Page 197 of ClickBack

He finds me. “J!”

“Your mother already answered.”

“Nobody helps anybody around here.”

Graves lifts the cooler he’s carrying back. “Terrible place.”

Zion makes a face and drags the bag toward his father.

Giselle laughs, but her hand stays tight around mine on the walk to the car.

At her house, we have time to change and sit down before the doorbell rings. She has put on a pair of loose pants and a tank, saving the dress for later. I’m in the chair across from her, trying to get used to staying in it.

She looks over. “You don’t have to sit there yet.”

“Practicing.”

“For what?”

“Keeping my ass in the chair.”

She shakes her head and holds out her hand. I take the cushion beside her until Byron arrives.

When she brings him into the living room, I’m back in the chair. He stops at the doorway.

“You meant it.”

“I did,” Giselle says. “Sit down.”

He takes the far end of the sofa. She sits at the other end, one foot flat on the floor, facing him. He starts with Charlotte. The distance. The new school. How much Zion will have to adjust to.

She lets him finish.

“Those are things his parents have considered.”

“And you think they’ve considered everything?”

“No. Neither had I when I raised Rae. You still let me be her mother.”

Byron leans forward. “I’m asking you to think about what you’re bringing into it. That video is everywhere. People know who you are now. Who Rae is. What’s Zion supposed to say when somebody at school brings it up?”

“That his grandmother has a boyfriend.”

“You know it won’t be that simple.”

“Then Rae and Jeremy will help him. So will I.”

“Rae might not tell you everything. She knows how you get when somebody questions a decision you’ve already made.”

Giselle looks at him. “You can ask your daughter what she thinks. You don’t need to guess in my living room.”

“You keep acting like I’m a stranger.”

“I’m acting like you’re my ex-husband.”

He sits back. His eyes move around the room before returning to her.

“I knew you before all of this. Before the business. Before you moved back here. I remember how hard you worked to get people to see you differently.”