The smells coming from the kitchen were enticing, and suddenly Lillie felt ravenous. Once she’d torn her gaze from the photographs, she noticed that Hector had set the dining table with his best dishes; a small floral centerpiece sat in the middle.
“What’s for dinner?” she asked.
“You’ll see.” He escorted her into the dining room.
“What can I do?”
“Nothing. You’re my guest.”
“Hector, I want to help.”
He hesitated but finally agreed. “If you insist. You can cut the bread.”
“You never did tell me what you’re serving.”
“It’s a classic Mexican dish,” Hector teased as he opened a drawer and pulled out a bread knife. “It’s spaghetti. My daughter gave me the recipe. She even went to the store with me and chose the ingredients.”
“You didn’t need to go to all that trouble,” Lillie said, although she was flattered that he had. “We could eat potato chips and it would taste like ambrosia to me because I’m here with you.”
Hector grinned, then took a step closer. “I have been lonely for a long time,” he said in a low voice.
Lillie had spent most of her marriage being lonely. “I have, too,” she told him.
For just a moment it seemed that he was about to kiss her. Their first kiss had been the evening they’d attended the Frida Kahlo lecture at the Seattle Art Museum. At the end of the evening, he’d dropped her at home; he’d declined coffee but walked her to the door. It’d been an awkward moment and by unspoken agreement they’d each leaned forward and kissed. Lillie was eager to repeat the experience. Their kiss had been polite, almost chaste, but very satisfying….
“I’m just reheating the sauce,” he said, wielding a large wooden spoon.
“Hector?” Lillie drew in a deep breath before plunging ahead.
The way she said his name seemed to alert him to the fact that she had something important to say.
“Yes?”
“I want you to know…”
“Yes, Lillie?”
“When it feels right to you, I hope you’ll kiss me again.” She didn’t want him wondering—or worrying—about what her response might be.
“Thank you.” His eyes sparkled with delight. “I shall keep that in mind.”
She picked up the bread knife and carefully sliced the loaf of French bread, arranging the pieces neatly on a serving plate.
After stirring the sauce, Hector boiled the spaghetti noodles; when they were ready, he placed them inside a beautiful hand-painted ceramic dish. Next he poured the meat-and-tomato sauce over the noodles. The salad, waiting in the refrigerator, was already mixed. Lillie put it on the table, along with the bread.
Hector opened a bottle of red wine that he told her Rita had recommended. Then he seated her at the table and sat across from her.
They toasted each other, touching glasses, and began the meal. She discovered that Hector preferred his food spicier than she did but he’d made the sauce fairly mild, adding chili peppers to his own. Another example of his thoughtfulness.
In the beginning their conversation was tentative. But it wasn’t long before the hesitation dissolved and they found any number of topics to discuss. They agreed on political issues and surprisingly had enjoyed some of the same films and novels. Hector bragged about his grandchildren and she told stories about her grandsons. The conversation flowed naturally from one subject to the next as they lingered over their wine. Afterward, despite Hector’s protests, Lillie helped with the dishes. Her shoes hurt her feet, so she took them off and tucked a dishtowel into her waistband as she moved effortlessly around his kitchen.
Hector put on some easy-listening music from the ’70s, and soon they were dancing about the room, twirling and laughing. He kissed her once, twice, and it was as natural as breathing. His touch left her with the most inexplicable urge to weep. Rather than allow him to see the effect his kisses had on her, she buried her face in his shoulder.
Hector released her and they both went back to cleaning the kitchen, dancing around each other as they did.
He was about to kiss her again when the back door opened and Manuel walked inside. Lillie recognized him from his photograph. “Dad, I need to borrow your—” He stopped abruptly. “Dad!” he barked, shouting to be heard above the music.
Instinctively Lillie stepped closer to Hector. He leaned over to turn off the CD player on the counter, and the resulting silence was almost shocking.
Hector straightened, putting his arm around Lillie’s waist. “Son, this is my friend, Lillie Higgins. Lillie, this is Manuel.”
Manuel nodded politely in her direction but addressed his father. “I didn’t realize you had a woman friend.”
“Your father’s told me quite a bit about you,” Lillie said, feeling guilty although she wasn’t sure why.
“Funny, he hasn’t said a word about you.” Manuel gave her a cold look.
Hector placed one hand on her shoulder and spoke gently. “If you’ll excuse me, I will talk to my son privately.” He ushered Manuel out of the room.
She nodded and finished wiping the kitchen counter. She rinsed and wrung out the cloth, then draped it over the faucet and removed her makeshift apron. Slipping on her shoes, she stood in the kitchen and waited for Hector.
Manuel left without saying anything else to Lillie and she could see from the look in Hector’s eyes that the conversation hadn’t gone well. “I’m sorry,” she whispered and walked into his arms.
“I’m the one who owes you an apology,” he murmured, holding her close. “My son was inexcusably rude.”
“What did he say?” she asked.
Hector shook his head, obviously unwilling to repeat what his son had said. Lillie closed her eyes and remembered Barbie’s immediate response when she’d told her she was interested in a man who worked for a car dealership.
“Give him time to adjust to the idea,” she urged.
“Perhaps that’s the best thing to do.”
He took Lillie home soon after that; they were both quiet during the drive. When they reached her house, Hector walked her to the door. She thanked him for dinner, they kissed good-night and then he left. Not until she was inside did she realize that he hadn’t asked to see her again.
Lillie felt sick.
This was the end; she was sure of it. His family and their opinion mattered more to Hector than his own happiness. Even if he was torn, and she knew he was, Hector would appease his children rather than fight for a relationship with her.
When she didn’t hear from him the next day or the day after that, Lillie decided to make this as painless as possible for them both. She wrote him a letter.
She’d only intended to write a brief note but by the time she finished she’d written three full pages. She described her list of Twenty Wishes and said that one of her wishes had been to meet an honorable man. She’d found that man in him.
In the last paragraph she explained that she had no desire to damage his relationship with his children and felt it was best that they not see each other again.
With tears in her eyes, she dropped the letter off at the post office. After a quick phone call to Barbie, she booked a trip to the coast.
Chapter 29
Anne Marie was fortunate enough to nab a spot in the Woodrow Wilson parking lot. She was back to the routine