Dihya uttered a word in her native tongue which had the flavor of an expletive. “There’s no…there’s no way.”
“When you left the table, he must have thought you wanted him to follow you. I’m not saying he was right for trying to kiss you with no warning, but I think the poor man was dreadfully confused.” A chuckle slipped out from Lucretia’s lips, which caused Dihya to level a baleful glare at her.
“Don’t laugh at me, Lucretia! This is the worst thing that has ever happened in my life!”
That seemed like rather an exaggeration, especially coming from someone who had formerly been enslaved, but Lucretia understood the sentiment and kept quiet.
“I thought my daughter finally had a suitor,” Dihya continued. “A good man, able to take care of her. But it was all a lie!”
“Tadla may not have a suitor, but you might,” Lucretia pointed out. “If you can bring yourself to think of him that way.”
Dihya pressed her lips together. “He’s practically a child!”
Now Lucretia let herself roll her eyes. True, Dihya was near Lucretia’s thirty-four years, but Caeso was a grown man with his own trade. “I would put his age at twenty-five, if I had to guess. Do you like him?”
Dihya buried her head in her hands, her voice muffled. “It doesn’t matter if I like him. I could never face him again.”
Lucretia looped an arm around Dihya’s shoulders. Perhaps it was better to let all this go, but her friend had a chance at love again and Lucretia wasn’t about to let her waste it. “What if I went to speak with him? I could find out if it was truly a misunderstanding, and see where things stand between you.”
Dihya raised her face. “You would do that?”
“I would do much more than that for you.” Besides, she needed a distraction from her troubles with Felix, something that would bring joy, not worry and frustration.
A hesitant smile crept over Dihya’s face. “All right. You can speak with him.”
“Good.” Lucretia gave Dihya’s shoulders one final squeeze. “Besides, it’s only self-interest on my part. If you fall out with him, I’ll never be able to enjoy his baking again!”
Chapter 7
The next day, Lucretia took a detour on her way to the office. She had two missions this morning, each important in their own way. Firstly, she had to see if she could mend things between Dihya and Caeso.
Secondly, she was going to disrupt Felix’s operations. After learning of his attempt to sway Lentulus against her, she had decided on a tactic to indicate that such efforts would not be tolerated.
Caeso’s bakery stall was on the way to the harbor, so she stopped there first. The breakfast rush had already passed, but even so, there were two people in line when she arrived. She waited patiently as they completed their purchases, then stepped up to the counter.
Caeso nodded politely to her. “Good morning, Lucretia.” His brown eyes flicked anxiously behind her, no doubt expecting to see Dihya. The corners of his mouth pulled down slightly when he noticed she was alone. “What can I get for you?”
“A honey cake and a few moments of your time, if you please.” No one else was in line behind her, so hopefully she had enoughtime to get through this conversation before Caeso’s attention was called elsewhere. “I heard you had dinner with Dihya the other night.”
He glanced away from her as he retrieved her requested delicacy. “Has she sent you to berate me? Believe me, I’ve done enough of that to myself.”
Lucretia rested her hands on the wooden counter between them. “I think there may have been some confusion about the dinner.”
His gaze snapped to hers. “Confusion?” He wrapped the honey cake in a clean white cloth and laid it on the counter before her.
“You see, Dihya intended you as a suitor for her daughter. She arranged the dinner for you two to meet.”
Caeso’s mouth dropped open. “Herdaughter?Tadla is a child!”
“She’s of age to marry. The same age I was when my parents were thinking of a match.”
Caeso clenched his fists as if on the verge of punching himself. “Oh, how could I have been such an idiot? What must she think of me?”
Lucretia pressed her lips together against a smile. “Dihya had much the same reaction.”
“Following her and kissing her like that—and what must her daughter have thought?” Caeso grimaced. “I must have offended the poor girl terribly.”
Caeso’s immediate concern for Tadla bolstered her good opinion of him. “I don’t think Tadla has much desire to marry yet, so I wouldn’t worry too greatly about her. I imagine she’s somewhat relieved, in all honesty.”
