Chapter 3 #2
Doc stayed where he was, with his arm outstretched, practically holding his breath as she came toward him. He had a sudden feeling that the second she touched him, his life was going to change forever.
For good or bad? That was the question.
Their fingers touched, then she was gripping his hand tightly.
As Doc turned and headed for his room, Ember’s hand tucked in his, he knew he was right. Knew his life had taken a turn.
It was ridiculous. He didn’t know Ember, and she didn’t know him. Her life was everything he didn’t want—fame and fortune and the limelight. But he could’ve no sooner walked away from her in this moment than he could turn his back on his family.
He’d caught a glimpse of the real Ember Maxwell hidden below the glitz and glamour she showed the world. And he was intrigued. Wanted to know more about her. Wanted to know everything about her.
It made no sense…but then, being with her right now made more sense than just about anything he’d done in his life.
He kept hold of her hand and led her into his room, only reluctantly letting go to push the one chair in the room over to the window.
He walked to the bathroom and flicked on the light, then turned off the lamp on his bedside table.
It would be easier to see the stars in a completely dark room, but he figured she’d be more comfortable alone with him if the room wasn’t pitch black.
Finally he headed back to the window, pulled up the blinds and took a step back, gesturing to the chair as he did. “Your throne, my lady.”
Ember rolled her eyes but walked toward the chair and sat. She looked up, and Doc heard her sigh in appreciation. “Oh, yeah. This is what I needed.” She leaned forward, as if that would get her closer to the stars she was admiring.
Doc took a step back. Neither said a word for several long moments. Ember was soaking in whatever it was the stars did for her, and Doc soaked in the view of the beautiful woman sitting in his room.
Objectively, he could appreciate her looks.
She had an athletic body that was strong and in peak condition.
But that wasn’t what attracted him to her.
It was the little things he doubted anyone else noticed.
The way she nibbled on her lower lip as she stared up into the sky.
The way some part of her body was constantly in motion, as if she had so much stored-up energy she had to move to keep it from exploding out of her.
The toes on one foot tapped against the floor.
Then her fingers drummed on her thigh. Then she wiggled her leg side to side.
Looking at her right now, Doc would have no idea that she was a world-famous socialite. She looked like she could be one of his sister’s friends. Any moment now, Mama Luisa was going to open the door and tell them it was late and they needed to get some sleep.
But this wasn’t Georgia. And she sure as hell wasn’t someone his sister had ever brought home.
How long she sat there looking up at the stars, Doc wasn’t sure.
He didn’t really care; he’d let her stay as long as she needed.
But eventually she turned to look at him.
Given the darkness, Doc didn’t think she could see him all that well, since he’d propped himself against the wall on the other side of the room.
“Your friends said something that made me curious,” Ember began.
Doc stiffened. Shit. There was no telling what they’d said. He loved his friends, but now that they were mostly all married, and deliriously happy, they’d gotten pretty obvious about wanting to set up both him and Grover. “Yeah?” he asked.
“Yeah. They said that we had a lot more in common than I might think. It seemed ridiculous at the time. Now I’m not so sure.
I know you’re uncomfortable around me, but I feel comfortable with you, and I don’t know why.
Normally I would never, ever go to a room with a man I’d just met.
But there’s something about you that makes me trust you. It’s weird.”
“It’s not weird. I’d never hurt you or any woman.”
“I know. How can I know that, though? I just met you.”
Doc shrugged, even though she probably couldn’t see him. “Maybe we should start over. Get rid of both our preconceived ideas of who the other is.”
“That sounds good.”
“Hi, my name is Craig Wagner. But everyone calls me Doc.”
“I’m Ember Maxwell. Everyone calls me Ember,” she said with a small smile. “Why Doc? Are you a doctor?”
“No, although Mama Luisa would’ve loved that.
When I was in basic training, we were practicing hand-to-hand combat.
One of the privates got a little too enthusiastic and hit his partner in the face.
