“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 whereyou arewrong,” 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.
