Chapter 14
“What do you want to see?” Lamar asked Nydia as he left the CBD and drove along St. Charles Avenue in the direction of Canal Street.
Nydia shifted on her seat and stared at Lamar. There was never a time when she hadn’t found him impeccably groomed. Not a strand of his cropped gray hair was out of place, and whether clean-shaven or electing to sport a stubble, Lamar was the epitome of a metrosexual. His long, slender fingers with clean, square-cut nails indicated he was mindful of his overall appearance.
Nydia did not want to believe she was that superficial to be attracted to a man because of the way he looked, as it had been with Danny, but she knew deep down inside Lamar was as different from her ex as night and day. Danny refused to take responsibility for himself, preferring to depend on his sister to house and feed him. Lamar, although widowed, had elected to remain single because his daughter had become his priority. He had admitted to sleeping with women before meeting Nydia, but hadn’t disclosed whether he’d introduced any of them to Kendra.
“The French Quarter,” she replied, “Bourbon, Ramparts, Basin and Burgundy Streets, and the Farmers’ Market.”
Lamar gave her a quick glance. “Hold up, beautiful. You want to see a lot in just a few hours.”
Nydia rested her left hand on his right one, which cradled the gearshift. “If you don’t mind being my guide, then I’m willing to space out the tour over several weekends. That is, if you don’t work weekends,” she added.
“I try not to work weekends, because I want to plan things to do with Kendra.”
“But you came up to New York to see me on the weekend,” she reminded Lamar.
“That was the exception. It was apparent you needed my help.”
She removed her hand. “You’re right, and for that I’ll be eternally grateful.”
“It’s not about gratitude, Nydia. You’ll learn soon enough that folks down here look out for one another.”
“I haven’t officially become a New Orleanian.”
“That doesn’t matter, because you will.” Lamar rested his arm over the back of her seat when he stopped for a red light. “Now that you’ve twisted my arm and got me to agree to learn to cook, what are you going to start out with?”
“I’ll show you how to put together a salad and a sandwich.”
He chuckled. “That sounds easy.”
Her smile was dazzling. “Aren’t you overly confident?”
“How difficult can it be to make a salad, cariña? All you need is lettuce, tomatoes, and maybe cucumber. And a sandwich is meat between two slices of bread.”
“Salads aren’t always made with greens, sweetie. There’s caprese made with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese and basil leaves; salad niçoise. There’s also Greek, tabbouleh, potato, and Cobb salads. Please tell me if a Cuban sandwich is just meat between two slices of bread?”
“No way,” Lamar countered. His fingers combed through the hair on her nape before his hand returned to the gearshift.
Nydia inclined her head. “I rest my case.”
“I find Cuban sandwiches addictive,” he admitted.
“They can be if made with the right ingredients. I won’t be able to show you how to make them until we have perñil.”
* * *
Lamar noticed Nydia had said we as if they were a couple. And he had to ask himself whether he wanted them to be a couple, and the answer was a resounding yes. He wanted to spend as much time with her as he could, given his work schedule and looking after Kendra.
Gloria Pierce had nagged him for years to learn to cook, and he knew she would be shocked to know her son had agreed to take lessons from a little slip of a woman who unknowingly ensnared him in a sensual trap from which he did not want to escape.
“Do you think Kendra is going to resent me being around you?”
Lamar’s foot hit the brake, bringing the vehicle to an abrupt stop. He glanced up at the rearview mirror and exhaled an audible breath that there wasn’t a car behind his to rear-end the Volvo. He stared at Nydia as if she were a stranger. “Why would you ask me something like that?”
“You’re holding up traffic, Lamar,” Nydia said amid a cacophony of blaring horns.
Returning his attention to the road, Lamar drove through the intersection. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“I didn’t answer because you didn’t answer mine.”
“No, I don’t think she’ll resent you.”
“Am I the first woman outside your housekeeper and family members she’s seen you with?” She had asked him yet another question.
“Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?”
“I saw her watching us at the restaurant.”