Knocked the guy right out. I was closest and kind of took over making sure the dude was all right until the ambulance arrived.
I didn’t really do much, but one of the drill sergeants started calling me Doc… and it stuck.”
“I suppose you could have a worse nickname,” Ember said.
“Very true.”
“I have another question.”
“Shoot.”
“Mama Luisa?”
Doc nodded. “Yeah. My mom. She’s not my biological mother, but I love her more than I could ever explain.” Doc debated telling Ember his story, then decided to go for it. His friends had been right; they did have more in common than anyone would think at first glance.
“When I was five, my parents were killed in a house fire. I was spending the night at my friend Deiondre’s house.
He lived a block over, and his parents and mine were best friends.
The fire was deemed accidental. The stove had a faulty switch or something.
Anyway, I was devastated; of course I was.
But Mama Luisa and her husband didn’t even hesitate to apply to foster me.
They went through hell to get the right to keep me, and five years later, after countless court dates and a ridiculous uphill battle, they were finally able to adopt me. ”
“I don’t understand. Why was it such a big deal? If they were best friends with your parents, and you wanted to be with them, why was it so hard?”
In response, Doc took his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out a picture.
He smiled at it for a moment, remembering how Nichelle, his sister, had worked so hard to set it up.
They all were wearing matching colors, and even though his dad and Deiondre had bitched about the entire thing, their smiles belied their words.
Doc had a larger version of the picture back in Texas, framed on his wall.
Family meant everything to him. Jaime and Luisa didn’t have to take him in. Their lives would’ve been easier in a lot of ways if they hadn’t.
He pushed off the wall and walked toward Ember. He handed her the picture and said, “My family,” before backing up once again.
Ember stared down at the picture in her hand for a long moment. Then she met his gaze and said, “They’re Black.”
“Yup.”
“I take it that was an issue.”
“Not to me, but to what seemed like everyone else, yes. On the surface, America seems like it has its shit together when it comes to racism, but that’s often not the case.
Mama Luisa and Jaime went through hell when I was little.
I can’t even remember the number of times the cops were called when we were out together, because people thought I’d been kidnapped.
They couldn’t wrap their minds around a white boy being raised by a Black couple.
Hell, we were at Disney World once, minding our own business, enjoying our day, and we were all detained.
I was separated from the people I loved and trusted most in the world and basically interrogated.
“I still remember how scared I was, thinking they were going to take them away and lock them up even though they hadn’t done anything wrong.
The security guards thought I’d been brainwashed, and I was a basket case by the time they finally let us go on our way.
Needless to say, family vacations after that were things like camping and staying close to home. ”
“That’s bullshit,” Ember said softly.
“Yeah, it is. That sort of thing continued throughout my childhood. Whenever I hung out with Deiondre and Nichelle—my brother and sister—I was warned that they’d bring me down or get me arrested.
One night, we were at a party that got busted.
The yard was full of drunk high school students, and Deiondre and I were hanging back, trying to do the right thing and not run from the cops.
This one man passed by at least a dozen other kids and instead zeroed in on my brother.
He wasn’t doing anything, literally was just standing in the yard, and this asshole flung him to the ground and screamed at him to stop resisting.
Of course, I wasn’t going to stand for that shit, and so I shoved the cop off Deiondre. You know what happened?”
“What?” Ember asked.
“Deiondre spent a night in jail, and I was sent home with a stern warning.” Doc shook his head, outraged by the memory.
He took a deep breath, knowing he was getting riled up just thinking about the racism his brother and sister, and his parents, still fought against today.
“People who say they don’t see color when they look at people are fooling themselves.
It’s human nature, it can’t be helped. But what can be helped is how they react when they see that color.
Do they cross the street in fear for their life when they see a Black man walking toward them?
Do they pass over an Asian or Middle Eastern woman for a job because they think they’re not as smart as a white person? It has to stop.”