His plate was empty now, and Lola said, “Ready for more?”
He nodded, pushing bread into his mouth.
Lola looked at Bella and said, “Don’t stand there. Pick up his plate.”
Bella swallowed hard. Her voice cracked slightly as she stared pleadingly at her mother and said, “It ain’t bad enough I gotta wash his dishes. Now you want me to bring him his meal. Like a servant.”
Lola’s eyes softened just a little. She shook her head slowly. “No,” she murmured. “Not like a servant. After all, you’re his woman, ain’t you?”
Kerrigan winced. He looked up and studied Lola’s face and all at once he knew what was in her mind. In her own blunt way she was saying to her daughter, If you want him for a husband, I’ll show you how to get him.
He shifted uncomfortably in the chair. He had a strange feeling that the walls were closing in on him and he itched to get out of the house. Until now it hadn’t occurred to him that Lola wanted him for a son-in-law. But as he noticed how Lola was nodding approvingly, he realized there was a plan in action, and for a fearful moment he could see himself married to Bella.
But then, as the steaming food was placed before him and he saw the smooth richness of Bella’s skin, he said to himself, Why not?
He watched her as she turned away from the table, and saw how her hips moved. The construction was there, the face was there, and all he had to do was buy her a ring and he’d have all that for keeps.
Another thing. He’d soon be thirty-five and it was high time he got married. What the hell was he waiting for?