“Guess we better slow down and go one at a time,” Teresa said. “Maybe you better go first.”
“His folks are up in Paris at an assisted living center, and we’re going up there to take them to church and then dinner and a movie afterward. If you’d told me six weeks ago that I’d be double-dating with his parents, I’d have told you to go have your head examined,” Kayla spit out. She took a deep breath and went on. “Did you know that he was adopted, or that his parents are black?”
“Are you serious? We were out of the gossip loop, I guess,” Teresa said.
“Serious as a heart attack. He carries pictures of them in his wallet. I thought I was agreeing to dinner after church and maybe a movie, but then he said he’d pick me up for church. Going to a black church, meeting the parents, eating with them? Lord, I’m getting hives thinking about all that.” Kayla sighed. “What if I don’t use the right fork, or they remember my mama, and . . . ?”
Teresa threw an arm around Kayla and gave her a side hug right there on the porch steps. “You’ll do fine. Miss Janie taught us all we need to know.”
“If Noah’s parents were still alive, would you feel like you were ready to meet them?” Kayla asked.
“Hell, no!” Teresa’s voice went all high and squeaky in her own ears.
Kayla giggled. “Just as I thought. Maybe I won’t think of this as a date, but as two new friends getting together for church and dinner.”
“If it sounds like a date, waddles like a date—even if it’s going to church—and looks like a date, then it’s probably a date,” Teresa teased.
“I’m not strong like you. I’m ninety percent bluff and only ten percent mean,” Kayla admitted. “The thought of bringing a man into my life terrifies me.”
“Honey, I’m not nearly as tough as you think I am, but we are both survivors, and that comes from the way we were raised. We had to be or we’d both be dead by now,” Teresa told her.
“He has always been a churchgoing man. If we got into a serious relationship, I’d feel like I should tell him more than I have about life back then. I was more than just abandoned and homeless, Teresa. I had a horrible example for a mother, and I don’t know if I can even talk about it,” Kayla admitted.
“You might want to be up front and honest before the third date, though.” Teresa moved over a few feet. “It’s too hot to sit close together.”
“Why the third?” Kayla asked.
“The first one is Sunday, when you meet the parents and his mama gets to know you. Believe me, the second one will be with only the two of you, and you’ll kind of know at the end of that one if you want a third date. If so, you should tell him what’s on your mind so you don’t get your heart broken down the line,” Teresa answered. “That’s my honest opinion.”
Kayla threw up her palms. “Have you had a lot of dates since you and Luis separated? I was so glad to be free of Denver that I didn’t want to even look at another man until I ran into Will in the grocery store a few weeks ago.”
“What changed your mind, even then?” Teresa asked.
“I don’t know, but some of the chains that I imagined were wrapped around my heart to protect it fell away when he looked at me,” Kayla said.
“That’s strange.” Teresa smiled.
“Why is that strange?” Kayla asked.
“Because that’s the way I felt when I saw Noah again. Did I ever tell you that he was the first boy I ever kissed?” Teresa asked.
“No!” Kayla clamped a hand on her mouth. “When did that happen?”
“Before you came to live with me and Miss Janie. We were barely in our teens, and we had a little moment on the back porch,” Teresa told her. “I kissed other boys after that and even had a short-lived relationship in college before I met Luis, but nothing ever compared to that first kiss I had with Noah.”
“I’ve never kissed or been with another man other than Denver, and he’s the only man I’ve had sex with. With my wild reputation, I bet that’s hard for you to believe.”
“Not one bit,” Teresa said. “Like you said, ninety percent of you is bluff.”