“That’s where you’re mistaken. Kendra was too involved with her friends to pay any attention to us.”
“That’s where you are wrong,” Nydia argued softly. “Every once in a while I saw her glance at us when she thought we weren’t looking.”
When Nydia mentioned Kendra staring at her, Lamar knew it wasn’t because she had recognized her from the television footage he’d taped. He’d spent hours fast-forwarding the tapes and deleting the coverage with Nydia and her ex. “Why do think she was looking at us?”
“I think it’s because she’s curious. Call it a girl thing, but she probably wants to know how we met, and if I’m going to be someone she will have to share her father with.”
“And what do you intend to tell her if she asks?” Lamar questioned.
“The truth, and that her father and I are friends just like Morgan and Taylor are her friends.”
Lamar nodded as he pondered Nydia’s proposed explanation if Kendra did ask about their association. He and Nydia were friends, but then he had to ask himself if he wanted more than friendship, and at this time he didn’t have an answer.
“And I’ll also tell her the truth because I’ve never lied to my daughter. That you and I are friends.”
“Make certain to reassure her that she will not have to share you with me.”
Lamar signaled and turned down the blocks leading to Bourbon Street. “That’s something I’m not going to do, and that is allow my daughter to control or monitor my life. I’m the adult and responsible for her and will be until she’s emancipated. The only promise I hold to is the tradition of eating breakfast with Kendra on days she has classes. It was something I promised her after her mother died, and so far I’ve been able to keep it.” He maneuvered into a parking space, shut off the engine, and released his seat belt. Shifting on his seat, Lamar met Nydia’s eyes. “I’d like your opinion on a predicament I need to resolve with my partners tomorrow.”
Nydia unbuckled her seat belt and leaned closer. “I’m all ears.”
Lamar told her about the discussion he’d had with his partners about submitting a bid for the strip mall in Lafayette. “There’s no guarantee we’ll secure the project, but if we come in as the lowest bid, then I would have to oversee the construction, and that would take me nearly two hundred miles from home. And that is something I oppose, because I don’t want to leave Kendra alone for days at a time.”
“But is she going to be alone, Lamar? Don’t you have a live-in housekeeper?”
“Yes, and Kendra doesn’t mind being home with Miss Ramona on the weekends, but it’s the weekdays and more importantly school days that can be upsetting for her. She’d just entered the first grade when she got up one morning looking for her mother, who was on her way to the airport. Valerie had gotten a call early one morning asking her to fill in for another flight attendant who had come down with the flu. Kendra was upset because her mother had promised to make pancakes for breakfast. She liked her mother’s pancakes because she would surprise her when she made them using molds with different shapes. Valerie never made it to the airport because a drunk driver hit the taxi in which she was a passenger. It burst into flames, instantly killing her and the driver. It took a while for Kendra to realize her mother wasn’t coming back because I’d opted for a graveside service in lieu of a funeral mass. That’s when I promised her that we would always eat breakfast together before she left for school.”
“Have you spoken to Kendra about the possibility that you may be away from home for work?”
“No.”
“Well, you should, Lamar. A ten-year-old isn’t the same as a six-year-old. Kendra has friends who now play an important part in her life. And she seemed more than happy to stay with them over the weekend. And her telling you she’ll see you Tuesday means she’s not going to be around to eat breakfast with you on a school day. Why are you so sure Kendra will be upset? Are you experiencing guilt because of your promise to her?”
Lamar massaged his forehead with his fingertips. Perhaps Nydia was right. When he’d left her in Baton Rouge to spend the summer with his mother and sister, his daughter barely acknowledged him whenever he drove up to see her. “She is growing up.”
Nydia patted his shoulder. “And she’s going to grow up even faster over the next few years. I assume right now she’s not into boys, but in a couple of years she’ll be whispering on the phone or texting her girlfriends about a boy she likes. And once she begins dating, then Daddy will no longer be the most important male in her life.”
Lamar grimaced. “Please don’t bring that up.”
“My father used to say having a girl is karma’s payback for what he’s done to other men’s daughters.”
