He could feel her trembling and let go of her hands, watching as she tucked them against her waist. “You’re afraid. Of me?” Her expression said enough and he stood rapidly to give her the space he thought she needed.
“Let’s talk somewhere else,” he quietly suggested.
Nodding, she pushed from the bed and rushed out ahead of him.
He thought they might sit in the living area, but Giselle headed to the other side of the room. Gabriel followed, but saw her tense and back away when the distance began to close between them.
“Jesus...you really think I’d hurt you?”
“It won’t be easy for you to hear this-”
“To hell with that! You think I’d put my hands on you that way?”
“My name isn’t Giselle Weeks. It’s Guiya Lucas. Weeks is my mother’s maiden name. I use it at work, anywhere outside where I live...which is in Harlem.”
Amusement crept into Gabriel’s striking blues. “This is about where you live? Honey, I don’t care where-”
“My mother is black, Gabriel. My father is black. Their blood runs through my veins. I have a brother and sister. You couldn’t tell I’m related to any of them by looking at us.”
Disbelief registered and then slowly multiplied across Gabriel’s features. He tried to move, but only succeeded in staggering back. “How is-how is that possible?” he asked.
Giselle raised her chin, bolder now that the bulk of the truth had been revealed. “My great, great grandmother was the kind of blue eyed blonde you think I am. I suppose her genes decided to reveal themselves in me. I’m so sorry Gabriel. I didn’t tell you sooner because I didn’t know how.”
“And you were afraid of me. Afraid I might...”
“It’s not an easy thing to hear-that the girlfriend you thought was white is black, especially if you’re white.”
“I’m not white.”
“Oh?” Surprise had her moving back a fraction then too. “How?”
Gabriel shrugged. “After what my family went through when they first moved here, my dad takes a little offence with us identifying that way.”
Intrigue sparkled in Giselle’s eyes and she nodded. “Your dad sounds like a remarkable man.”
“He is. I hope you’ll get to see that for yourself.”
Giselle blinked, Gabriel’s words seeming to bring her back to the point at hand. “At any rate, you’re still whiter than me.”
He hissed out an expletive then and shoved a hand through the coal-colored waves covering his head. “Can’t believe we’re talking about this.”
“I’m sorry-”
“Please stop doing that. There’s nothing to apologize for.”
“But I lied.”
“You held back something about yourself for good reasons.”
She frowned. “What are you saying, Gabriel?”
He moved toward her, smiling faintly when she didn’t retreat. “I’ve known more than my fair share of girls. I’ve never known anyone like you and that was before your little revelation just now. I love you, Guiya,” he moved closer when she gasped at his use of her name. “I don’t care who your parents are.”
Her happiness melded with quiet despair. “Don’t you see that it’s more complicated than that? What if I get pregnant?”
“Are you asking if I’d love it? It’d be ours. Hell yes, I’d love it.”
“And if it came out, not like either of us?”
Anger flashed in his eyes then. “I don’t know how many ways to say I’d love it.”
Giselle’s eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “It’s easy to say that now before the fact.”
“Then have my child and let me say it then. The words will be the same.”
She hugged herself. “We haven’t even told our families.”
“Well you may be dragging your feet there, but I’ve already decided to tell mine during the big dinner my mother’s having in a few weeks. I’ve even told my brothers to come and bring dates of their own so you won’t be the only girl there. My plan is to introduce them to my fianceé, not my girlfriend.”
She spread her hands at her sides and let them drop in a helpless manner. “What about all this?”
Gabriel shrugged. “I say we tell them everything.”
“You really are crazy,” a smile pulled at her mouth.
Gabriel spread his arms then. “So are you ready to save me now?”
She went to him, returning his desperate embrace with her own.
