Veronica considered her husband’s words as the strains of R&B flowed from the restaurant’s sound system. If only we had won that contest, she thought, then I wouldn’t be faced with this choice.
“Uh-oh,” Dexter said, pulling his hand away. “Your mother is coming our way.” He met his wife’s eyes. “I can stay.”
She shook her head. “I need to do this alone. Trust me.”
Standing, he said, “It’s not you I don’t trust.” When Delilah reached the table, he leaned in and brushed her cheek with what Veronica knew was an empty kiss. She didn’t know why the two of them chose to fake caring about each other. Everybody knew they didn’t like each other. “Good morning, Mom,” Dexter said, his fake smile firmly in place.
“Yours must have been better than mine,” Delilah said, not joining in the standard pretense. “I’ve been worrying about the future of my family all night and all morning.”
Across Delilah’s head, Dexter shot a knowing glance at Veronica. Ignoring him, she said, “Sit down, Momma. You’ll feel better after you get something to eat.”
“That’s right,” Dexter said. “Take my seat. I’m leaving you two alone so Veronica can tell you her decision. I hope you hear her out with an open mind.”
Delilah slid into the booth across from Veronica. “I think we all need an open mind,” she said, looking into her daughter’s eyes.
Dexter leaned over and kissed Veronica on the cheek. “I’ll see you later at the house. Don’t be too long. We have an appointment this afternoon with the attorney.”
Delilah glanced after Dexter as he left the table before turning to her daughter. “You have an appointment with an attorney? It’s too much to hope it’s about a divorce, I suppose.”
Veronica couldn’t help but chuckle. “Momma, you’re a mess. You know that, don’t you?”
Delilah waved off her comment with the rose-colored napkin, and then she placed it in her lap. “I’m just talking. I don’t want you to get a divorce. You know better than that. What I want is for you to have a happy and fulfilling life.”
“I know you do.”
“And that’s why I didn’t tell you about the Legends offer. No good can come of it, Veronica. The price is too high.”
“What if I don’t think it’s too high?”
Her mother’s eyes widened. “You only say that because you have stars in your eyes. You see yourself as the next Whitney, the next Beyoncé. But at what cost?”
Veronica pushed her plate away and folded her elbows on the table. It was now-or-never time. “I’ve seen the contract, Momma. Mr. Washington came over to the house last night. He explained everything to me and Dexter.” She reached for her mother’s hand. “It’s a great deal, Momma, and you’d be the first one to say so if it were a contract for Delilah’s Daughters and not one just for me.”
Delilah squeezed her fingers. “I could understand your taking this offer if there wasn’t another one for the group on the table, but this I don’t understand. How can you betray your sisters, your father, this way?”
Veronica pulled her hands away. “I’m not betraying anybody, Momma. I’m being true to myself. This deal could be a life-changer for me and Dexter. Do you know they want him to write a fictionalized account of my rise to stardom?”
Delilah turned up her nose. “I should have known there was something in it for him,” she said. “What’s in it for your sisters, the women who have struggled with you this far? What’s in it for them?”
“Nothing now,” Veronica said, “but once I make it big, I can help them. I promise I will.”
Delilah looked at her with disappointment. “I wonder if that’s what Malcolm Knowles and Beyoncé told Kelly Rowland and that other one from Destiny’s Child. You can see how well that worked out.”
“This is different. Alisha and Roxanne are my sisters. I’ll always look out for them.”
Delilah lifted a brow. “The way you’re looking out for them now? I’d like to see you explain that to them.”
Veronica leaned forward. “You can make them understand, Momma. I need your help.”
Delilah shook her head. “Not this time. This is your decision. If you’re big enough to make it, then you’re big enough to defend it to your sisters.”
Veronica sank back in her chair. “It’s not like they have nothing. They still have the contract with Magic City.”
Delilah leaned forward, across the table. “Don’t play dumb with me, Veronica. That deal was for Delilah’s Daughters, all three of you, not two of you. It’s going to vanish as soon as I tell Tommy you’re out. He’s a family friend, but he’s also a businessman.”
“You don’t know that,” Veronica said, though deep in her heart she knew her mother was right.
Delilah looked at her, and Veronica felt her compassion. “I didn’t want you to have to make this decision, Veronica. I tried to keep it from you. I know you and your sisters think I was wrong. I don’t know. Maybe I was. Maybe this really is your moment and your decision. This is your time to figure out what you want your life to be, what God wants your life to be.”
“I didn’t ask for this opportunity, Momma. It was given to me. God gave it to me. How can I turn it down?”
“You have two opportunities, Veronica. What God has given you is a choice. It’s up to you to decide which road is the right road.”
Chapter 12
You’re still the best cook in Alabama,” Tommy Johns told Delilah as he put the last of the dishes in the dishwasher of his recently remodeled kitchen.” He turned around to face her. “And the most attractive.”
Delilah leaned up on her toes and pressed a soft kiss against his cheek. “You’re biased.”
Tommy pulled her closer. “Marry me, Delilah. We’ve waited long enough. It’s our time now.”
