and Gina. I think I’ve TiVo’d every show they’ve done and am trying to get in touchwith them regarding our bid for a spot on the Food Network. Anyway, I was watching their show one day, and when I saw them whip up this dessert, I couldn’t get into the kitchen fast enough. It took me a few tries to put a Livingston spin on it.”
“Ha, you know how we do!”
“You know I had to add my creative flair.”
“What did you do different?”
“The pecan crunch topping. They topped theirs with caramel syrup.” Diane returned to the table with two bowls of ice cream topped with a generous helping of the pecan crunch.
“Oh my goodness!” Candace exclaimed after her first spoonful. “Girl”—she took another bite, and closed her eyes as she savored the flavors—”this needs to be on the menu, ASAP!”
“You think? Can we do that? Since I got the recipe from watching
Down Home with the Neelys?”
“Unh-unh-unh.” Candace didn’t say anything further until she’d finished the last bite in her bowl. She wiped her mouth with a napkin and sat back in the chair. “I don’t know what we have to do, but, baby? That situation right there”—she pointed to her empty bowl—”needs to go on the menu! Girl, that ice cream was so good it almost made me forget about Victoria.”
“Is she coming to the gala?”
“Nobody knows what Victoria is doing these days. On any given day she’s a piece of work and now with pregnancy hormones kicking in? Lord have mercy.”
“Has she called you lately?”
“That child don’t want to talk to me—hasn’t called since we met almost two weeks ago. I know she don’t like what I told her, but the truth is the light. The way this whole pregnancy situation went down was wrong on so many levels that when I got ready to talk to her, I barely knew where to start. Lying about being on the pill.”
“You mean she wasn’t?”
“Not regularly, if at all. Then, on top of that, to lie about it, get pregnant, and hide the fact—behind a church and a Bible,I might add—until it was too late to have an abortion. That’s some kind of nerve. Not that I would have wanted that, don’t get me wrong, but she knows it’s what Malcolm would have demanded, which is why she didn’t tell anybody until she was sixteen weeks.”
“How is Malcolm?”
“Still seething. He was thinking about moving out of the house, but thank God Adam talked him out of it. You know how our clique gossips, and that story would be front-page news before the sun went down. Be thankful for what you and Ace have, Diane,” Candace said as she fiddled with the spoon in the empty bowl. “Y’all’s marriage looks like the Neelys—happy and secure.”
“Honey, you and Adam have been married longer than we have. We could probably take a page out of y’all’s marriage manual. You want some more?” When Candace shook her head, Diane reached for the bowls. “I’ll fix you a bowl to go.”
We could probably take a page out of y’all’s marriage manual
. Diane’s words repeated in Candace’s head. She and Adam could probably write a book on staying together and raising kids. There was no doubt that their love was still there: strong, steady. It was this love that she banked on, hoped would remain, beyond her recent decisions. In a way, what she was doing was for her family, so that they could continue to see the vibrant, satisfied woman they’d always known. So far, her choice had proved everything she’d hoped and more. And for that, she was vibrantly satisfied.
18
A lexis was nervous, which was unlike her. She’d revealed her finished work to clients much bigger than Toussaint Livingston. Her talents had been requested and then applauded by people from the sports world to the hip-hop community. She’d designed rooms for political aficionados and some of the elitist members of black society—in Atlanta and elsewhere.
So why am I trippin’? You weren’t even this nervous around Tyler Perry
.
“Ha, you know how we do!”
“You know I had to add my creative flair.”
“What did you do different?”
“The pecan crunch topping. They topped theirs with caramel syrup.” Diane returned to the table with two bowls of ice cream topped with a generous helping of the pecan crunch.
“Oh my goodness!” Candace exclaimed after her first spoonful. “Girl”—she took another bite, and closed her eyes as she savored the flavors—”this needs to be on the menu, ASAP!”
“You think? Can we do that? Since I got the recipe from watching
Down Home with the Neelys?”
“Unh-unh-unh.” Candace didn’t say anything further until she’d finished the last bite in her bowl. She wiped her mouth with a napkin and sat back in the chair. “I don’t know what we have to do, but, baby? That situation right there”—she pointed to her empty bowl—”needs to go on the menu! Girl, that ice cream was so good it almost made me forget about Victoria.”
“Is she coming to the gala?”
“Nobody knows what Victoria is doing these days. On any given day she’s a piece of work and now with pregnancy hormones kicking in? Lord have mercy.”
“Has she called you lately?”
“That child don’t want to talk to me—hasn’t called since we met almost two weeks ago. I know she don’t like what I told her, but the truth is the light. The way this whole pregnancy situation went down was wrong on so many levels that when I got ready to talk to her, I barely knew where to start. Lying about being on the pill.”
“You mean she wasn’t?”
“Not regularly, if at all. Then, on top of that, to lie about it, get pregnant, and hide the fact—behind a church and a Bible,I might add—until it was too late to have an abortion. That’s some kind of nerve. Not that I would have wanted that, don’t get me wrong, but she knows it’s what Malcolm would have demanded, which is why she didn’t tell anybody until she was sixteen weeks.”
“How is Malcolm?”
“Still seething. He was thinking about moving out of the house, but thank God Adam talked him out of it. You know how our clique gossips, and that story would be front-page news before the sun went down. Be thankful for what you and Ace have, Diane,” Candace said as she fiddled with the spoon in the empty bowl. “Y’all’s marriage looks like the Neelys—happy and secure.”
“Honey, you and Adam have been married longer than we have. We could probably take a page out of y’all’s marriage manual. You want some more?” When Candace shook her head, Diane reached for the bowls. “I’ll fix you a bowl to go.”
We could probably take a page out of y’all’s marriage manual
. Diane’s words repeated in Candace’s head. She and Adam could probably write a book on staying together and raising kids. There was no doubt that their love was still there: strong, steady. It was this love that she banked on, hoped would remain, beyond her recent decisions. In a way, what she was doing was for her family, so that they could continue to see the vibrant, satisfied woman they’d always known. So far, her choice had proved everything she’d hoped and more. And for that, she was vibrantly satisfied.
18
A lexis was nervous, which was unlike her. She’d revealed her finished work to clients much bigger than Toussaint Livingston. Her talents had been requested and then applauded by people from the sports world to the hip-hop community. She’d designed rooms for political aficionados and some of the elitist members of black society—in Atlanta and elsewhere.
So why am I trippin’? You weren’t even this nervous around Tyler Perry
.
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