Enrique grimaced. “He’ll calm down. I’ll go over and talk to him.”
“He won’t calm down. The town will gossip about him, about me. His reputation in Santa Maria iseverythingto him. He would rather disown me and be seen as a hero for casting out his slutty daughter than accept me back with the scrutiny.”
Enrique turned her face to him and held up his hand. “Stop. Youare not a slut. Don’t ever say that again. I hate that word—women aren’t sluts for enjoying sex. Sex is natural; you did nothing wrong. I need you to believe that.”
God—he was too good to be true. Carolina was waiting for the other shoe to drop. “I mean, rationally, I realize that. But it’s hard to get over a lifetime of indoctrination.”
Enrique shook his head. “Maybe I’m naive, but I can’t comprehend how traditional your father is. Pardon me for saying, but is this tradition or abuse?”
Carolina gulped. Her father’s behavior was definitely unacceptable. “I don’t know. It’s just how it is.” Maybe she did need to go to therapy. Well, if she didn’t have Blanca around to commiserate with, who would she talk to? Definitely not Enrique. He would never understand her family. And she didn’t want to tell him her concerns about him.
“Well, not my place, but his behavior is not okay. You really think he won’t budge about you going home? That’s brutal.” He grabbed her a box of tissues and rubbed her back.
“I’m positive. I’ve known this about him since I was a little girl. Perhaps one day he’ll forgive me, but when? And look at my Tía Luísa—her father never forgave her. And my father, her own brother, won’t let us see her.”
“I’ll take you to see her.”
“I’d like that.”
Enrique ran his hand through his dark hair. “I hate to say this, Carolina, but you don’t need him if he’s like that. I know he’s your father, but you bought the farm on your own. You raised the money. You could take it from him, and even if you don’t want to—which I understand—you could buy another farm. You have options.”
“Any option that involves not being able to see my family is awful.” Carolina felt trapped, like her world was caving in on her. Sheknew what her father demanded was completely fucked-up, but she wanted her farm. She wanted her family. And she also wanted Enrique. But those things were mutually exclusive. They weren’t possible unless she and Enrique got married.
They sat in silence around the hearth and Carolina stared at the fire. It was almost poetic—the smoldering embers looked so enticing and warm, just like how good the idea of being with Enrique had seemed, but the closer she got to the flame, the more certain she was that she was about to get burned.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jesus. Did Carolina really love him?
He hadn’t been trying to eavesdrop, but she had literally screamed those words so loudly to her father that Enrique couldn’t help but hear them.
How could that be possible? They hadn’t known each other for that long.
They were infatuated with each other, sure. In lust with each other. But was that love?
That Van Halen song that Ramón used to play on his guitar during his metal phase blasted in Enrique’s head. “Why can’t this be love?”
Was there a timeline on love, anyway? Ramón had fallen fast and hard for Julieta. His father had known he was in love with Julieta’s mother in less than a week, but that had been a disaster. Then his dad had dated his mother for a full two years before they’d gotten married, and that hadn’t worked out, either.
In his own life, Enrique had fallen in love a few times. Each time,he’d known he was in love months before he’d had the courage to tell his partners.
There was his high school girlfriend, Taya. But they had one of those first-love situations. Taya meant the world to Enrique—she was kind and sweet and loved to go surfing with him. They were each other’s firsts. It had been a blissful teen love affair, but they had decided to break up before college. Enrique had held out hope that one day they would reunite, but she had eventually fallen in love with her college sweetheart, and they had recently gotten married.
In college, Enrique had dated Ruby. She was fun and quirky and nothing like Taya—or Enrique, for that matter. She had grown up in Mariposa, California, and loved to be outside and hike. They had a great relationship, but she didn’t want to be tied down and ultimately ended things. Enrique was crushed but figured it was for the better because they were graduating. She now had a successful YouTube travel channel and lived in a van.
And lastly, there was the beautiful Alisa. They had dated for a couple of years after college. His attraction to her was purely physical, and ultimately, he ended the relationship after he finally realized that he didn’t feel they truly connected on his core values. She was a bit too materialistic for his taste. And though he definitely had a taste for the finer things, when he tried to realign his life goals, she wasn’t receptive to him wanting to focus more on giving back to the community.
Since then, Enrique had just casually dated. And he had been fine with that.
Until he met Carolina.
But Carolina hadn’t told Enrique she loved him; she’d said it to her father. Maybe she was just trying to justify spending the night with Enrique to her dad—that made perfect sense. Enrique was almost entirely responsible for trapping them up here. Granted, he’dchecked the forecast before they left that morning, but he shouldn’t have risked taking her somewhere a few hours away from her home.
Enrique had a deep emotional connection, intellectual curiosity, physical chemistry, and respect for Carolina. When they talked about their families or even the farm, she seemed to really share his core values on what was important in life. Not money. She was wicked smart, and he was still blown away by her business acumen and creativity, especially in starting that farm-to-table delivery service during the pandemic. He found her body wildly intoxicating—her curves, her curly hair, her soulful eyes. When she kissed him, it just felt... different. More intimate. And he admired her. She was such a great woman. If she saw good in him, it would make him a better man. And he would love to support her in all her endeavors.
Was that enough to build something lasting? Maybe.
But he was certain he wasn’t in love. Not yet, anyway.