Delilah let herself enjoy the strength of Tommy’s arms around her. He’d been her friend for a very long time, since before she met Rocky. In fact, she had met Rocky through Tommy. And then she’d married Rocky, and Tommy had been forced to keep his feelings for her hidden. He’d been her rock after Rocky’s death. Over time, their feelings of friendship had deepened. Now here they were at fifty and very much in love, but now wasn’t the time to think about marriage. She eased out of his arms and looked up into his eyes. “You know I can’t. Not right now, Tommy. There’s too much going on with the girls.”
“We’re not getting any younger, Delilah,” he said, putting his arms around her shoulders and guiding her to the living room. When they were seated next to each other on the upholstered sofa, he continued. “How long are we supposed to wait? Your daughters will always be your daughters, and they’ll always have something going on in their lives. There’ll never be a perfect time. We have to pick a time that’s good for us and go with it.”
Delilah leaned her head on his shoulder. “I’d agree with you at any other time, but what’s going on with Delilah’s Daughters right now is different. Veronica is about to make a decision that will split the family.”
“So you think she’s going to take the Legends offer?”
Delilah nodded. “She hasn’t said so directly, but that’s where her heart is. I’m praying she changes her mind, but I have a feeling it’s a desperate prayer. She wants what Legends is telling her they can give her.”
“Can you blame her? She’s young. At twenty-six, fame and fortune are very enticing.”
“At twenty-six, she has to know that nothing comes without a cost,” Delilah countered. “She hasn’t considered the cost. If she goes with Legends, she’ll regret it down the line. I know she will. She can get to where she wants to be by taking your generous Magic City offer.”
Tommy picked up her hand and kissed her fingers. “There’s a big difference between Magic City and Legends. From a purely business perspective, going with Legends is the best option for Veronica, and that’s coming from the owner of Magic City. The companies operate on different levels, Delilah. You know that. I consider it a success when a Magic
City artist is picked up by a major label like Legends. They can do more for Veronica’s career than I ever could at Magic City. That’s the truth of the matter.”
“But what about her sisters? What happens to them while Veronica is off becoming a star? Your contract offer was for the group. I don’t expect you to try to launch Delilah’s Daughters in competition with Legends’ launching of Veronica.”
Tommy nodded his head in agreement. “That wouldn’t be fair to Alisha and Roxanne. We’d either be in a race to get them out first or we’d be trying to find a place for them after Veronica’s splash. We’d lose in either case because of Magic City’s limited resources. All is not lost, though. We’ll find a way to work out something at Magic City. I care about the girls too, Delilah. I won’t leave them hanging.”
Delilah appreciated that Tommy was willing to take Roxanne and Alisha on, but there was little value in that if he didn’t have a plan to launch them as a duo. The only plan he had now was for the entire group. “If Veronica would just think this thing through to its final end, we wouldn’t have this problem. Why can’t she see the damage she’s about to do?”
Tommy pressed a kiss against her head. “She’s a grown woman, Delilah. You have to let her make her mistakes. It’s called life. You have to let her live it. On her terms.”
A part of Delilah knew Tommy was right, but another part of her was convinced that the cost of a mistake in this instance would be too high. “I could go along with it better if Veronica’s decision only affected her, but it doesn’t. She’s making a decision that also affects her sisters. Why can’t she think of them as well as herself? If Rocky were here, he could help her make the right choice. She’s not listening to me.”
“She’s listening, Delilah, but she doesn’t agree. Your girls are no longer children. They’re women with their individual goals and interests. Veronica has sisters, but she also has a husband. Her decisions have to take into account Dexter and their plans for the future.”
Delilah sat up next to him. “You sound like Veronica. She said practically the same thing to me.”
He rubbed her neck with his hand. “You need to listen to her.”
“This is not what Rocky wanted for them.”
Tommy dropped his hand from her neck. “Is this about the girls, or is this about Rocky?”
From his tone, Delilah knew what he believed the answer to be. How could she explain it in a way that he would understand? “Yes, it’s about Rocky, because Delilah’s Daughters was his creation. It was his dream to see the girls blossom together as a group. I bought into that dream, and so did the girls.”
“And you want to see his dream come to fruition?”
She nodded.
He rested a palm against her cheek and looked into her eyes. “Rocky forgave you, Delilah. You no longer have to do penance. He’s not looking down from heaven, waiting for you to make up to him for past sins.”
Delilah batted her eyes to hold back tears. This man sitting next to her was her best friend, and he knew all her secrets. He knew them all, and he still loved her. How could she be so blessed to have found two good men to love her? “You’re right,” she said, “but it’s more than penance for me. It’s me holding this family together the way he did. Rocky could have walked away back then, and nobody would have blamed him, but he stayed. He put the family first, and we were able to work through our problems. It was hard, but it was worth it. That’s the way I feel, and I believe he felt the same way.”
“He did,” Tommy said. “Nothing was more important to Rocky than you and the girls. Rocky forgave and he forgot, Delilah. He loved you and he loved his girls, all three of them.”
