Color Blind (BWWM Interracial Billionaire Single Mom Steamy Romance Novel) (11 page)

“
Kimberly,” he cupped my chin in his large hands. “I will never give up on you. You have no idea what kind of effect you have on me.”

“
You’re so sweet,” I replied as a tear ran down my cheek.
 

“
Kimberly, I’m so sorry that you suffered through that. I can’t even imagine.” Dale said at a loss for words. He wasn’t sure how to respond.
 

“
Yep, it sucks. My mom is
an incredible
woman. She’s always had my back, stood up for me and has helped me in any way she could. I’m just not sure that she’ll be so accepting of you.”
 

“
At least you have good memories
of
your dad. No one will ever be able to take those away from
you. I bet I could work my charm on your mom, and your brothers.”
 

“
Yeah,” Kimberly agreed, looking at the stand with her parent’s pictures on it.
 

“
Since my dad’s death, my mom’s been bitter. You can tell she’s sad and lonely. I think the only time she smiles is when she sees Nevaeh or my nephew Marcus. She loves her grandbabies,” I smiled.  
 

“
Wow, Kimberly. You’ve gone through so much, no wonder you’re such a strong woman. I admire you.” He sipped his coffee for a moment, “I bet your dad watches you from heaven and sees what an outstanding mother you’ve become. I’m sure he’s proud.”
 

“
Well, that’s my story. How about your family?” I asked, turning the spotlight on him.
 

§

I sighed. Where would I begin? I couldn’t imagine telling her about my family’s problems after hearing how she’d lost her dad and how it had affected her mom.
 

“
I have to warn you, it’s not nearly as colorful as your past.”

“
I’d say we all have colorful
histories
, just different shades.”
 

I nodded, “I agree.”
 

I cleared my throat, “My parents were always wealthy. My mom always wanted to have children so when she was in her early 30s, they began trying to conceive. I was the end result,” I smiled.
 

“
The earliest memory that I have
is
my mom telling me that I was going to be a big brother. At first, I was angry. I didn’t want a sibling to steal away the attention, but I grew to accept it. I was happy, and I couldn’t wait to meet my new brother or sister. At the end of February, my mom gave birth to my little brother, Anthony—who we called Tony. Come to think of it, I thought it was weird that you have a brother named Tony,” I laughed to lighten the mood a bit.
 

I took another sip from my mug. “Tony was the apple of my mom’s eye. He was her everything—much like Nevaeh is for you. It was sweet really. She never showed me the affection that she gave my brother, but I accepted the fact that he was the baby and the baby usually gets more attention. My dad was always busy traveling, making money—until my brother got sick.”
 

I looked at Kimberly, trying to choose my words carefully. I didn’t want to say anything to upset her or alarm her, especially with everything going on with Nevaeh. “My brother began experiencing odd symptoms in the fourth grade. Suddenly, every subject became difficult for him to comprehend. He didn’t understand most of what was being taught. Prior to this, he’d always been an honor roll student, so he was a smart kid. Eventually, he began to exhibit problems with speech; he was unable to articulate thoughts and ideas. My mom took him
to
various
doctors,
but they had a hard time diagnosing him. Soon, he began to forget who people were—including us.”
 

I noticed that Kimberly was hanging onto my every
word, by the way,
she was intently listening to me. “My mom began to lose it. She took him to every specialist imaginable. He was finally diagnosed with juvenile Huntington’s disease. His
condition progressed rapidly, and he died his freshman year of high school.”
 

“
Aww, I’m so sorry,” Kimberly empathized with my loss.
 

“
Thank you. After my brother had
passed
, both of my parents became very distant, almost detached. During the last few years of my brother’s life, my mom
regularly
took my brother to doctor appointments for a variety of treatments, which were supposed to delay the disease, but nothing worked. It was very aggressive. As a result, I spent most of my childhood being raised by the nanny. About a year after my brother died, my dad retired and he and mom traveled together extensively.”
 

“
How did you cope with losing your brother? That must have been very tough.”

“
Well, I hated being raised by the nanny. I longed for my mother’s attention and affection. Since my brother—and I don’t blame him for it—got most of it, I buried myself in my academics, and later, my work.”

“
I guess that’s why you’re so successful today.” Kimberly smiled. “Your brother left you that gift.”
 

“
I suppose,” I shrugged. “I still miss him a lot. He was so much fun. He liked to pull pranks on people before he got sick. If there
were
a way to rig something or set up a trap, he’d do it.” I smiled, thinking of some of the pranks my brother pulled on me and our parents.
 

“
Wow. We’ve both gone through so much. It’s crazy, isn’t it?”

I nodded in agreement. “Very.”
 

“
Would you like another cup of coffee?” Kimberly asked, noticing my cup was empty.
 

“
Sure.”

“
Okay, let me go check on Nevaeh real quick and I’ll make us some.” She tiptoed down the Harris.
 

As she made her way to the bedroom, I snuck into the kitchen and fixed our coffee.
It’s ironic how much we have in common.
Here she was with a great dad whom she’d lost, yet became the perfect mother and person
, and
he longed for that exact type of relationship. They’d both suffered a great deal of loss and had coped with the deaths of the people they loved the most. On the other hand,
they were exact opposites. She was a hardworking waitress at a chain restaurant while I was living on
Easy
Street as a billionaire. Well, they do say opposites attract. It amazed me how well I connected with her.
 

