Chapter 23 - Chapter 22

"Wait. Don't ring the bell yet."

I glance at Vuyelwa over the box of covered dishes balanced in my arms, my finger already hovering at Naledi's doorbell.

"I'm nervous," she says, squeezing her eyes shut. "I know it's silly, but I can't help it. It feels like I'm meeting your family."

Mahlathini, waiting on the stoep with us, looks from Vuyelwa to me and lies down, resting his head on his paws like he's settling in while I talk her off the ledge.

"There's nothing to be nervous about." I shift my box and give her a reassuring smile. "It's just the kids and Nali, and I think a few people from uPhuthu who had nowhere else to be today."

"And your mother-in-law."

"Former mother-in-law," I correct, though Mma Naledi has never felt like a former anything. She treated me like a son from the start, and that didn't end with the divorce. The fact that she and Nyoni loved each other the way they did only tied the two families tighter. "You'll love her. She'll love you."

"It's really good of Naledi to invite me. Not many women would be that kind to their ex's new girlfriend."

"That's Nali for you." I tilt my chin at her own smaller box of dishes. "Besides, you're arriving with half a kitchen, so you're covered."

"I made sure not to cook anything on her list."

"You're one of the best chefs in Joburg, and you're taking orders from somebody's mother about a menu. Thank you for that."

"I understand it, honestly. Going to culinary school doesn't give me the right to take over anybody's kitchen. My own mother is exactly the same. Old-school. I respect it."