Kendra wanted to weep when she heard his impassioned apology. It was the first time Nathaniel had shown her his vulnerability. She’d grieved outwardly while he’d grieved in private, but somehow they’d never grieved together.
“What do you want?” she asked him.
“I want us to start over, Kendra.”
She took a step toward him. Nathaniel wanted to reconcile. But so much of her energy in the next couple of months had to go to the computer program. Again she was faced with having to choose between balancing a career choice with her love life, but this time there was a difference. Nathaniel had taken an active role to ensure the program’s success. He supported her.
He was offering a second chance—to get it right this time. She loved Nathaniel, and had never stopped loving him. Whether she or her ex reconciled or went their separate ways, the memory of the baby they’d created, loved and lost—together—would remain with them always.
She’d grieved, had gone through periods when she had been overwhelmed with guilt, thinking if she had stayed home with her daughter she wouldn’t have lost her.
But in the end, she’d had to let that go, to believe that her daughter’s fate was predetermined by a higher power. She and Nathaniel had experienced what no parent should have to—burying a child. The grief wasn’t hers alone, but theirs.
“What if we take it one day at a time?” Kendra suggested softly.
Nathaniel flashed a triumphant grin. She hadn’t said yes, but more important, she hadn’t said no. “One day at a time,” he repeated before he brushed a light kiss over her parted lips.
CHAPTER FIVE
The sun was shining, the afternoon temperatures had reached the low eighties and those who’d gathered on the expansive lawn behind the Greater Community Church had come to have a good time. R & B and doo-wops from back in the day flowed from outdoor speakers. Everyone wore a wristband showing that they’d donated to the fundraiser.
Pearl’s contribution had been two dozen pies and four cakes, and Moses had roasted two thirty-pound turkeys with all the trimmings. Precious and Pearl Turner, who had no intention of being outdone by the owners of Pearl’s Kitchen, had spent two days cooking their renowned Southern-fried buttermilk chicken. Even Kenneth, his wife and their son and daughter had come to the event.
Kendra lay on her back under a tree, waiting for her food to digest. She’d definitely eaten too much. “I don’t believe it,” she groaned.
“What don’t you believe?” Nathaniel asked close to her ear.
“The deacons are frying fish.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
She opened her eyes and stared at the face so close to her own, curbing the urge to trace Nathaniel’s eyebrows and features with her fingertips as she had in the past. She was so familiar with the planes and contours of his face that she would have been able to identify him in a darkened room.
They’d begun dating again. On Fridays they usually went for dinner and a movie. Saturdays they spent taking trips to museums, art galleries, walking along Lake Michigan or listening to an outdoor concert in Grant Park. Kendra rediscovered all the reasons she’d fallen in love with and married Nathaniel.
“They make the best fried catfish on the entire South Side. It’s definitely not a bad thing.”
“I…” Nathaniel’s words trailed off when the music stopped and Reverend Blake’s voice came through the speakers.
“Good afternoon, everyone. And it is a very good afternoon for the members of our community. Whenever we ask you to donate your hard-earned money it is always for a good cause. Moses and Pearl Reeves’s granddaughter returned to us for a purpose—to help our young people. Miss Kendra Reeves has set up a program to not only tutor our young and old, but to make it possible for those who don’t have computers to get one. For every student who demonstrates a need for a computer we will make an attempt to procure one for them. Meanwhile our outreach director, Hester Edwards, has set aside space for a computer lab for anyone who wants access to a machine or the Internet. The computers aren’t brand-new, but they will be functional.
“Our first recipient is Shirah Hyman. Shirah, will you please come up to the podium?” Applause and whistles followed Shirah as she made her way to where Reverend Blake stood. Reaching down, he lifted a large carton. “Miss Reeves told me you needed a computer and printer to complete your online lessons for your GED. Well, Shirah, now you don’t have an excuse for not doing your homework.” Tears were streaming down Shirah’s cheeks when she put her hand over her mouth. The pastor handed her a tissue. “Would you like to say a few words?”
