I opened my mouth to point out the many differences between prickly and not wanting my fiancé compared to a virulent racist.
But before I could, Skylar asked, “Is Phantom’s whole family so ah…direct?”
I paused, a bit of the self-righteous steam deflating out of me as I admitted, “I don’t know.”
“Wait,” Skylar said, grabbing my arm and stopping our forward progress. “Y’all are planning to get married, and you still haven’t met his family?”
I shifted the one golf club I’d decided to carry from hand to hand. I’d never been a fan of lying. I didn’t even allow myself any of Minerva’s special potions for my little high school crushes because it felt too much like cheating.
But I hadn’t exactly explained to my sister that I was only pretending to be engaged to Hak-kan so that his company could buy Dad’s instead of Eastons.
So, it was challenging to walk the fine line between fact and fiction as I answered, “Well, there’s that one cousin of his—I met him back in November, and we went to a baby shower at his house about a week ago. And, as we told you back at Thanksgiving, I helped his grandmother get situated after her fall. But other than that, no.”
Skylar shook her head. “So, he’s met your family twice, and he’s going back early to be with his own family for the holidays, but he didn’t invite you—even though they live in New York?”
“No,” I’d admitted, feeling a little weird now about the situation myself.
Hak-kan talked about Victor all the time. And it felt like, between Skylar and me, we’d managed to tell him every single story about growing up as Glendavers in Kentucky.
But he’d only brought up his gay brother twice. And both times had been in response to direct questions. Also, he never talked about his parents, other than mentioning once that they were retired.
“Is it because they’re not Christians?” Skylar asked. “Is he planning to take you home for one of their holidays like—what is that one in February? Chinese New Year?”
“Lunar New Year,” I corrected. “And I don’t know…probably not.”
“Probably not?” Skylar gaped at me. “So you’re going to marry him without meeting his people? His people are going to let you marry him without meeting you?”
I tilted my head with a wince. “I don’t think the word ‘let’ is even in Hak-kan’s vocabulary. And I’m sure he has his reasons for not introducing me to his family.”
Skylar raised her eyebrows. “I dunno, sis. I know I’m not supposed to comment on racial matters I don’t necessarily understand. But this feels an awful lot like how Dad never took you around to meet Great Grandma at the home before she passed. I just want to make sure you’re not marrying into a family that will make your life harder than it needs to be. At least Garrett’s people were accepting of you from the start.”
I snorted. And the words, “Sure, so accepting,” slipped out sarcastic and bitter as I started us walking again.
“What do you mean?” Skylar demanded, almost jogging to keep up with my much longer stride. “Those people were nothing but lovely to you. It’s not the Eastons’ fault that their son couldn’t keep it in his pants.”
“They’re probably not mad about it either,” I answered Skylar, my tongue franker than usual. “I mean, Leighton is everything they’d want in a daughter-in-law: pretty, blonde, the stepdaughter of a powerful man.”
I shook my head. “Garrett’s parents were accepting of me because they had to be, and later on, it was in their financial interest to be. But they weren’t ecstatic about it. Parents are never ecstatic about their son bringing someone who looks like me home. That’s just how it is for me—for many black women in America who date outside their race. So no….”
My heart shrank a little. “Hak-kan is probably not going to introduce me to his family because he doesn’t want to upset them…or me.”
Skylar’s eyes softened. “Oh, sis…I’m…well, we’re doing a validation series of workshops at church, so I’m just going to say, ‘I can imagine that’s been very hard for you. I mean—sorry for my language—but that sucks.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Thanks. It does kind of suck when I let myself think about it, and actually, that’s the exact right response.”
“I know!” Skylar replied, widening her eyes. “I tried it with Mama the other day, and she asked me if I’d been replaced by one of those space worms—like in the body-snatching movies. Then she said….”
Skylar pulled out a dead-on in personation of our mother’s arch southern tones to quote, “If so, keep the worm. I like this version of you much, much better.”
Skylar and I were just about falling into each other, laughing when we reached Hak-kan and my father, who were saying their goodbyes on the paved sidewalk between the golf course and the gravel parking lot.