Read Online Your Love Is King by Adrienne Thompson - Free Book Online Page A

had looked so familiar. I’d seen their faces on the front of the church bulletin. Mr.—or should I say Reverend —and Mrs. King were the pastor and first lady of the church.
     
    “Old man, how’d y’all get here so quick?” Chris quipped as he approached his father.
     
    Rev. King stood from his chair and embraced Chris. “Chris! I wasn’t expecting you.” He smiled at me. “Who we got here?”
     
    “Dad, this is Marli. She’s new in town. I told her this is the best place to eat in St. Louis.”
     
    Rev. King shook my hand. “Well, you won’t be disappointed. My Lizzie can sure enough cook.”
     
    I smiled. “Thanks for having me.”
     
    “No problem. Any friend of Chris’s is welcome here. He’s my special boy, you know,” he said as he looked proudly up at Chris, who stood a couple of inches taller than his father.
     
    I smiled and took a seat on the sofa. Chris sat next to me and engaged his father in warm conversation as we waited for dinner. I could tell that they really shared a special bond.
     
    I glanced around the room and eyed the photographs that decorated the various tables as well as the top of a piano. There were a few family portraits which included Rev. and Mrs. King, Chris and three young ladies. Chris was the only white person in any of the photos. There were pictures of him and the girls as children, teenagers, all the way up to adulthood.
     
    This really was his family, and I was itching to know how it all came to be, but I dared not ask him and sound even more race-obsessed than he already thought I was. I turned my attention back to his and his father’s conversation and tried to push the questions out of my head.
     
    “So Marli, how long have you been here in town?” Rev. King asked.
     
    “Um, a little over a month,” I replied.
     
    “Marli’s a nurse, like Ava,” Chris offered.
     
    “Really? You working over at University, too?” Rev. King queried.
     
    “Um, yes, sir. I’m on a three-month assignment there. I’m from Arkansas.”
     
    “Arkansas. Got some relatives in Arkansas. Never can remember the name of the town, though. How’s your stay here been so far?”
     
    “Good. I like it here.”
     
    “Good, then maybe you’ll decide to stay,” Chris said with a wide grin.
     

 
     
    Ten
     
    “I Never Thought I’d See the Day”
     
     
     
    Dinner was nice, really nice. Mrs. King lived up to her reputation, and I thoroughly enjoyed her chicken and dressing, green beans, and homemade macaroni and cheese. After dinner, two of Chris’s sisters, Ava and Lana, showed up and shared chocolate pie with us. They were both beautiful, short, and round, just like their mother.
     
    During my visit, I learned that Chris was the oldest child and that Ava was the baby. Ava, of course, was a nurse, and Lana was a teacher. A third sister, Jayne, lived in Chicago and was a pastor’s wife and stay-at-home mom.
     
    Being there with them felt nice. They were a very close-knit family, and the love they shared was infectious. Chris was the adored big-brother, and he took his role as the protector of his sisters very seriously. He was both comfortable with and accepted by his family, two things that were never true of me and my family.
     
    We’d been at his parents’ house for hours, and I really wouldn’t have minded staying longer, but right before nightfall, Chris decided to take me home. As we rode along in his Mercedes, I peered out the side window with a faint smile on my face.
     
    “Did you enjoy yourself?” he asked.
     
    I turned to him and nodded. “Yeah, I did. Your family is wonderful. You’re very lucky.”
     
    “I am,” he agreed. “I thank God for them every day.”
     
    “You should.”
     
    A few minutes later, Chris parked his car on the lot in front of my building. He turned to me and smiled. “So, when are you gonna ask me why I’m a white man with a black family?”
     
    I shook my head. “I wasn’t gonna