Enrique had learned his lesson from Ramón about mixing business with pleasure. Sure, his brother’s story had a happy ending, but Enrique was certain that was due to luck more than anything.
“I know a great club in Santa Barbara,” Rosa said, tugging on her cousin Tiburón’s arm. “Perhaps we could come for a short visit and show you.”
Tiburón gave a fist bump to his prima.
Enrique shook his head. “No thanks, guys. I’ll do this one on my own.”
Ramón shook his head. “Jaime’s right. Someone should go with you.”
“Okay,Dad. I can handle business on my own.”
“I know you can.” Ramón pointed at his brother. “But I don’t want you to spend the holiday alone.”
Enrique shrugged, ran a hand through his long, dark hair, and surrendered. “Fine.” He hated the way Ramón always overrode his business decisions. But Enrique didn’t want to ditch Jaime for the holidays. Since Ramón wasn’t speaking to their father, it would fall on Jaime to go over there alone this Christmas if Enrique was gone.If they were both out of town, their father would simply make other plans. And their mother was on a cruise in Italy.
Enrique turned to his younger brother. “Jaime, you can come, but I’m serious. He has ten daughters. You cannot hit on them—not even one.”
Jaime was a regular Don Juan—love them and leave them. Which was fine. He was young. Maybe he’d grow up one day and change his mind.
Maybe not.
Jaime laughed and leveled Ramón and Enrique with his eyes. “Why do you both think I’m some kind of Neanderthal? I can talk to women and not hit on them. It is possible.” He exhaled, causing his long bangs to flap up before taking their resting place, skimming his eyebrows. “Look at Rosa and me. We’re just friends.”
Rosa smacked him playfully on the head. “We are family, you foo. Plus, I would never put up with your shit. I pity the girl who falls for you. You’re cute but you’re a fuckboy.”
Jaime grinned. “That’s not what you said last night.”
Rosa lunged at him, but Jaime stopped her.
Enrique shook his head—what was going on with those two? He didn’t want to ask. It didn’t matter—Jaime would never settle down. Ever. Rosa was right—what kind of woman would ever put up with his antics? Jaime was a model. When he wasn’t doing social media for the Montez Group, Jaime was showing off designer sweats in La Jolla as a side gig, and he definitely had the surfer/beach vibe look down.
Enrique turned his attention back to his food. He took a big bite of his next taco and contemplated the scenario. Ramón was right—having Jaime come would be better after all. It would be nice to have some company on the trip. Bringing another member of his family along would show Señor Flores how serious they were. From what he could tell, Señor Flores was a traditional Mexican man and wouldnot be receptive to either of Enrique’s proposals, even if Carolina was, and Enrique wasn’t sure how much sway Señor Flores had over Carolina, though after what Tiburón said, Enrique feared it would be a lot.
Either way, Enrique would fight for this. He actually cared about farming, the environment, and the health of the workers who picked the food for their restaurants—this was more than just business and the family name.
This was their future, too.
It would work out. This would be a great partnership for the Montez Group, which they really needed.
They had received positive publicity after Ramón had given the block of Barrio Logan to Linda—not that he’d done it for publicity. Enrique was thrilled that they had done right by Barrio Logan. The Montezes, minus Papá, had been welcomed into the community, which was worth all of the hate they had initially received.
But it wasn’t enough; it was a Band-Aid, and Ramón and Enrique knew it. Years of their father’s business decisions displacing local taco shops and serving whitewashed versions of Mexican favorites had made the Montez Group persona non grata in San Diego. In fact, recently there had even been an online campaign for the Taco King chain to be shut down. A Twitter boycott slowed sales for a bit, but Julieta’s presence quickly quelled the social media mob’s anger, so they moved on to a new target. Even so, the constant threats that were DM’d to Enrique had taken a toll on him. He felt so helpless and so guilty and was unable to cope back then. But he was in a much better place.
Because now their father was out of the company; Ramón was in charge. And Enrique was committed to growing the business and creating lasting changes for their legacy.
Ramón took a swig of his beer. “When are you leaving?”
“Tomorrow morning.” The sooner, the better. He’d lock down thedeal first, and then hang with Jaime. Maybe wake up early, go surfing, and spend the rest of the day chilling on the beach. One thing Enrique loved about California was that he could be in the ocean year-round, as long as he had a good wet suit.
Julieta put her hand up in a stop sign. “Enrique, we’ll go with you, too. It is important that we spend Christmas together as a family.”
Ramón’s jaw dropped, and he gave her a pointed look but remained silent. Smart man.
Enrique paused. Christmas hadn’t meant anything to him since he’d been an adult. The holidays held numb memories of car rides back and forth between his dad’s cold mansion and his mom’s equally chilly beachfront casa in La Jolla Shores, or long stays with nannies while both parents went on separate tropical vacations with their significant others of the week. No. He didn’t need extra family with him for a holiday that was essentially just another day of the year.
“No. It’s okay. I don’t really get into the full Christmas thing. Besides, don’t you have a restaurant to run?” Enrique asked.
“Of course I do, but one of the best things I’ve learned from your brother is achieving work-life balance. Las Pescas is operating smoothly, and I feel comfortable taking a hard-earned vacation.”
