Uncle Jaime would never admit it, but he was terrified of my mother. Hell, we all were. The woman knew how to keep the whole family in line, and she wouldn’t hesitate to go after any of us with a wooden spoon. I had permanent welts on my ass to prove it.
“You plannin’ on hiring another housekeeper?” I asked.
“You grow some cojones and enroll in college yet?” he fired back.
Uncle Jaime was the only person I’d ever told about my dream of becoming an architect. I tried to talk to my dad about it once. Right after I came home from the service, I started to talk to him about going back to school, but he interrupted me before I could get the words out. He was so damn excited to have me home and working the family business I couldn’t bring myself to disappoint him. So… I went back to work for my old man, and that’s where I’ve been ever since. I was trying to be a good son and didn’t need my uncle throwing that shit in my face.
“Time’s not right to go back to school,” I replied.
“Never is. Never will be at this rate. You’ll be an old man with a wife and children of your own, still working for Javier.”
I wanted to argue, but couldn’t. I’d been home for a couple of years now and still hadn’t tried to broach the topic again. Truthfully, I was terrified Uncle Jaime was right, so I changed the subject. “You know you’re not gonna be able to stay down here, right?”
“I’m a grown ass man, Tonio. I’ll live wherever the hell I want.”
“All right. I’ll call Madre down to clean up your place for you then.”
His eyes narrowed. “Like hell you will.”
I glared right back. “Then I’m packin’ it up and takin’ you north.”
Neither of us backed down. Uncle Jaime had taught me Spades. He’d encouraged me to play my hand and to bluff my ass off when the need arose, but I sure wasn’t bluffing now. I didn’t care how hellbent he was on maintaining his privacy and independence. It was clear he needed to be closer to people who could help him. I’d be damned if I left him three hours away from family to fend for himself. Especially since his stubborn ass wouldn’t take an ambulance.
He finally looked away. “You at least plannin’ to let me get out of the hospital before you pack up my shit and kidnap me?”
Glad he was conceding, I let out a relieved breath. “Kidnap you? Now who’s being a dramatic little pussy?”
He snorted.
“It’d probably be easier with you in here and out of my way, but we gotta wait and see what the doctor says.”
“I don’t remember you being this bitchy. What crawled up your ass this morning?”
I had to hand it to him, I was in a foul mood. Sleeping in an uncomfortable hospital chair will do that to a man. “Your phone call interrupted one hell of a good night.”
It took him a beat to catch my drift, but then his eyebrows shot up and a grin split his face. “Oh yeah? How good?”
Dirty old man.Chuckling, I shook my head and thought about the supplies still in my saddle bag. The plans I had for Jessica could make a priest blush. “Potential to be the best.”
His eyes widened. He barked out a laugh and said, “Then you’re a damn fool, Tonio.”
I let him have his fun for a minute before asking, “How so?”
“Because if I had that kind of potential waiting for me at home, I sure as hell wouldn’t have torn off to drive three hours so I could take care of you. You should have called me an ambulance.”
Muttering, “Asshole,” I laughed alongside him. It felt good, even though we both knew he was full of shit. Family always came first. He’d distanced himself from us because he didn’t want to be a burden, but if we ever needed him, he’d find a way to come through. That’s what we did. Always.
“Your insistence in staying down here is cramping my style. If your stubborn ass was up in Seattle, I could have checked you into the hospital, went home, got laidanda decent night’s sleep.”
“So that’s what this is about.” He nodded. “Fine. Get me out of here and I’ll move up to Seattle.”
It wasn’t even a question, but I was glad to have his consent. “Good.”
“Just as long as you enroll your ass in college.”
I groaned. This was going to be one hell of a long month. “How about we play cards for it?”
Jessica
