Island Affair (Keys to Love #1)(85)
Sara found herself caught up in the easy banter, and Se?ora Navarro’s scrumptious authentic Cuban food had Sara cleaning her plate. The boisterous familia atmosphere reminded her of dinners at Mamá Alicia’s house when Sara was a kid. Another loud, entertaining, loving family coming together to nourish their bellies and their hearts.
As a child, then a teen, and later a college coed, Sara had wished and prayed for a similar dynamic with her own family. Now it seemed that her parents, Jonathan, and Carolyn were trying to include her in their lives. Only, she was the one who had to stop keeping them at arm’s length in the guise of protecting herself from rejection.
Doing so she only wound up hurting herself.
Oddly, while she and her family might be finding their way to healing their rifts, based on what she’d seen tonight, Luis’s family was either used to the rift between him and Enrique or they believed there was little they could do to resolve it. The brothers participated in conversation at the table, but each barely spoke directly to the other. Everyone else talked around them, jumping in to fill awkward moments.
Knowing the caring, kindhearted man Luis was, Sara felt certain the fracture in his relationship had to eat away at him. Much like hers with Robin.
Luis had pushed her to reach out to Robin, attempt to find some semblance of understanding between them. For his own sake, she wished he could do the same with his younger brother.
With school the next day, as soon as dinner finished, Carlos and Gina readied the boys to leave. A flurry of good-bye hugs and kisses and knucklehead rubbing with the kids ensued.
Carlos wrapped Sara in a tight hug, whispering something about fate and shaking up Luis. Before Sara could ask what he meant, little Ramón tackled her legs and begged for his adios kiss on the cheek.
Moments later, her hands full of dirty plates, Sara followed Anamaría to the kitchen, where Luis’s mother had already started tackling the dishes by the sink.
“If you’re free on Thursday morning after you finish your yoga session with my mom, how about we plan on connecting to review your business plan?” Sara told Anamaría.
Luis entered with the last of the serving dishes in time to catch his sister’s squeal of glee.
“What did I miss?” he asked.
“Your girlfriend helping your baby sister,” Se?ora Navarro answered, her rubber-gloved hands deep in the soapy dishwater. “They’re already bonding like two sisters-in-law; isn’t it wonderful?”
Luis heaved an exasperated huff, mouthing, I’m sorry, at Sara behind his mom’s back.
“No me faltes el respeto, Luis,” his mother chided.
“How could you possibly know I’m disrespecting you, Mami? Your back is to me,” Luis complained, setting the dirty dishes on the counter by the sink.
“A mami’s intuition. Here, dame un beso.” She tilted her head for Luis to kiss her cheek as she had requested. “You too, Sara.”
Delightfully surprised to be included, Sara hurried over to give Luis’s mom a farewell kiss.
“Anamaría, go get your younger brother to come say good-bye so you can all head back to Key West. It’s late and you know I worry about my babies driving the highway at night.”
“Thank you so much for your hospitality,” Sara told Se?ora Navarro in Spanish.
“It is good to have you here, mija. I look forward to many more familia dinners with you at our table.”
Sara’s stomach hitched with uncertainty. Neither she nor Luis responded.
Stick with the truth. So far, they’d done well executing their plan. That didn’t make her guilt weigh any less heavily on her heart.
As they drove home in the dark, Sara couldn’t stop thinking, yearning, for their truth to include more Navarro familia dinners like tonight.
She only had three days to find out if Luis might want the same.
Chapter 19
Life couldn’t get much better than this if you asked Luis.
Bueno, it could, but he wasn’t much for gluttony. Unless it came to the sexy woman currently sprawled in his arms while the Fired Up floated in the shallow waters off Snipes Point on a sunny, wispy-clouds day.
A Wednesday with local schools still in session meant they had the sandbar and surrounding area to themselves. Come the weekend, the clear water would be teeming with sunbathers and beach lovers old and young. People grilling on their boats, floating in tubes and on crazy blow-up rafts. Footballs flying in the air, sometimes even from boat to boat.
The weekend could keep its crowds. Luis preferred the quiet peacefulness of right now.
Feeling keenly satisfied, he adjusted the ball cap shielding his face from the intense midday sun, then went back to lazily dragging his fingertips up and down Sara’s bare arm. They lounged on a seat cushion in the bow, Sara resting spoon-fashion between Luis’s bent knees, her back against his chest. She shifted slightly, her shapely legs stretched out in front of them, their smooth skin a soft golden glow from the sun’s kiss.
“I think they’re having a good time.” He pointed to her family standing waist-deep in the water closer to the shore.
Used to the intense Phoenix heat, they’d slathered on sunscreen, with Ruth and a couple others opting for long-sleeve swim shirts for extra protection. Sara, bless her thoughtfulness, had foregone her shirt and enlisted his assistance applying another layer of sunscreen a few minutes ago.