Page 187 of Treason's Temptation
“Congratulations! How far?” she mouthed.
“Fourteen weeks. With all the negative press after they tried to pin Lorenzo’s disappearance on me, we’re doing some stupid docuseries. That’s why my mom is here. Oh, and Treason’s ex-girlfriend is producing it.”
“Damn lil’ baby. I see now I have to keep an eye on you. I go on one vacation with my man, and all hell breaks loose.”
“Oh, so all this is your fault?”
“I guess so. Why didn’t you tell me your mom was Thee Sloane Bishop?”
“Why would I?”
Daige shrugged, “No need to be ashamed. She isn’t any different from the women in the Women’s League. Do you really think Paula would be with Jeremy if he weren’t rich?”
“Hell no.” Jeremy wasn’t a looker. In fact, he was the opposite, and his net worth was the only thing attractive about him.
“Exactly. Are you excited at least?”
“Sometimes, but it’s so much going on. Everything is about the campaign or election. He’s so,” I paused, trying to find the right word, but Daige finished my sentence.
“Distant,” she smiled, snatching the word from my lips. “He’s physically close but mentally somewhere else.”
“How do you know?”
“Men aren’t complex creatures society wants us to believe,” Daige paused as the waiter approached, taking our order and leaving with the menus. “Don’t start letting those pregnanthormones make you think this is bout Danielle either. He’s just balancing a lot right now.”
Treason had become a shell of the man I knew. I’d even taken his favorite pen, and he hadn’t yet noticed. This had to be deeper than stress, making me believe that Danielle’s lingering presence was part of the problem.
“It’s not rocket science, Navie. When somebody is drowning, you don’t yell for ‘em to swim. You get in the water and help. He might not have the language for his pain, but I’m sure he knows you’re worried. He can’t see the trees from the forest right now.”
“Then what am I supposed to do?” I asked because she seemed to have all the answers.
“Nothing because it’s not your job to fix him. When the world gets too heavy,Snoopywill find his way home. Then you, be present. Remind him he doesn’t have to be perfect. You are his peace, reflect that and remind him who he is.”
Growing up with Sloane, it all felt the same. She never did any of those things. She just pushed forward, as if pain and disappointment didn’t exist.
“How’d you know it was safe with your husband?”
Daige wiped her hands on a linen towel, “I didn’t at first. I tested him without even knowin’ it. Waiting for him to snap, but he never did. Well, he did once, but I deserved that one. He didn’t try to fix me because he didn’t see me as broken. Only I did.”
I wiped a tear before it fell, while Daige pretended not to see it.
I laughed under my breath, shaky. “You’re going to mess up my makeup in front of all these rich people.”
“Fuck them,” Daige frowned, “But I get it. Did you find something to wear for the yacht party?”
“I completely forgot with everything going on.”
“Then I guess we’re hitting someperfectly air-conditioned boutiquesafter lunch to go shopping. You and that bump will be on that yacht.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Oh, now you’re being cute, ma’aming me? I am not that old.”
“Of course not. We’re like age gap siblings. Mama had no business having me, but here I am.”
“I’ll take it, butsister to sister, I’m in charge of the baby shower!”
“You can have it.”
