Chapter 34 Ofosua
CHAPTER 34 OFOSUA
ADINKRA SAYING: (Odo Nnyew Fie Kwan) Love does not lose its way home.
SAMUEL ADDO: Nobody can tell you who or how to love. You have to fumble in the dark like the rest of us.
My mother was in her element. She loved nothing more than cooking for a large brood. She really should have been a caterer. As we packed my old apartment full of friends, old and new, colleagues, and family, I gently tapped my fork against my flute of champagne. “I just wanted to thank everyone for coming tonight.” That felt amazing to say. Cole grinned at me as I continued the toast. “And this is sort of off topic, but I want to say congratulations to my fiancé, the new co-CEO of Drake Publishing. You really were the best one for the job.”
“Only because you took off to work for someone else,” he groused, and everyone laughed.
Cole’s aunt Ruby took a heaping plateful of food from my mother, and I watched as she delicately chewed on a piece of kelewele. “This is incredible. What is this? Can your caterer do an office function?”
My mother laughed. “Caterer? Heh. I would never use a caterer in my own home. Who does that? But I do have some people I can call for you. Keep in mind, I’ll tell them to up their prices since you people can afford it.”
I laughed. “Mum!”
“What? It’s true.” She shrugged.
Ruby, however didn’t even bat an eye. “Helen, I’d love the contact.”
My father looked like he was trying to extricate himself from a conversation with Megan, who was chatting animatedly about The Bachelor . When he caught my gaze, he gave me the help me eyes, but it didn’t happen. He’d survived my mother, and besides, he didn’t spend much time rescuing me from uncomfortable conversations.
Kukua was flirting shamelessly with Brian, and my mother looked on approvingly.
Cole wrapped his arm around my waist. “I love you.”
I grinned at him. “I love you too.”
“I wanted to say that to you before I brought my mother into the mix.”
My stomach twisted. “Your mother decided to come after all?” They’d had a strained relationship since our breakup. Still, I had invited her. I just hadn’t thought she would show up.
He nodded. “Aunt Ruby convinced her to make an effort.”
“I really do love your aunt. She’s actually great. I just wish I’d had more time to prepare.” I swallowed hard and smoothed a hand down my African-print pants, which had stamped adinkra symbols all over them. Maybe I should have worn something else. His mother was a piece of work. I needed better armor. I should have worn couture.
“You look just as stunning as you always do. And Aunt Ruby loves you too. She’s the only one in my family besides my grandfather I’ve ever really connected to,” he murmured into my hair, then took my hand and leaned forward to kiss my forehead. “No matter what happens, I love you, and no matter what she says, it doesn’t mean anything to us, right? Remember that, love, please.”
I smoothed a thumb over his cheek. “It’s fine, Cole. As long as I have you, that’s all I care about. Nothing can dampen that.”
He nodded. “Okay, then let’s go say hi.”
He worked us through the crowd until we found her near the opening to the balcony. “Mrs. Drake, it’s nice to see you again.”
She wore a crisp white Stella McCartney jumpsuit and had her hair up in a chignon. She studied me with a shrewd eye. “It seems I underestimated your resilience.”
“You probably shouldn’t do that again. Underestimate me, I mean.”
She chuckled at that. “I don’t make the same mistake twice.”
I turned to meet Cole’s gaze and squeezed his hand. “That’s good to hear. I can’t wait to get to know you better, Mom.”
Her eyes went wide, and her lips parted in surprise. I could tell she didn’t like it, but that only made me more determined to use it. I was her new daughter now. She was going to have to get used to it. “I see. Well, if you two are insistent on doing this, then we must at least do it correctly. I’ll have to get on the phone with the Plaza. This, of course, will have to be a long engagement. They won’t have anything decent available for the next two years.”
It felt like a dig. It didn’t necessarily sound like one, but it felt like one. And next to me, Cole tensed. “Actually, the entire wedding will take place in Accra. We won’t be doing a ceremony here, just a reception, eventually.”
She sputtered, “You can’t be serious. Drakes don’t run off to third-world nations and elope.”
Cole opened his mouth, and I knew it was going to be bad, so I stopped him. “Actually, they’re called developing nations now. And we’re not eloping. Everything you want to do at the Plaza, we’ll do in Ghana. I encourage you to do your research about venues. You and my mother can certainly entertain yourselves.”
I pointed her in the direction of my parents, who were now on the floor dancing. Any moment now, I felt like my father was going to bust out his James Brown split, and we’d have to get a paramedic watch for that. He was old and couldn’t quite do it the same way he used to.
“Well, this is certainly nicer than I expected.”
I lifted a brow. The second blow. “What did you expect?”
“I don’t know. When you hear ‘Africans,’ you assume poor, like from Africa.”
And another one. She said that with her fingers in quotes, and Cole stepped forward. “That is enough, Mom. You need to apologize right now or you can—”
I tugged him back. I could handle this. “Well, that’s one story people have been told. Can you believe people are dumb enough to believe everything they see in the media? I mean, I went to Dalton, then Columbia like my father. I’ve lived all over the world. And my parents’ home in Ghana makes this place look like the shabby summer house. Don’t believe media portrayals of a place that those in power have a vested interest in keeping you ignorant about.”
Her brows narrowed by degrees, eventually dipping down. “Well, aren’t you a different one. I mean, you’re the first girl that stuck around this long.”
I was determined to be cool about it, so I snuggled up to Cole, who was stiff beside me. “Well, it’s not to say we haven’t had our bumps and bruises, but I think we make a great team.”
She nodded. “Of course you do. You know, however, that we will ask you to sign a prenup, right?”
I blinked. Oh, this had to be the final blow.
Cole leaned forward then, vibrating beside me. “Have you considered that I’m the one who needs to sign a prenup? Turns out her net worth is higher than mine.” He turned to me. “PS, I will totally sign, by the way.”
I squeezed Cole’s hand. “I’ll sign one too, to love you forever.”
He grinned. “It hadn’t occurred to me we could write our own clauses. Maybe this could work after all.”
“Are you two being serious?” she asked in shock. It was as if she couldn’t believe it. “Wow.” She turned to me and gave me a tight smile. “Well, at least there’s champagne.” Then she drifted away and made for the door.
Cole pulled me in and gave me a kiss. “If that were a Gatling gun, I wouldn’t know where to run.”
“I’m sorry she lived up to your expectations.”
“It’s fine.” Then he took my hand. “Come on, follow me to the dance floor.”
I smiled up at him. “Let’s show them old folks how it’s done.”
And from the corner of my eye, I saw my mother coming for me. “Eh, you, small girl, who are you calling old?”
I could only laugh as Cole pulled me into his arms. “You knew full well she was going to hear that.”
I grinned. “Yes, I did. As you know, my mother is really the happiest when she’s busy complaining about something. So never let it be said I didn’t give her anything.”
He laughed. “I love you, Ofosua Addo.”
“I love you too, Cole Drake.”