He nodded, called out a farewell to the group, and climbed into another waiting carriage. The drivers flicked their reins, horses neighed, and they were off. I stared after them, a roaring noise reverbating in my ears. And then I felt a cool hand brush against mine. I glanced down, blinking, into my wife’s upturned face.
“Is it over?” she asked in a watery voice.
“It will be,” I promised her, wrapping my arms around her shoulders. I kissed her hair as she settled against me.
She tilted her head and met my eyes. Hers were red rimmed, eyelids swollen. “Can we have cats?”
“Cats?Plural?” I asked, aghast.
“Who doesn’t like cats?”
“I happen to love dogs,” I said. Then I shook my head. I didn’t know why I was arguing with her. I’d give her the bloody moon if she asked. “Inez, we can have as many of them as you’d like.”
She lowered her head but not before I caught the soft smile on her lips.
“What do you want to do now, sweetheart?”
She considered the question. “Whatever we want.”
PART FIVEONE THE ALL
CAPÍTULO VEINTIOCHO
TWO WEEKS LATER
Soft candlelight illuminated the dining table, which was laden with trays of expertly cooked, roasted, and braised meat and vegetables. Several bottles of wine had been opened and poured into thin-stemmed glasses. Satisfaction thrummed in every corner of my body. Seated around the table were the people I cared most about in the world, tucked away in a private room at Shepheard’s.
Whit was on my left, his hand on my thigh underneath the snow-white tablecloth. At the opposite end of the table sat Porter next to his younger sister, Arabella. Whit had invited them for a visit, and much to his surprise, they arrived sooner than he’d expectedandwith several trunks in tow. Evidently, they were here for an extended visit, even going so far as renting a home near the hotel.
Arabella had won me over from the first. She had thrown her arms around me and thanked me profusely for turning Whit into a cat person. Within five minutes of conversation, we were talking about our favorite works of art, and she showed me a journal stuffed full of her gorgeous watercolors. She had a rare talent, my newest little sister.
I watched her discreetly from the corner of my eye as she took sips of wine from Porter’s glass, her auburn hair shining like polished amber in the candlelight. Porter finally caught on to her antics and glared at Arabella,and I bit back a laugh when she dimpled back at him. But then her attention drifted to the handsome man to her right, and a deep blush bloomed in her cheeks. Whit’s friend, Leo, didn’t notice, but he’d curiously avoided meeting her eyes since he had sat down at the start of the dinner.
I got the distinct impression that he was actively trying to ignore her.
Howfascinating.I wonder if—
“Don’t even think about it,” Whit muttered, following my line of sight. “He’s too old for her.”
“Notthatold,” I whispered with a wink.
He pinched my thigh, and I threw my napkin in his face. Across from me, Tío Ricardo and Tía Lorena argued in Spanish about his penchant for cigars.
“You are always surrounded by a plume of smoke,” she complained. “Do you realize that in order to have a simple conversation with you—of course, no conversation with you is ever simple;whyis that?—I must prepare myself for my hair and my clothes to stink of your deplorable habit?”
My uncle glowered at her. “Señora, a possible solution is not to engage me in conversation in the first place. How’s that for simple?”
I smiled to myself, my attention flickering to Abdullah. Farida was piling his plate high with food. “No more,” he protested weakly. “I couldn’t possibly—”
“The roasted eggplant looks delicious,” Farida said with a broad smile. “I insist.”
“Well, if you insist,” Abdullah grumbled. “I’d love more bread—”
“How about the tahini?” she said, her smile still fixed. “Vegetables first?”
Abdullah sighed, but then he chuckled fondly. Farida picked up her camera sitting at her elbow and snapped a photo of him smiling. Amaranta leaned close to her, asking, “May I take the next?”
Farida nodded, handing it over to her. “Take one of what you’re going to be eating.”
