“I mentioned it already to him,” Alejo said.
They parted then, and Wendy went into the kitchen. She glanced at her laptop, then shook her head. With all that was running through her mind, that office story seemed…sterile.
She put lentils to soak, and got out the ingredients for a rice and lentil dish that everyone liked, her hands busy as her mind drifted back to Alejo. The attraction was no mystery. She’d begun to believe that any feelings like that had withered along with her marriage. And even in the beginning, they hadn’t been all that strong. She knew now that most of her response to Bill had been the exhilaration that she’d “caught” someone—Mom’s term. Girls suffered for their beauty, and their reward was to catch a husband. That was how the world worked in Mom’s view, and all those Doris Day films they had watched together while Wendy fought against hunger after her healthful, low-calorie dinners had driven the point home.
As her hands got the lentil dish going, her mind sorted through the strength of her relief when Alejo suddenly appeared at the terrace gate. It was not the relief of rescue. She hadn’t felt threatened, just uncomfortable, and she’d had Eve right beside her, ready to take the world on. It was…trust. That was it, she’d come to trust Alejo, though she had promised herself never to trust a man again—at least without plenty of time going by. She’d worked hard on trusting herself. And had found a balance there.
Until Alejo came. With him it had been mere days. Here she was, with this unshakable sense that he could be trusted. As if to underscore it, she heard the patter of Sam’s shoes approaching. “Going to the other house now,” Sam yelled in the direction of the kitchen, and zoomed off.
Samtrusted Alejo. She’d thought that an impossibility.
Eve showed up then. “Smells great,” she said. “It was bugging me, so I went ahead and called Godiva. Just got off the phone.”
“Thanks. I was going to call her as soon as I got this dish in the oven. And Alejo, I know, was also going to call.”
Eve waved a hand. “Godiva said to hand the whole thing off to Alejo. Which is fine with me, as long as he’s here. You know how long he’s staying?”
Wendy’s nerves flared. Good question. She’d somehow slid into thinking he’d be around for…ever?
“I don’t know,” she said, forcing some sparkle into her voice. “I’ll ask.”
“If he sticks around long enough to get rid of these clowns, fine by me,” Eve said, and went into the living room to turn the TV on.
Wendy’s brain was in a whirl as she got the rest of dinner ready, then the clock dinged, and everybody turned up.
For the first time ever, Sam dominated the dinner conversation, chattering on about different kinds of bird houses, and fitting wood pieces together so fewer nails were needed, and if you had to put in a nail, you tap, tap, tap until it stands upright without your finger holding it, then you can hammer it hard.
Lily smiled at Sam, clearly delighted to see him blossom. Wendy didn’t know much about Lily other than that she had a son, all grown up of course; his wife had talked this son into getting Lily to add his name to her bank account and deeds, as a filial duty. Then she’d coaxed him into moving her into a home, leaving her without wherewithal. Rather than make trouble for her son, Lily had walked out of that dreadful place with nothing but what she wore, and she had ended up at Godiva’s house.
After Sam’s bedtime routine was over, and Wendy was about to turn out the light, he sat up in bed. “Mom, is Alejo going to go away when he finishes fixing the house?”
Wendy’s mood chilled: there was that question again, that she had not been able to ask. And she could have, at any moment during dinner, or after. She knew she hadn’t wanted to because she was afraid of the answer.
“I guess we’ll see,” she said with as much sparkle as she could. “Night night, sleep tight!”
When she came out, everyone was in the living room, watching TV. At ten, they dispersed to begin their various winding down routines. As always, Alejo helped Wendy pick up the coffee cups to take to the kitchen.
When those were stowed and the dishwasher began to hum, she turned to face him, and gathered her courage. “I want to thank you for your patience with Sam today. He had a terrific time. And I’m sure you could tell that this was a first. He barely knows what a hammer is. With his eyesight, banging nails and things hasn’t been a thing I’ve encouraged.”
“It was fun. I can teach him a few skills. See how he does. Is his eyesight a serious issue?”
“In the sense that he can’t see immediately below the rims of his glasses unless he bends forward. The lenses distort. There’s no way around it. It was the same for me when I was that age. Unfortunately he inherited my problematic eyes, rather than his father’s excellent vision. But when he gets older, the optometrist says he will be a candidate for multi-focus lenses, or whatever they come up with next.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Alejo said.
“Bringing me to my next question.” She gulped in air. “It seems that he’s taking a liking to you. I can’t tell you how rare that is. But…well, the thing is, I realize you’ll be wanting to get back home sooner or later. And I ought to begin mentioning that, so he’ll be ready for it. If you don’t mind my asking when.”
Alejo had been wiping down the counter. He set the sponge on its holder and turned to her. “I can stay,” he said gently, his gaze steady, “as long as you like.”
The words almost didn’t make sense. Then a kind of shiver ran through her, both painful and hot and cold, all at once. “As long asIlike?”
He raised a hand. “Is it too soon? I can back off. I don’t want to crowd you. But I’m finding that the more time I spend with you, the more I look forward to the next time.”
At first she was numb. She had to be dreaming. This man with the beautiful dark eyes, the smile that was not just pure sex butkind, wanted to… What?
“I don’t understand,” she said numbly.
“I like being with you, Wendy,” he said. “I want to get to know you better. I would like you to know me better, if that’s something you want.”
