Chapter 1
“Miss Santiago. Miss Washington is waiting inside for you.”
Nydia opened her eyes. She hadn’t realized she had fallen asleep for the second time that morning. The text message from a car service indicated a five a.m. pickup in front of her parents’ West Harlem brownstone. The drive to the Westchester regional airport was accomplished quickly, and a sleek private jet was on a runway awaiting her arrival.
She was one of seven passengers on the aircraft scheduled for several stops, with San Diego, California, as the final destination. Once they were airborne, members of the flight crew served a sumptuous breakfast prepared by an onboard chef, and as soon as the cabin lights were dimmed she reclined her seat and slept until the attendant woke her minutes before noon to inform her they were approaching the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.
Once the jet landed, she was whisked through to baggage claim and found a car service driver awaiting her arrival. She got into the comfortable sedan and promptly fell asleep again.
When they arrived, the chauffeur opened the rear door, and she placed her hand on the man’s palm as he assisted her out of the vehicle. “Thank you.” Tilting her head, she sniffed the hot, humid air and smiled. There was something about the way New Orleans smelled Nydia found intoxicating.
The hotel’s bellhop rushed over to the town car and removed her bags from the trunk. Jasmine’s fiancé had made the arrangements for her to stay at the boutique hotel where Cameron rented a suite.
When she’d asked her friend why her fiancé lived at a hotel, Jasmine had revealed his living arrangements were temporary; he had recently purchased a three-story Victorian converted warehouse with a rear courtyard and a garage with enough space for three vehicles. She said they planned to use the first floor for entertaining family, friends, and clients, and the two upper floors for their personal use.
Nydia took a step and bit down on her lower lip to stifle a gasp when she felt a slight twinge in the incision from a recent surgical procedure. It was a reminder that it had only been three days since she was medically cleared to travel. She had ignored what had become chronic pain in her right side for several weeks until it had become so debilitating that she was forced to call her father and plead with him to take her to the emergency room. Forty-five minutes after their arrival, she was wheeled into the operating room for the removal of a ruptured appendix. The surgery could not have come at a worse time, because she had been scheduled to fly down to New Orleans for the wedding.
This was her third trip to the Big Easy in thirteen months. The first was last July when she, Jasmine Washington, Tonya Martin, and Samara, Tonya’s daughter, drove from New York to visit their former coworker, Hannah DuPont-Lowell. So many things had happened to Nydia and her friends since they were downsized from an international Wall Street private investment firm.
Nydia, and two dozen other employees, could have never imagined when they walked into Wakefield Hamilton on a warm, sunny morning in May that it was to become their last day of employment. The company had merged with another institution, and although they were given generous severance packages, none were offered the option of staying and commuting to Trenton, New Jersey.
She, Tonya, and Jasmine had returned to New Orleans in October as bridal attendants for Hannah’s wedding to her former high school classmate St. John McNair. And Nydia’s third trip would have been this past June to witness Tonya’s wedding to St. John’s cousin, Gage Toussaint, if she hadn’t been hospitalized. She was back again to stand as maid of honor for Jasmine’s wedding to Cameron Singleton. A wry smile parted her lips. She didn’t know what it was about the Crescent City, but it was obvious her friends had been seduced by the food, music, and the men.
Gathering her purse, Nydia slowly followed the bellhop into the Louis LaSalle. The automatic doors opened, and the scene unfolding before her eyes made her feel as if she had stepped back in time. Marble floors, a trio of massive crystal chandeliers, overstuffed brocade-covered chairs and sofas welcomed one to linger a while. Gilt-framed paintings of men and women dressed in their finery from a bygone era hung from the ornately papered walls. An enormous bouquet of fresh flowers overflowing a hand-painted glazed vase set on a large round mahogany table was the lobby’s focal point.
“Bienvenido de nuevo a La Gran Fácil.”
Nydia turned and smiled. She hadn’t noticed Jasmine’s approach. The affection she felt for her friend was reflected in her smile as she extended her arms and hugged Jasmine. She was still attempting to wrap her head around the news that her former coworker was pregnant and planning to marry the father of her unborn baby in two weeks.
“I can’t believe you’re welcoming me back as if you’ve lived here for years instead of a few months,” Nydia teased.
Jasmine returned her smile. “I never thought I’d ever move from the Big Apple, but now that I live here, I’ve come to love the Big Easy.”
Easing back, she studied Jasmine’s face. The interior decorator turned human resource specialist’s longer, coal-black, wavy hair framed a face that was noticeably fuller than when they were last together. The genes she had inherited from her African-American father and Filipino mother had blended with a gold-brown complexion, slightly slanting eyes, a pert nose, and lush mouth. Nydia could see why Cameron hadn’t been able to pull his gaze away from Jasmine at Hannah’s wedding reception.
“You’re actually glowing.”
“Don’t you mean growing?”
“Please, Jazz,” Nydia drawled. “You don’t look pregnant.” Her friend had just completed her first trimester.
“It’s the dress. I’m already losing my waistline.” Jasmine looped an arm through Nydia’s. “Come with me. I’ll take you to your room.” She signaled for the bellhop with Nydia’s bags to follow her. “Oh, I forgot to ask. How are you feeling?”
“The incision is still a little tender, but other than that I’m good.”
“Good enough to dance salsa at my wedding?”
Nydia met Jasmine’s dark eyes. Both had agreed how much they enjoyed dancing to live Latin music. “You hired a band?”
A mysterious smile touched the corners of Jasmine’s mouth. “I couldn’t get one on such short notice, so I had the DJ compile a playlist with some popular dance numbers.”
They rode the elevator to the fourth floor in silence. Jasmine had confided to Nydia that only Hannah, Tonya, and Cameron’s family knew she was going to marry him the afternoon following his parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary banquet. However, someone had leaked that Cameron was engaged but failed to identify the woman who was to become Mrs. Cameron Averill Singleton. Once Belinda Singleton confirmed the rumor her son was indeed planning to marry, shock-waves reverberated throughout the city, because at the age of forty-eight, the extremely attractive wealth manager had earned the reputation as a serial dater. And whenever someone saw Cameron with Jasmine and questioned their connection, his reply was he’d commissioned her to decorate his new home.
Jasmine swiped a key card, opened the door, and stood aside as the bellhop pushed the dolly with Nydia’s luggage into the suite. Her friend waited until he’d placed the Pullman on a luggage rack and two carry-on bags on the floor in front of the bedroom closet, and then reached into the large patch pocket of her sundress and surreptitiously handed him a tip.
The young man nodded. “Thank you, Miss Washington.”
Once the young man left, Nydia walked into the suite, her hazel eyes noticeably widening when she surveyed the space where she would spend the next month. It was now the first week in August, and she planned to return to New York following the Labor Day weekend. The contemporary pale-gray and white seating grouping in the living room complemented the glass-topped dining room table with four alternating gray and white upholstered chairs set on a geometric black, white, and gray area rug. Gunmetal-gray floor-to-ceiling silk drapes were pulled back to allow brilliant sunlight to flood the open floor plan that included a galley kitchen with stainless-steel appliances.
