Her fists clenched. “Okay, fine. I guess it’s that I just never saw myself married or as someone’s wife, and, in my family, dating leads to marriage. Hookups aren’t acceptable.”
“Youcandate someone and not marry them. Marriage shouldn’t even be on the table for a long time.” Two years at least, in his opinion. Enrique was shocked at how soon Ramón proposed to Julieta, but they were happy. Who was Enrique to judge?
“I know, I do. In a perfect world, that makes sense. In my family, it doesn’t. Marriage to me represents a loss of independence. I don’t want to be some man’s property—go directly from my father’s iron fist to my husband’s.”
A bitter taste filled Enrique’s mouth. It was so tragic that not only Carolina but other women still felt this way today.
“I’m really sorry, Carolina. For the record, I don’t see marriage like that. In a perfect world, it’s a partnership between equals. Not that I know what I’m talking about—my divorced parents haven’t been a great example of marriage.” Uh, open mouth, insert foot. This whole conversation had been a disaster.
Time to change the subject. He moved their exchange into safer territory—“So tell me more about your sisters; how many are there?”—and he was thankful she followed his lead.
Enrique noted to himself that he needed to be damn sure he wasn’t playing any games with Carolina.
After they dined, they strolled into a gallery featuring a local artist. She bought a piece of landscape artwork depicting a field of bright strawberries, which she refused to let him pay for, and he picked out some New Age spiritual books.
It was a breezy and beautiful day, minus the awkwardly intenselunch conversation. She laughed at his silly jokes, and he enjoyed showing her around one of his favorite towns.
Finally, the sun began to set, illuminating the sky with a stunning orange hue. It was time to see the Christmas lights. Enrique grasped her hand, and they weaved in and out of the streets, stopping at the charming cottages. One house had transformed into a life-size gingerbread house—the owner had added fake giant, colorful gumdrops to the yard and even blanketed the roof in faux snow.
Carolina’s eyes widened. “Wow! That’s so cool!”
Enrique leaned over and gave her a soft kiss. What a fun day.
But unfortunately, their date was almost over. Enrique had to take her home.
Exhausted after a day of sightseeing, they finally grabbed some coffee at a local café.
Carolina sipped on her peppermint latte and snacked on a cookie.
Enrique looked at his own watch. “Babe, it’s eight. Do you want to go back home? The clouds are moving in quickly and it’s supposed to rain later, so we should probably hit the road.”
“I don’t want to leave.” She pursed her lips. “I’d love to stay all night, but I can’t.”
“Yeah, that would be great. But maybe we could come back again sometime.”Like next year.
Where had that thought come from? He was supposed to be only wanting one week. But things with Carolina were rapidly progressing.
“That would be great.” She smiled.
“Let’s go,” he said, leaving a generous tip on the table.
He pulled out Carolina’s chair, gave her a kiss, and walked her back to the car. He looked over his shoulder, pulled out onto the road, and drove out of downtown.
The rain drizzled down nonstop, and the traffic was backed up for miles.
If he was with any other girl, he would’ve asked her to spend the night in Carmel-by-the-Sea with him and then head back tomorrow. But he had sparked enough tension with her father—the last thing he wanted to do was add fuel to the flame.
After an hour of almost no movement stuck behind a truck with a broken bumper, Carolina was biting her nails and tapping on her phone.
Enrique checked his phone for a weather update. “Hey, sorry about this. I checked the forecast before we left. There was only a slight chance of rain. We’ll give it twenty more minutes.”
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault. Blanca says it’s storming at home, too.”
Another twenty minutes turned into an hour. The rain came down heavier, and there was even a brief bout of hail, the rocklike ice pounding on the windshield.
Then a navigation alert came across his vehicle.
Warning. Flash Flooding. Roads Closed Ahead.
