Isabel held up both hands. “Maybe I’m missing something. You’re telling me this man—who just happens to be your friend—flies up from New Orleans to stage, as you say, an intervention.”
Nydia scrunched up her nose. “I’d like to think of it as interference.”
“Okay, he decides to pretend that he’s your boyfriend and/or your husband so that the reporter can tell viewers that you rejected Danny’s proposal because you’re involved with another man. And he agreed to do this because he’s your friend?”
“No, Mami. He didn’t agree to do anything.” Nydia knew she had to spell out everything for her mother or she would question her ad nauseam. Once she was finished explaining, Isabel appeared satisfied with her explanation.
“That was very nice of him.”
“That’s because he’s very nice.”
“What does he do for a living?”
“He’s an engineer.”
“Nice,” Isabel said softly. “At least he has a lot more going for him than thatpendejoyou wasted your time with.”
“Danny isn’t stupid, Mami. He did whatever he had to do or not do to get over. I told you last year it was over between us, and now it’s his time to move on—without me. This past week has been a horror, so I decided to change my travel plans.”
“When are you leaving?”
“Friday.”
“Is the bed-and-breakfast open for business?” Isabel questioned.
Nydia shook her head. “No. Hannah had planned for a late-October or early-November grand opening, but things are going a lot slower than anticipated.”
Isabel stared at her reflection in the wall of mirrors facing the half dozen stylists’ chairs. “You know I’ve always wanted the best for you,mija, and even though I’ve never interfered in your life once you became an adult, this is one time I can’t remain silent.”
Nydia sucked in a lungful of air, held it, and then exhaled an inaudible breath. When living at home she had acquiesced to her mother’s authority and their role as mother and daughter, but once she moved out they’d become more like good friends.
“What do you want to tell me?”
Isabel met her eyes. “It’s not what I want to tell you, but what you should know.”
“I’m listening, Mami.”
“I’ve watched you grow up, and for some reason you always felt as if you had to be tough and in control of everything. I don’t know if it comes from having two older brothers and you wanted to keep up and compete with them. Joaquin and Nelson have settled down with their partners and children, and for some reason you just can’t get it right when it comes to choosing someone to share not only your life but also a future. You have so much going for you, yet you get involved with men who aren’t worthy. And I’m not talking about education.
“You came to me devastated when you’d discovered the professor you were dating was married. And when I tried to tell you the signs were obvious that he had someone in his life, you accused me of not wanting you to be happy. When a man puts off answering his voice mail until he’s alone, that’s a clear indication that he doesn’t want you to hear him talking to a woman. And when you found a woman’s underwear in one of the dresser drawers, you believed him when he said they belonged to his sister. It was only when his wife showed up unexpectedly that it became a reality for you.”
“Please don’t remind me, Mami,” Nydia whispered. It was a scene branded into her memory like a permanent tattoo. Three people were not only surprised but shocked that early Sunday morning when her lover’s wife walked in to find her husband and a much younger woman in bed together.
“I guess you could say I was young and stupid.”
“No, Nydia. You were young and impressionable. He was older and more experienced than you, which you found exciting. You wait years before dating again only to go out with someone who is the complete opposite of your professor when it comes to intellect. I kept asking myself what was your attraction to Danny Ocasio other than his looks and talent. After a while I realized you’d stayed with him because you controlled the relationship. You had your own apartment while he lived with his sister. And remember you had two college degrees and you were a CPA, compared to his high school diploma, and that afforded you greater earning power, and Danny resented this.”
“How do you know this?” Nydia asked.
“I could see the resentment in his eyes whenever you and your brothers talked about something that went completely over his head. I don’t have to be abrujato predict that he would’ve proposed marriage, paraded you on his arm for a while before photos of him with some half-nakedputaswere splashed over the pages of supermarket tabloids. Of course you’d break the engagement and he would be free to screw any woman willing to open her legs for him.”
“You’re right, Mami,” Nydia admitted, and then told her mother what Milagros had told her about what her ex overheard: Danny bragging about her taking care of him until his big break, and then he could have all of the bitches he’d ever want. “That’s when I knew we could never have a future together.”
Isabel smiled. “Good for you.” She sobered. “Now that you’re going to move to another state, I hope you are going to be a lot more discriminating when dating again.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. It hasn’t been a year since I broke up with Danny, and I have a rule to wait at least a year before dipping my toe back into the dating scene. Remember I have to adjust to a different climate, and I’ll be busy setting up an accounting program for the inn, along with continuing to do the payroll for the three restaurants. The owners have convinced their employees to let me prepare their tax returns next year. Of course I’ll charge them half of what they would pay other accountants.”
“You have a lot on your plate.”
