Chapter 20
Nydia and Lamar had spent two full days together in her suite, loving and making love, when she got a call from Tonya. “What’s up, Mrs. Toussaint?”
“Nydia, you need to come to the inn. There’s been a smoke condition, and Hannah is about to lose it.”
She went completely still. “What happened?”
“The guys installing the elevator claim a cable caught fire and they put it out, but there’s smoke all over the house. I didn’t call Jasmine because in her condition she needs to stay calm, and the smoke might harm her and the baby.”
“I’m on my way.” Nydia saw Lamar staring at her. “There was a fire at the DuPont House and—”
“I’ll take you,” he said, interrupting her.
“Thank you, mijo.”
Lamar reached for his keys while she picked up her purse. “There’s no need to thank me, sweets,” he said, taking her hand.
Nydia tried to remain calm as they left the CBD for the Garden District. She knew how anxious Hannah was to open the inn, and the fire would set the grand opening back once again. First it had been getting various permits approved, then she had to contend with the main gate protecting the property malfunctioning. The last was to get approval for installing the elevator to accommodate the elderly and handicapped, and now Hannah had to deal with smoke after all the walls had been painted and repapered.
The rain that had been falling for three days appeared to be tapering off, and as Lamar maneuvered through the gates leading to the historic residence, pinpoints of sunlight pierced the dark clouds.
Nydia was out of the Volvo within seconds of Lamar turning off the engine. She ignored the vehicles of workmen lining the curving driveway as she raced into the house. The smell of acrid smoke burned her lungs and nostrils when she entered the great room. Hannah was sitting on a chair with her face buried in her hands. Tonya rested an arm over her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. Several men in coveralls were standing off to the side of the elevator.
Lamar, only a few steps behind her, walked over to peer into the elevator shaft. “Who’s in charge here?”
A short, slightly built man wearing a white bandana on his head stepped forward. “I’m the foreman.”
“Are you aware that you used the wrong cables?”
The foreman’s face darkened noticeably. “You’re mistaken!”
Lamar slowly shook his head. “No, I’m not. I’ve inspected my share of elevators in commercial and residential buildings to see at a glance that the cables you installed aren’t up to code. You’re lucky it caught fire now and not when guests were here. But I doubt that because it never would’ve passed the city’s inspection.”
The foreman narrowed his eyes. “Who the hell are you?”
“You don’t need to know who I am,” Lamar said in a quiet voice. “But you’ll find out when I tell the city inspector about how you tried to cut costs by installing cables that won’t support the weight of an empty elevator car.”
Hannah stood up, her hands curling into tight fists. “I want you to take your men and get off my property before I do something that may get me arrested. You’re going to hear from me, because I’m going to sue the hell out of you. And when I’m finished you won’t be able to get another job in the entire state.”
“I’ll leave, but not before you pay me for the work I’ve done.”
Nydia shared a glance with Tonya. She knew it was going to escalate into something nasty when she saw Hannah glare at the man. “Get the fuck out of my house before I go upstairs and get my daddy’s gun and blow your ass away.”
“I’m not going to stand here and let some bitch talk to me like that.”
“Coño!” Nydia shouted. “She just did, buddy. So I suggest you listen to her and get to stepping.”
Tonya slowly shook her head. “I think he’s begging for me to carve his ass up like a Thanksgiving turkey.”
“What’s up with these uppity bitches,” he snarled, as spittle formed at the corners of his mouth.
In a move too quick for the hand to follow, Lamar grabbed the man’s throat and shook him like a Rottweiler would a Chihuahua. “That’s the last time you’re going to call someone a bitch before I kick your ass, little man.”
The two other workmen grabbed their boss’s shirt. “Let’s go. You can settle this later.”
Lamar tightened his grip on the man’s windpipe as gurgling sounds came from his gaping mouth. “Now apologize to these ladies.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, clawing at Lamar’s hand on his throat.
Lamar shook him again. “Louder, so they can hear you.”
“I’m sorry.”
