“Lucky guess.” He put back on his sunglasses and pointed across the street. “Iggy’s folks lived over there on the second floor before they moved back to Puerto Rico. It’s the apartment with the plants in the window.”
Nydia looped her arm through Lamar’s. Their tense moment had passed as if it had never occurred. “So that’s where you became an adoptedPuertorriqueño?”
“Sí, cariña.”
“Showoff. I like being called sweet in Spanish. It’s more musical.”
“Thencariñait is. Do you feel like walking some more, or do you want to go back to the apartment?”
“Let’s walk.”
Nydia felt more confident to venture outside now that she was with Lamar. He made her feel what she’d been unable to experience with any other man who was not family: protected.
Chapter 11
Nydia sat on the bench seat next to Lamar as he tied the laces on his running shoes. His stay had been cut short when a text from his airline informed him all Sunday evening flights into Atlanta were canceled because of the National Weather Service’s prediction of severe thunderstorms in the area. He’d called the airline and changed his reservation to a late Saturday night flight.
“How long is your layover in Atlanta?” she asked.
“Ninety minutes. I’ll probably get home a little after sunrise.”
Their post-breakfast Saturday stroll turned into an extended walking tour of East and West Harlem before they returned to the apartment and spent the afternoon eating popcorn and laughing hysterically at Tyler Perry’sBoo! A Madea Halloween.The text appeared on Lamar’s phone just as the credits were rolling across the screen, preempting their planned dinner on City Island.
“Call or text me once you touch down.”
Lamar stood, bringing Nydia up with him. “Of course. I’m sorry about our dinner, but I promise to make it up to you.”
Nydia held on to his hand. “Don’t apologize, Lamar. There will be other times when we’ll go to City Island.” He’d made reservations at the Lobster Box, which was one of her favorite restaurants on the quaint fishing enclave at the tip of the Bronx. “Perhaps we’ll be able squeeze it in when you come up for Christmas. I hope I’m not getting ahead of myself.”
“Why would you say that?”
“I’m assuming because the kids have that week off from school that you’ll be able to take time off from your job.”
A hint of a smile tilted the corners of Lamar’s firm mouth at the same time he winked at her. “Not to worry,cariña. Every year we close the office on Christmas Eve and don’t reopen until the day after New Year’s. The partners rotate being on call in the event of an emergency, so I’m available this year.”
Her eyes lingered on his chin before moving up slowly to meet eyes that reminded her of cat’s-eye marbles. They were so oddly beautiful in a mahogany-brown face with undertones of copper and rosewood. “If that’s the case, then I’ll put together an itinerary for the kids and ask for your input before I finalize anything.”
“Just what are you hatching in that beautiful head of yours?”
Nydia lowered her eyes. Men had called her pretty andlinda pequeña mama, cute little mama, but never beautiful. And with Lamar she did feel beautiful whenever he stared at her, and more importantly, she felt protected. She’d dated Danny for three years and never during that time had he ever defended her when his friends or family members made comments about her, nor did he make her feel safe. Nydia wasn’t looking forward to becoming intimately involved with Lamar; she was forming an easygoing friendship. He could be someone she could call and ask to accompany her to soirées as her plus-one once she moved to New Orleans.
“I’m still thinking.”
“About what?”
“Whether to take the girls ice skating at Rockefeller Center. My nieces have their own skates, but then there’s your daughter.”
“Don’t worry about Kendra. I’ll make certain she has a pair of skates, even though she won’t have much use for them in New Orleans.”
“I wasn’t talking about skates because we can rent them, but whether she’ll be able to stay up on the ice.”
“Kendra will hold her own with your nieces. She may fall down a few times, but she’ll get up and try again until she’s skating along with the others.”
“What about her daddy?”
“I’ll sit and observe.”
Nydia’s eyebrows lifted questioningly. “You don’t skate?”
