“Quinceañera?” He raised his eyebrows.
“It’s where you become a woman. There’s even a ceremony where the dad removes the shoes of a little girl and replaces them with a woman’s shoes. I practiced how to walk in those high heels for weeks.”
His quick smile made her heart flutter. “I bet that’s a fun ceremony.”
“It was. Your mom let us have it in your house. It was such a beautiful setting. I was disappointed that you…” she hesitated and added, “… you all couldn’t stay. My parents limited it to kids my age. Most of Diego’s friends were seniors that year.”
“Well, it was for you and not Diego, right?”
She obviously couldn’t tell him she would have wanted him to attend as her guest, not Diego’s. Instead, she shrugged and said, “That’s right.”
The waiter arrived with two ceramic spoons on a tray. He set one in front of each one of them. “Chef Armand would like you to start with an amuse-bouche of fresh salmon and avocado with a hint of chili and lime.”
He disappeared as quickly as he had arrived. Daisy didn’t know what to do with the spoon in front of her until Ken picked it up and took a bite of the whole thing. She followed his lead. The flavors exploded on her tongue, and she closed her eyes as she relished the fresh taste and the kick of heat.
“Oh, my word. That is amazing.”
When she opened her eyes, he stared at her with such an intense look that she thought she had done something wrong. Then a slow smile spread across his face that warmed her from the inside out. “I like a woman who enjoys flavor.”
Suddenly self-conscious, she licked her lips and smiled, then took a sip of her water.
Intensemorning sickness had not hit Daisy. She hoped it wouldn’t happen as she got further along in her pregnancy. But she did feel moderately queasy the moment she woke up and normally had to lay still in bed and let it pass.
This morning, she languished in the memories of last night. Every single part of the meal she shared with Ken tasted amazing. Beyond that, his presence, his personality, everything about him exceeded anything she could have imagined. That silly little schoolgirl crush she had on him as a teenager had matured into a full-blown grown woman attraction to the ninth degree.
Now she faced a brand-new problem. They had made plans to go out on Friday night. He would arrive at six to pick her up and had instructed her to dress casually. Daisy had no idea what that meant, but she knew one thing with absolute certainty.
Daisy Ruiz could never go out with Ken Dixon again.
She wanted to, of course. Dating Ken fulfilled all of her dreams. When he walked her to her door last night, the wild and crazy side of her wished he would kiss her good night—kiss her in a way she had dreamed of since her twelfth year on this earth.
Of course, he had simply brushed his lips over her cheek. She pressed her palm against said cheek as if she could still feel his lips. Oh, she’d definitely made a mistake in going on that date.
Even as her stomach settled, she didn’t immediately get up. Instead, she went back through every single word they had spoken, every flicker of his eyes in the candlelight from the table. In her memory, she listened to his voice, watched his mouth move, watched his hands as they helped him tell stories.
She was seriously in trouble here.
“Yep. I like you a lot, Ken. A lot a lot. Alot. There’s just this issue of another man’s child. You don’t mind, do you?”
Rolling her eyes at herself, she got out of bed and headed straight for the shower.
By the time she grabbed a banana and a bottle of water, she was five minutes behind schedule to get to her church. She led a Bible study on Thursday mornings and had the key to unlock the classroom door. Maybe everyone else would arrive late, and she wouldn’t find them waiting on her. Although she doubted it.
As she walked down the hall of the church, she saw three women standing in the hallway. “Hola, sisters. I am so sorry I’m late.”
Mrs. Yancey stepped to the side as she pulled her key out of her pocket. “We just got here.”
Daisy’s father had worked as a youth pastor at churches throughout Atlanta her entire life. When she started college, he encouraged her to find a church connected to her college Christian fellowship group so she could grow her relationships inside the Christian world separate from his ministry. As a college student, she had aged out of his youth group. She had contemplated her grandparents’ church, but the drive would take her over an hour.
On her second Sunday of college, Daisy found this church, and when she walked through the doors, she felt like she had completely come home. She’d attended with two girls from her college group and discovered that many of the church’s leadership had worked with her father in various aspects over the years.
In her household, attending church meant volunteering at church. Before the end of her first semester of college, she taught a Sunday School class. Throughout her undergraduate years, she taught every Sunday, and by the time she started law school, she’d added the Thursday morning Bible study. Her job as executive director of the ministry gave her the freedom to continue to teach in the middle of a Thursday morning, providing a much-needed position in the church. When she first started teaching, older, retired women comprised most of the class. Over the years, a younger crowd had joined, giving a great dynamic to the group. One homeschool mom came every week, and her teenage daughter minded the younger children in the nursery. Daisy helped pitch in to pay her.
As the fluorescent lights flickered to life, she thought again of the candlelight last night. She should never have gone on that date. The idea that she would have to cancel a second date made her stomach hurt.
While they rearranged the tables and chairs to accommodate their class, she thought about how she would have to tell the women here about the baby. She had no idea how or when she would do that. What would they think about her then? How would they react?
Fifteen minutes later, thirteen women sat around the table with their Bibles and study guides open. “So, last week, we left off with session three. Who can tell me what words in verse six resonated with your heart and mind this week?”