“Amen,” Lamar whispered. He smiled. “Thanks for helping me see this from another perspective. I’ll call and talk to Kendra tonight and get her opinion before I approach my partners tomorrow.”
“I don’t know how close you are to Evangeline, but if you know you’re going to be away for more than one day, then perhaps you can have Kendra stay over with her.”
“I’m godfather to her daughters, and she and her husband are Kendra’s godparents.”
“There you go. Why were you making a mountain out of a molehill?”
“I don’t know, sweets. There are times when I tend to overthink a situation, and I suppose this is one.” Lamar held Nydia’s hand and kissed the back of it. He’d kissed her hand when it was her mouth he wanted to taste, but he reminded himself that he was much too old to make out in a car with a woman. She stared up at him through her lashes, unaware of how seductive she was. It was as if she was silently beckoning him to kiss her.
“Thank you again.”
Nydia smiled. “There’s no need to thank me. As friends we do what we can to help each other out.”
Lamar applied the slightest pressure on her fingers. “Is that what you want, Nydia?
“What are you talking about?”
“Do you just want to be friends, or could we possibly become more?”
Nydia carefully pondered her response. She, who usually blurted out whatever came to mind, knew whatever she said would change her and her association with Lamar. He was someone who’d managed to penetrate the wall she’d erected so she would not become involved in a romantic relationship. She was now in what she thought of as her business mode. Doing the payroll for the three restaurateurs was time-consuming, and she was also singly focused on becoming an innkeeper in a new state where she would be more than a thousand miles away from her family. She now thought of Tonya, Hannah, and Jasmine as her older sisters in her newly formed family. And she had to ask herself if she was ready to become involved with a man with a ready-made family, because she had never envisioned herself as a stepmother—and especially to a preteen girl with all of the angst that went along with maturing into a woman.
She knew the instant she’d seen Lamar’s image in the video intercom that he hadn’t been that altruistic in coming to her rescue, but had an ulterior motive—and that was he was interested in her the way a man was in a woman. Nydia was grateful, flattered, and most of all deeply affected by his coming to her rescue. She’d had two relationships, and once they ended she took a long, hard look at herself and what she had given up in order to make them work.
Tough-girl, fast-talking Nydia Stephanie Santiago had permitted men to use her for their own selfish needs; she knew and refused to acknowledge it until it was too late. And if Jasmine, and expressly Tonya, who regarded her as a daughter, hadn’t told her get rid of Danny, she probably would have continued to see him.
She saw something in the eyes of the man who had shown her nothing but confidence since their initial meeting and wondered if he was going through what she felt—indecision and perhaps a hint of fear. A hint of a smile played at the corners of her mouth as she winked at him. Lamar was everything she’d want in a man with whom to have a relationship, and she did not want to pass up the opportunity to date someone who was honest and mature enough to say what he felt and wanted.
“We can become mucho más que amigos,” she said, mixing English and Spanish.
Lamar kissed her fingers again. “We’d better get out of this car before I do something that would ruin both our reputations.”
Nydia pressed her forehead to his. “And what’s that?” she teased. Lamar put his mouth to her ear and whispered what he would like to do to her. She gasped. “That is so kinky!”
He pulled back. “You think nerds can’t get kinky?”
She laughed until tears filled her eyes, turning them into pools of green and gold. Nydia was still laughing when Lamar got out and came around to help her out of the SUV. And for the first time in a very long time she felt as if she did not have a care in the world as they walked, holding hands, along Bourbon Street, passing strings of bars offering lethal concoctions with names that made her afraid to take a sip. Blues, rock, and jazz could be heard from open doorways as locals and tourists jockeyed for space along the crowded street.
Lamar pointed to the lacy balconies on the buildings above the sidewalks. “They’re usually so crowded from the weight of drinking revelers during Mardi Gas that it’s a miracle they haven’t collapsed to the streets below.”
“Do you attend Mardi Gras?” she asked him.
“Not anymore. There was a time when I wouldn’t miss it.”
