“So am I. You don’t get extra chances with a man like Luca. He’s experienced too much loss, too much sorrow, to risk his heart on silly flings. He’s a man of honor, of loyalty, of commitment.”
I avert my gaze. I know she’s right but…I don’t know what she expects me to say in response.
Apparently nothing because she reaches out and pats the back of my hand. “He’s a very good boy. He deserves a good woman.”
My head snaps up and my eyes find hers.
Her eyes blaze with amusement, truth, and an edge of severity. “That woman could be you, Carlita. If you’re brave enough.” She pushes the plate of fartons closer to me. “Here, have another one.”
I take one and stuff it into my mouth just so I don’t have to say anything else. I’m beginning to regret coming here. Maybe I should have passed by Álvaro’s and hung out with his cats. He never would have broached this topic with me.
But as Abuela begins to fill me in on the latest episode of Las Islas de las Tentaciones, I can’t help but turn her words over in my mind.
He’s a very good boy.
He deserves a good woman.
That woman could be you, Carlita.
Honor. Loyalty. Commitment.
Abuela’s insight mixes with Alejandro’s two cents.
He doesn’t do casual, Carla.
The implication was there, left unsaid. And you don’t do serious.
But could I?
Could I be the woman Luca risks his heart for? Can I take on that responsibility and live up to it? Can I give him the same commitment, loyalty, and…love that he offers me?
I sip my horchata, my mind spinning.
God, I want to. But is it possible while also trying to secure a position on a club team? While striving to make the national team?
For years, I’ve been driven to succeed at soccer. It was the most important thing in my life and it came before everything else—relationships, friendships, academics.
This year, coming home to Valencia shone a spotlight on everything my life was lacking: a partner, creating a family, settling down. While I often yearn for those things, I’m not ready to chase them at the expense of my professional dreams. I want another chance to prove to myself that I have what it takes to play soccer professionally. That losing my spot on the Chicago Tornadoes was not the final nail in the coffin of my career. That it spawned a new beginning.
Can I have that and Luca?
Or do I have to choose?
And if I do…which path do I pick?
22
Luca
Unsurprisingly, Carla’s girls win their first playoff game.
“You did it!” I congratulate her, lifting her off her feet and spinning her around.
“You made it!” she replies, beaming at me.
Alejandro and I slid onto the bleachers beside Marlowe and Abuela right in time for the coin toss. Our flight home from Málaga was delayed and I was relieved to make the game.
“Your girls played fearlessly,” I say. “They were strategic, decisive, cohesive…Carla, you’re incredible. I’m so proud of you.”
