Free Forever Yours by Candy Caine Page B

have a grandson?”
    “No,” she replied in little more than a whisper.
    “Don’t you think it’s time to tell them?”
    “I will.”
    “When?”
    “Eventually.”
    “Before or after he graduates from high school?”
“Why are you doing this?”
    “What? All I’m asking you is why you haven’t told your parents about Preston. I think they have a right to know.”
    “I have my reasons. Why are we talking about this?”
    “Because it’s important. What’s really going on here?” Charles’s face had become dark with anger.
    “I’d like to drop the subject, Charles.”
    “You’re acting like a child.”
    “Are you certain you want to discuss this?”
    “I thought we already were, Jade.”
    Jade knew where they were headed and had never wanted to have this conversation with Charles. It wouldn’t be pleasant.
    “Is this about race?” he finally asked, bringing it out into the open.
    “Damn straight it is. You’ve met my parents. They didn’t exactly welcome you into their home, did they?”
    “They were…cordial.”
    Jade raised an eyebrow. “According to whose standards—Caroline’s?”
    “ That is unbecoming of you,” he said.
    “Sorry. Look, the point I’m trying to make here is that they’ll explode when they see Preston.”
    “Because he’s so light-skinned?”
    “Exactly. They’re militant blacks and just as biased as those Aryan groups. No one group has a monopoly on hate. Hate comes in every color.”
    “So you were going to keep his existence a secret forever?” Charles said.
    “No. I just have to find the best way to tell them.”
    “Things won’t change, you know. I mean, he’s not going to become black.”
    Jade looked at him. “Charles, you’ve got to understand my parents’ mindset. They’re furious at me for not associating with my own kind to begin with. That makes me ‘uppity’ in their eyes. And to compound that grievous error, you’re married and Preston is practically white. We’ve got nothing going for us here.”
    Charles was quiet for several moments, probably thinking about what Jade had just said.
    “I think I’m beginning to understand your hesitation,” he said at last. “Even so, you’re going to have to tell them sometime.”
    Jade nodded.
    “By the way, what did you want to talk about?”
    Drained, she no longer cared to talk about anything else that night. Instead, she wanted to go to sleep and not wake up until everything was resolved.
    “Nothing important,” she said, and tried to stifle a yawn.
    “Tired?”
    He got the hint.
    “A little.”
    “I’ll say good night, then.”
    Jade walked Charles to the door, wondering if there would ever be a good time to tell her parents about Preston.
* * *
    Be careful of what you wish for. That was the lesson Jade learned before dawn the following morning when she awoke to the persistent ringing of her cell phone. Only bad news came at such an ungodly hour.
    In the dark, she fumbled around her night table until she located her phone. Still half asleep, she answered it and heard her sister Vanessa’s high-pitched voice. Jade hadn’t spoken to her in years. The last time was at Vanessa’s second wedding ceremony. She must have gotten Jade’s number from their mother. That meant Mama was still pissed at her. Jade had really hoped she’d mellow with time and understand Jade couldn’t flourish in Trenton.
    “Get your sorry black ass down to Lincoln General—”
    “Who’s—?”
    “The old man had a stroke and it’s bad.”
    “How’s Mama taking it?” Jade asked, finally getting more than one word in.
    “Come see for yourself.”
    Jade was about to ask another question when she realized Vanessa had already hung up. Nice conversation. Perhaps more than she should expect from her older sister. Vanessa had always resented Jade’s intrusion into her life. Didn’t like that she’d had to share her things with her. She’d always told Jade, “If you hadn’t been born, I’d have had it