Lamar stood straight. “Is there anything I can help you with?” He had chided himself for insinuating Valerie into their disagreement because it was something he’d vowed he would never do, and he prayed he would never do it again.
Nydia nodded. “Come with me.”
He followed her across the expansive kitchen to the pantry. The many shelves were stocked with enough food to feed a large family for several months. It was obvious the Santiagos shopped in bulk. His stared at Nydia’s back as she opened a refrigerator and took out several packages of bacon, ham steaks, and a sleeve of country sausage meat.
“Can you handle this?” she said, placing them on his outstretched arms. Lamar pretended to be staggering under the weight. Nydia smiled. “That’s why I gave you the meat instead of the eggs.” Reaching into the fridge, she took out a carton of three dozen eggs and closed the door with her hip.
“Are you really going to cook all of this?” he asked.
“Yes. We’ll serve it buffet-style like in hotels. And once it’s gone, then that’s it. The slow folks will have to get whatever is left.”
Lamar moved closer to Nydia, blocking her attempt to reenter the kitchen. “I know it’s Christmas Day, but do you have anything planned for today?”
She glanced up at him through her lashes. “What are you thinking?”
“I was hoping we could borrow someone’s car and drive to Brooklyn so I can see the old neighborhood.”
A smile softened her mouth. “I think that’s a good idea. There probably won’t be that much traffic. I’ll ask Papi or Nelson because they have NYPD placards in their windshields.”
“If it’s all right with you, then we’ll leave after breakfast.” Even though he enjoyed Nydia’s large and boisterous extended family, he wanted to spend some quality alone time with her, even if it was for only five or six hours.
* * *
Nydia signaled and moved over into a lane on the RFK Bridge to an exit in Harlem rather than take the FDR Drive to downtown Brooklyn. When she’d told her father she was going to take Lamar to Brooklyn, he’d told her to take his car, and if she had the time to stop by the brownstone in Harlem to pick up his mail and check to see if the tenants needed anything. He’d been away from home for several days.
“I’m going to stop at my parents’ brownstone first, and then swing by my place to pick up my mail.”
Lamar stared at her profile. “How long have you been away?”
“Three days. Mami and I went up to White Plains early to shop and help Sandra cook.”
“You never told me that your sister-in-law was a lawyer.”
Nydia tapped lightly on the horn when the car in front of her father’s Infiniti didn’t move once the light changed from red to green. “Sandra has earned a reputation as a brilliant litigator who prepares most of her firm’s briefs. She recently negotiated with the senior partners to work from home two days a week, because she wants to spend more time with her daughters. She keeps in touch with the office with conference calls and videoconferencing.”
“Where’s her office?”
“It’s about four blocks from Grand Central Station. She parks in the White Plains commuter lot and takes the Metro North directly into Grand Central.”
“That’s really convenient. How did she and your brother meet?”
“They met during their sophomore year in college. She was just coming out of a toxic relationship with someone she’d dated for a while, and when Nelson asked her out she wanted nothing to do with him. It wasn’t until later that she admitted that he wore her down because he wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Nydia thought of her sister-in-a-law as a superwoman because she was pregnant during her first year in law school, delivered Brianna in June, and began her second year without missing a beat, delivered her second child during her third year, graduated number two in her class, and passed the bar on her first attempt.
Lamar rested his left hand on Nydia’s knee. “I really like your family.”
Nydia’s tinkling laugh filled the vehicle’s interior. “I think I’ll keep them.”
“If you don’t want them, then I’ll ask your parents to adopt me.”
Nydia sobered. “You like them and they really like you.”
“Your brother Joaquin and his husband invited Kendra and me to visit them in Omaha sometime over the summer.”
“So you really did bond with my family.” He removed his hand when she gave him a quick glance.
“You didn’t know? While the ladies were upstairs cooking, the men were having a bromance.”
