“Sorry we’re late,” I said. “I got held up by family stuff.”
“No worries,” Carrie said. “Your table is ready.”
She walked us to a table near a window that overlooked the back garden, which was just beginning to bloom. We were given menus and our water glasses were filled. After the server left with our drink orders, Zach leaned forward and asked, “You want to tell me about it?”
I blew out a breath. “You know about the phone calls and texts?” He nodded. “Well, they ramped up starting on Friday and got worse yesterday.”
“You never said anything Friday night,” he said.
“I know. I didn’t want to ruin our evening. We were supposed to be having fun.”
“What happened with Raphael?” he asked.
As I told him about my phone call with Raphael and Evan, Zach started laughing. “Oh my god, that’s hilarious. I remember Evan from their wedding, and I know he can be over the top. I really wish I could be there to see Carlos’s expression.”
His laughter made me laugh. “Yeah, I guess it is pretty funny.”
Zach’s expression got more serious. “You said you had a bad date last night. Do I have to kick someone’s ass?”
I let out a low chuckle. “No, I told him to fuck off. Twice.”
“What happened?”
I sighed. “He gave me shit for wearing makeup.”
His expression darkened. “What the fuck? Why?”
I closed my eyes. This was why I was so drawn to Zach Kelley. He accepted me for who I was and was ready to stand with me against people who would tear me down. I smiled at him, although I think it might have had a tinge of sadness. “You’re kind of amazing. Any woman would be lucky to have you.”
He got a strange expression on his face. His brow furrowed, and he said, “I’m not really looking for that right now.”
“Okay,” I said tentatively. “You let me know when you are. I might know a few nice women.”
Zach just looked down at the table and said quietly, “Sure.”
CHAPTERNINETEEN
MIGUEL
Later that afternoon, I went to Zach’s to help him pack. He had already gotten a lot done the night before, and I felt a twinge of guilt that I was out on a shitty date when I could have been helping him and most definitely having a better time. Ugh, my head was such a mess.
Zach had organized things pretty well, so I just went where he pointed me. We were in his bedroom packing important papers when I came across a copy of a will on top of the power of attorney paperwork. It was jarring to see, especially when I saw his sister’s name on the will. Then I remembered him telling me a while back that Allie had named him Cody’s guardian if something happened to her.
I held up the papers. “Zach? Do you want these put in a special folder or something?”
Zach looked over at me from his closet, where he was pulling boxes off the top shelf. “Oh wow. Yeah. I think I have one of those plastic file folders in the living room where I keep my music.”
I went into the living room and searched near Zach’s keyboard for his music. I found the folders full of sheet music underneath the stacks of music books. Way at the bottom was an empty blue plastic folder with a clasp. “Found one,” I said in triumph.
“Thanks,” he called back from the bedroom. I went back and put the important papers in the folder and put them in the box with his other important papers. I’d just pulled over another box to pack when my phone vibrated with a call. I thought for a second it was my mother calling to complain about me not being there, but it was my cousin, Raphael. I looked at the time and realized it was early evening. “Uh-oh,” I murmured as I answered the phone. “Hey, Raphael. What’s up?”
There was a brief pause, and Raphael blew out a long breath. “So, we went to your parents’ house for dessert.”
“Okay,” I replied, drawing out the word. “What happened? You sound like something happened.”
“Evan and I were going to go by ourselves, but my parents decided to go with us because Luis and Elena were both at their respective in-laws’ places this year.” He paused to allow me to absorb that information.
I went over to sit on Zach’s bed. “This sounds like it got complicated,” I said cautiously.
