Page 39 of The Dating Prohibition

Over the next few days, Kendra completely avoided the restaurant. Shonda wanted some consultation with Kendra over some new

menu items, but they worked on those at the house to dodge prying eyes and ears.

Kendra chose not to answer her cell phone or text messages. Though the volume of contact decreased, she still heard from BJ

every day, checking on her and reminding her that he wanted to talk, that he was sorry for what she heard.

Kendra couldn’t help but feel that after what happened at the restaurant, a talk with BJ would only confirm that everything

was coming to a close. And though she knew that was where things were headed, she just wasn’t ready to hear it.

Shonda put the finishing touches on a mini lemon tart, piping meringue in a decorative pattern before garnishing with mint.

“Wait, shouldn’t you use your torch before you add the garnish?”

“Shit, you’re right.” She grabbed the teeniest set of kitchen tweezers that she had in the pocket on the sleeve of her chef’s coat and gingerly pulled the mint off. “Torch.” Shonda held out her hand.

“Torch,” Kendra responded, placing it in her hand as if they were in the middle of a surgical procedure.

Shonda flicked the switch and a controlled flame burst out of the nozzle, which she teased over the tops of the petals of

meringue she had so gently arranged.

“That looks mouthwatering.” Kendra watched as Shonda finished charring the marshmallowy decor. She reintroduced the sprig

of mint and then zested a bit of lemon over the top. “Perfection.”

“You should know—it’s your recipe,” Shonda quipped, giving her the eye.

“I mean, it is, but I’m always gonna take pride in seeing someone do it justice.”

“Well, let’s take some pictures of it, and then I think we need to sample it.”

Kendra nodded, her face stony. “That is a must.”

Shonda grabbed her cell phone and began shooting the dessert from different angles. “So, what are you gonna do? Have you decided

what you want to try to pursue in terms of your business?”

“Maybe. I have some ideas, but I haven’t completely thought them through yet. I plan to take the next day or two to solidify

everything. As a matter of fact, I need to call Auntie Mack. She’s been waiting for me to get back to her on something.”

“Oh yeah?” Shonda snapped several more angles of the tart, making sure to keep the light so that shadows didn’t mar the photos.

Finally, she picked up the tart by its shell casing and set it on her wooden cutting board. In one swift motion, she cut the

tart in two, placing half on a dessert plate for Kendra and reserving the other half for herself. They each grabbed a fork

and tapped them together. “Cheers!”

Kendra went for a side that had more of the meringue petals. She dug her fork in and it went through the custard smoothly until it reached the crispness of the tart shell.

“Perfect. No soggy bottoms here,” Shonda quipped as she watched.

“Indeed.” Kendra raised the bite to her mouth and closed her eyes. “Mmm.” The lemon filling melted against her tongue, the

tart citrus balanced by the sweet meringue. The almost shortbread consistency of the tart crumbled as she chewed. “You made

this perfectly,” she said as she chewed, digging her fork in for another bite. As she raised the fork to her mouth, the front

door opened.

“Hey, Shonda, Kenny.” BJ stepped in nervously. “Shonda, uh, Logan sent me to pick up a few things from you. He said you’d

know what.”

Shonda nodded, her eyes darting to Kendra. “Sure, I have a bag for you in my office. Hold on one second.” She turned to Kendra.

“You good?”

“Yeah, I gotta take off. Remember I have that meeting,” she replied and looked at her sister-in-law meaningfully.

Shondra nodded. “Right.”

BJ turned to her as Shonda went to her office. “Are you sure you don’t have a minute to talk?” he asked quietly, his eyes

imploring her to say yes.

Kendra’s heartbeat picked up, and a lump formed in her throat. “I’m sorry. I really have to go.”

“Okay.” He looked conflicted as he ran his hand over his locs. “Will you call me soon? I really do want to talk to you.”

“I’m not sure that there’s anything left to say, BJ. You said your piece when you were with Logan.” She steeled herself to

say the words that allowed her mind to betray her heart.

“But I didn’t—that’s the thing. I said parts of what I was thinking, but not all of it. And I want to discuss it with you.”

“If you’re not ready, you’re not ready. There’s nothing to discuss. And if you regret what happened between us, then, then

there’s really no reason to belabor the point.”

“I don’t regret anything . I just—” Exasperated, he ran his hands through his hair, pulling the top half away from his face. His dark eyes searched

hers, the gravity within them tugging at her.

