She remembered her manners and brought her attention back to Maricela, but the woman was gone.
“What an odd person.”
Lalo was being swarmed by the young women from el pueblo. One of them brushed their hand over the delicate stitching in Lalo’s coat. His throat bobbed up and down. His spine stiffened straight as a rod. There were so many scents surrounding him, he was probably dying inside.
Before she could sweep in and save him, Fernanda and Nena pulled him from the crowd. He chuckled at something Nena, always the flirt, was saying. She was probably telling Lalo an embarrassing tale about Carolina’s childhood. Carolina could only imagine what. She’d done plenty of humiliating things. Like the time she tried to ride Rey, their old and grumpy billy goat, through the orchards. He bucked her off, and she tumbled face-first into the muck. There was the time she tried to climb over the barrier wall and got her dress snagged on some iron stakes. She had to run home with nothing but her bloomers on. It was a mystery how she’d avoided scandal.
Lalo laughed, and Carolina’s stomach dipped in response. Surprise flooded her when she realized she was…jealous.Shewanted to be the one to make him laugh.
Carolina’s feet were moving before she even realized them to be. She walked so swiftly, her eyes zeroed in on trying to readNena’s lips, that she didn’t see Rafa step before her. Carolina’s nose bumped hard into his chest.
“Whoa there,” Rafa said. “You almost took me out.”
Carolina rubbed her face. “I doubt that very much.” She remembered her manners and offered a curtsy. “How are you, Rafael?”
“Better now.” His smile was big and wide. “Would you like to know something?”
She huffed. “Not particularly.”
“You will find this news quite fascinating.”
Rolling her eyes, she tried to move around the young man. “I don’t think whatever you have to say will interest me in the slightest.”
“It is about that boy you insist on marrying.”
Carolina took a calming breath, but her body buzzed with tension from her head to her toes.
“Lalo isn’t who you think,” Rafa said, smug.
Carolina faced Rafa directly. “I know everything I need to about him.”
“No one has even heard the name Eduardo Montéz in Puerto Blanco. Not a single soul. Which made me wonder, whyever not?”
“Could it be the type of people you speak to don’t run in the same social circles as him?”
He sneered. “Unlikely. Then I spoke to a business partner in the capital. He said an affluent brother and sister with the same given names as your new friends but with the surname of Villalobos had suddenly fled the ciudad, leaving their father’s successful business behind.”
“Stop this, Rafa.”
“The news is all anyone can talk about. The siblings saidthey were heading east, but they could have easily come here instead. Those two are running from something. I can feel it in my bones.”
“Enough. You lost the duel. I know you aren’t used to losing, but you must move on. You do not need to fabricate ridiculous rumors just because you didn’t get what you wanted.”
“Don’t be played for a fool, Carolina.”
Bristling, she said, “Lalo has bested you in every way. He is smarter than you, kinder than you, and far more handsome. So back off.”
Carolina spun on her heel and stilled.
There, standing before her, was Lalo. Carolina’s cheeks burned. Judging by the ferocity within his gaze, he’d listened in on the entire conversation.
“Is this man bothering you?” Lalo asked. “Has he not yet accepted that your heart lies with me?”
Carolina’s knees went weak. She hadn’t heard Lalo sound so assertive. She liked it. A lot.
“This is absurd,” Rafa grumbled.
“What is absurd, señor,” Lalo said, “is that you do not seem to understand when a woman is finished speaking with you. I suggest you turn away before you make a bigger embarrassment of yourself than you already have.”
