Nydia gave him a mysterious smile. “It’s filled with goodness.”
Reaching for her free hand, he led her across the living and dining rooms and into the kitchen. “Kendra will be down in a few minutes.”
“There’s no need for her to rush. I have to empty the basket and wash everything before we begin prepping.”
Lamar set the basket on a stool at the cooking island. “Do you need me to help with anything?”
Nydia handed him the flowers. “These are for Miss Ramona.”
His eyebrows lifted slightly. “She’s not here. When I don’t have anything planned for the weekend, she always stays with her sister in Metairie. I have a vase but I know nothing about arranging flowers.”
“If you get the vase I’ll arrange them.”
Lamar knew if Ramona had been there she would have been overjoyed with the flowers. Working in the courtyard garden had become her passion when she’d first come to work for him. She told him he didn’t need a landscaper because her father had been one and that she’d learned to identify different trees, ferns, and flowers at a very early age. And taking her advice he didn’t re-sign with the landscaper and let her take over his duties. The result was a riot of floral cornucopia growing in precise abandon rivaling award-winning gardens on grand estates.
By the time he returned with the vase, Nydia had emptied the basket. Plastic bags with vegetables he couldn’t identify and some he was familiar with littered the countertop. A smile spread over his features. It was apparent she had gone to a butcher when he saw the pork shoulders.
“Please tell me you’re going to makeperñil.”
Nydia’s head popped up. “Yes. I’m going to marinate the larger one overnight for Sunday dinner and use the smaller one for thepasteles. I also plan to makearroz con gandules, andtostones. I thought it was time to introduce your daughter to foods she’ll eat when you guys come up for Christmas.”
Lamar rubbed his hands together in anticipation of sitting down to a traditional Puerto Rican dinner with roast pork, fried plantains, and rice and with pigeon peas. When he’d asked Nydia if she was busy Sunday and she said no, he’d invited her to join him and Kendra at an award-winning local restaurant; she’d thanked him and then offered to make Sunday dinner, because she preferred cooking for herself to eating in restaurants.
“I’m certain she’s going to love eating Spanish food as much as her father.” Walking over to a cabinet, he opened it and tapped a button for the audio component. “What type of music do you want to listen to?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Lamar tuned the radio to a station featuring hip-hop and R&B, adjusted the volume, and programmed the speakers for the kitchen only. He’d concealed speakers in every room in the house and could regulate the volume with a remote device. He smiled when Rihanna singing “We Found Love” filled the space. “I love her music.” Lamar knew that if Kendra hadn’t been in the house he would have asked Nydia to dance with him.
Nydia nodded. “Me, too,” she agreed. “I have thirty of her greatest hits on my phone’s playlist. I was in grad school when this song dropped, and I remember going to a party and they played the extended version over and over. I danced so much that I couldn’t get out of the bed the next day.”
Lamar took a step, bringing them only inches apart. “One of these days we’re going to have our own private dance party when Kendra spends the weekend with some of her friends.”
She stared up at him through her lashes. “Is that when you plan to seduce me?”
Lowering his head, he pressed his mouth to her ear. “I hadn’t planned to seduce you, but now that you’ve mentioned it, perhaps I will.”
Going on tiptoe, Nydia leaned into him. “What if I am not ready?”
A chuckle rumbled in his chest. “Then I’ll wait until you’re ready.”
She placed a hand over his heart. “You should back it up, cowboy, before your daughter sees you in a somewhat compromising situation.”
Lamar took a backward step. “Is that far enough?”
Nydia scrunched up her nose. “Take another step. And another one,” she said when he’d barely moved.
“All right,” he said, as he walked around the cooking island and rested his arms on the quartz countertop. “Is this far enough?”
“Sí, mi amor.”
Lamar went completely still while at the same time he held his breath. The endearment had rolled off Nydia’s tongue as if it was something she said without thinking. “Am I?”
She gave him a direct stare. All traces of gold had disappeared, leaving them rich verdant green. “Are you what?”
“Am I your love?”
Nydia shrugged her shoulders. “It’s just a figure of speech. Like you calling me sweets.”
