Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Her phone had been buzzing since Luther’s. Friday, he’d cornered her in a hallway, told her not to play with him, and promised he’d show up if she didn’t respond. Saturday, he’d started texting. She’d ignored every single one.
Ro: You good?
Ro: Ken, don’t do this.
Ro: You gon make a nigga act up!
Ro: Aight. Bet.
That last text came through twenty minutes ago.
Its finality made her stomach drop. She tossed the phone on the bed and finished getting ready for dinner at her parents’.
She’d deal with Rolani later. Or maybe she wouldn’t have to deal with him until work.
Maybe that “Aight. Bet.” was him finally giving up.
She needed him to give it up so she could catch her bearings.
When she arrived at her parents’, the comforting aroma of Sunday dinner was just what she needed to clear her mind.
The scent of her mother’s turnip greens and cornbread greeted her as she entered, instantly taking her back to childhood.
Some things remain constant, and during times of change and uncertainty, that steadiness was essential.
“There’s my baby girl,” her father said, pulling her into one of his bear hugs that still made her feel like she was ten years old.
“Hey, Daddy. I missed you.”
Her mother emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron, flour dusting the front of her Sunday dress.
Kennedi smiled, seeing her, still the same woman who’d packed her lunches with little notes and stayed up late helping with school projects, now with more gray threading through her beautiful tresses and laugh lines deeper around her eyes.
“You better had missed me more.” Her mother joked, pulling her in for a hug as well.
“Of course I did, mommy. It smells so good in here.” Kennedi said, settling into her usual spot at the kitchen table while her mother bustled around, adding final touches to dinner.
“Sooo what’s new?” her mother said, her voice taking on that wistful tone Kennedi knew all too well.
“Nothing really. Trying to get settled in.”
“Did you find a man in Colorado?”
“Really?”
“Mhmm.” Her mother set a glass of sweet tea in front of her, made exactly how she liked it, with extra lemon, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
“You know, all your girls are married now. Blake, Paige, Taylor, and even Carmen said yes to Maurice.” She paused, giving Kennedi that look.
“Meanwhile, my beautiful, successful, accomplished daughter is still out here acting like marriage is a disease she might catch.”
“I do not.”
“Sure. All I’m asking for is a God-fearing man with a good heart, who works hard, loves his family, and treats my baby like she’s the only woman in the room. That’s it. That ain’t a lot.”
Kennedi groaned, resting her chin in her palm. The irony was suffocating. Her mother had described Rolani Pracher down to the bone, and she had no idea he existed. The problem wasn’t finding that man. The problem was she’d already found him and run out on him.
Was she the deadbeat?
“Oh, here we go. Ma, please.”
“Don’t ‘here we go’ me, Kennedi Loreal Marie Walters. You’re thirty-one years old. When are you going to find someone to settle down with? I want grandchildren before I’m too old to chase them around this house.”
“You want to be old and decrepit so bad. You’re not exactly withering away, Mommy.” She looked at her mother, who was still beautiful, still vibrant, still turning heads at the grocery store no matter what she had on.
“Don’t get smart with me.” She pointed her wooden spoon at Kennedi like a weapon, but there was love in her eyes.
“I’m saying, success is wonderful, baby, but it doesn’t keep you warm at night.
It doesn’t give you someone to share your victories with.
And it definitely doesn’t give me the grandbabies I’ve been praying for. ”
Her father laughed from his spot at the table, where he was sneaking pieces of cornbread. “Heidi, leave that girl alone. She was building her career. There’s time for all that other stuff.”
He winked at Kennedi, and she felt that familiar surge of gratitude for having him in her corner.
“Thank you, Daddy.”
“That said,” he continued, and her heart sank, “your mother’s not wrong. You’ve been so focused on work that you barely date. Hell, you barely even mention men anymore. When’s the last time you brought someone home?”
“Bloody hell, you too?” Kennedi looked between her parents, feeling like she was being tag-teamed. “Look, I just got back in town. I’m not focused on dating right now. But I hear you both.”
“We aren’t getting any younger,” her mother added, settling into her chair. “And we’ve already picked out names for my grandchildren. Biblical names. Strong names.”
“Mom! You sound so ridiculous. You and Dad could’ve given me a sibling, so all this pressure wouldn’t fall squarely on my shoulders. It’s not fair.”
She wanted to wrap this up before she blurted out that technically, she already had someone, let him tell it.