“Well, either way, if we talk about it, it has to happen some other time. I don’t have time right now.” She looked away from

him and headed toward the door.

“Kenny.”

She stilled with her hand on the doorknob, her back facing him.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly.

Kendra turned her head to speak over her shoulder. “At some point I’ll give you a chance to elaborate on that.” She walked

out, making her way back to her studio downstairs. Her plate of lemon tart still in her hand. As she got inside and locked

the door, she carried her plate to the kitchen island and set it down to pull her phone out of her pocket. As she dialed her

aunt’s phone number, she grabbed a napkin. “Now, fuck this dainty shit,” she grumbled. She picked up her half of the tart

and took a big bite as she dialed Auntie Mack.

“Hello, my love! How are you doing?” her aunt asked.

Kendra swallowed. “I’m okay. I have a weird collaboration proposal that I received and I’m pretty sure I’m going to reject

it.”

“Oh, it’s in DC?”

“Yeah, but they basically want me to lease their building and in part maintain their business before I can really focus on

mine.”

“What do you mean ‘in part’?”

“For a set period of time, I’d have to operate under their business name, and I would be required to sell some of their products, and they’d get a cut of that.”

“Lord today... and what do you get out of this?” her aunt asked incredulously. “I don’t like this.”

“I would have use of the space at a discounted price, and I would be able to do some of my recipes. It’s limiting.”

“How long would you have to do that?”

Kendra grimaced. “Ten years?”

“Absolutely not.”

“No, I agree. It doesn’t feel right. And the more that I think about it, I just can’t let go of something that I want to do

for ten years to carry on someone else’s dream just because it gives me a discount on a property lease.”

“I think that you would regret it if you did. So what are you thinking?”

“Well, I’ve got some ideas that I want to run by you.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, do you have time?”

“Of course, anything for you, my love.” Everything about Auntie Mack’s voice was a soothing balm, settling Kendra’s nerves.

“Great.” Kendra launched into a recap of everything that had transpired with auctions and the business opportunities that

were open to her, and once she and her aunt found some agreement, Kendra sighed with relief, weight melting off her shoulders.

“Every time I talk to you, I feel better.”

“Well, that’s what your auntie’s for, baby. How’s everything else? How’s the professor?” An amused tone played on her aunt’s

voice.

“BJ.” Above all else, Kendra could count on her aunt’s discretion. That she hadn’t shared with her sisters or her daughter

that Kendra brought a plus-one to Charleston made her Kendra’s strongest confidante.

“Yes. You two looked really . . . content.” Her aunt paused as she searched for the correct word.

“We were.”

“Not anymore?” her aunt asked. “What happened? I barely saw you a few days ago.”

“Yeah, well. Lani figured out that BJ and I had been seeing each other. She blabbed to Shonda, who told Logan. And then Logan

called BJ in to basically give him the third degree and I overheard their conversation. BJ was saying how he wasn’t ready

for anything serious and it makes me feel like... like somehow they think I inadvertently forced this on him or something.”

“Well, we all know that’s not the case, love.”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t feel good to want something more than someone else does. Why do I always have to be the one that’s ready

when the others aren’t?” She thought about her encounter with Chase.

“Feels like that for a lot of women,” Auntie Mack agreed. “You know, women are often allowed to feel their feelings so much

more than men, we tend to get to a place where we know ourselves, what we want, and whether we’re willing to put in the emotional

work. And I think sometimes we’re a little less scared of things like therapy, where most men are taught not to feel those

feelings. And so to them, therapy is invasive. They don’t want to talk through their feelings—they don’t even want to admit

they have them half the time,” she joked. “But that doesn’t mean what he did was right. And I’m sorry that the chain of events

caused you pain.

“For what it’s worth, when he looked at you, it was clear to me that he had feelings for you. How deep they were and whether

he was ready, those are different questions. But I saw with my own eyes that he was enjoying his time with you. However long

we get to experience that, it’s a blessing.”

A tear fell down Kendra’s cheek and she nodded. “You’re right. It was a blessing. One that I hoped would last a little longer than it did, but I’m glad that it happened at all.”

“So, are you ready to put this thing in motion, young lady?”

“Yes, ma’am, I am. I will get things started on my end and I’ll call you again tomorrow with some of the details so you can

help me facilitate things.”

“That sounds perfect. I’m really proud of you, my sweet.”

“Thank you, Auntie. Your support means the world to me.”

“Well, just don’t forget to clue in your parents, because you know that they’re going to want to support you too and they’ll