“Camila didn’t want to be in the running for the lead act,” she said. “But she did it because Pilar loved the spotlight. She did it to make her sister happy.”
Perhaps this was selfish given the circumstances, but he thought back to the day he told Dovie he had been enlisted. Despite his desperate need to please his father back then, Ignacio had been willing to run away for her.
“Sometimes people are willing to risk whatever it takes to make their loved ones happy,” he said.
She scowled. “How foolish of them. Love only leads to heartbreak. Look at Camila. At every person you’ve ever known. Every time you open yourself up and trust someone, you’re setting your neck on a guillotine, waiting for the blade to drop.”
“You can’t really believe that.”
“Look at us,” she said. “We were…we…” She turned her face away.
“We were special,” he admitted. And saying so nearly broke him all over again. He hated using the wordwere. Hated that he couldn’t sayare. Wearespecial.
Over the past year, he’d thought of the things he would say to her. All the accusations and questions he would fling her way. But, atthat moment, he couldn’t say a thing because he felt too raw inside. Seeing her, being so near to her, recalling the unfathomable depth of their love, it all made her betrayal that much worse. And yet, he couldn’t say any of the things he had wanted to say to her when she was right here because he was terrified of losing her again.
“And now we can hardly stand to look at each other,” shesaid.
He smiled through his pain. “I wouldn’t go that far. I’ve caught you eyeballing me quite a few times since I showed up.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. If Iwas, it was most likely because I was trying to burn holes through you with my intense scrutiny.”
He chuckled. “Keep lying to yourself.”
“You really think you’re handsome, don’t you?”
He didn’t care if he was or wasn’t, so long as she took notice.
He shrugged. “Your eyes don’t lie, Dovie.”
She scoffed. “If anyone has been doing any sort of ogling, it’s you, Pigeon.”
Hearing her call him Pigeon had once peeved him. His nickname for her had been cute. Hers for him had been purposely snarky. But hearing it now was like cool aloe on sun-scorchedskin.
He smiled. “The people lining the parade yesterday weredefinitelylooking at me.”
“They were paid actors.”
“They must have been well compensated because I heard the townsfolk had to mop up all the drool afterward. Took them hours.”
“You are conceited in every way,” she said.
“Only in the ways that anger you, which is just about everyone.”
She huffed and crossed her arms, closing herself off. Panic set in. He had just had a glimpse of the old Esmeralda. He couldn’t lose her yet.
“Before you dishonored me by calling me a pigeon, you mentioned it was I who ogled you. That might perhaps be true.”
Her brow rose. Esmeralda had always loved a compliment, and he’d always been happy to oblige, especially knowing that she never received them as a child. Also because he truly meant them.
He edged closer to her. “I must admit that you are even prettier than the last time we saw one another. I would never have thought that possible.”
She raised her chin. “Go on.”
“When I saw you today in your wagon wearing that costume, I worried my jawbone would drop onto the floorboards.”
A giggle escaped her. “Is that so?”
“Oh yes. Even when I dreamed of you after we parted last year, I never imagined a prettier picture.”
