Lamar smiled, the expression making him appear rather boyish despite the gray hair. “Of course. I wouldn’t miss it.”
“By the way, Nydia’s going to be my maid of honor.”
Lamar angled his head as he gave Nydia a direct stare. “I hope you’ll save a dance for me?”
Nydia narrowed her eyes. “I will, but only if Mrs. Pierce doesn’t mind you dancing with me.”
Throwing back his head, Lamar laughed loudly. “The only Mrs. Pierce I know is sixty-five and lives in Baton Rouge with my sister and her grandchildren.”
Nydia’s eyelids fluttered, her breath quickened, and her cheeks became warm from embarrassment; she was angry with herself for assuming Lamar was married. Well, dammit, she thought, heiswearing a wedding band.
She curbed the urge to stick out her tongue at him. It was something she’d done as a child when she felt the need to punish someone. “Yes. I will save you a dance.”
Lamar’s smile was still in place when he inclined his head. “Thank you.”
Nydia looped her arm through Jasmine’s as they turned to retrace their steps. “I’m going to get you for that,” she said under her breath, speaking Spanish. “Why didn’t you tell me the man’s not married?”
“I tried to tell you,” Jasmine replied in the same language, “but you cut me off saying you’ll never be a married man’s appetizer or dessert, but the main dish. He’s a widower,” she added.
Nydia rolled her eyes. “Why the heck is he still wearing a wedding ring?” she continued in Spanish.
Jasmine smiled. “You can ask him that when you dance with him at my wedding.”
“No entraré en el negocio personal del hombre.” Nydia had no intention of getting into the man’s personal business. She would dance with him, and leave it at that; it did not matter if she did find Lamar attractive, he would become an acquaintance and nothing more.
Her friends and family members had told her repeatedly to stop dating Danny, and there were occasions when she had. However, that was short-lived, whenever he called begging that he loved and missed her. It had all come to an end when she moved out of her landlady’s house, leaving no forwarding address and blocking Danny’s number. That day in November she’d made herself a solemn promise not to date anyone for a year. And she’d come to learn a lot about herself over the past nine months. Not only hadn’t she needed a man to complete her, but she also liked her own company.
She’d invite her cousins and a few friends she’d grown up with in her old neighborhood over to the apartment where they’d spend hours eating, drinking, laughing, and talking about what was happening in their lives. The get-togethers reminded Nydia of the camaraderie she’d shared with Tonya, Hannah, Samara, and Jasmine when they’d set out on their road trip from New York City to New Orleans. And she continued to marvel at how quickly she had bonded with her coworkers, and what she had to decide before the end of October was whether to renew the lease or give notice that she was vacating the apartment before January 31.
* * *
“I like this swagger wagon,” Nydia said, as Jasmine maneuvered the minivan into an empty space at the rear of the bridal salon.
Jasmine laughed. “I’m beginning to like it, too. The automatic sliding doors make it hands-free for loading and unloading.”
“Do you miss your Denali?”
“Not really.”
“Why didn’t you call your ex and ask him if he’s willing to buy it from you?” Nydia teased.
Jasmine shook her head. “You know you’re wrong,chica.”
“No I’m not, because you know damn well your leech ex-husband was ready to fight you tooth and nail for that vehicle so he could ride that woman and her tribe of kids around in it.”
“Well, he’ll never get it, because I transferred the title to my cousin.”
“Isn’t it funny that aside from a larger share of your design business the two other things he wanted most your cousin has: the condo and the Denali?”
Jasmine went completely still as she stared out the windshield. “When you say you’re so over Danny it’s the same with me, Nydia. In less than two weeks I’m going to marry a man I never believed I could love. And hopefully before the end of the year we’ll move into our new home and then ring in the new year with a child I never thought I’d ever have.”
Unbuckling her seat belt, Nydia leaned over and hugged her friend. “You deserve everything coming to you, and some.”
Jasmine held onto Nydia’s forearm. “What about you,chica? Don’t you think it’s time for you to have a happily ever after?”
“What makes you think I’m not happy? I don’t have ex-husbands or children like you, Hannah, or Tonya, but that doesn’t mean my life is fraught with angst or filled with bad memories. Danny was my first real serious boyfriend, but at no time did I ever allow my heart to overrule my head.”
“What attracted you to him?”
