Island Affair (Keys to Love #1)(4)
So many people scrimped and saved for ages dreaming of visiting his hometown. They traveled for miles, vacationed for days, brought money to local businesses, then left. Poor souls.
He remained among the lucky ones who called Key West home. Always had. Always would. A Conch through and through.
The highs and lows of his life had taken place here, or somewhere within the stretch of Keys linked by the Overseas Highway. One of those lows, and the difficult aftermath it caused, had nearly pushed him to leave. Take a better-paying job at a firehouse on the mainland.
But no. His familia was here, had been for three generations. Even Enrique, the younger brother he now kept at a slight distance but would never shut out. Familia was familia. Good, bad, or indifferent. Their parents had tried to instill that loyalty in them. Unlike Enrique, if there was one thing Luis took seriously, it was his responsibilities.
Luis reached his truck at the same time a beat-up beach cruiser sedan pulled out of the passenger pickup lane. Its engine revved, then backfired. The shotgun sound startled Luis, along with several passengers who ducked for cover. His keys slid from his fingers, clanking onto the asphalt near the rear driver’s side tire.
He bent down to pick them up, more of his brother’s words echoing in his head. It’s time you took a step back from helping everyone else.
Screw that. Helping was in Luis’s DNA. It’s what led him to graduate high school having already earned his EMT certification so he could immediately enroll in fire college in Ocala. Then straight onto a shift with the city.
No, what he needed was to find a way to kill the next seven days. If not, he’d go out of his mind, reliving the accident his truck had responded to several weeks ago. Consumed by the painful memories of another grim car crash the recent one had unearthed.
“What do you mean you’re not coming? You promised!”
A woman’s harried voice grew louder, her footsteps crunching in the gravel edging the airport sidewalk and the fire station parking lot. Crouched down behind his King Ranch pickup, Luis spotted a dainty pair of gold sandals and orange-painted toenails standing in front of his vehicle.
“Ric, you were supposed to be arriving thirty minutes from now.” Several beats passed, punctuated by one sandaled foot tap-tap-tapping on the gravel. “Unbelievable. You can’t possibly leave me stranded like this. My parents are expecting both of us, and you know things have been tough for my mother. I just don’t see how you could . . . uh-uh, this has been on our calendars for . . . you gave your word, that’s why I’m upset. How could you do this?”
The mounting agitation punctuating the end of the woman’s question snagged Luis’s attention, even if her apparent distress already hadn’t. He moved to stand, let her know the privacy she’d probably sought by stepping away from the other passengers hadn’t been achieved. His left knee creaked in protest, and he put a hand on his bumper for support.
Blond head ducked down, cell phone pressed to one ear and a finger plugging the other, the woman faced the building, her back to Luis. A pale peach tube dress draped her slim figure. Cinched at her waist, the material skimmed her slender hips, falling to play peekaboo with a set of shapely calves.
“I was counting on you this week. I’ve already admitted how uneasy it can be for me spending time with my family. They’re expecting. . . I’m not prepared to do this without . . . because you promised, that’s why.”
Whatever she heard on the other end of the line apparently didn’t make her happy. She shook her head vigorously, blond waves swaying along the top of her pale shoulders. Hopefully she’d packed plenty of sunscreen. If not, her fair skin would burn under the intense Key West sun.
Luis edged closer to the front of his truck, intent on getting her attention, stop her from inadvertently revealing more personal information. Maybe offer her some assistance or local information if needed.
“Save the excuses. They don’t matter. This trip is supposed to help boost my mom’s morale after her chemo. Not cause more stress. You can’t . . . No, I just should have known better than to count on you,” she told whoever it was who seemed to have stood her up. “Whatever, Ric! We’re done! ?Vete pa’l carajo!”
She jabbed her thumb at the tiny screen to disconnect the call, frustration dripping from her throaty groan.
Surprised by the blunt “go to hell” spoken in flawless Spanish, Luis was caught off guard when the woman spun on her heel to face him.
“Oh!” she gasped, eyes wide as she stumbled back a couple steps.
“I didn’t mean to scare you.” He held up his hands, palms facing her to signal he meant no harm. “I was getting in my vehicle but couldn’t help noticing your distress. You okay?”
Hands pressed to her chest, the woman bit her full lower lip and nodded. The worry pinching her brow and darkening her deep ocean-water-colored eyes told him differently. Her gaze dropped to the KWFD emblem on his gray T-shirt before coming back up to meet his. Straightening her shoulders, she dragged her rolling bag in between them, like the silver hard-sided suitcase was a buffer offering protection.
Not that she needed protection from him.
“My name’s Luis. Luis Navarro. I’m with the Key West Fire Department.” He held out his right hand to shake at the same time he jerked his left thumb over his shoulder at the elevated building behind him. “I was just visiting my brother, a firefighter with the county, here at the airport.”