Rosa appeared in a light blue printed frock. He had not seen her look quite so womanly before, and he felt the hair on his arms and neck rise. He was not in love with her—no, he was not an innocent lad. But what he felt was not only desire. It was something in between, that a man could recapture in finding a woman who admired him—something that was close to love. When Karak looked at her, she looked at her hands. Esperanza offered Karak a lemonade. Alejandro, sitting at the front of the table, asked about the value of the crop, but he was the laborer, Karak was the farmer, they did not have much to say to each other. Karak would not reveal such information anyway.

Karak asked about the mannequin. Esperanza told him she sewed baptism and confirmation dresses. She glanced at Alejandro before admitting that women from the barrio sought her out as soon as the babies were born. Sometimes even before.

So that explained the couch and extra bedroom, Karak thought. Alejandro could not have afforded such things only through planting and harvesting the Valley’s crops.

Esperanza served him tamales filled with chicken, sitting atop a mound of rice, steaming hot and delicious. Karak remembered Ram’s question and felt a small victory. Now the conversation began to loosen. He found Spanish words he had not used in a long time. “How do you make the tamales?” he asked Esperanza. He did not mind asking a womanly question of a woman. Esperanza asked how he had learned Spanish and he told her that for five years he had lived in the Philippines after his service with the British, working as a night watchman at a bank. Local businesses paid good salaries to personnel who used to work for the British.

Karak knew he was the boss, even here. He could feel that in Alejandro’s guarded speech. He could see already that Esperanza approved of him. When she mentioned her sewing, Karak asked to see a sample, and she drew back her chair to fetch some. “Esperanza—” her husband said sharply. She glanced at Alejandro and sat back down. Rosa’s eyes darted back and forth between them all.

“Señor Singh,” Alejandro said, “what is your intention in coming here?”

“I would like your permission to take Rosa out from time to time,” Karak said. He did not know all their customs, but he felt this statement to be true. He wanted to spend time with Rosa.

“For what purpose? You think that because we Mexicans work for you that we don’t protect the honor of our women?”

Karak saw Esperanza look away. Perhaps she had not wanted her husband’s words to emerge with such venom.

“My intention is honorable—to see if we should be married.” Wasn’t that what he wanted? Wasn’t that why he should have brought Jivan?