“I’m Monica.” She stuck her hand out to Griffin. “A Holmes by marriage, as is my sister-in-law, Sienna. This is Eli and Toby.”
“My cousins,” Indina interjected. “What are you guys up to?”
“We’re going on a behind-the-scenes tour of the galley,” Sienna said. She looked radiant, despite her seven months pregnant belly. Or maybe it was because of it. “There’s a promise of dessert samples.”
“You can eat after that huge buffet we just had?” Indina asked.
“You think I can’t?” Sienna said, rubbing her plump belly.
“Believe me, she can,” Toby said, earning an elbow to the gut from his wife.
“I’d invite you both to join us, but you had to book the tour in advance,” Monica said. “Sorry.”
Indina waved off her apology. “Don’t worry about us. We’re going to take a self-guided tour. We’ll see you all at dinner tonight. That is, if you aren’t too stuffed from your galley tour.”
“We won’t be,” Sienna called over her shoulder.
“It was nice to officially meet you,” Monica said to Griffin. “I look forward to chatting later.”
“Enjoy your tour,” Indina said, stepping between them. She could see those matchmaker wheels turning behind Monica’s eyes.
As she and Griffin entered the corridor, he asked, “Exactly how many people are in your family?”
Indina chuckled. “Too many. I know it’s pretty overwhelming. But when I think about it, our family is small compared to most families in New Orleans. My dad and my late uncle Wesley were my grandparents’ only children. Uncle Wesley and Margo had three sons—Alex, Eli and Toby. My mom and dad had four kids.”
“So I still have a brother to meet,” Griffin stated.
She nodded. “Ezra was the tall one with the wire-rimmed glasses. You’ll get to meet him eventually.”
“They’re all the size of oak trees,” Griffin said.
“That seems to be a trait of the Holmes men,” Indina said.
“And you’re the only girl,” he said. “Where do you fit in the line?”
“Harrison’s the oldest, with me next. We’re fourteen months apart. Mom and dad waited a few years before they had Ezra.”
“What about the youngest? His name is Reid, right?”
She nodded. “Reid was the surprise of the bunch. My mom found out she was pregnant when I was twelve. It was so embarrassing.”
Griffin chuckled. “Why is that?”
“Because I was in the seventh grade, and by that time we all knew how babies were made. Knowing what my parents had to do in order to make a baby grossed me out.” Indina did an exaggerated shudder, and Griffin laughed harder.
“I guess that’s enough to scar any kid.”
“Totally and completely,” Indina said. “It took months before I could look either of them in the eye.”
Indina stopped to look at a cute bathing suit in the window of one of the gift shops aboard the ship.
“So, where’s your mom?” Griffin asked. “I just realize I haven’t met her yet.”
Indina looked over at him and frowned. “She died earlier this year.”
His head jerked back in surprise. “This year? When?”
“Early March,” Indina answered.
A blanket of astonishment still covering his face, Griffin backed into an alcove that held several purple, velvet-covered chairs.
“How did I not know you lost your mother?” he asked as he took a seat.
That was a good question. “I guess the topic never came up,” Indina said, settling into the chair next to his.
It was suddenly painful for her to swallow. It didn’t have as much to do with talking about her mother’s death as it did with the bewildering question swirling around in her head. How could she be intimate with someone for as long as she and Griffin had been, yet not share such a crucial detail of her life?
Granted, her mother died only a few months after she and Griffin started sleeping together, but it was startling to realize a man she’d shared her body with countless times didn’t even know that she’d suffered the single most significant loss of her life earlier this year. How had this topic never come up?
But, then again, why would it? When it came to their personal lives, they never shared all that much. She had no idea if his parents were dead or alive. The thought left an uncomfortable knot lodged in Indina’s throat. She knew more about her mailman’s background than she did about Griffin’s.
“I’m sorry about your mom.” Griffin took her left hand in his and caressed her palm with his thumb. “How did she die?”
“Heart disease,” Indina answered.
“The silent killer.”
She nodded. “That’s exactly what it is. My mom walked three miles every morning, tried to eat as healthy as one can while living in New Orleans, and took her blood pressure medication religiously. Yet it still got her.” Indina shook her head. “So many people don’t realize that heart disease is the number one killer of black women. My brothers and I have been trying to figure out what we can do to raise awareness in my mom’s name. We’re leaning toward setting up a foundation with a goal of educating more women about their risks.”
“That would be a beautiful legacy,” he said.
“Thank you,” Indina replied. She’d come to terms with her mother’s death but sometimes, when she least expected it, it hit her that she was gone. The pain could be overwhelming.
“So, was it rough growing up the only girl in the family?” Griffin asked, as if he sensed that she wanted to change the subject.
Indina gratefully latched on to the new topic. “Not at all.” She looked over at him and grinned. “I was spoiled rotten. When I said I never got whippings, it wasn’t because I didn’t deserve any. I definitely deserved a few. But my dad never once gave me so much as a swat on the butt. It used to drive my brothers nuts because they never got off