A man who carried a gun, would beat someone in an elevator and fucked her so well he’d turned her world upside down.
That conversation would probably send her mother into a frenzy of wedding plans and questions.
Until she figured out what they were doing, well, what she was doing, she was keeping that secret too.
“Can we please eat dinner without planning my future?”
Truthfully, Kennedi wasn’t even sure if she wanted children until she found out about the growing child inside of her. But she couldn’t tell her mother that. Surely a lecture would follow on how God said, “Be fruitful and multiply.” As if he could only be speaking about children.
“Fine,” her mother said with a dramatic sigh, but Kennedi could see the wheels still turning. “But there’s something about a woman in love that glows. I want to see that glow on my daughter’s face. I want to see you happy, baby. Really happy.”
“Who says I’m not happy?”
“Time to eat, baby love.” Her mother called out to her father, ignoring her question. Kennedi wasn’t about to rope her into that conversation.
The blessing was said, plates were filled, and conversation flowed around the table.
Her parents had moved on to discussing the real estate market, but Kennedi’s mind drifted to him.
She smiled, picturing Rolani here. She could see him charming her father with talk about cars, making her mother laugh with that charm he easily laid on thick.
So what was her real problem?
The doorbell rang, cutting through her thoughts. Her father set down his fork with a curious look, but Kennedi barely glanced up. Little LA was starving and craving greasy turnip greens. She was on her second bowl.
Her dad’s voice drifted from the hallway, his polite greeting, a deeper voice responding, too low for her to make out the words.
“Kennedi,” her father called from the front door. “You got company, baby girl.”
She frowned, setting down her fork. “Company? I’m not expecting anyone.”
“Well, come on then,” her mother said, dabbing her mouth with her napkin. “Don’t keep whoever it is waiting. It’s rude.”
Kennedi pushed back from the table, tossing a few braids over her shoulder as she walked toward the hallway. “Daddy, who is—”
She stopped dead in her tracks. No. No, he did not. Anger hit first. Then her body, completely unbothered by the anger, had its own response. He’d really shown up at her parents’ house. The audacity. The nerve. The... God, why does he look so good?
“Hey, gorgeous,” he said with a wink. He looked so good to her, too good.
And he smelled even better; her nose tickled, inhaling his intoxicating scent.
She fought the smile trying to form on her face as she took in the starched jeans, crisp white polo, white ones, a nice watch, and a gold herringbone necklace.
But those hazel eyes and that breathtaking smile were unmistakable.
Her father was already leading him from the front room. “Heidi, this young man says he knows our Kennedi.”
She pushed her hair back and stepped closer, head tilted.
“I... what are you doing here?” she finally managed, her voice barely above a whisper.
Rolani shifted the weight of the gift bag in his left hand before closing the space between them. A bouquet of fresh roses peeked out, and a slim bakery box from the bakery on Mill Avenue hung under his arm. He wasn’t about to meet her people empty-handed.
He reached for her free hand with his right, lifted it to his lips, and pressed a slow kiss to her knuckles.
In front of my parents. This man is insane, she thought.
Her pulse kicked up despite herself.
“Since you, Shacarri Richardson, I came to where you’d be.” He paused, his smile taking on an edge. “Plus, I wanted to meet the beautiful people who raised you. I hope that’s cool?”
Her father clapped him on the shoulder, clearly already charmed. “Any friend of Kennedi’s is welcome here. I’m Kenneth. What did you say your name was, son?”
“Rolani, sir. But most people call me Ro.”
“Well, Ro, you’re right on time for dessert. Heidi made her famous lemon blueberry pound cake.”
“He’s allergic,” Kennedi blurted out, the words tumbled from her lips before she could stop them. The silence that followed was deafening. Her father’s eyebrows shot up, her mother murmured something, and Rolani’s smile turned wicked.
“Allergic to what specifically?” her mother asked, her mama bear instincts evident and doing the talking.
“Blueberries,” Kennedi said. Her mother squinted, and Kennedi knew exactly what she was thinking.
“That’s very... observant of you, sweetheart,” her father said. “Well, come, there’s plenty of food back here.”
Every nerve in her body was on alert as she led him toward the dining room, hyperaware of his presence behind her. They were halfway down the hallway when her back touched the wall. It happened so fast she couldn’t protest. His hand found her chin, the other braced above her, caging her in.
“Surprised to see me, baby?”