Page 95 of The Dating Prohibition
“I just knew that I had to get you back, and even thoughthe work that I do is currently based in DC, it doesn’t mean that I can’t make changes to be where you are. I want to be where you are, Kendra.”
“You do?” she whispered.
He nodded. “You know, as you packed for your move, I started reaching out to contacts who had been after me for a while, wantingme to come and teach in their departments. A bunch of places had offered me visiting professorships because of the work thatI’ve been doing in my research. And one of them happened to be University of South Carolina—they had been looking to expandtheir architectural history department and didn’t have someone specifically focused on historic preservation the way thatI am.”
“It’s important work,” she agreed.
“Yeah, they thought so too, because they gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse, and my university couldn’t refuse either,” helaughed, the sound like music to her ears, stirring something deep within her. “If this visitorship goes well, I could potentiallynegotiate a tenured role here.”
“But I thought you really liked the university in DC. You’re not going to resent giving that up for me?” Kendra blurted.
He rested a hand on her cheek and she couldn’t help but lean into it. “I want to be near you. If it means that I have to commutefor work because I don’t get tenure here, then I will. But I will do everything in my power to be here and with you. It’swhere I want to be.”
Kendra exhaled the breath that she’d been holding.
“You may not know this, but I followed every single update that you posted on social media just to see how things were goingand to feel close to you.”
“Why didn’t you just call me?”
“I—” he started. “You stopped responding to my calls and texts. Honestly, I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That what happened made things irreparable. And speaking with you would have just confirmed that fear. I couldn’t handlethat possibility, so I froze. And everything happened so fast and then you were gone.”
“I see,” she said.
“I’ll wait if I have to, if you need time.”
“I don’t need any more time, Ben,” she whispered, and he leaned down and placed a soft kiss against her lips, warmth floodingher chest and crawling up to color her cheeks.
Gasps and quiet applause surrounded her, and she pulled back.
“What?” She searched the faces of her relatives, all of whom were smiling at them. Her cousin, her aunt, her sister-in-law,all stood close to tears, but none of them looked surprised. “Did all of you know about this?”
Several nodded before Lani spoke up. “Of course we knew. Do you know how hard it is to keep things from you?”
“Well, you’re a terrible liar. So I’m amazed that you kept it from me at all.” Her aunt and parents burst out laughing.
“You really are,” Auntie Mack said, squeezing her daughter.
“I can’t believe that you all just did this for me. And the gifts and the money, and Auntie Mack—all of the connections andhelp, just the generosity of your hearts.” She started to tear up. “The way you all showed up for me—” Her voice broke. “I’llnever forget this.”
“Well, since you don’t seem to want to be so surprised—” Logan came forward and rested his hands on Kendra’s shoulders “—youshould know that on your grand opening night, we reserved the Speakeasy Supper Club.”
“Of course you did.” She laughed, dabbing at her eyes with the pads of her fingers. She sniffled, shaking her head at how oblivious she had been to her family creating this moment forher. “Just make sure you don’t lose the password or the hostess won’t let you in.”
Kendra wrapped her arms around her brother. “I know you had a big hand in this. Thank you, big brother. I love you.”
“I’m only ever a call away, so you call me if you need me.”
“Always,” she replied. She reached for BJ’s hand and looked up into those deep brown eyes. “Always.”
Everyone in attendance raved at the small bites, several of the local business owners made a beeline to compliment her directly,expressing their excitement over her new cocktails and her fusion twists on Southern classics. People were begging for thebraised oxtails and coconut rice recipe. And the Thai-spiced mint julep and Pinay 75––a French 75 with calamansi juice––werehuge hits. “We will be very excited to send people your way!” Alice was ready to shout to all of her clients.
Kendra was floating on a cloud. She gushed the entire ride back to her place, her family having headed over to Auntie Mack’sfor the night. BJ in the passenger seat laughed as she told story after story of the different challenges she’d faced alongthe way. He watched her, tucking one of her curls behind her ear. “You decided to let go of the straight look.”
“It was never gonna last in the South. The humidity practically made my curls crawl up my face.” They both burst out laughingat the thought.
