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Lena shrugged and took another sip of wine. “Bye.”
The waiter came over as Eduardo left. “Everything all right here, ma’am?”
She gave him her brightest smile and was rewarded by the pure male appreciation in his eyes. “Everything is perfect. I’m ready to order. I’ll have a cup of She Crab soup to begin. The petit filet mignon, medium well, with the parmesan truffle fries, thank you.”
She discreetly kicked her heels off and took her phone out of her purse. She was going to have her favorite meal and finish the book she’d started last weekend. Eduardo could scamper back home and tell his mommy how mean she was.
* * *
“SO, HOW’D THE date go last night?”
Lena groaned and rolled over in bed. “It’s not even nine o’clock yet, Sadie. Ugh.” Sass hopped on the bed and stomped across Lena’s stomach to stand on her chest, singing the song of her people. The song of long suffering, slow starvation and the horror of a half-empty bowl of dry food.
“Are you murdering your cat?” Sadie asked.
“Not yet,” Lena muttered, pushing Sass aside and rolling out of bed. “I haven’t even had coffee yet.”
“So, how was the date?”
“He got up and walked out on me.”
“Ha! Wyatt! You owe me twenty dollars.”
“Are you betting on my dates? You bet against me? Bitch.”
“I know you. You are mean.”
“I’m not mean. I just don’t take bullshit.”
“What’d he do?”
“Literally, Sadie, the second question out of his mouth was how many kids did I want? Then he said I’d better hurry up before I got too old.”
“Tell me you only verbally emasculated him.”
“Yes. He called me a meanie and ran away.”
“Lena. You have to know that you can be a bit...ah...intimidating when you get angry.”
“Weeds out the weak.”
“Well maybe just give them a chance to see the nice you before you unleash your inner Latina guerrera once in a while.”
“Next time. Right now, I want coffee. Goodbye and don’t call me on a weekend before noon again unless it’s an emergency. Bruja.”
Ending the call, she tossed the phone on the counter. “Don’t even try tripping me this morning, feline.”
Ten minutes later, Sass loved her again and she was stretched out on the couch with a large, steaming cup of coffee warming her hands. Maybe Sadie was right. Maybe she was mean. Maybe she could have handled that whole situation more graciously. “You know what, Sass? Maybe he should have not asked that. Maybe he shouldn’t have brought up my age. Maybe I’m not mean but he’s a rude dork. Do they ever think that?”
No, they didn’t. It was always her fault. She eyed the clock. At some point she was going to get a phone call from her mother. The way Estrella and Eduardo’s mother had planned this, there was no doubt a full report would be made. The only question was: before or after mass? Probably after.
By one that afternoon, she started to think that maybe she’d gotten away with it. Maybe Eduardo hadn’t ratted her out to his mother. But that hope was dashed shortly after two. Darth Vader’s “Imperial March” pierced the quiet, sending Sass scurrying for the bedroom.
“Bueno, Mamacita,” Lena answered.
“So. I understand things went poorly?”
Lena rolled her eyes and made a face. “Yeah, that wasn’t a good matchup. Eduardo and I aren’t on the same page. In fact, we weren’t even on the same date.”
“There was no reason for you to be rude.”
“He was rude first.”
“Now you sound like a child.”
“I’m not the one who ran tattling to my mommy.” A flood of rapid, long-suffering Spanish filled her ear. When it died down, she continued. “No more fix-ups. Promise.”
“I promise.”
“Thank you.” A frown creased her forehead. That was way too easy. “Promise, Momma.”
“I promise I won’t try to fix you up again. And I did have another reason to call. Don’t forget that Louisa’s daughter is having that operation tomorrow to fix her leg.”
“Ah, yes. Thanks. I did forget about that. I have a present for her. I’ll bring it to the hospital when I get off work.”
She ended the call feeling lucky to have gotten off that easily. She got Ava’s present and set it on the entryway table next to her purse so she wouldn’t forget it in the morning. Glancing at the time, she sat back down with a sigh. She and Sadie would usually do something on Sunday afternoons. Now Sadie was busy with Wyatt and Jules. She fired up her laptop. Might as well get some work done.
