Island Affair (Keys to Love #1)(81)
“No way?” He shook his head. At his sister’s commiserating grimace, the knot of doom in his stomach expanded like a dry sea sponge dipped in water. “How?”
“Freddie Lugo told his mom that he saw you with a blonde at Mallory Square Friday night. Se?ora Lugo asked Mami about it. Then, Se?ora Lopez called Mami to talk about some church function and she mentioned seeing you and a blonde riding bikes on Duval yesterday. And, apparently, after you ran into Franco Peréz grabbing lunch at Sandy’s on Friday, he said something to Carlos at the boys’ T-ball practice. Carlos let that cat out of the bag in a group text Mami sent this morning.”
“What group text? I wasn’t on any group text today.” Luis reached for his cell in the runner’s pouch strapped to his arm.
“You think Mami’s gonna include you in a thread trying to dig up info on you? Por favor, even you, San Navarro, know better than that. How many group texts have we been on without Enrique?”
She had a point.
Perturbed, Luis shoved his cell back down in the pouch and zipped it closed.
“I gotta say, you sure are putting a dull on that halo’s shine, in a big way, aren’t you?” Anamaría punched him gamely in the stomach, an impressed smirk curving her lips.
“I liked you better pissed off or fangirling. Not smug,” he grumbled.
“Aw, come on. It’s not often you’re involved in some kind of chisme. The only gossip I remember was when—” She broke off, lunging forward to grab him when Luis spun away. “I’m sorry I brought that up. I know you don’t like to talk about her, or what went down.”
“It’s fine; forget it.” Luis stared down at his sister’s smaller hand clasped around his wrist.
“Look, I know what it’s like to feel betrayed by someone who claims to love you.” Anamaría’s voice trembled. The shadow of depressing memories darkened her face. “Not that what Alejandro did after he left town compares to what you went through. I get that. But, you were there for me. You always are.” Her grip tightened on his wrist, her words scratchy with hurt. “I’m just sorry you can’t let me do the same for you.”
The fact that his inability to deal with Mirna’s deception and death pushed his sister from teasing laughter to the stark pain lacing her words so quickly shamed him.
Maybe Sara was right. Maybe it was time he figure out how to put his past to rest. For himself and those who’d been forced to tiptoe through the minefield he had laid around him for protection.
“Look, whatever you’re doing here, you know I got your back.” Anamaría stood up and pulled the basket of supplies to the edge of the trunk. “I’m simply warning you. Mami knows that you’ve been spending time with someone new. She’s going to want to meet her. Soon. I wouldn’t be surprised if she twists your arm to bring Sara to familia dinner tonight.”
The mere idea of Sara sitting at his mami’s table, confronted with the inevitable Navarro Cuban Inquisition, made Luis’s blood run cold with dread.
He sure as hell hoped his sister was wrong. No way would he put Sara through that.
*
At noon, while the Vance family and Luis waited for a table at Bistro 245 overlooking the harbor teeming with sailboats and catamarans bobbing on the water, Luis received the forewarned text from his mami.
I cannot wait to visit with your new amiga at familia dinner tonight. 6 PM. No falles.
Don’t miss.
Co?o, her edict had been laid down. And no matter how badly he may want to, Luis knew better than to defy his well-meaning, henpecking, chancla-throwing mami.
Chapter 18
Sara drummed her fingers on the center console in Luis’s truck, the sound echoing the ominous beat pounding in her head. She peered in the passenger side rearview mirror at the “Welcome to Key West Paradise USA” sign with its brightly colored tropical sunset scene growing smaller in the distance behind them. Ahead, US 1 was a gray ribbon leading them toward his parents’ house in Big Coppitt Key.
“How far did you say the drive was?” she asked, not quite hiding the trepidation chipping at her self-confidence like a woodpecker high on an energy drink.
Luis cut a worried glance her way, then went back to watching the road when a car signaled into their lane.
“We’ll make a left onto Diamond Drive around Mile Marker Ten. It’s roughly twenty minutes from downtown, without traffic.”
That meant she had about ten more minutes to pull herself together. To center her thinking on positivity and stop the spiral of doubt that could trigger unhealthy urges.
Her fingers thrummed the console again, telegraphing her agitation. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Luis.
Hands clenched on the black leather steering wheel, he drove with his body rigidly straight in his seat, his expression schooled in his infamous, calm game face. From the moment they had said good-bye to her family and closed the front door behind them, Luis had slipped into the tough-guy, man-of-few-words Vin Diesel role that had drawn her to him on Friday.
A role she now knew he often played as a way of protecting himself from deep emotional wounds he tried to deny.
Ones he hid well behind that serious game face, along with the fun-loving, the honest, and especially the tender lover sides she’d come to care for.
But, once again, they were about to break the one cardinal rule from the very beginning he had asked her to respect. Don’t involve his familia.