My girlfriends, Amber, Candace and Diana chit-chatted excitedly about their travel plans. We'd just graduated college and had agreed to travel for a year before we started working.
They were anxious to know my plans. I told them. "My aunt is sick. Cancer. I'll stay with her for a while."
"What about your cousin? Shouldn't he take care of her? After all, she's his mother," Candace uttered without a thought. She was always like that.
I gasped at the mention of my cousin. Diana and I shared a glance.
"I have an idea," Amber grinned smugly. "There's a fortune teller at Swope Park. Name's Mama Gold. You must see her. She's very good."
"Uh, I'm not sure about that," I said and received scowls in response. That was how I promised my girlfriends I would visit Mama Gold.
Returning to Kansas City to care for my Aunt Jade would bring back haunting memories.
Only Diana knew my secret.
I met my Aunt Jade for the first time at my mother's funeral two years ago. She invited me to spend the summer holiday with her in Kansas City. That was how I met her son, Stanley and within those three months, my life changed.
When I returned home, I was always in tears and told Diana about it. She urged me to move past it because we sometimes don't have control over our feelings.
*******
Aunt Jade was happy to see me. She looked thin and was always tired.
One morning, after I'd tucked her into bed, she smiled tentatively at me. "You've been indoors since you arrived. Take the day off and go have fun. I wish Stanley was here. You two were the best of friends the last time you visited!"
I couldn't breathe properly at the mention of Stanley's name so I stuck my face out of the window under the guise of watching the sky.
"Phoebe?"
"Okay, Aunt Jade. Now that you mentioned it, I promised my friends to see a fortune teller at Swope Park. They say she's good."
"You mean Mama Gold?"
"Yea. You know her?"
Aunt Jade chuckled. "Of course! She's my mother's good friend and coincidentally they are coming for dinner tomorrow."
"Oh. Then I can't wait to meet her!"
I'd imagined Mama Gold as a petite, old woman with unruly hair, sitting in the centre of a small, semi-dark room lit with candles of different colours, shuffling tarot cards and pronouncing doom messages on her visitors.
I was pleasantly surprised when I met Mama Gold the following evening. She was middle-aged and casually dressed in sweats and slacks. She had dark brown, piercing eyes flecked with gold that crinkled and twinkled with every smile. I'd never met anyone with such peculiar eyes.
After dinner, I placed the coffee tray on the table, served Grandma and Mama Gold some freshly brewed coffee and poured some sparkling water for Aunt Jade.
"Young lady, where are you off to?" Grandma asked when I turned to leave. "Sit and pour yourself a cup. It's ladies' night."
I chuckled and sat with them. Grandma shuffled a deck of cards like an expert poker player while Aunt Jade turned on the record player. Carole King's voice droned on, smoothly as she sang, "You've Got a Friend".
When her song, "It's Too Late" came on, I felt the atmosphere change in the room. Aunt Jade and Grandma sipped their coffee and laughed at a joke.
My gaze was involuntarily drawn to Mama Gold who had been staring at me.
"Let me see your cup," she said gently and stretched out a hand. Aunt Jade and Grandma stopped talking.
I handed her my almost empty mug.
Mama Gold glanced from the mug at me. "Like Carole, you think it's too late?"
I was confused. "I don't understand."
"You think it's too late to love. Your heart is bonded to a young man you met two years ago, just as his heart is to yours. You both are struggling, believing your love is wrong and therefore impossible. Love is never wrong, my dear," she said quietly, placing my coffee mug on the table and holding my hand.
Her warmth flowed into me. I broke down in tears.
Aunt Jade sat next to me, held and rocked me. "Sweetheart, what is it? Is Mama Gold right?"
Then I spilled the beans. "Aunt Jade, I'm so sorry. I couldn't tell you. When I stayed here two years ago, Stanley and I fell in love. I'm so ashamed. We kissed and I realised how wrong it is. He tried to talk to me but I fought him and warned him to never contact me. After I left he sent emails but I didn't open them. I felt I had betrayed my family," I said, glancing from Aunt Jade to Grandma.
"I never understand why these young people suffer so much for love," Grandma grumbled. "You love someone? Say it!"
"Mom!" Aunt Jade exclaimed. Grandma shrugged and leaned back in her chair, looking at me.
"I can't. He's my cousin," I whispered.
"Phoebe, what my mom is trying to say is that you can. Stanley is my adopted son. Well, he was my foster son when I brought him home at the age of seven. A few years later, I made it legal. You think you are related by blood?"
I nodded vigorously, shocked by the revelation.
"Stanley is not our blood but yes, he's family and will always be family. He told me he fell in love with a girl who wouldn't give him a chance. I encouraged him to move on. Was it you?"
I nodded again.
"Then it's a good thing he's coming here tomorrow. You both have my blessing. You've done nothing wrong, Phoebe."
I glanced at Mama Gold. The gold flecks in her eyes sparkled. "It's not too late," she said again with a smile.