“Ms. Valdez, I promise you I would never—”
“¡Mamá, basta!” Catalina hissed at her mother, with a hard glare. “Seriously.That is enough.”
Once again, Paola sniffed. Then she took a sip of her coffee.
I lowered my gaze to my lap. Half of me wanted to snap on her. The other half—the stronger part of me—chose to respect her. She was just being protective, and that was fine. She was a mom. He was her only son. I could understand. That didn’t give her the right to be a bitch to me, though.
“Do not take what she is saying the wrong way, Octavia.” Catalina reached across the table to touch my hand. “I personally think you should be proud,” she said with a small laugh. “Do you know how hard it is for a woman to make my brother happy?”
“What do you mean?” I found myself asking. “Wasn’t he happy with his wife?”
Catalina rolled her eyes while Paola scoffed.
“It is hard to be happy with someone who is not even happy with themselves,” Paola muttered, taking another swig of her brew.
Wait, wait, wait ...what? “What are you talking about?” I looked between both women.
“What she means is, their marriage wasn’t as perfect as you might be thinking,” said Catalina.
“Exactly.” Paola placed her coffee down to fold her arms. “Eloise was a nice person, but she was not good for my Javier.”
“And deep down, I think he knew it,” Catalina added.
The bell above the front door chimed, and Javier entered the bakery again and meandered his way to our table. Catalina sat up taller, and Paola unfolded her arms.
His eyes locked on Aleesa first, and when he saw she was secure, he found me. There was light in his eyes and a faint smile gracing his lips.
“Gah, the way he looks at you.” Catalina shook her head as she rose out of his chair.
Paola stood as well, but before she passed me to reach one of the utensil stations, she leaned down and brought her mouth close to my ear.
“You better not break my son’s heart. Understand? He does not deserve that again.”
Again?
I blinked up at her, wanting to ask what she meant by that, but I didn’t have the chance. Javier was back, taking the seat Catalina had just risen from and picking up his cañoncito.
“Great. It is cold now,” he grumbled.
“I need to peep!” Aleesa shouted.
Peepwas what she said when she actually meantpee.
“Come on, love.” I grabbed her hand and escorted her to the bathroom, then let her do her business while I stood outside the stall. She hummed some random tune: such a young spirit, with no worries in the world. Meanwhile my mind was running wild with thoughts.
What did Paola mean when she said he didn’t deserve to be hurtagain? What had his wife done that had hurt him? Or did she mean that because Eloise died, he was hurting?
I wasn’t sure, but something told me it had a deeper meaning than just his wife’s death. Something told me there had been a strain between him and Eloise that only Catalina and his mother knew about.
“Tava?” It was now I realized Aleesa had opened the stall. She stared up at me with big, curious green eyes. “What’s wrong, Tava?”
“Oh, it’s nothing, angel. Nothing. Come on. Let’s wash those hands.” I guided her to the sink, helped her wash up, then left the restroom.
Before I sat at the table with Javier again, I glanced at Paola. She sipped from a coffee cup, this time not appearing as stern as she regarded me. If anything, she seemed a bit remorseful and had more of anI did what I had to do to protect my familysense about her.
However, her eyes screamed one very specific thing.
Please do not break my son.
