Page 99 of Waiting for Friday Night

Shania rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but I don’t like him like that. So, she wants to make it weird. Most kids don’t care. I don’t want to give her anything else to add. Can you two just keep it quiet until after football season? Maybe after Christmas break?”

Halle didn’t mind waiting. The longer they kept the town out of their business, the easier it would be for them to get used to their new family dynamics. “I’ll talk to Quinton.” She wasn’t going to agree to something that included him without talking about it first.

“Don’t make a big deal about Octavius’s girlfriend when you talk to him, okay? I can handle her. She wants me to react and I’m not giving her the satisfaction.”

“I’ll tell him that we want to be sure before we add more gossip for the town to feed off. That work?”

Shania grinned and nodded. “That works.”

They went inside where Quinton sat on the couch watching television. He saw them and raised a brow. “Everyone good?”

Shania beamed. “All good. You two can date, but please, keep the kissing and stuff to a minimum around me.”

“That’s not a problem,” Halle said.

“And use condoms. I’m not ready for a baby brother or sister.”

Halle’s eyes widened and her jaw nearly touched the floor. “Shania!”

Her daughter held up a hand. “What? You’d tell me the same thing if I was dating someone.”

Quinton shook his head. “I think we can all agree that we’re not ready to add another person to the mix.”

Shania sighed. “Good.” Her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket. “It’s Grandma.” She answered the call. “Hello? Now? Okay?” She looked at them. “Grandma is coming back from the store. She asked me to help her get something out of the car.”

They watched as she turned and ran out of the house. Quinton came over and wrapped an arm around her waist. “You okay?”

“Sometimes it takes three days to get Shania out of a mood. How did you do it in one day?”

“I was honest with her. I told her that I’m serious about you. And I reminded her that her mom is pretty smart and wouldn’t be with me just for her. She’s a rational kid. She understood.”

Shania was a straightforward kid. She shouldn’t be surprised that Quinton realized the best way to deal with Shania was to be straight up and honest. He didn’t raise his voice or fly off the handle. He was as calm and rational off the football field as he was intense and pushing on the field. And he’d been right to suggest they all cool down instead of talking in the heat of the moment.

“Thank you for talking to her. It’s hard for me to get used to having someone to help with this, but it’s kind of nice.”

“Get used to it. We’ll figure out how to make this a true partnership.”

“You want to figure this out with me?”

He leaned down and kissed her. “Don’t ask dumb questions you already know the answer to.”

Halle grinned and kissed him back. The sound of a shriek came from the front of the house. They froze and broke apart. The shriek came again, and they ran outside. They stopped on the porch where Shania jumped up and down next to her grandparents. The shriek coming over and over. Quinton’s parents laughed and clapped. Shania turned to them and pointed at the bright red car in the yard.

“They bought me a car! Can you believe it!”

A car. They’d bought Shania a freaking car! What in the world was she supposed to do with that? Hadn’t they clarified all of this after the shoes? Why would they go against her and Quinton’s wishes and get Shania a damn car?

The questions rolled through Halle’s head as she made her way to meet Imani at Tracey’s place. She had not handled the car surprise well. She’d immediately insisted that Shania couldn’t accept. Quinton’s parents had tried to make her feel guilty and Shania had cried. Shania never cried. Quinton had seemed just as shocked as she was. Thank goodness for that. She wouldn’t have been able to trust him if she’d known he’d been involved.

She and Shania left in a hurry after that. All the goodwill they’d built up after the day they’d had was thrown out the window with one impulsive move. They argued on the way home about keeping the gift or sending it back. When they’d arrived at their house, Halle had let Shania storm off to her room to let off steam. She needed to cool off herself before having that conversation again. She’d forgotten about her promise to check on Tracey with Imani until she’d gotten the text from Imani saying she was leaving her place.

So Halle opted to try letting Shania cool down before talking and headed off to be a good friend. No matter how much she felt like her life was out of control, Tracey’s had to be more so.

She and Imani arrived at Tracey’s place at the same time. Bernard’s car wasn’t in the yard, but Tracey’s Fresh Place Inn van was parked in the driveway.

“What’s wrong with you?” Imani asked after they hugged.

Halle rolled her eyes but waved off her friend’s words. “I’ll tell you later. Let’s check on Tracey first.”

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