Page 44 of Until Kendal
At four o'clock, she knocked on my door. I closed my laptop and asked, “How was orientation?”
She came in and shrugged. “I’m not sure what I’d do with a 401K, but it sounds important and official.”
My skin buzzed—I needed to ask her again. I swallowed and took her hand. “You’ll see. So your mom has a nurse that’s willing to stay all night, and I was hoping we could go out tonight, on a date.”
Her gaze narrowed. “And security?”
I nodded and met her gaze. “I hired the best.”
For a moment, she didn’t blink as she gazed at me. Then her cheeks pinkened, and she nodded, “Okay, I’d love to go.”
My heart jumped, but I offered my arm. “Let’s go then. I’ll show you the sites of New York. Anywhere you want to see?”
“I want to see the billboards of Broadway. It’s in every movie I’ve ever seen here, and I thought that might be fun.”
Perfect. We would spend the new few hours being tourists so she had a view of everything. We took the elevator, but as we reached the bottom, a driver held my name up as we headed on the street. We went to him, and he handed us bags. I read Kendal’s name on it, and she asked, “What’s this?”
I handed them to her. “Bergdorf. I didn’t order you anything.”
People on the street walked around us. She took out the silver gown and sighed like she was in heaven. “Well, it’s lovely, and there is a note.”
She handed me the note, which I quickly read. I nodded. “My mother thought you’d never seen the city, so she set up a tour.”
She took out something from the second bag. “And the jacket?”
I handed her the letter back. “Then dinner on the yacht.”
She tilted her head like she had an important decision to make. “Can I change in the limo, or should we go upstairs?”
I shrugged. “Whatever you want.”
She pointed to the building. “Give me a minute.”
“Of course,” I said, and she ducked into the lobby. I followed, but she headed to the ladies' room. I stayed outside and checked my mother’s itinerary on my phone. I checked off circling the statute and a private tour of Ellis Island.
Kendal came out, and for a second, my hair stood on end. She was gorgeous. She floated toward me, and my chest filled with pride as she said, “I’m ready and excited.”
I pressed my hand on her lower back. “Let me show you the city then. First stop, Broadway.”
She giggled, and we headed out. Tonight’s date was the first step to winning her love.
ChapterThirty-Seven
Kendal
No one on Broadway in Times Square even blinked that I was standing in the center of where streets merged, wearing an evening gown. I glanced up at the lights and the billboards all around and giggled. Never in a million years would I have believed I would ever make it here, not that I had musical or acting skills.
People walked fast all around me, like they had somewhere important to be, but the commercials all glowed like Christmas lights. I took a few minutes of silence. Then I glanced at Joel, and my heart thumped. Half of me was terrified to believe in a future.
I bumped into him and asked, “Can we get a pretzel?”
“Sure.” He winked.
We walked to a stand, and he took my hand. Instantly, I dreamed we would end up happy and together. “In the movies, they're always eating one, so I want to see if their diff…” He handed me the salted dough, and I put a piece in my mouth. As I chewed, I let out a small giggle. “Yummy.”
I took one more twirl around to take in the view, then Joel asked, “So any other must-see places?”
We walked back to the limo, and as I ate more of the pretzel, I brainstormed. “Central Park? But that’s near your house.”
