like Reg, hoped they were about business and not about being insufferable.
Sheila introduced the visitors. Company founder Paige Summers was short, curvy, and wearing a dark blue business suit.
She appeared to be in her mid-fifties. Her glittering cat-eye glasses were purple.
Marie Jefferson, standing across the room sporting a similar pair of her own signature eyewear but in red, sent Bernadine a surreptitious thumbs-up.
COO Felicia Cisneros, tall with dark hair and a gray widow’s peak, nodded in response to being introduced.
She, too, was dressed for business, in a snow-white suit.
Because Bernadine liked playing Dolly Levi, she checked out Luis’s reaction, which told her nothing; but she wondered if Ms. Cisneros was married.
She was certain Anna Ruiz, his mother-in-law, would want that question answered too.
The last woman was CEO Abby Maxwell, red hair, blue highlights, green eyes, and a black suit.
Cisneros and Maxwell appeared to be in their mid-thirties.
As a group, the threesome carried top-of-the-line handbags and laptop cases, and their footwear could’ve come straight out of Bernadine’s own closet.
They admittedly looked great, but that was not why they were there.
Sheila directed those gathered to the food and beverages. Once everyone had a plate and was seated at the table, the meeting began.
Paige spoke first. “I’d like to thank everyone for taking time out of your schedules to meet with us. Mayor Payne, can you introduce your people, please?”
“Of course.”