Shirah blotted her tears with one hand and took the microphone with the other. A hush fell over the large crowd. “When I…I asked Miss Reeves to help me to get my GED, I never knew how much my life would change. I’m now reading instead of watching television, and I write every night in a journal. I had forgotten how much I loved to learn until I began studying to get my high school diploma. When Miss Reeves came back to Chicago I knew it was for me. Because of her I want to become a teacher, and I promised my mother that I won’t leave the community like so many other people who grew up here. I’m going to stay and teach little kids like my son. I want them to know they can be anything they want to be. Thank you, Miss Reeves, and thanks to everyone here who has made it possible for me to compete with other students.” Another round of applause followed her heartfelt words as Shirah’s father stepped forward and picked up the carton with the computer and printer.
“You did it, darling,” Nathaniel whispered to Kendra.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I have another announcement,” boomed the pastor’s voice. “Nathaniel Mitchell gave me a blank check last week, promising to match whatever we raised today. Then this morning he changed his mind.” There came a chorus of boos. “Hold up, good folks. He said he would donate the fundraised total times ten! Mr. Mitchell, I hope you have overdraft protection, because today we made twenty-eight hundred sixty-three dollars. Mr. Mitchell, please come and fill in the amount of your check.”
Nathaniel pushed to his feet, strolling across the lush grass amid hoots and whistles. Everyone had stood up to applaud his generosity. He shook hands with Reverend Blake before taking the check. He made it out for thirty thousand dollars and signed it. The amount was comparable to a year’s tuition plus room and board. He posed with the pastor, Shirah and the church board for photographs.
Kendra watched Nathaniel as he attempted to make his way back to where she sat, but he kept being thwarted by people shaking his hand or giving him a celebratory slap on the back. She knew by his tight smile that he was uncomfortable with all the attention.
Her ex-husband avoided the spotlight and being the center of attention. It was one of the things she loved about him.
Kendra was on her feet and waiting for Nathaniel when he finally made it to the tree. “Let’s go for a walk,” she suggested, reaching for his hand.
“Where?”
“Anywhere, as long as I can have you all to myself.”
Nathaniel angled his head, giving her a quizzical look. “What’s wrong, Kendra?”
“Nothing, darlin’, darlin’ baby,” she teased, smiling. “I just want to have my boyfriend all to myself for a few minutes.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Am I really your boyfriend?”
Moving closer, she anchored her arms on his shoulders. “Yes, you are. And you’re quite the superhero.”
A frown settled on his attractive features. “I didn’t donate the money because I want adulation. Thirty thousand isn’t a lot when you have to pay for rent, utilities, insurance, parts and software and salaries for the computer technician and maintenance.”
Kendra nodded. “I know that, Nathaniel.”
“What else do you know?”
“I know you donated the money because you believe it’s going to support a good cause.”
Nathaniel’s frown deepened. “For someone who is so bright, you’ve missed the obvious.”
> “You’re speaking in riddles, Nathaniel.” Pulling her arms down, he grasped her hand and led her across the verdant lawn until they were standing on the sidewalk outside the church. “Where are we going?” Kendra asked when he began walking again.
“We’re going to your apartment where we can talk and not have our business spread throughout the South Side faster than the Great Chicago Fire.”
Kendra gave him a sidelong look, but didn’t say anything.
They reached Pearl’s and she unlocked the door. She could feel the heat of his gaze on her back as they climbed the staircase to the third floor. Cool air from the lowest setting on the window air-conditioning unit greeted them when Kendra opened the door to her apartment.
“Welcome to my humble abode,” she said with a wide grin. It was the first time she’d invited Nathaniel inside. He usually picked her up and left her at the door.
Nathaniel went in, his dark eyes taking in everything in one sweeping glance. A sofa and love seat covered in a cream-colored microfiber, a glass-topped coffee table and matching side tables with Tiffany-style lamps he found charming and inviting. A slowly moving ceiling fan circulated cool air throughout the room.
