He ended the call, feeling much better than he had with Omar’s outburst. At least his friend and partner recognized when he had to correct a problem. Layla had assumed the role of disciplinarian while Omar had become the overindulgent father. Anything his children wanted he gave them without questioning whether it was good for them, which made his wife the bad guy.
He’d listened to Omar rant about his wife being too hard on his sons and daughters without offering commentary or an opinion. After all, he was a single father with his own set of problems with a young girl whose moods changed from one day to the other. Nydia had mentioned his daughter’s fluctuating hormones, and he hoped they would soon level out so she wouldn’t keep him off-balance whenever he said something to her. Lamar recalled Nydia’s suggestion of giving Kendra a Halloween-themed birthday party and decided to ask her if it was something she’d want.
* * *
Lamar knocked on Kendra’s bedroom door and then waited for her to answer. He’d noticed she’d begun closing the door once there were noticeable changes in her body, and the last thing he wanted to do was invade her privacy.
“Yes?”
“May I come in?”
“Yes, Daddy?”
He opened the door wide enough to poke his head through. “I wanted to ask you if you want a birthday party.”
Kendra glanced away from her desktop. “No thanks. I’m getting too old for kiddie birthday parties. The next party I want is a Sweet Sixteen.”
“Are you sure?”
Kendra smiled, and in that instant Lamar thought he was staring at a younger Valerie. His daughter’s resemblance to her late mother was uncanny. “Very sure, Daddy. Taylor and Morgan said their mother is planning a Halloween party at her house for our class that weekend, so she’s probably going to call you to ask if I can go and spend the weekend.”
He smiled. Now he knew why she didn’t want a party. “I’ll let you go if you promise not to participate in any spin-the-bottle kissing games.”
“Stop it, Daddy!”
“I’m just teasing you, sweets. Don’t stay up too late.”
“I won’t.”
Lamar closed the door and retreated to his bedroom. His daughter was enrolled in the same school he and his sister had attended. It had earned the reputation of being an elite private school with small classes that gave students the attention they needed to excel.
He lay across the bed and contemplated what Cameron had said about him continuing to wear a wedding band despite being a widower for the past four years. He wanted a relationship with Nydia, but he knew that wasn’t going to happen until he let go of his past. Lamar remembered asking her to save him a dance at Cameron and Jasmine’s wedding and she’d said,I will, but only if Mrs. Pierce doesn’t mind you dancing with me.It was obvious she did not want to dance with a married man unless his wife approved.
Sitting up, he twisted the band of gold until it finally came off his finger. Lamar stared at the lighter band of skin, which hadn’t been exposed to the sun. He exhaled an audible sigh as he placed the ring in a drawer in the bedside table. He sat on the bed and closed his eyes. Taking off the ring was more symbolic than he realized. He had let go of the past in order to look forward to embracing the future with a woman who made him laugh when he didn’t want to laugh.
Lamar did not know why his path had crossed with Nydia Santiago’s but decided to enjoy the journey as long as it lasted. But more important, he wasn’t looking for a mother for his daughter, yet it was something he could not ignore. He didn’t know if Nydia would be willing to assume the responsibility of caring for a preteen stepdaughter, or whether Kendra wanted to share her father with another woman. The doubts and questions assaulted him like flying missiles until he wanted to shout and tell them to stop. What he had to do was be calm and let things unfold naturally.
Chapter 18
Nydia peered out the side window of Jasmine’s SUV as Cameron came to a stop along a tree-lined street and parked in front of a building with green-shuttered second-story windows and a fire escape leading from the second to the third story, both with decorative ironwork balconies.
Cameron unsnapped his seat belt, got out, and came around to help her and Jasmine from the car. “I’m going to let you ladies out here and go around the corner to park.”
Nydia and Jasmine made their way through a set of open gates that led into the Toussaints’ courtyard. She recognized the faces of many of the people she’d met a year before at St. John’s family reunion. There were a few others she remembered from the wedding DVD Tonya sent her when she had been unable to attend the ceremony. She smiled when she saw Gage and his older brother, Eustace, manning grills, while folks lined up behind a portable bar where St. John had assumed the role of mixologist. A group of young children had gathered on folding chairs under a red mulberry tree to play with electronic devices while their parents were huddled together in small groups laughing and talking to one another. A DJ was spinning Motown classics.
“I deliberately didn’t have a mid-morning snack because I intend to eat until I burst,” Jasmine said under her breath.
Nydia gave Jasmine a sidelong glance. She was nearing the beginning of her fifth month, and her pregnancy was now obvious depending upon what she wore. “Thank goodness Cameron came with us, because he’ll have to be the one to carry you out.”
Jasmine rolled her eyes at Nydia. “You got fat jokes? I can’t wait until Lamar swells you up and then we’ll see how you look with a bowling ball–size belly.”
She laughed. “That’s not going to happen, because yours truly and Lamar are not sleeping together.”
Jasmine caught her arm. “You’re kidding, aren’t you?”
Nydia met her dark eyes. “No. We’re friends.”
“You two didn’t appeared that friendly when we were all at Momma’s Place. You were so close together that I thought you were sitting on his lap.”