“Did you go every year?”
“I did until I left for college. I went the first time when I was sixteen and drank myself into a stupor. When I got home my father raised so much hell that I swore I’d never drink again until I was legal.”
“Did you keep that vow?”
Lamar nodded. “My father was very easygoing, but if you riled him up he was like a tiger ready to pounce. He knew I wanted to go away to college and said if he even suspected I was drinking then I would have to live at home and attend a local school. And as long as I lived under his roof I’d do whatever he said or get out.”
She grimaced. “Ouch!”
“Dad was once a drill sergeant in the Corps, so he saw himself as a badass with everyone except my mother and sister. After he put in for his discharge he used his military benefits to attend college and became an orthodontist.”
“So that’s why you have such beautiful teeth.”
Lamar pulled Nydia to his chest when a man came toward them weaving unsteadily as he tried drinking from a go-cup. “The first time my braces were removed I refused to wear the retainer so they shifted, so I had to endure them a second time. That’s when I learned to wear the retainer every night for almost two years.”
“I noticed Kendra has braces.”
“She has teeth like mine. My dad died two years before Kendra was born, so she never got to meet her grandfather.”
“What about her maternal grandparents?”
“That’s a long story, Nydia.”
“Is it something too personal to disclose?”
“No. Valerie’s mother was a runaway who’d had her at fifteen. She delivered her in the hospital, and two days later walked out and left a newborn baby girl with a positive toxicology for heroin. The baby spent several weeks in the hospital detoxing. She should’ve been quickly adopted by couples waiting for a newborn, but her medical history made her a risk for future mental and physical manifestations. She went into the foster care system and was shuttled from one family to another until she was eight.
“An elderly couple finally adopted her. They became the parents she always wished she had. Both passed away a year after she graduated high school, and once again she was orphaned. Evie and I had gone to the same high school, and she introduced me to Valerie when both were flight attendants. We dated for a year and then married. A year later we had Kendra. She was overjoyed at being a mother, but after two years she complained that she missed flying. She interviewed a few nannies, and after hiring Ramona, Valerie went back to work. I really beat up on myself because as much as I’d tried, I couldn’t convince her not to go to work that morning. If she’d stayed home she would still be here.”
“Do you really think you could’ve avoided what was destined, Lamar?” Nydia asked him. “We all have an expiration date, and it’s a good thing we don’t know when it is because we would stop living to prepare for the inevitable. There are bumps and obstacles in the road we call life, and it’s up to us to learn to navigate them to reach our goals.”
Lamar stopped, pulled her close to his body, and rested his chin on the top of her head. “I said it before and I’ll say it again, you missed your calling, querida. You should’ve become a therapist rather than an accountant, because you’re so easy to open up to.”
Nydia buried her face against his warm throat and inhaled the sensual fragrance of the cologne that blended so well with his body’s natural scent. Everything about Lamar was so overwhelmingly masculine that she wanted to stay in his embrace for more than a few minutes as she delighted in the muscles in his back and chest. “Maybe it’s because you feel comfortable enough to confide in me.” She eased back and smiled up at him. “I have a practice not to date for a year after a breakup, but I’ve decided to change my mind.”
“When will it be a year?” Lamar asked.
“November.”
“That’s only six weeks away.”
“Six weeks to find out if we really like each other,” Nydia said teasingly.
“I liked you the first time I saw you.”
“That’s because you liked what you saw.” Nydia did not want to remind him that he’d confessed to getting an erection when they first met.
“No shit!” Lamar drawled. “I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have said that.”
A shadow of annoyance settled between Nydia’s eyes. “Don’t ever apologize for what you say, Lamar. Because what comes out of your mouth comes from your heart. I appreciate honesty, even if it’s something I don’t agree with. I’ve had enough deceit from men with whom I’ve been involved to last me a lifetime, and I don’t want to have that with you.”
“You really don’t bite your tongue, do you, Nydia?”
“No and never. What you see is what you get.”