He released him and wiped his hand on the denim fabric covering his thigh. “That’s better.” He flashed a cold smile that did not reach his light brown eyes. “Gentlemen, please pack up your stuff and leave the premises. Meanwhile I’m going to call the superintendent of the city’s building department and have him send out a few inspectors to check over your work. Don’t be surprised if he suspends or even revokes your license. And in case you’re not aware of it, Mrs. McNair is a lawyer, so make certain your business insurance is paid up, or you’ll be out of business for good.”
Nydia put her hands to her mouth in a prayerful gesture as she watched the three men pack up their tools and walk out. She hadn’t realized how fast her heart was beating when she saw Lamar grab the man’s throat. She remembered his stating that “nerds can get gangsta, too.” And he’d just shown her another side of his easygoing personality that she didn’t need to see, and didn’t want to see again.
He walked over to Hannah and held her while she cried on his shoulder. He stroked her hair. “It’s going to be all right. I know a company that can clean up the smoke damage, and once that’s done I’ll have my elevator people replace the cables so it can pass inspection.”
Tonya came over to Nydia. “Let’s go outside so Hannah can have time to pull herself together.”
* * *
Nydia sat on the porch on a rocker next to Tonya. “That was some shit!”
Tonya ran a hand over her short, curly hair. “I thought it was really going to get ratchet when Lamar choked that cocky little bastard. He really fooled me, because I’d expect that type of behavior from Gage.”
Nydia gave her friend a questioning look. “I can’t believe you said Gage. He seems so laid back.”
“Yeah, right,” Tonya drawled. She recounted the time Gage went off on his ex-wife because she was abusing drugs along with his son. “If I hadn’t been there, I’m certain he would’ve broken her arms. He was just that enraged.”
Nydia remembered Tonya telling her that Wesley had been in and out of rehab for substance addiction that began in his teens, but after she married his father and he came to live with them he’d turned his life around.
“Lamar may look benign but he’s anything but that.” She told Tonya everything about Danny’s setup engagement and Lamar coming up to New York to help her out of what had been a situation that could have ruined her reputation once her face was splashed across the pages of several tabloids.
Tonya’s dimples winked at her when she smiled. “So he’s a knight in shining armor rescuing damsels in distress.”
She nodded. “Hannah claims he’s a romance novel hero.”
“I agree with her.” Tonya quickly sobered. “I should call St. John and let him know his wife is going to need his support until we’re able to clear up this mess.”
“How long do you think it’ll be before the inn will be up and running?” Nydia asked.
“I don’t know. It’s going to take a while before they’re able to remove the soot off the walls and ceilings, and Hannah’s going to have someone come in again to clean the rugs and carpets. The last time we discussed a launch date, she said she wanted to open between Thanksgiving and the end of the year. That would give us time to gear up for Mardi Gras and the tourist season.”
Nydia thought about the number of times Hannah had mentioned when she wanted to open the inn for business. “She has to stop projecting an opening date, and just let everything unfold in its own time.”
“You tell her that, Nydia. It seems as if you’re the only one who can get through to her because you give it to her straight, no chaser, while Jasmine and I try to sugarcoat everything.”
Nydia’s fingers tightened around the arms of the rocker as she stared at the rows of oak trees lining the path up to the house. “I’ll wait until she’s not so emotional, because right now she’s wound so tight she may have a breakdown. I can’t believe she talked about getting her father’s gun and shooting that little shit. And were you serious about cutting him?”
Tonya chuckled. “If he’d come at me I would have filleted him like a flounder.”
Throwing back her head, Nydia laughed so hard tears filled her eyes. “I guess he was lucky, because he didn’t know who he was messing with.”
A slight frown appeared between Tonya’s eyes. “I bit my tongue and took enough crap from my first husband to last a lifetime and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let a man degrade me now that I’m in my fifties. Gage knows that and he walks a real fine line when it comes to making decisions with me.”
Nydia sat straight. “I thought you and Gage have a wonderful marriage.”
“We do, but as with most married couples we don’t agree on everything. Wesley has been talking about moving out and getting his own place.”
