La Toya Hankins

Leah Tubman had no way of knowing the informational interview she had in 2008 with the shapely marketing manager would lead to her planning a same-sex Southern wedding, complete with a rabbi and rum cake, seven years later. She and Patricia Goldman may come from different faiths, but their love knows no bounds.<br><br>When the two women meet, they don’t need a Supreme Court decision to fall in love, but thanks to the split June 2015 ruling making gay marriage legal in the United States, they plan to make their interracial mixed love affair official with a fall wedding. It takes an allergy scare and a brunch complete with sex and syrup to bring them close to wedding bliss, but Leah wouldn’t have it any other way.

Challah and Callaloo

Beside her Carolina Medical Center hospital bed, a half-asleep Patricia nodded. It was the Wednesday after Valentine’s Day, and Leah was recovering from a food allergy that interfered with what was supposed to be a magical first date.


“Yes, I’m sure they don’t run out of food on a weeknight, and the bread certainly would have been better.”


Thanks in part to Patricia passing on her information, Leah was hired for the company’s corporate brands department. After a month of passing each other at work, Patricia and Leah met for coffee on the first day of summer in 2008. Since Patricia helped her get the job, Leah figured the least she could do was spring for a latte and a pastry.


Chapter 7