Page 23 of The Impact (Parachutes #3)

For a few seconds, Leah didn’t respond. She didn’t even blink.

“Drew is-”

“Oh, I know who Drew is,” her sister’s brows jumped. “College boy layover in between connecting parachute flights with Vin,” Leah made a funny that earned her an eye roll. “Didn’t Vin literally throw him through a television? Brave soul.”

Tahli pushed her arm.

“I remember some years back, he left the heart-eyes emoji under your Tahiti vacation photo in the orange bikini, and I told you to delete it before Vin saw it. Which you smartly did.”

“And it was innocent,” Tahli insisted. “We like each other’s pictures once in a while. He’s never been disrespectful. And neither have I. You know I never even thought about another man besides…” Tahli swallowed down her ex-husband’s soured name.

“Anyway…he saw my status update, hit me in my inbox, and we’ve just been catching up. He lost his wife a couple of years ago so in a way, he could relate. It’s been nice to talk to someone because I’ve been…” Tahli frowned away the tears threatening to come.

“Lee, I’ve been in such a dark place. Nobody really knows,” Tahli admitted to the toaster, her gaze far away.

“I’ve been pretending like I’m holding it together.

Even my getaway didn’t do what I needed it to.

But talking to someone who didn’t know and love Vin, who I don’t feel like is silently judging me for ruining our family. It’s been kind of relieving.”

“Hey.” The scold in Leah’s voice commanded Tahli’s attention.

Her sister placed the mixing spoon down.

“You didn’t ruin your family. Dalvin did.

Nobody’s judging you. You do whatever you have to do to get through this shit however you can, little sister.

Vin is lucky I wasn’t here when that shit went down.

Lucky I ain’t catch his ass on an elevator. ”

Tahli chewed her cheek, brows wrinkling at the notion of her conservative sister throwing blows at her very massive, intimidating ex-husband. Her ex -husband.

Tahli missed her ex-husband, inconsolably.

A disgustingly, awful Hiraeth.

If her life was a corny rom-com, she would find Vin 2.0. The same balance of bravado and attentiveness, sans the flaws. But Tahli didn’t realize how many regular men dotted the world, until the void of her very irregular one.

“Hey,” Leah droned, a hand to Tahli’s jumping shoulder, as that cry Tahli tried to hold back, won.

“I was so happy and now I’m not. What did I do to deserve this?” Tahli was disgusted with the question the second it rolled off of her tongue. “Maybe it’s too soon,” she muttered, smearing her wet face.

“Too soon to drink coffee?” Leah smiled, drying whatever tears remained. “You love coffee.”

“Too soon to date.” Tahli didn’t play coy, as Leah resumed layering the sauce on the pasta.

“It’s only a date if you say it’s a date. You can do whatever you want, Tahli. That’s the beauty of divorce.”

“There is no beauty of divorce.” Tahli sneered. “What about the kids? They don’t need to see me going out with some random guy four months after their whole lives changed.”

“They don’t need to see a lot of stuff,” Leah snickered. “Do they see you in your bedroom late at night with your vibrator and a screenshot of Idris Elba?”

Tahli’s mouth fell open, only for a second.

“Jalen Hurts,” she corrected. “Mine is Jalen Hurts.”

“Mm,” Leah nodded. “You definitely have a type.”

“What are you talking about?” Tahli laughed.

“Have you seen your ex-husband?” Leah cracked. “They could be cousins with Vin’s big, football player ass.”

A long, ballerina-shaped pink nail between her teeth, and Tahli wondered if that’s what sparked her NFL crush. “Oh, now you wanna watch the game with me?” Vin had teased once. “Don’t get Jalen hurt, baby love.”

“Point is, your kids don’t need to know everything.

You’re a mom. Not a nun. You’re 35 fucking years old, Tahli, and this isn’t 1942.

Your husband didn’t die at war, and you have to wear black and be the widow that mourns him for the remainder of your life.

No, your husband fucked someone else, while he was still married to you, and made a child with them that he hid from you for twelve years. ”

“Thanks, Leah. I almost forgot,” Tahli grinned sarcastically. “Stay tuned for the next episode, folks,” Tahli spoke to an imaginary camera.

“Just saying. You don’t have to be the one to follow the rules, anymore. Dalvin didn’t.”

Tahli let that sink in, chewing her cheek. “You forgot the ricotta.”

Leah flung down the spoon. “Fuck!”

There was a thing about Tahli’s big sister.

They weren’t necessarily friends. Leah had her family, and sometimes, contrasting views.

Secretly, Tahli was convinced Leah’s husband had persuaded her to vote Republican.

But when Tahli filed for divorce, Leah made it clear to her husband, I’ll be back and forth to Jersey to take care of my baby sister. No shit would be tolerated.