“What’s wrong with that, Tonya? He’s how old?”
“Twenty-one. It’s not his age, but that I feel he’s not ready to live on his own without supervision. Okay, he’s working part-time for the restaurant, taking classes at one of the local colleges, and he’s also in drug counseling. But he hasn’t been clean and sober a year, and that’s too soon for him to live on his own. I should know because my brother was an addict.”
“You want him to stay and Gage wants him to go?”
Tonya shook her head. “Not exactly. Gage claims he can trust Wesley not to start abusing again, but I told him all Wesley has to do is run into some old junkie friends and he’s bound to go down that rabbit hole.” She closed her eyes. “When I agreed to marry Gage I never thought I’d become a stepmother—especially to a twenty-year-old.” She opened her eyes and met Nydia’s. “Don’t get me wrong. I’ve come to love that boy as much as I do Samara, because he was given a raw deal from the day he was born. His mother was a whore turning tricks for her habit, and he never knew what it was to grow up in a so-called normal home. When he asked me what he should call me I told him I’d like Mom or Mother. You have no idea what it is to watch a young man break down and cry because he claimed he never really had a mother. But I suppose it will be different with you and Lamar because his daughter is still young.”
“What are you talking about, Tonya?”
“Come on, Nydia. It’s as plain as the nose on your face that you and Lamar are sleeping together, and it’s just a matter of time before that man is going to put a ring on your finger. I may be new to New Orleans, but I’m privy to a lot of gossip whenever I cater a party. I become the help and the hosts believe I’m invisible when they talk about anyone and everything of note. And judging from your dance performance with Lamar at Cameron and Jasmine’s wedding, you two have been the topic of several conversations.”
Nydia knew it was time to trust her friend enough to tell her everything about her relationship with Lamar, including his wanting to marry her. “Everything has been moving so quickly that I’m barely able to think straight.”
“Have you said yes?”
“No. I need more time to ask myself if this is really what I want. Although I’ve fallen in love with Lamar, right now I can’t see myself as his wife. Then there’s the question of his daughter. Even though we get along well together I don’t know if she’ll resent me sharing her father with her.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Tonya said. “Once you agree to marry Lamar, then he’s going to have to sit down with his daughter and talk to her about it. She may or may not like it, but you have to remember Lamar is the adult and he’s responsible for her and not the other way around.”
Nydia shook her head. “I’m not ready for a situation where I’m going to deal with a surly and perhaps even a confrontational teenage girl, because I can assure you there will be enough fireworks in that house to light up the Fourth of July.”
“It has nothing to do with becoming a stepmother, Nydia. Samara went through phases when she and I butted heads constantly until she realized her mama wasn’t going to roll over and let her do whatever she wanted. Young girls have mood swings because of hormones and whatever the hell else we go through as adolescents, but somehow we’ve grown up to emerge from that temporary crazy cocoon as beautiful, colorful butterflies.”
Nydia knew Tonya was right when she recalled some of the scenes she’d had with her mother. The back-and-forth and give-and-take until Isabel shut her down completely. Those were the times when Nydia swore if she had a daughter she would listen to her without pulling rank.
“So, what have you and Gage decided about Wesley’s future?”
“We’re still discussing it. I’d like for him to complete at least one or two years of counseling and earn his associate’s degree before moving out on his own. He can still work for the restaurant, but I’m going to insist he take random drug tests.”
“How long will he have to adhere to that?”
“For as long as I say. Don’t forget, Nydia, the café and supper club are my investments, while Gage owns a portion of Chez Toussaints. And if Wesley’s going to work for me, then he has to abide by my rules.”
Nydia saw Tonya in a whole new light. She wasn’t only a professional chef but a businesswoman looking after her investments. “I want to be tough like you by the time I’m fifty.”
