Enrique rubbed her back.
Julieta returned with a cup of the warm liquid. The aroma surrounding it made Carolina nostalgic for home.
Carolina took a sip. Wow. This ponche was unlike any she’d ever had, and she considered herself a ponche snob.
“This is so good! It has a tart taste I’m not familiar with. What’s in it?”
Julieta grinned. “Oh, I use tejocotes. They are simultaneously sweet and sour. Super hard to find, but I discovered an orchard in Julian that supplies them for me. I brought them up for the holiday.”
Carolina liked this woman already. Tejocotes were a small stone fruit that tasted a bit sour, kind of like a guava-laced bitter apple. She loved the colors of them—they could be variegated shades of orange, yellow, or red. She had only had them once when she found them at a specialty grocery store, and she had been curious about them ever since.
Why had she never considered growing them?
“Where is Julian?”
“It’s about an hour or so east of San Diego. In the mountains. Ilove it up there. I go every fall for apple picking in their orchards. There is even snow there in the winter.”
That sounded like so much fun. There was so much of this beautiful state to explore. She was excited to leave the confines of Santa Maria. Carolina smiled and imagined going down there with Enrique and picking the lush fruit from the trees. And Carolina had never seen snow. Maybe they could visit. It would be so fun to take Baby! She could make a snow angel.
She took another sip of ponche, drinking down the pain knowing that she might never be able to take Sofía anywhere again.
“Wow. That’s so cool. I don’t know anyone who grows tejocotes locally.” Her mind started racing. Her farm grew the standard crops for the region—lettuce, strawberries, tomatoes, garlic. She used innovative drought systems and didn’t rely on toxic pesticides.
But she had never really broken the mold. Tejocotes were super expensive in the United States due to their rarity and the border importation restrictions. With the cartels threatening food inspectors, Carolina wondered if there would be a market in the United States for growing them along with other specialty Mexican crops. There had to be! If other Mexicans tasted this ponche, the demand would be high!
But it wasn’t just about the tejocotes. Carolina realized that there was an entire world of opportunities for her in farming outside her current farm.
“Dinner!” Linda called everyone to the table.
Ramón shut his laptop from a desk that was overlooking the ocean. He kissed Julieta and then greeted Carolina. Tiburón carried drinks in from the kitchen, assisted by Jaime, who waved at Carolina.
Jaime smirked. “So, Carolina, you’re the reason that we’re celebrating the holidays up here. My brother was obsessed with meeting you.”
Enrique punched Jaime on the bicep. “Obsessed is a bit strong.”
Jaime laughed. “It’s all good. I like Santa Barbara. Glad you could join us.”
“Thanks for having me.”
Rosa helped her tía bring the tamales.
Enrique pulled out a chair for Carolina. After she sat down, she gripped his hand on the table and he put his other on her thigh.
Carolina nervously glanced around. Were they going to bless this food?
When Enrique picked up his fork, she knew she had to act fast.
“May I say grace?”
Enrique dropped his fork and nodded toward Carolina.
Linda smiled. “Please do.”
“Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
Everyone said amen, even Enrique, but he fidgeted a bit in his seat. Had she made him uncomfortable? She hoped not. It was just a blessing.
But then again, it was okay if he was. She was uncomfortable. They were so different, and if there was any chance of this—whatever this fledgling relationship was—working, they needed to learn about each other’s similarities and differences.
