“I think Lalo and I have some issues to work out. You two don’t mind walking to the casa on your own so we can have some privacy, do you?”
“Of course not. Especially if it ends with passionate makeup kissing.” Nena puckered her lips and batted her lashes.
“Gross,” Fernanda said, but the corners of her lips curved into a smile.
“We’ll see you later.” Nena wiggled her fingers.
“Don’t expect us home anytime soon,” Carolina replied.
Fernanda and Nena squealed with glee. “Glad to see you finally living, brother.” Fernanda winked and shut the door in her wake, leaving Carolina and Lalo alone again.
Carolina wilted. That might have been the last time she saw her cousin, and she’d ended it with titillating half-truths and fake tears.
She hit the sidewall and hollered, “To Señor Leaños’s, Joaquín!” The coach lurched forward.
The small paletería dug into the ground was the closest building in Del Oro to the forest. Once Señor Leaños started addingother flavors into his creamy ice mixture of eggs, milk, and agave honey, everyone in Del Oro enjoyed their cool treats. His chili lime paleta was worth dying for.
“What is the plan?” Lalo asked.
She stuck her nose up. “I’d rather not speak to people who think kissing me is a mistake.”
“Has it happened before?”
“I haven’t had a complaint yet.” Not that she’d kissed many boys. Only two, and one was an insufferably handsome sediento. Most in town were too afraid of Papá to even try.
The coach jostled, but this time she did not fall into his arms. They were nearing the paletería. That divot in the road two shops down from Señor Leaños’s had been there for three years now.
They came to a slow stop. “Pretend you are ill,” she ordered.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Act sickly.”
The door swung open, and Joaquín’s large frame blotted out the sun.
“Carolina, we are…”
Lalo groaned and grasped his stomach, slumped against the wall.
“Are you unwell, Lalo?” the cochero asked.
“All this movement has given my poor beau motion sickness. You have seen that he is prone to ailments.”
She patted his thigh, trying to appear sympathetic.
“I’m certain he will be fine after he collects himself. Do you mind waiting in line for us, though? I know how long of a wait it can be.”
“Of course.” Joaquín snuck one last glance at Lalo before shutting the door.
Carolina counted to twenty, giving Joaquín time to disappear into the crowd of patrons.
She started for the door, but Lalo grabbed her wrist. “What are we doing?”
She jerked her hand free. “Weare not doing anything.Iam.”
Hurt flashed across his face as if he wasn’t the one who had rejected her. “If this is about the kiss, I…”
“You are sorry for it. I understand fully well. It is evident on your irritating face. And don’t worry, it’ll never happen again.”