Delilah blinked back more tears. “I know he did. The girls never doubted his love. He never gave them a reason to question his feelings for them. He was the perfect father.”
Tommy pulled her closer. “But he wasn’t the perfect husband,” he added. “He started on the road to becoming one when he forgave you. There was a time in Rocky’s life when you and the girls came after his music. By forgiving you, he changed his priorities, and in doing that, his life was enriched beyond measure.”
“I had a good marriage,” Delilah said.
“Yes, you did. And you could have another good one if you’d give us a chance.”
Delilah knew he was right.
“I need to know that you want to move forward with me, Delilah.”
She looked up at him. “You know I do.”
“I need you to show me. We’re too old to be hiding our relationship like there’s something wrong with it. Your girls need to know that we’re more than friends. I feel as though we’re lying to them. They’re not children, and we shouldn’t treat them like they are.”
Delilah knew this was a point on which she couldn’t waver. “Okay, we’ll tell them. Veronica’s going to tell us her decision about the Legends contract next week. Let’s pray that we can tell the girls our news at the celebration of Delilah’s Daughters joining Magic City Records.”
Chapter 13
A week later, after meeting with her new entertainment lawyer and signing the Legends contract, Veronica arrived back in Birmingham with Dexter. Their first stop was her mom’s house. Veronica didn’t want to wait to tell her sisters what she had done. While she knew she had made the right decision for her future, she also knew it was going to hurt them. She’d prayed for an easier answer, but none had come.
When Dexter pulled into her mother’s driveway, she took a deep breath. She knew what she was about to do could change her relationship with her sisters for a long time. She’d make it up to them, she promised herself. As soon as she made it big, she’d pull them up right behind her.
“It’s going to be all right,” Dexter said. “You made the only decision you could make. If they love you, and I know they do, they’ll understand.”
Even though she knew Dexter was trying to be helpful, she wished he would keep quiet. He agreed with her decision because it was the one he wanted her to make. Of course he would be magnanimous toward her mother and sisters. “They’re going to be hurt, Dexter.”
“They’re grown-ups,” he said. “They’ll get over it.”
Now she really wanted to pop him. “How would you feel if I had gone the other way and chosen to stay with the group?”
His lips turned down in a frown. “Let’s not even think about that. You made the right decision for both of us.” After he turned off the ignition, he turned to her. “You put us first, Veronica, and you’ll never know how much that means to me.”
“I think I know,” she said, pressing a hand against his cheek. “Just show a little compassion for my mom and sisters. That’s all I ask.”
He pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm. “I can do that.”
“Thank you,” she said. Then she got out of the car and headed for the front door, her husband behind her. Her mother opened the door before they reached it.
“We’ve been waiting for you,” Delilah said. “Did you have a good drive over?”
“Fine,” Veronica said, pressing a kiss against her mother’s cheek.
“Good,” Delilah said, leading them into the house. “I’ve been praying for you, for all of us really.” She squeezed her daughter’s hand. “Your sisters are in the living room. Are you ready?”
Veronica squeezed back, thankful for her mother’s unexpected support. Maybe this would go better than she had imagined. “I’m ready,” she answered.
Delilah escorted them into the living room. Alisha and Roxanne sat on the sofa, anxiousness etched on their faces. These were her sisters. Veronica didn’t know if she could break their hearts this way.
“You and Dexter take the loveseat,” Delilah said, taking the armchair between the loveseat and the sofa.
After she and Dexter were seated, Delilah cleared her throat. Then she said, “There’s no sense beating around the bush. Why don’t you tell us the decision you’ve made, Veronica?”
It was Veron
ica’s turn to take another deep breath. She stared down at her hands before looking back up at her sisters. “The Legends offer is a great offer,” she began.
“For you,” Roxanne said. “But the Magic City offer is best for the group.”
Veronica glanced at her hands again. She’d hoped her sisters would let her plead her case without interruption, but that was not to be. She lifted her eyes and met Roxanne’s stare. “I know Magic City’s offer is best for the group, but I’m not sure it’s best for me.”
“You’ve decided to take the Legends offer, haven’t you?” Roxanne said accusingly.
Veronica forced herself to hold her sister’s gaze, though it would have been easier to turn away from the pain she saw there. Roxanne had struggled for so long. Even though she had that gig at Dreamland, Veronica knew she wanted more and knew she hoped to achieve that something more with the group. “I’m sorry, Roxanne,” she said. “I know how much music means to all of us. I wish so much that we had won that contest and gotten a contract as Delilah’s Daughters. But we didn’t win, and we have to play the hand life has dealt us.”
“It seems some of us got better cards than the rest of us,” Roxanne said, not giving an inch.
Veronica felt Dexter about to say something, so she squeezed his thigh to stop him. This was between her, her sisters, and her mother. She didn’t need him adding his two cents’ worth and making things worse. If they could get worse, that is. She looked to her mom for help. When Delilah only shook her head slowly from side to side, Veronica knew not to expect any more support from her. As despair began to consume her, she felt Dexter’s soft caress on her knee and remembered that she was not alone. She rested a hand atop his, accepting the comfort and support he offered.
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