Attractive lines fanned out around Lamar’s eyes when he smiled. “And you know I like what I see.”
Her hand moved from his chest to his waistband. “Just make sure a certain part of your body doesn’t decide to make an unscheduled appearance.”
Throwing back his head, Lamar laughed loudly. “You’re so naughty.”
Nydia scrunched up her nose. “Only sometimes, and you like it, don’t you? Haven’t you heard that naughty girls are a lot more fun than the goody two-shoes?”
“Hell yeah!” Lamar kissed her hair.
A couple bumped into them, and Nydia knew they were impeding pedestrian traffic. “How far is the French Market from here?”
“It’s about ten blocks. Do you want to go there?”
Nydia nodded. “Yes.” She wanted to see what produce was available for her potential cooking projects.
“I’m going to take you back to pick up the car. After you visit the market I want to take you to my home, which is also in the Upper French Quarter.”
Lamar’s offer to take her to his house had caught Nydia completely off-guard, but she recovered quickly. She should not have been surprised, because she and Lamar had agreed she would give him and Kendra cooking lessons.
“Let’s go, McDuff.”
Lamar placed his arm over her shoulders. “You like the bard?”
“I love the bard. I definitely would’ve become an English lit teacher if I hadn’t majored in accounting.”
“Should I assume you like British drama?”
Nydia held onto the hand resting on her shoulder. “I love, love, love them!”
Lamar pulled her closer to his side. “I think I would enjoy them more if I could understand what they were saying, because they talk funny.”
She stopped mid-stride and would have tripped if Lamar hadn’t steadied her. “Talk funny? You’re got to be kidding me, Lamar. You folks down here talk funny.”
“So do New Yorkers, when they say earl for oil, and turdy-turd for thirty-third. I didn’t know what the heck this dude was saying when he talked about an earl burner.”
“That’s Brooklyn. They speak differently from people in Manhattan.”
“All New Yorkers talk funny, even those upstate.”
“Please don’t diss my state, because it’s all I know and love.”
“For now, sweetie. Once you move down here you’ll become a bona fide Louisianan. After a while y’all will roll off your tongue and you’ll cut the ending off your words. It’ll no longer be good morning, but mornin’.”
“I ain’t giving up the Apple that easily.”
“You will when the Easy puts a spell on you that you won’t be able to get rid of. Look at Jasmine.”
“What about her?”
“She’s adapted well to the South.”
“That’s because her father is a Southerner, and as a kid she used to spend her summers in North Carolina, while I spent my summers in Nueva York and only went to Puerto Rico for a relative’s wedding or funeral.”
During the return walk to the parking lot, Lamar decided to test her by rattling off a series of Southern colloquialisms, and she was unable to translate fewer than half. It didn’t take her long to conclude she would never be bored spending time with him, because he made her laugh, and that was something she hadn’t done enough over the past few months. Chronic pain before and after surgery from her ruptured appendix had left her out of sorts, and knowing she wouldn’t be able to attend Tonya and Gage’s wedding had exacerbated her depression. Her dark mood finally lifted with Jasmine’s wedding, but descended again with her ex’s asinine stunt.
Her skies had brightened once again with her return to the Crescent City. This time she was given eight weeks to acquaint herself with what would become her new city and begin the process of becoming an innkeeper.
* * *
Nydia knew she had misjudged Lamar when he parked his car under a porte cochère. She stared through the windshield at an expansive open courtyard. It was a Garden of Eden with towering oak trees draped in Spanish moss, with ferns, rose bushes, and enormous banana-type leaves growing in well-ordered abandon. A large marble fountain with the sculpted figure of a cherub holding a water jug had become the courtyard’s focal point. A number of tables were positioned near a large fire pit. Lamar’s house was similar to other traditional nineteenth-century Creole residences with beautiful second-story cast-iron balconies like she’d seen in the older sections of the city. She did not know why, but she would have thought he’d have preferred a more contemporary home.
Lamar assisted her out of the vehicle, and she walked ahead of him, her eyes taking in everything around her. She felt the heat from his body as he rested his hands on her shoulders.