Tonya waved a hand. “Don’t play yourself, Nydia. I wish I’d been as tough as you in my twenties. I know you had your ups and downs with your ex, but you stood your ground, because you never supported him financially. Do you realize how many women are taking care of grown-ass men nowadays? They pay their car notes, child support, buy expensive clothes and sneakers, feed their hungry asses, and still get disrespected when he goes out and cheats on them.” She shook her head. “Don’t sell yourself short, baby girl. You’re beautiful and smart, and I don’t know Lamar Pierce that well, but from what I’ve heard about him and just saw inside, you have yourself a winner.”
“He claims nerds can get gangsta, too.”
“Gangsta. The man went straight Rambo on that workman.” She took her cell phone out of the pocket of her tunic. “I’m going to call St. John and let him know what happened here.”
Tonya had just completed the call when Lamar joined them on the porch.
Nydia stood up. “Where’s Hannah?”
Lamar rested a hand on her shoulder. “She’s opening windows to let in some air. I offered to help her, but she said she needed time alone to think.”
Tonya pushed off the rocker. “That’s what she doesn’t need. I called St. John and he says he’s on his way over here.”
Reaching into the pocket of his jeans, Lamar handed Nydia the fob to his SUV. “You can take the car back to the hotel.”
“How will you get back?”
“I’m waiting for an inspector from the building department to come over. I’ll get a ride with him.”
“I can take Nydia back, Lamar,” Tonya volunteered.
He turned to look at Tonya. “Are you sure?”
She smiled. “Of course I’m sure, Black Panther,” she crooned, crossing her arms over her chest.
Nydia watched Lamar’s expression change from bewilderment to understanding when he realized Tonya was referring to the blockbuster fantasy/science fiction movie. He inclined his head and crossed his chest. “I always wanted to be the dark knight Batman, but I will accept being compared to the king of Wakanda.”
She returned his fob. “I’ll see you later.” Going on tiptoe, she kissed his cheek. “Thank you for taking care of my friend.”
He winked at her. “No problem. I’m just sorry I had to act crazy.”
“Better you act crazy, Lamar,” Tonya said, “or he was going to have to deal with three crazy women on his ass.”
Lamar chuckled under his breath. “I’d rather a chokehold any day to ladies wielding knives and guns.”
Tonya patted Lamar’s back. “Thanks again, and here’s hoping I’ll see you again under more favorable conditions.”
He nodded. “You bet.”
Nydia rode back to the CBD with Tonya, neither attempting to break the comfortable silence. She was lost in her own thoughts about what she could expect if she married Lamar, but her imagination wouldn’t allow her to think that far ahead. Unlike Jasmine, she wasn’t pregnant and therefore her future wasn’t inexorably entwined with Lamar’s.
She had time, three months, because legally she was still a resident of New York. It wouldn’t be until the end of January that the lease on the East Harlem walk-up would expire, and Tonya had given written notice that she did not intend to renew it.
A satisfied smile softened her mouth as she pressed her head against the headrest. Three months was long enough to know whether she would be ready to commit to a future with Lamar and Kendra.
* * *
Nydia turned over onto her back when she registered the light tapping on the door of the bedroom where she’d slept as a child. After spending two months in New Orleans she’d returned to New York in time to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family. Lamar had driven her to the airport, and they’d sat in his vehicle holding hands without talking until it was time for her to check in for her flight. There was no need for conversation. He knew she was going home and they wouldn’t see each other again until the day before Christmas Eve.
If she had vacillated about whether she was in love with Lamar, her doubts were dashed the first time he shared her bed. He’d become her lover, hero, and knight in shining armor, and someone whom she wanted to spend her life with. Lamar hadn’t mentioned marriage again and she was loath to broach the subject. She’d asked for time, and it was apparent he was willing to give it to her.
“Come in.”
The door opened, and Isabel entered the room. She’d changed into one of her husband’s shirts she had paired with a pair of sweatpants. “Were you sleeping?”
Nydia sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. “No. I was just waiting for my food to digest. I definitely ate too much.” She patted the mattress beside her. “Come sit with me.”
Isabel gave her daughter a critical stare as she folded her body next to her on the bed. “Are you certain it’s only food?”