“How many bedrooms do you have?”
Kendra kicked off her sandals. “One. I have a full bath, eat-in kitchen, living room and the bedroom.”
She knew what he was thinking. She’d given up a six-bedroom, six-bathroom beachfront house to live in an apartment the size of their front lawn. “Can I get you something to drink?”
Nathaniel followed Kendra into a pristine, all-white kitchen. “What do you have?”
Turning, she smiled at him. “Mineral water, juice and wine.”
“I’ll have the water.”
Kendra opened the refrigerator and took out two bottles of carbonated water. “Glass or bottle?”
“The bottle’s good.”
She removed the caps, handing one bottle to Nathaniel while she emptied hers into a glass. “You can sit down.”
Setting down his water, Nathaniel came around the table and pulled out a chair, seating Kendra before sitting down next to her. Touching the neck of the bottle to her glass, he took a deep swallow of the cold sparkling water.
“Why did you want to get me alone?”
Leaning to his right, he angled his head and fastened his mouth to hers. “I couldn’t do this with everyone gawking at us,” he murmured against her moist lips. “Congratulations, baby. You did it.”
Kendra closed her eyes, enjoying the pressure of his mouth. “I couldn’t have done it without you,” she whispered.
He pulled back, staring at her under lowered lids. “Yes, you could. It might’ve taken a little longer, but you would’ve done it.”
Resting her palm along his jaw, Kendra stared at the shape of his mouth, remembering the delight of his kisses, kisses that took her to heights of passion and beyond. She missed anticipating his return from a business trip, missed him surprising her with minivacations when he chartered a private jet to take her and Natalia down to the Caribbean or Europe, or their standing Friday-night dinner and a movie. She missed being married to the man she’d taken a vow to love through sickness and health, in good and bad times.
“I didn’t have a little longer. Shirah wants to get her GED this fall and begin college next spring. You helping me complete the budget projections—plus your very generous donation—has made it possible for her.” Smiling, Kendra touched her lips to his, caressing them with feathery kisses that set Nathaniel’s nerve endings on edge.
“If you don’t stop,” he murmured, “then I’m not going to be responsible if we end up in your bed.”
“That wouldn’t be such a bad thing.”
Nathaniel froze, his eyes widening. Kendra had barely permitted him to kiss her, and now she was giving him the go-ahead to make love to her? “You’re kidding?”
“No, I’m not. But first you have to make an honest woman out of me for the second time.”
“You’re kidding?” he repeated.
“You sound like a parrot. And, no, I’m not kidding. You asked if we could start over and I agreed we should. I’m not proud of how I treated you when you tried to help me deal with the loss of our baby. I was angry with you because I believed you blamed me for what was an accident, but I’ve also carried my share of guilt for feeling I shouldn’t have given the responsibility of caring for our daughter to a stranger.”
“What about taking our relationship one day at a time?” Nathaniel could’ve kicked himself within seconds of asking the question.
She closed her eyes, shutting out his intense stare, and when she opened them they glistened with unshed tears. “You don’t want to marry me?”
Adjusting his chair, Nathaniel turned to face Kendra. Cradling her chin, he dropped a kiss on the end of her nose. “Of course I want to marry you, baby. I wanted to marry you the first time I saw you at the side of the road, your cute behind up in the air as you tried to get the lug nuts off your flat tire.”
Her jaw dropped. “You stopped to help me because of my butt!”
He gave her a sheepish grin. “Well, it did get my attention. It was the luckiest day of my life, because I met my soul mate.”
Kendra stood up and settled herself on Nathaniel’s lap, as she had countless times during their marriage. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Kendra buried her face in his shoulder. If Nathaniel thought he was lucky, then she was blessed, because she’d been given a second chance to start over with the man she loved.
“I’m sorry, Nathaniel. I made your life hell. I’m so, so sorry….”