“What are you thinking about?” he said in her ear.
“This courtyard is magnificent. Weather permitting, it is the perfect place to begin watching the sun rise and end the day under the stars.”
“It is,” Lamar agreed. “Whenever Kendra invites the twins and the two Kelly girls, who live next door, for a sleepover, they pretend they’re princesses and use the courtyard as their castle.”
Nydia glanced up at Lamar over her shoulder. “You must have the patience of a saint to put up with five girls sleeping under one roof.”
“I’m used to it. Do you want to see inside?”
“Yes.” She felt the courtyard was large enough to hold an intimate dinner party or a buffet with at least fifty or sixty people.
“The garage used to be a carriage house,” Lamar explained as he led to a door at the far end of the courtyard.
“How many bedrooms do you have?”
“There’s four on the second story and three on the first. I’ve converted one on the first floor into an office, and Ramona has her own suite, and the extra one is now a laundry room.”
Nydia flashed a knowing smile when Lamar unlocked the door to reveal an ultramodern open floor plan with the family, living, and dining rooms flowing into a kitchen with top-of-the line appliances. Shades of brown, blue, and off-white were tasteful and inviting.
“Nice.” She also noticed working fireplaces in the family and living rooms.
“I can’t take credit for anything you see here. Valerie hired an interior decorator once the renovations were completed.”
She wondered if Lamar had changed anything in the house since his wife’s death, or had left it intact because he wanted to preserve her memory. Nydia walked into the gourmet kitchen with Viking appliances. “You can do some serious cooking in this kitchen,” she said, smiling and meeting Lamar’s amused expression.
“The only time I come in here is to get some water or brew a cup of coffee, otherwise it’s Ramona’s domain.”
“Do you think she’s going to mind me invading her domain?”
“Not in the least. She doesn’t seem to mind it when Kendra prepares her somewhat unorthodox breakfasts and leaves a mess.”
Nydia wanted to tell Lamar that he paid the woman to keep his house in order and/or clean up messes, but she held her tongue, while at the same time applauding herself for exercising restraint. She knew there were times to open her mouth and other times to keep it closed. And this was one of those times. She’d promised herself not to interfere in Lamar’s personal life unless he asked for her opinion. Then she would not withhold it if they were going to have a friendship based on honesty.
“Do you mind if I check out the cookware? I need to know what I’m working with before we begin the cooking lessons.”
Lamar walked over to a wall of off-white cabinets and opened one. “Ramona keeps her pots and pans in here.”
A number of shelves were filled with blue Le Creuset cookware. There were Dutch ovens, skillets and fry pans, stock and saucepans. There was even a matching teakettle. She also noted a cast iron skillet, blender, and food processor, so essential to a well-stocked kitchen. She bent down to search through the lower shelves.
“What are you looking for?” Lamar asked.
Nydia stood straight. “A panini press.”
He shook his head. “I doubt if we have one, but I’ll call Ramona later on tonight and ask her. If we don’t, then I’ll pick up one during the week.”
“It doesn’t have to be too big or fancy. You’ll probably only use it for grilled cheese and Cuban sandwiches.” She’d said that because it was obvious Lamar had spared no expense when purchasing gourmet cookware for the kitchen. She closed the cabinet door. “Once you learn to cook, you’re going to have a good time putting meals together.”
Lamar rolled his eyes upward. “If you say so,” he drawled.
“I do say so. I’m ready to see the rest of the house.”
Nydia peered into the laundry room with a late-model washer and dryer and enough room for portable drying racks. An ironing board was set up in front of a countertop with stacks of neatly folded sheets and towels. She followed Lamar past a family room with a number of leather reclining chairs, facing a wide, wall-mounted television, and into his office. There was an L-shaped desk with a desktop computer and printer, a drafting table, and another table covered with bound reports. Nydia stared at two tall stainless steel containers filled with what appeared to be dozens of tubes of plans.
“How long have you been in business with your partners?”
“It will be twelve years this coming February.”
