Page 54 of Happy Endings

“It’s too early to drink.” Trixie pushed the glass away. “If you don’t want to talk about it, then I should go.”

“Wait.” He walked around the bar and pulled himself onto the stool next to her. This wasn’t going to be an easy talk, but hewanted to have a clear view of her face. To be able to reach out and touch her without the bar between them.

“Five minutes.” She ignored the drink he’d made for her. “I waited five months to hear from you because you’d never leave without an explanation. Eventually Reina convinced me to move on. Now all you get is five minutes.”

“If that’s all I get, I’ll do my best.”

“Clock is ticking.” Trixie turned her phone to show the running timer on its screen.

“I—Trixie—” Andre gulped his tequila sunrise. “Walking out on you was the worst decision of my life. Back then, I thought I was doing the right thing. And now...”

“Now what? You want me to take you back because we’re good in bed?”

Technically, it had been the bar. Making love to her in the restaurant had been hot as fuck, but it wasn’t about the sex. It was the way she cared about others. How she was on a mission to help women love themselves more and become the confident woman he saw in her now. He’d seen that part of her when they had been together, but now everyone could see how beautiful and smart she was.

“No! I mean, I want us to be together again if that’s what you want.”

“Go on.” Trixie picked up her Diet Coke and tequila and sipped.

“I hated that I was the reason you and your parents stopped talking. Family means so much to you. To me. I couldn’t take that away from you.” The words were finally out. Andre drained the rest of the highball.

“Are you kidding me?” Trixie’s expression was a mix of incredulity and disgust. “You are so full of yourself. My falling out with my parents wasn’t your fault. I know that now.”

“But I’m the one who convinced you to switch to becoming a therapist. Without warming your parents up to the idea. Maybe if you’d given them more time to get used to the idea, they wouldn’t have cut you off.”

Trixie eyes shimmered. She looked upward and blinked away her tears.

“It wouldn’t have mattered how much time I gave them. It’s been over two years now and they still hate my decision.”

“I never told you this, but I tried to talk to your dad.”

“What?”

“I—I felt horrible that your parents cut you off. I mean, my mom wasn’t happy about me leaving DC for New Orleans, but she gave me her blessing. I thought if I explained to him how great you were at helping others, the way you talked to people while you sat at the bar, waiting for me to get off work. I wanted him to understand that pharmacy school wasn’t your passion.”

Trixie laughed bitterly.

“Your dad told me that it was my fault for making you think that passion was more important than family. That I put crazy American ideas in your head. How being with me made you forget about your duty to your family.”

“My father did what?!” Trixie set her drink down hard. Tequila and Diet Coke splashed all over the bar and onto her hands.

He grabbed a stack of cocktail napkins and handed her a few before soaking up the spill.

“I didn’t agree with him that your ideas were too American, but I understood what he meant about duty to your family. I ran away from mine.”

“What do you mean? I thought you came to New Orleans to learn its cocktail history.”

“That’s only half true. I came to New Orleans to learn more about my dad.”

“I thought he died when you were little.”

“He did.” Andre took a deep breath. The only person he’d talked to about this had been Xavier. Back then his best friend hadn’t understood why he’d left Mama and Keisha when they needed him the most.

“Mama didn’t talk about him very much,” he continued. “Everyone here expected me to be like Mama, but I had to know what he was like. What parts of him were in me. I didn’t want to be just like my mom.”

“You wanted to find who you were without your parents around.” Trixie nodded. Of course she understood his desire. She was struggling with the same thing when they were dating. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Yes. And no. My dad was controlling and didn’t support my mom’s dream of opening a restaurant. He had old-fashioned ideas about his wife’s responsibility.” Relief flooded Andre. Telling Trixie this secret about his family was freeing.

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