down-to-the-minute checking and just-in-case plans.
Even then, many of Dyanneâs contacts worked on what her grandfather had called âcolored people time,â an entirely different construct than the European concept of planning down to the last second. Dyanneâs grandfather had explained that the African sense of timelessness was the one thing that couldnât be beaten out of them. What some thought was laziness was a virtue of watching people over clocks. âThe sun, moon and stars told us what we needed to know. And our bellies of course. When youâre hungry, itâs time to eat.â
Right.
Unfortunately, publishingâor the rest of the world for that matterâdidnât run by sundial. To compensate, Fallon traveled with pop-up tables (âSomeone is using the table now, but if you come back at fourâ¦â), extra books (âWe ordered them, but they didnât come inâ), media contacts (âThey did a press release, but nobody calledâ¦â) and all that was just for the regular stores. Once they hit the âchitlin circuitâ as Fallon called the drive to the black bookstores, lodges, gymnasiums, historically black colleges and now more than before, churches, it would be Dealing with Divas 101 time. The thought of it all made her tired, but excited, too.
Neal was kissing her elbows now, totally erasing her train of thought. She let out a contented sigh of her own. Maybe this was enough, the two of them. Maybe this wasnât the time to have a baby. What would she do with a kid the next time Fallon showed up needing a monthâor twoâof attention?
Trust Me.
It wasnât a voice or anything flaky like the experiences her father talked about, but the words were impressed on her mind, overflowing Dyanneâs heart. All she could think of was how hard sheâd prayed for her parents to stay together, for her mother to keep the baby boys sheâd miscarried again and again, each time taking her mother farther from them into her own little world.
Though Dyanne couldnât deny that God had been good to her, the one time sheâd needed Him, truly trusted Him, He hadnât come through. She couldnât make that mistake again. Her father had spent the past few years trying to teach her about God, but the first lesson heâd taught her about Him still held trueâthe only person a woman can trust completely is herself.
As if heâd read her thoughts, Nealâs hands and lips stopped moving. âYou really want this, donât you? This baby?â
Dyanne nodded slowly, surprised at the vulnerability in his voice. For months, sheâd tried to get her husband here. Whoâd have thought that Fallon Gray would be what brought him around? Never one to miss an opportunity, Dyanne reached over and clicked on the light.
Neal shielded his eyes. âWhat are you doing?â
Dyanne tiptoed to her briefcase and produced her master-pieceâthe baby proposal.
Speechless, her husband flipped through the pages of flow charts, family cost predictions and couldnât believe what he saw.
âYou got an endorsement from the doctor who wrote all those baby care books? Youâve got to be kidding me.â
She wasnât kidding. Mr. ChaiseâSteveâhad snapped up the doctor in a five-book deal last summer and Dyanne had spent over an hour talking to him about children. Heâd made a few quotes in the conversation and when sheâd asked later, heâd given her permission to share them with her husband, although he said he didnât recommend it. Now, watching the look on her husbandâs face, she wondered if he hadnât been right. âJust read it. I did a lot of research. Itâs all there.â
He slammed the folder shut just as he reached the best visual in the whole thing. âItâs not all here, Dyanne. This is a business proposal. Babies come from love. I wanted to believe