She sat on a stool at the drafting table. “How did you meet?”
Lamar sat on the edge of the mahogany desk. “We met in graduate school and eventually went to work for the same engineering firm. Even before graduating we’d planned to set up our own company. However, the decision was where. Omar came from Oakland and Kirk from Los Angeles. We knew setting up in California was not going to be easy, so I suggested New Orleans, not only because I live here but the city was just beginning to recover from the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. Soon after we incorporated we applied to the federal and local governments for bids geared to minority-owned companies.”
“Are your partners African Americans?”
“Omar is, and Kirk is black and Vietnamese. His father fought in Vietnam and married a local woman. He arranged for her to come to the States, and even before she became an American citizen she had Kirk and his sister, who is a neurosurgeon.”
Grinning, Nydia made a fist. “All power to the people.”
Smiling, Lamar walked over to Nydia and pulled into her an embrace. “What am I going to do with you?”
She returned his smile. “Keep me around so I can make you laugh.”
He stared at her under lowered lids. “You’re right. There are times when I’m much too serious.”
“Don’t you take time out to have fun?”
“Not enough,” Lamar admitted.
“Before Jasmine and Tonya moved down here we used to meet a couple of times a month for dinner. We’d alternate eating at different restaurants or at one another’s apartments. It was our time to laugh and unwind.”
He angled his head. “Are you saying we should get together to eat, laugh, and unwind?”
“No, I’m not. It is just a suggestion. After all, you do have a daughter to look after.”
“What about our cooking together?” Lamar asked.
Nydia anchored her arms under his shoulders. “That doesn’t count.”
“What does count, Nydia?”
“It’s not all about me, Lamar. What about your partners? I know you interact with them in the office, but how about socially? Do you take time to go out for drinks at the end of the week, or get together for family gatherings to celebrate a birthday or after you’re awarded a new construction project?”
“Not too often. But that will probably change once we begin dating.”
Nydia was totally confused with his statement. What did she have to do with his dearth of social life? “Why would you say that?”
“Because every time I get together with Kirk or Omar they invite a woman they want me to meet. It becomes very awkward, at least for me, because usually who they choose isn’t someone I’d want to go out with.”
“So you think if you take me as your date they’ll stop trying to hook you up with someone?”
“I know they will.”
She thought about his inference. Lamar had a point. If she did attend a social event with him, then perhaps his partners would believe that he was involved with a woman. “You helped me out, and now I’m going to return the favor. The next time they invite you to something I’d be happy to go along.”
“What if I hold something here?”
Nydia went completely still. “You mean you want to host a gathering here?”
Lamar’s face lit up like a child on Christmas morning. “Yes. It’s been a while since I’ve had folks over. The last time was a surprise birthday party for my mother’s sixty-fifth birthday.”
“When was that?”
“Last June.”
“You’re talking about a couple of months ago.”
“I know,” he admitted under his breath. “We held it here because my mother lives with my sister, and Petra said it was impossible to plan a surprise event without Mom getting wind of it, so I volunteered to have it here.” Lamar paused seemingly deep in thought. “Kendra’s birthday is at the end of October, and she hasn’t had a birthday party in years. What do you think of a birthday/Halloween theme party?”
Nydia thought of Halloween and how her parents forbade her to go treat-or-treating or accept candy or fruit from anyone because of stories about children finding needles and other dangerous objects. She did not know about Halloween traditions in New Orleans, but celebrating at home in a controlled environment was preferable to roaming the streets.
“I think it’s a good idea. Do you want it to be a surprise?”
“No. I’ll ask her who she wants to invite and have her give the invitations to her friends. Their parents will have to call me to confirm whether their children will attend. Halloween is on a Saturday this year, and I’m thinking about inviting some grown folks, too. The kids can party inside and the adults outside. What do you think?”
Nydia angled her head as she met Lamar’s eyes. They were filled with excitement. “I like the idea. Are you going to cater it or cook?” she teased.
“Believe it or not, I can grill steaks, burgers, and links.” There was a hint of pride in his voice.
