Hurricanes in Paradise by Denise Hildreth (web ebook reader .TXT) 📕

“Speaking of getting away . . .” She glanced at her watch as if it were going to declare some place she had to be. She didn’t have to be anywhere. “I still have a few more things to do before an appointment I have this afternoon.”

He stood up as she did. The true trademark of a gentleman. “Well, it was absolutely delightful to get to see you, Winnie. Maybe we could grab dinner or something one evening.”

“Yeah, yeah. . . . Well, I’ll see you around.” She scooped up her coffee and her leftover muffin and threw her hand up in a farewell gesture. Her short legs scurried as quickly as they could around the corner and darted up the stairs to the main level, her sequin-striped britches all but starting a fire as the sequins rubbed rapidly between her legs. She didn’t stop until she reached her room, where she locked the door behind her and declared to stay until her flight on Saturday. As soon as the bolt clicked, she let out a primal scream. She would not cry. But screaming was absolutely appropriate. Because she would officially kill all of her children when she got home. Until then, she’d harass them by phone, starting with the oldest.

* * *

Tamyra wiped the perspiration from the back of her neck with the towel provided by the fitness center. She came every morning and ran for an hour, for both her body and her mind. She stepped off the treadmill and walked through the store that sold fitness gear for forgetful vacationers and out the front door of the club. The morning was already warm and yet not as humid as Savannah. The breeze coming off the water seemed to remove any stickiness from the air.

She needed to call her mom. She had stayed up most of the night debating it. Winnie was right; she did have to start confronting things. She couldn’t hide forever. She couldn’t allow Jason to keep her separated from her family, especially now, when she needed them most. She walked into her room and continued her internal dialogue as she showered and dressed.

Winnie thought she was going to get her to climb into a pool with dolphins today, but there was no way. She had been deathly afraid of water since a near-drowning event white-water rafting a few years back. Jason had been there that day too. Had it not been for him, she would have drowned. Ironic. He had saved her, only to be the one who would kill her. So the last thing in the world she was doing today was getting in a tank full of water. That’s why, if she was “fixed” up, Winnie just might leave her alone.

She stepped into the sitting room, picked up the phone, and dialed home.

“Hello.” The voice on the other end immediately made her voice choke.

“Mom?”

“T, honey, is that you?” The relief in her mother’s voice was undeniable.

She tried to control her emotions. “Yes, Mama, it’s me.”

“How are you doing?”

She walked over to the sofa and sat down. “Doing okay.”

“You don’t sound like it.”

She felt the lump rush to her throat. “It’s bad, Mama.”

“You’re alive and on the other end of this phone. The only thing that could be truly bad is if you were dead. That is what I couldn’t bear.”

Tears burned at her eyes. The lump had become so thick, no words could move around it.

“What is it? You can tell me anything.”

She swallowed hard, the words coming out barely louder than a whisper. “I’m going to die.”

Now there was no word on the other end.

Tears began to fall down her face. “Say something, Mama.”

Her mother was incapable of hiding her emotions. “What did he do to you, honey?”

“He gave me HIV.”

The gasp was real and deep.

Tamyra fell against the cushion on the end of the sofa. Her tears were rushing as fast now as the heaves from her chest. “I’m so sorry, Mama! I’m so sorry!”

“Hush, Tamyra. . . . Hush. It’s alright.”

“But it’s my fault. I made the choice to do something I never wanted to do. I made the choice to sleep with him when I had committed to save myself for marriage. I made the choice, and this is God’s punishment!”

“Now you be quiet one minute and listen to me. God hasn’t been standing up there figuring out how to strike you down because you made a horrible mistake. Your choice opened the door for HIV, not God. And don’t you ever forget it.”

Tamyra sniffed hard. Gasps still stuttered through her, and she felt like a baby who cried itself sick. “But He must be so mad at me.”

“He may be heartbroken. Disappointed. Weeping with you. But He’s not mad at you. If I, your mama, am not mad at you, then you can rest assured, He’s not mad at you.”

“You aren’t mad at me?” She pulled the pillow up closer to her face.

“No, baby.” She could hear her mother’s tears now. “I’m not mad that you are HIV-positive. But I am furious that you didn’t tell me this six weeks ago when you ran off to hide! Now that makes your mama very mad!”

Tamyra couldn’t help but chuckle. It started as a sputter. But then it burst through her like a spigot turned on high. The laughter was contagious because in a minute her mother was doing the same thing on the other end. Tamyra finally broke it with her words. “We’re crazy, Mama.”

“Yeah, we are, honey. But I’m so glad you called me. So very glad.”

They talked for another two hours. Tamyra told her all about Winnie, and her mama couldn’t wait to meet the woman who had helped heal the heart of her girl. They wept together some more. They laughed together some more. They prayed together. And when they were done, Tamyra felt as if the door to her cage had been opened.

“You’re going to have to come back home and deal with this, honey.”

“I know. I fly out on Saturday.”

“And you’re going to