The beginnings of Jhene Aiko’s Speak played faintly, as Leah tried to save the dish, leaning in to lend her breathy voice on cue: “Fuck your opinion ‘bout it, I’m feeling my best…” Her soprano wasn’t as high as Tahli’s, but they sang in the same key.

The girls carried the hook in unison, each word striking a chord on Tahli’s heartstrings. A little music and a lot of prayer were inching her toward healing.

When Tahli hit a flawless note on the lines about love not being for keeping, and celebrating freedom, Leah jumped back in with extra emphasis on “act like you know who you are,” poking Tahli near her collarbone.

Tahli’s eyes drifted closed for a second. Felt like restoration. Felt like church.

“You wanna know what he looks like now?” Tahli grinned.

“Let me see,” her sister wiggled her fingers, and Tahli flashed Drew’s picture.

“ Damn. One thing my baby sis gonna do is keep her a fine-ass man.”

“Shut up. He’s not my man. And now I’m mortified ‘cause look, I wrote him back ‘Hank you so much’. Like, what the fuck, Lee?”

“It’s fine. What are we hanking him so much for?”

“Well. Because I asked him to meet me outside of my town. But also not in the city, either. To, you know…”

“Preserve his life?”

“Right. And he said, ‘Of course’ so I said, ‘Thank you so much .’ Instead, I said ‘ Hank you so much.’ And now he thinks I’m a fucking idiot.”

“Well, maybe not.” Leah picked up her phone, flour from her fingertips smudging the screen. “Siri, what does it mean to hank someone?”

Tahli rolled her eyes at her sister’s corny, yet cute humor.

“To have a hankering for someone is to have a strong desire or crave.”

Leah wiggled her brows. “Maybe you do Hank Drew very much.”

Tahli cracked up. She and Leah were doubled over in laughter when Vanessa entered the kitchen.

“Oh, my goodness. You two acting like you’re eight and twelve again! What’s so funny?”

“Oh, just Tahli finally ready to start hanking again.”

“Hanking? What’s that? The dance? Like the hanky panky?”

“No, Nessa, we’re not doing the hanky-panky and turning ourselves around,” Tahli cackled.

“That’s the Hokey-Pokey!” Vanessa and Leah both shouted.

“Who’s doing the Hokey-Pokey?” Their father stepped into the kitchen with the question. Tahli slapped her hand on her forehead.

In an instant, her father and Vanessa were doing their version of the Hokey-Pokey around the kitchen counter. Her support system was solid. Whatever right or wrong choices she made, Tahli was blessed to have them to fall back on. Not everyone had that.

Some people had to get through shit alone.

Tahli swirled the wine with a flick of her wrist, talking herself out of what she’d already talked herself into. She had changed from a dress to jeans, then back to a dress, pairing the black mini number with thigh-high boots and a shitload of false confidence.

“I should just go home. What the fuck am I doing here?” She sipped her pinot, whipping out her cell phone.

I should leave right?

The dots a few seconds after clued her that Abby was typing. Them disappearing, as Tahli awaited her response, revealed Abby must have changed her mind.

“I asked myself on the ride here…” Her body tensed from the voice in her ear. His thumbs pressed into her bare arms straightened her spine, as he continued, “How will you find her in that crowded bar?”

He stepped into full view, and Tahli’s eyes swept over him with approval.

“Then I reminded myself to just look for the most beautiful woman in the room. Tahli Hall, you look incredible.”

She warmed all over. Infidelity could crush even the most secure woman’s confidence, but compliments from a man like Drew would make nun stain her panties.

“You look good, too, D.C.,” Tahli joked on Drew’s permanent residence for over a decade.

“Aye. I love my city. Even though, I might have to relocate soon for business.”

“Really?” Tahli wasn’t sure why it disappointed her. Hopefully he didn’t go too far. There was always something naturally easy about her and Drew.

“Yeah. It’s not set in stone though. Either way, you should come visit me. Little weekend getaway. I’ll treat you like a princess.”

Tahli’s brows lifted, then they locked eyes. “Maybe.”

“Yeah?” He grinned, enchantingly debonair, double-dipped in 90’s fine. “Maybe,” he imitated her soft voice. “I’ll take a maybe. How about we start with some drinks, first?”

Tahli nodded.

Small talk drifted from Drew’s business and Tahli’s children’s accomplishments before settling into a much more intimate conversation.

Three drinks in and some shared appetizers, had Tahli leaning on her fist, elbow on the table, gazing into Drew’s eyes.

With his hands folded at his smooth brown lips, he returned the favor.

The pub-style bar bustled around them, but the room might as well have been empty.

“I almost stood you up, you know?” She snickered, making him snort.

“I know. I was blowing through lights to make it here before you changed your mind.”