As I was making my way back into the living room, I saw Kimberly carrying Nevaeh down the hallway. I scurried to help her.
 

“
Do you need some help carrying her?” I offered.
 

“
No, it’s fine. I got her. She was awake and wanted to meet you.”

I peered down at the beautiful little girl and noticed I was right, she did look just like her mom.
 

“
Hi, I’m Dale,” I said with a grin on my face as I looked at a much younger version of Kimberly.
 

“
Hi. Did you bring us dinner?”

Kimberly and I busted out in laughter. “Yes, I did. Are you hungry? Your mom and I made you a plate, but you’d fallen asleep by the time it was ready.”
 

Nevaeh nodded her head yes. “If you’d like, I can
heat her
plate up or I can carry her. Which would you prefer?”
 

“
I’ll carry her to the kitchen table and you can heat up her plate.”

“
Will do!” I said as I spun on my heel and did a silly march in front of Nevaeh, in hopes of making her laugh. It worked. Nevaeh giggled all the way to the kitchen.
 

We sat with Nevaeh as she ate her dinner. I asked her all about herself, which she proudly and eagerly volunteered a wealth of information. She loved talking about herself, and it didn’t take me long to figure that out.
As we sat together, I learned that her favorite color was purple, she loved to play Hopscotch, her favorite song was “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston and that her favorite holiday was Christmas.
I doted on the child as I listened to her.
 

§

I was shocked to see that she had eaten most of her dinner as she spoke with Dale; it was such a relief to see her eat a whole meal for the first time in weeks.
 

“
Would you like to listen to me sing?” she asked him as she licked the chicken juices off her fingers.

“
Sure!”

“
Not now, Nevaeh,” I said.
 

“
But mom! He
wants
to hear me sing. Don’t you Dale?” she looked to him for support.
 

“
Only if it’s okay with your mom.” He smiled at me, nodding his head that he wanted her to.
 

“
Okay, but then it’s time to rest. Got it, missy?”

“
Okay. Momma, will you get your phone and play my song?”

I grabbed my phone off the kitchen counter and loaded “I Will Always Love You”. As it began, Nevaeh started dancing. Dale was amazed by the way she belted out the tunes; her voice was years beyond her age and very soulful. She entertained her mini audience as the lyrics continued. When
the song was over, she bowed her head as we clapped for her.
 

“
I’ve never heard such a rich, expressive and passionate voice come from someone so tiny!” Dale complemented.
 

I, a very proud mother, smiled at my daughter’s talent while Nevaeh gleamed with pride. “Alright my little pop star, I think you’ve had enough excitement for one night. Let’s get you laid down.”
 

Nevaeh frowned. “But I like Dale. Can’t I stay up a little longer?” she pleaded with me.
 

“
It’s okay. We’ll hang out again soon.
Your
mom’s right, you need to get some rest.”
 

Over the weekend, Nevaeh’s fever continued to come on in waves as her body gradually became stiffer. I was scheduled to work Tuesday morning, but there was no way I was leaving my baby. It was exhausting for both of us to do
routine
daily tasks such as eating and bathing. I grabbed the bull by the horns on Monday and went to speak with my manager. There was no way I was going to be able to come in that week, and he’d already given me three points the prior week—one for each day that I was gone.
 

“
Kevin, I’d like to talk to you about my daughter,” I began. “I can’t help that she’s sick and you know that I don’t like missing work. It’s not fair to give me a point for each day that I miss.”
 

“
Kimberly, you need to understand that this is a business. I can’t operate a business with employees taking off whenever they want. You can appreciate that, right?” he sneered.
 

“
Yes Kevin, but I’d like to point out that the days are all consecutive, for the same reason and again, I almost never call in. Hell, I even come to work when I’m sick. I’m one of the best waitresses that you have. Can’t you cut me some slack and make it one point?”
 

“
If I did that for you, I’d have to do it for everyone. You’ve read what the employee handbook says. I can’t go around bending the rules whenever I want to.”

“
Kevin, I need this job. I work here because it allows me to work around Nevaeh’s school schedule. The money’s not great, especially as of
late,
but the bottom line is, I can’t afford to get fired because my daughter’s sick. She’s gradually
declining and her doctor is working hard to find out what’s causing all of her symptoms.”
 

“
What do you want me to say?” Kevin said, visibly irritated that I was still pleading with him.
 

“
I want you to say that you’ll take back some of the points.” I was on the brink of tears; a lump began forming in my throat out of frustration and anger.
 

“
I’m not doing
it,
Kimberly,” he punched the desk. “I’m not bending the rules for you, or for anyone else.”
 

I lowered my voice as I began talking through gritted teeth, “Well, I came in to tell you that I won’t be here at all this week; or at least, not until Nevaeh gets better.”
 

“
If you miss a whole week of work, your points are going to rack up pretty fast. You’ll be close to losing your job; the points don’t fall off until the one-year anniversary of the date that they were accrued.”