As soon as Catherine walked out the door, Ivan thought about speaking to Ida again. She walked away and headed back toward the kitchen before he could make his move.

Just my luck, he thought. So I end up home alone again. At least I got a pocketful of money and people know me this time.

Once Ivan turned to gather himself to leave, Ida was there to whisper into his ear. She approached him swiftly from the back room.

“It’s tough juggling so many women, isn’t it?” she assumed.

He was caught off guard again. He chuckled and shook his head. “It’s not even like that. You see I’m all alone now, right?”

Ida looked at him curiously. She asked him, “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

She grinned and said nothing else before walking away from him.

Ivan stood there feeling useless.

Is she toying with me or what? he asked himself. Ida seemed interested enough to engage him, but to what extent? Maybe I just need to back off and see if she gets in touch with me on her own, he thought.

With the party winding down and the restaurant preparing to close at ten o’clock, he felt no reason to remain there. Thomas and most of the Urban League members had already left. So Ivan walked back toward the kitchen to let Ida and her mother know that he would be leaving.

Ida walked into him before he made it back.

“Oh, hey, I was just about to come and get you,” she told him.

“Come and get me for what?” He wanted to hear her intentions.

“Well, I wanted to take my mother home and then see what, you know, you were getting into. But I have to warn you, I can’t stay out too late,” she told him.

Ivan smiled. “Me either. I still have to work in the morning.”

“I know that’s right. Bills are bills. But anyway, I was just gonna come back out and ask, you know, what you were doing.”

Ivan nodded. He thought, I wanna be doing you, but of course, he couldn’t say that to her. Instead, he told her, “I’m open. It’s whatever.”

“Okay, so, I’ll call you as soon as I drop off my mother.”

Ivan held in his smile to hide his eagerness. “All right, you do that. But actually, I wanted to tell your mother bye for myself.”

Ida looked him in the face and cooed, “Aww, isn’t that so sweet of you. Come on back.”

He chuckled and felt like a member of the family.

WHEN HE WALKED OUT of Carol’s Soul Food Restaurant, slightly before closing time, Ivan stopped outside his car, looked around, and sniffed the night air.

Yup, he told himself. I can get used to this. This feels good.