“I always thought he was nice,” Carly said.
“Then you should have dated him,” Zita fired back.
Carly laughed. “Ew. That would be like dating my brother.”
The fire in her stomach tapered. “You never fancied him?”
“No. Never.” Carly squinted at her. “And he never fancied me.”
It was a relief, though she’d never admit it aloud. The thought of David with Carly was just ick. “So, how are the wedding plans coming along?”
“Not quite as slowly as the house plans. Hayden and Mama are having fun.”
Hayden was Carly’s PA and had started putting together wedding information for Carly, without being asked to. When Carmen had found out, they’d formed a wedding planning team. Carly barely had to do anything.
“What about you?” she asked Bridget. “Any plans yet?” Bridget and Jack had bought a house together, but weren’t engaged.
Her sister smiled. “I was thinking about proposing to him next weekend.”
Zita’s mouth dropped open. “That’s fantastic!” She was so thrilled both her sisters had found the men they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with. She jumped up and hugged her sister.
“Yeah, I’m fairly sure he’ll say yes.”
Jack had been enamored with Bridget since they’d first met, but it had taken her some time to trust him. He’d agreed to take their relationship at the pace Bridget needed.
“Mama’s going to be thrilled,” Carly said.
She would be. Two daughters getting married was going to flip her mother out. Zita cleared the empty boxes from the table and then took her sisters’ plates. She wasn’t sure why she was feeling a little sad.
“You ready to go through the photo album?” Carly asked her.
Zita let out a breath. Was she? “I guess so.”
Bridget gave her a hug. “It’s not so bad, ZZ. We all have issues about Papa dying so young.”
Zita looked at her sister. “Really?”
“Sure. One of the reasons I got into workplace safety was because I thought Papa had died at work. I didn’t want anyone else to go through that.” She glanced at Carly.
Carly sighed. “And I felt like I had to take care of you all, because I’d promised Papa I would.”
Perhaps Zita wasn’t the odd one out after all. She walked over to the sofa and sat down, her sisters sitting either side of her. Carly handed her the photo album. The first few pages were of Carly, Bridget and their parents before she was born. Her mother was so young, younger than Carly was now, and she looked so happy. There were photos of the four of them together, smiling. Her father had a look on his face as if he couldn’t believe how lucky he was. The love shone out of his blue eyes.
He was lanky and far taller than Carmen, but that wasn’t difficult, considering Carmen was just under five feet. He was probably about Bridget’s height, and his hair was the exact color of Zita’s, though it was short and disheveled in most of the pictures.
As she flicked through the photos, her sisters told her stories of where they were taken and what had been happening at the time. It was Carly who spoke the most. She was the eldest, five years older than Zita, and therefore recalled a lot more, but there were a few things Bridget remembered.
“This was taken the day you were born,” Carly said, pointing at the photo where Zita first appeared. It was a family photo, her mother looking a little tired, her father pleased as punch, and Bridget awkwardly holding Zita with Carly helping her. “Papa said he had his three princesses.”
“Did he ever want a boy?” Zita asked.
“Mama once said they would have liked a boy as well,” Carly said.
They continued through the photos until they reached the end. It didn’t take long as there were so few. It would have been lovely to have photos from when her father was a child.
“Have you ever searched for Papa’s family?” Zita asked.
“No,” Carly answered. “Mama always said his parents were dead and he had no siblings. It was one of the reasons he was happy to stay in El Salvador.” She glanced at Bridget. “Have you?”