* * *
A FEW HOURS LATER, both her stomach and Sass were grumbling. She closed down her work files. Grabbing her phone, she scrolled through her delivery restaurant contacts. Mmm. Brown Dog Deli. Setting the phone down, she thought about what Sadie had said about being in a rut. Maybe she should change out of her pajamas, put on real clothes and go outside. Do something that involved people.
“I don’t want to people,” she moaned, flopping back on the couch. She picked up the phone and did a search for “Charleston events.” A moment later, she was sitting straight up. “Sass! It’s the Color of Music Festival!” Checking the time, she got to her feet. She could still make it to the Ebony and Ivory Piano Recital.
After calling to make sure there were still tickets available, she showered and changed clothes. The church hosting the recital was only a short walk away. As she reached the street, she called Sadie but the call went to voice mail. “I’m outside and peopling, for your information.”
Smiling as she strolled down the sidewalk, she realized she did feel much better. The sun was shining. The sky was blue. Everyone in her family was safe and happy. There was a line already queued up at the church. As she walked to the end of the line after buying her ticket, she heard someone calling her name.
“Hello, Dr. Rutledge,” she said, shaking hands with him. “Mrs. Rutledge. Nice to see you both.”
“I was going to call you tomorrow, Lena,” Eliot said. “I’m putting together a group to do a little charity work for the St. Toribio Center. We’ll be setting up an activity room for the children to use while their parents are being seen. We could use your Spanish skills.”
St. Toribio, the patron saint of Mexican immigrants, was more than familiar to Lena. She’d given money and attended benefits for the charity that offered not only medical and legal assistance, but English classes and adult continuing education. She’d never been actively involved in a project before.
“Wow. Yes. I’d love to help out. What do you need? A translator?”
“Thank you. Yes. Definitely translation. Also, we might need some printed materials made. Would you be able to help with that?”
“Ah,” Lena said. “I grew up speaking Spanish with my older relatives. While I’m verbally fluent, my reading and writing skills are very rudimentary. But one of my cousins has a degree in Hispanic Literature. I’m sure she’d help out.”
“Great. Well, the first planning meeting is going to be next Saturday. Right now, we’ve got it slated for ten in the morning, at my house. Is that good?”
“Got it. Thanks for asking me.”
After saying goodbye and walking to the end of the line, she realized she was grinning ear to ear. Uh. Okay. Maybe you should try this actual volunteering stuff more often. Feels pretty good.
CHAPTER SEVEN (#ulink_e9064a77-d387-5de1-b4c4-6c231e946f0d)
LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON, Lena wandered the labyrinth that was the Children’s Hospital. Ava, her cousin’s little girl, had broken her leg in a trampoline accident the previous summer. It hadn’t healed correctly over a growth plate and now required an operation.
Finally, she found the correct unit. She paused outside the open door to Ava’s room. She could hear voices. Ava and a man. Not a relative. She stepped into the doorway.
Ava was in the bed, her leg up in something that looked like a torture device. In a chair beside her was a man. She recognized that flow of dark blond hair, tied back with a length of leather. Recognized those shoulders. That voice. In a moment, she’d be seen and he would turn and those impossibly icy blue eyes would look into hers and those lips would curve into a smile and...
“Auntie Lena!” Ava squealed.
Matt turned with a surprised expression, but she had Ava to distract her. She circled the bed to the opposite side and leaned in to give Ava a hug and kiss on the forehead. “Ava. Mi probo prima! Como te sientes? Tienes dolar?”
“No, it doesn’t hurt and it’s rude to speak Spanish in front of people who don’t,” Ava said prissily. She held up a sketchbook. “Mr. Matt is drawing pictures with me because I can’t go to the playroom.”
“Ms. Reyes,” Matt said, his tone dripping with pleasured surprise and more than a little teasing. “How delightful to see you. I didn’t know Ava was your niece.”
“Technically, she’s my second cousin. But since I’m an only child, it’s agreed I get to be aunt to all my cousins’ children.”
“Did you get me a present?” Ava asked.
“You know I did.”
Lena handed Ava the gift bag she’d brought with her. Ava took out the small teddy bear. The present wasn’t really the bear though; it was the envelope dangling from its arm by a ribbon. Ava tore it open eagerly.
“Oh my gosh! Five hundred! Thank you, Auntie Lena! Am I there yet?”