Shifting on her side, Nydia looked at her mother. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve been walking around with a long face ever since you came back. Even your grandmother mentioned it to me.” Isabel patted her daughter’s head. “Talk to me, mija.”
“There’s nothing to talk about, Mami.”
“Yes, there is, Nydia. I’ve been your mother long enough to know when something is bothering you. If you don’t want to tell me, then I won’t pry, but I’m here if you want to talk about it.”
Nydia closed her eyes and sucked in a lungful of breath before slowly letting it out. “I’m in love with a man, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
Isabel pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Now, why is that such a bad thing? When I fell in love with your father I went around with a grin on my face.”
“That’s true, but the difference is Papi was never married and he didn’t have kids.”
“It’s the man who came up to New York to stage an intervention for you.” Isabel’s question came out like a statement.
Nydia knew it was time for her to pour out her heart to her mother. She told her everything, from Lamar taking off his wedding band, her giving his daughter cooking lessons, to Lamar admitting that he had fallen in love and wanted to marry her.
“Do you want to marry him?” Isabel questioned.
“Yes, pero . . .”
“But what, mija? Why the hesitation?”
“Lamar and I are very careful not to exhibit any indication that we’ve been sleeping together whenever we’re around his daughter, but it’s just the way Kendra stares at me that makes me uncomfortable.”
“Uncomfortable how?”
Nydia shook her head. “I can’t explain it. All before she was like a giggly little girl whenever I’d come over. Now, she’s more subdued and standoffish. I believe she resents seeing me with her father.”
“Have you said anything to Lamar?”
“No.”
“Why not, Nydia?”
“Because I’m not going to come between the man and his daughter. If he mentions it to me, then I’ll say something.”
“What if he doesn’t?”
“Then nothing will change between us. They’re coming for Christmas, and hopefully you’ll be able to get a better read on her, because right now I can’t be objective.”
Isabel swept back curls that had fallen over her daughter’s forehead. “Something tells me you’re going to marry this man and make his daughter a wonderful mother.”
Nydia narrowed her eyes. “Stop with the bruja, Mami.” Over the years her mother denied having the ability of second sight, but whenever Isabella Medina-Santiago predicted something, it usually came true.
“Okay. Now that you’re going to be here until the new year, what do you plan to do?”
“I’m going to start packing up my things, because Tonya’s daughter found an apartment in Atlanta close to her future in-laws and she plans to move in February first.”
“Are you going to be responsible for the cost of shipping everything to Georgia?”
“No. Tonya has already made arrangements with a moving company. They’re going to come in and pack up everything New Year’s Eve and take it to a storage unit until Samara is ready to take possession of the new apartment.”
Isabel smiled. “I guess I’ll get to have you a little longer before you leave for New Orleans again.”
Nydia nodded. “You’ll have to put up with me for the next six weeks, and then I’m leaving to become an official New Orleanian.” She’d reserved a flight departing New York January sixth.
“Even though I’m happy that you’re going into business for yourself, I’m going to miss seeing you.”
“Don’t get melodramatic on me, Mami. There’s always FaceTime, so we can see and talk to each other anytime we want.”
“I know, but it’s not the same.” Isabel slipped off the bed. “I’m going to my bedroom to relax. You’re not the only one who ate too much.”
“Luego, Mami.”
She waited until her mother left the room, closing the door behind her before Nydia adjusted the pillows cradling her shoulders. Staring up at the design on the plastered ceiling, she thought about the last time she and Lamar made love with each other. It was different from their prior encounters because neither wanted to yield, to give in to the pleasurable sensations taking them beyond themselves. Both held back until the last possible moment, and then climaxed simultaneously in a shattering ecstasy where she’d struggled to breathe. It was only after her respiration returned to a normal rate that Nydia realized they were each bidding the other goodbye until they met again.
Reaching out, she turned off the lamp and closed her eyes. Within minutes she welcomed sleep, which had been more of a stranger than friend since she boarded the jet in Kenner for her flight to New York City.