Letters from Home (Love Beyond Reason #1)(19)
Her sister gave in to the invitation. “Exhausted. There was a fire at one of the bars downtown last night. The emergency room stayed busy. We had to fly two of the victims to UC Davis in Sacramento.”
“Oh, honey. Anyone we know?”
Maria shook her head, fatigue escaping as tears and running down her cheeks. She hurriedly wiped them away. “Sorry.”
Catalina reached over and patted Maria’s leg.
Bolstering herself, Maria smiled. “So, what’s going on with Zack?”
“Not Zack. I’m convincing Lena to go meet her secret admirer,” Catalina answered.
“What if it is Zack?”
“What?” Cat broke off.
“What?” Lena’s brain misfired, actually stopped working completely as she tried to process Maria’s suggestion.
“That would be convenient, yes?” Maria kept her eyes closed as she spoke. “I wouldn’t care who it is. It’s romantic. Nothing romantic ever happens around here.”
“That’s not true!” Catalina sat up in protest. “You went out with Mario last month, and he brought you a rose.”
Lena tried to keep up, but she was stuck on Zack. “Mario?”
“Yeah, that wasn’t going to work. Mario? And Maria?” She cringed.
“You didn’t want it to work out.” Catalina pouted.
“Shut up, Cat.” Maria toed off her shoes and curled into one of the throw pillows. “You should both know that I’m giving up dating. My New Year’s resolution is to not get involved with anyone this year.”
Catalina laughed. “Come on. It won’t last!”
But there was hurt in Maria’s eyes. Something had happened that she wasn’t talking about, and Lena wished she hadn’t missed so much. She needed to be a better sister. “Good for you, Maria. There is nothing wrong with that.”
Maria roused, slowly opening her eyes and getting up. “Thanks, Lena.” Maria reached over to ruffle Lena’s hair and give her a hug. “Don’t worry so much. Besides, how could it be Zack? He only came home in June. You’ve been getting letters since January.”
Lena sighed. “There is that.” But hadn’t her heart kind of soared at the idea? Ugh. She needed her head examined!
“Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, Lena. Then the mystery will be over.” Cat also got up to leave. “You’ll do what’s right…you always have.”
In the quiet of her sisters’ exodus, Lena gathered the letters strewn over the bed and stuffed them into the shoebox then went through and ordered them—neat, orderly, business-like typed letters in one pile and handwritten, personal letters in another. She fingered one of the letters from Zack, lifted it to her nose, and took a deep breath. She picked one of the secret admirer letters and did the same.
Unfortunately, the answer wasn’t in her senses. They both smelled exactly the same, like paper that had been thrown into her backpack and left there for months at a time.
Chapter Nine
Lena woke up on Christmas Eve unbelievably revitalized. Finally, after a week, she didn’t have the post-deployment fatigue dragging her down. Maybe not completely back to normal, but better.
One more day.
Elena pulled the box from under her bed and ruffled through the letters, pulling a random envelope from the stack. August. With a guilty look over her shoulder, she opened it.
…btw, Mrs. Marts was caught in the backseat of Principal Morten’s station wagon last weekend. The entire town has blown up with the news, and the Principal is on suspension. Of course, no one talks about how the affair has been going on for years. Now that it’s out in the open, it will either die quickly or…you never know. Maybe they have something that will last. Haha. We’ll see.
She remembered how she couldn’t stop grinning after she received this letter. After a long night in the trauma unit, the letter had been a Godsend. She sighed. Another just-what-she-needed moment.
“Lena,” Mom called from downstairs. “You have to get to the post office before noon. Let’s go. These invitations have to go out today.”
Lena tucked the letter back into the envelope. “I’m up, I’m up,” she called.
Her mom’s New Year’s Eve party included the entire family, all thirty-seven aunts, uncles, cousins, and two second cousins—twice removed—or something like that. Then there were the close friends, the business associates, and even a few strangers…if her mother happened upon one or two in the week between Christmas and New Year’s.
After getting dressed, Lena ran down the stairs and took the pile from the hall table.
“I’m coming, too,” Cat called as she scrambled down the steps and grabbed her winter coat. She was out the door before Lena could respond.
The tall, tan brick building on the corner of Walnut and Jefferson stood before her like the ever-loving answer to all her frustrations that it was. Her letter writer had come here to send his little notes and longer letters. Mystery man vs. Zack.
“Don’t think about it, Lena,” Cat suggested as she held open the main door. Easier said than done. Maria’s question had left Lena reeling, and thinking, and then reeling again.
Zack was family, even if those boundaries were being compromised. She’d forced herself to remain practical and not text him, even though she’d have killed to send him one, just to see how he was doing. The urge made her feel like a school girl, like Cat, who had been texting her boyfriend constantly.