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She took a long drink of water from a bottle she’d left in her cupholder. Feeling more awake, she started her car and headed toward the eastern shore of the lake, where the Loon Feather was located.
While she drove, Dominic called the restaurant.
A few murmured words later, he hung up and said, “We’re good.”
“Excuse me? Just like that?”
“It’s my superpower, babe. I can talk anyone into anything.”
Outside the car, the buildings of town gave way to tall pines. “Are you sure it wasn’t the British accent?”
“Pure magic, darling. You should try it.”
Yeah, that would go over well at the Blue Drake. She could just imagine her staff laughing their asses off at her first “bloody hell.”
“Well, you can drop the act when no one’s listening. It’s not going to work on me.”
“Are you deliberately trying to make that sound like a challenge? You know challenges turn me on.”
“Dom. Shut up, okay? At least until I get some food in me. Low blood sugar.”
Ten minutes later, Kendra steered into the parking lot of the Loon Feather Bistro. It was located on a wooded rise overlooking the lake, with a wide view of the lake and the sparkling lights of the town. It was too pricey for most locals, so the clientele tended to be tourists. Perfect for Dominic. Expensive restaurants were his natural habitat.
As soon as she parked, Dominic swung out of the car. He had a thing about opening car doors for his dates. She remembered how impressed she’d been the first time he’d done it. The perfect guy, she’d thought. How wrong she’d been.
She hated being wrong. It almost never happened. Was she wrong to be having dinner with him now? Was he going to manipulate her into something? Was she going to fall for it?
Ugh, she hated self-doubt. She didn’t like losing her confidence, but Dominic had a way of making that happen.
A sudden, fierce need to talk to her father came over her. She locked the door before Dominic could open it, and pressed Alvin’s number on her speed dial. Dominic tapped on the driver’s side door, but she held up a finger to hold him off.
As soon as her father answered, she realized that this was his jam session night. She heard laughing voices and guitar riffs in the background. Was Jason there? She listened for the deep brass tones of a trombone warming up, but didn’t hear anything like that.
“Hello? Kendra, is that you?”
The sound of his beloved voice grounded her. “Hey Pop. Sorry, I forgot it was your jazz night.”
“Are you okay, sweetheart?”
“Yeah, I just wanted to hear your voice.”
“Did that fire out there shake you up? I don’t want you to worry. I made sure we have the right fire insurance for Alvin’s. The first time Gault set his purple hat on fire in the kitchen, I doubled our coverage. You know what I told him? I said, it ain’t a literal stovepipe hat. I also told him to smoke longer cigars if he was going to light them on my burners.”
She smiled, even though she’d heard that anecdote a hundred times. “He was lucky to have you.”
“And he knew it. If he didn’t, I wouldn’t have stayed around. You know what I always say. Stick with the people who know your worth.”
She nodded along to that last piece of wisdom, which was another thing he’d repeated a thousand times. He believed that repetition was important. Your life isn’t about the big things, it’s all the little things added up, he’d say. Over and over.
“I love you, Pop,” she whispered.
The sounds behind him coalesced into an actual rhythm with a chord progression. The musicians were done warming up and ready to start jamming.
“I love you, too, sweet pea.”
“Wait, before you go, I have to tell you something.”
The sound in the background was drowning out their conversation. It was pointless to talk anymore, but she had to get all of this out, even if he couldn’t hear it.