Lena sat on the edge of the bed. “Not quite. But you have time.”
Ava turned to Matt. “Auntie Lena is paying for all of us to go to college.”
“Mr. Matthews doesn’t want to know about all that, Ava. And I’ve interrupted your time with him. Where are your parents?”
“They went downstairs to get Granddaddy.”
Matt lounged back in his chair, arms across his chest. His mouth was twisted in a smirk, but his eyes were warm and full of questions. “You didn’t interrupt. We were almost done.”
Lena stood and smoothed down her skirt. “Well then.” Her voice sounded prissy even to her own ear. Matt’s grin widened to a smile. “I’ll leave you to wrap it up. I’ll be back with your parents, my sweet.”
She tried to make a graceful, dignified exit. One that didn’t make it seem like she was running away. But she was fooling no one. Matt’s loaded “Goodbye, Ms. Reyes,” followed her out of the room. Saco de huevos. So infuriating. She’d like to wipe that smirk off his face.
She’d just rounded the corner when she heard her name. Turning, she saw her parents with her aunt Paula and her husband and Ava’s mother, Louisa. “There you are! I just peeked in on Ava.”
“Is the art therapist still with her?” Louisa asked.
The question took Lena aback for a moment. She’d been looking at Matt as the smirking, snotty frat boy who pissed her off by just breathing, not as a therapist doing his job. “Yes,” she stammered out. “I think they are finishing up soon though.”
“Good. Good,” her uncle Tomas said, looking over his shoulder.
Lena frowned and looked down the hallway. A man was walking toward them. A man in a white coat. A Hispanic-looking man. No. Just no. She shot a murderous look at her mother, who shook her head slightly and lifted her hands palms up.
“Ah, Vincente,” her aunt Paula said. As if she was surprised. Yeah, right.
Lena narrowed her eyes and felt her jaw clench. Louisa hid her smile behind her hand. “I’m going to kill your parents,” Lena muttered under her breath at her cousin.
“Hey! I’m going to go check on Ava,” Louisa said brightly before making a run for it.
“I think we’ll go too,” Lena’s mother said, grabbing her husband by the arm and following Louisa.
“Vincente, this is my niece Lena Reyes. Lena, Vincente goes to church with us. He’s a doctor.”
Lena smiled lukewarmly at the man. Okay. He wasn’t bad. Tall. Rather handsome. Nice smile. “Hello,” she said, reaching out to shake his offered hand.
“Lena. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Your aunt speaks very highly of you.”
He had just the tiniest scrap of an accent. He held on to her hand a bit too long, forcing her to pull away. “Nice to meet you,” she said automatically.
“Doctor Perez is single also, Lena,” Paula said.
Lena turned a furious, incredulous face to her aunt. “Aunt Paula!” she hissed out between her teeth.
Vincente chuckled. “Come now, Mrs. Hernandez, you’ll make me blush.”
He looked over at Lena. His expression was both embarrassed and amused. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t in on this setup. Still. What next? Were they going to offer him a dowry to take her dried-up, old spinster self?
“And,” he continued, “I think you’ve embarrassed your beautiful niece.”
Infuriated. That’s the word you’re looking for Mister Doctor Man. Infuriated. Before she could form a coherent sentence, Paula nudged her.
“Give Dr. Perez one of your cards, Magdalena.”
A motion in the hall caught her eye. Oh, this just makes it perfect. Matt breezed past. Close enough to make sure that she saw him seeing her trapped in this moment. He turned a few feet beyond them, walking backward and grinning at her. Pendajo. As she fumbled out a card, an idea popped into her brain. A way out of this.
She held the card out and let her gaze drift over the doctor’s shoulder. She looked back at him and smiled. “It certainly was a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Perez. Now, if you all will excuse me, I’d like to speak to Ava’s art therapist.”
She ran for it this time. Didn’t even look back to see her aunt’s face. She reached an intersecting hall and glanced in both directions. There he was. “Matt,” she called out.
He stopped and looked back, surprise clear on his face. “You need a place to hide?”
“Shut up,” she said as she approached him.
He leaned a shoulder against the wall and grinned at her. “That looked like an ambush to me.”
“That was an ambush. But I wanted to ask about Ava.”