“So you do cook.”
“I grill, Nydia.”
“Grilling is cooking, Lamar. Do you realize how difficult it is to grill the perfect medium-rare steak or a well-done burger? I don’t know how many times I’ve requested a well-done burger and get what looks like a charred hockey puck. So don’t be so self-deprecating, because you do cook.”
Lamar kissed her forehead. “Now that I’ve accepted that I can cook, I’m going to buy a smoker to go along with the gas grill.”
Nydia shook her head. “I think validating you as a cook has made you a little too cocky,” she said as she teased him again. “First you deny you can cook and now you want to become a pit master.” She eased out of his arms. “I’ll help you plan Kendra’s party; now please show me the rest of the house.”
She entered Lamar’s bedroom, and her first impression was it was wholly masculine. There wasn’t a hint of femininity. The colors of off-white and dark gray predominated. The room was spacious enough for a California king bed, triple dresser, chest-on-chest, and armoire, and she wondered if Lamar had had the room redecorated after losing his wife so not to remind him that she had been there.
A slight gasp slipped past her parted lips when she walked into Kendra’s bedroom. A queen-size, honey-toned, hand-painted sleigh bed caught her immediate attention. Delicate vintage white cotton, linen, and lace bed dressings were the epitome of girlishness. The gossamer bed skirt matched the floor-to-ceiling embroidered window drapes. Varying shades of white and green and the furnishings could easily transition from childhood to adulthood. A corner with a desk, laptop, printer, worktable, and bookcases served as Kendra’s bedroom-office. She noticed several photographs on the desk of Kendra at different ages and with a young beautiful woman Nydia knew had to be the girl’s mother. Dark and pale green pillows crowded a built-in window seat. She ran her fingers over the green-and-white checkered seat cushion.
“It’s a twin with a trundle that converts in a full bed,” Lamar said as he stood in the doorway.
“This bedroom should appear on the pages of a decorating magazine.”
Lamar nodded. “That’s what I told Jasmine.”
Nydia blinked slowly. “Are we talking about the same Jasmine?”
“Yes. When Cameron introduced her to me as an interior decorator and she said how she wanted to decorate the loggia, I asked her whether she would be willing to come and look at my daughter’s bedroom, which definitely needed to be updated from one for a little girl to a young adult. Everything was done while Kendra spent the summer with her mother and sister in Baton Rouge, and when she came back and saw her new bedroom she screamed, cried, spun around like a whirling dervish, and then screamed some more.”
“She had a right to scream and cry tears of joy because this bedroom is definitely a showpiece.” Nydia had witnessed firsthand Jasmine’s artistic gift for decorating when she first visited her friend’s condo. She knew once the renovations on the converted warehouse were completed and Jasmine decorated the interiors, it would be worthy of a layout in an architectural magazine.
“Evie’s twins and the Kelly girls take turns sleeping over.”
Nydia wanted to tell Lamar his daughter was very lucky to have him as her father. He’d denied himself an open relationship with a woman and had made her emotional well-being a priority. She hoped the young girl appreciated his sacrifice.
The tour of his house ended after she viewed the two guest bedrooms and he drove her back to the hotel. He escorted her to her suite, waited until she opened the door, and then brushed a light kiss over her mouth before turning to walk back to the elevator.
There were no parting words or promise to contact each other. It was unnecessary. Both had agreed to keep an open mind as to where they wanted to take their friendship. Nydia was willing to date Lamar, while she still wasn’t ready to acknowledge that she wanted to sleep with him. Sharing a bed with Lamar would change not only their relationship, but her. And for her it meant a commitment that could possibly lead to something more. And more important, she did not want to get in so deep that she would bond with Kendra, and if she and Lamar broke up then the girl would experience the loss of someone she could possibly view as her stepmother.
Nydia closed the door and stared at the pattern on the carpet. And there was the opposite view; she had to decide whether she was cut out to take on the responsibility of dealing with a pubescent girl who might be opposed to sharing her father with any woman.