“Shh-hh,” he crooned softly. “Hush, baby. Please don’t cry. It’s over, Kendra. It’s the past and I don’t want to revisit the past—not today, tomorrow or the day after.”
Nathaniel could deal with anything but a woman’s tears. Gathering Kendra off the chair, he carried her out of the kitchen, down a narrow hallway and into her bedroom. He placed her on the bed, his body following hers down. After he removed his shoes, they lay nestled together like spoons.
“When do you want to marry?” he asked after a comfortable silence.
“I’ll leave that up to you.”
“What about tonight?”
Kendra popped up like a jack-in-the-box. “Tonight? Have you gone and lost your mind, Nathaniel Xavier Thomas Mitchell?”
He sat up, grinning. “Yes, I have.” Reaching into the pocket of his slacks, he took out his cell phone. “I’m going to charter a private jet to take us to Vegas, where I can make an honest woman of you—again—and then we’ll come back and figure out where on the South Side you want to live. I noticed a few vacant parcels not far from the church, where we can build a house.”
Tears filled Kendra’s eyes for the second time within minutes. “You’re willing to relocate to Chicago?”
“I will live anywhere you live, baby. Besides, I want to make certain my wife’s computer-exchange program stays on track.”
Her fingers grazed the emerging stubble on his chin. “What about your company?”
“I’ll open another office.”
“What about the one in Miami? Are you going to close it?”
“Kellen can run it for me. Why don’t you call your grandparents and let them know you’re not coming to work tomorrow because you’re going to have a Vegas wedding. I’ll reserve a flight.”
Kendra literally jumped off the bed. “Can we have an Elvis impersonator?”
Nathaniel winked at her. “Little Richard.”
“Yes!” She raced out of the bedroom to get her phone. It took less than two minutes to tell Moses that she and Nathaniel were flying to Vegas and that she would return in time to meet Shirah and teach her literacy class.
“Too bad you kids can’t take an extended honeymoon.”
“We will, Grandpa, but not now. We both have too many things to do.” She didn’t tell her grandfather about Nathaniel’s plan to set up an office in Chicago, or his decision to live in South
Side.
“You did good today, grandbaby-girl. Real good.”
“I had lots of help, Grandpa.”
“True, but it was your dream, and you managed to make it a reality.”
Kendra didn’t want to debate the issue with her grandfather, but if Shirah hadn’t come to her, hadn’t needed a computer, and if she hadn’t modeled the program on Lara Tavares’s Sky’s the Limit, then none of it would have happened.
“I’ve got to go, Grandpa. Nathaniel’s waiting for me.”
“Good luck, baby. Your grandma and I will be here when you come back with your husband.”
“I love you, Grandpa.” That said, she ended the call. She smiled at her husband-to-be. “Do I have time to throw a few things in a bag?”
Nathaniel shook his head. “No. I’ll call the hotel once we’re in the air and have them get whatever you need.”
Grabbing her handbag off the countertop, Kendra quickened her pace to keep up with Nathaniel’s longer legs. “What time are we taking off?”
“We have less than an hour to make it to Midway.”
She locked the door and followed him down the staircase to where Nathaniel had parked his car earlier in the restaurant’s lot. Seated and belted in, she exchanged a smile with the man she would marry for the second and final time. This time she knew it was for keeps.
Her grandfather had credited her with the success of her new project, but Kendra knew she couldn’t have done it without Nathaniel, her brother, Lara Tavares and the church board. The entire South Side community had come together to ensure the future success of one of their own.
Dear Reader,
Not only was I honored to contribute a story for Harlequin’s remarkable More Than Words philanthropic program, but the experience has inspired me to do my part to help today’s under-resourced youth.
After reading about the dedication of Lara Tavares, founder and CEO of Toronto-based Sky’s the Limit, in addressing the widening digital divide between students and providing them with access to the tools and resources they need to pursue the infinite opportunities and possibilities available to them, I will never throw away another computer. I will instead donate it to a similar organization.
More Than Words, Volume 6 Page 29