Thankfully for Lizzie, Abuela didn’t question her motivations when Lizzie expressed wanting to go home right away. Downstairs, they found Isabela having coffee in the living room.
After thanking her for a lovely evening, Lizzie told Isabela that they were heading out. Isabela’s brow furrowed, and she said, “When it rains a lot here, sometimes things get very muddy, and cars can get stuck.” She bit her lip. “Maybe we should see if Will…”
“No!” Lizzie objected. “I mean, I don’t want to bother him. I think we’ll be ok.”
Isabela frowned but said, “Of course,” and watched them walk away.
Before they even got to the car, Lizzie could see what Isabela meant. Her car looked like it had sunk into 6 inches of mud, and without even trying, Lizzie knew she was going to have a hard time getting out of here.
Lizzie had Abuela wait further back, then went to circle the car, not sure what she was looking for (maybe there was a get-out-of-the-mud button she hadn’t seen before), but not ready to give up just yet.
As Lizzie circled the back end of the car, her foot caught a slippery patch of mud, and like a cartoon character who stepped on a banana peel, her legs flew up, and her ass came down hard in the mud.
Lizzie had mud everywhere. It splashed onto her face and arms, and Lizzie sat there, trying to wipe it away in vain, as Abuela called over with unhelpful questions. “¿Estás bien?! Did you break something? Do you think the dress is stained?”
Lizzie tried to stand — slipped again — landed on her hip with a wet smack.
“I’m fine,” she lied through gritted teeth, wiping mud from her eyes. “Just… checking things out over here.”
And then she saw Will.
Walking toward her. Smiling.
The universe had a sick sense of humor.
“Are you done being stubborn? Can I help you now?”
She nodded, mortified, as he offered a hand up — his touch lingering after she was back on her feet.
Less than an hour later, Abuela and Lizzie were piled into one of the family’s trucks, and Will was driving them home. Lizzie had a towel wrapped around her as the mud was drying into hard, cracked patches on her skin.
“I’ll have someone bring you your car ok. You don’t have to worry about that.” Will said. “And I hear that mud is great for your skin, right? So think of it as if you get a free spa treatment with your visit!”
Lizzie chuckled. “Yeah, great. I’m sure my butt looks ten years younger.”
Will swallowed hard, trying not to think of Lizzie’s butt. “My parents really should get the whole front way paved. It’s always an issue when it rains. But they swear it’s not a big deal.”
“Oh, isn’t that where you live, too?”
“At the estate?! No! I have a room there, and I grew up there. But I have an apartment in Brickell. This is just like holidays and long weekends, you know?”
Lizzie nodded, but she didn’t know what living alone was like. She had always lived with family. “Brickell’s nice,” Lizzie added, and couldn’t help but add, “and you live alone?”
“Yeah, in my fortress of solitude. But I have thought about changing that.” Will shot Lizzie a look that made something turn in her stomach.
“Oh?”
“I was thinking maybe a fish?”
Lizzie’s stomach flipped. Was he flirting? Or just being funny? She couldn’t tell anymore.
“If you need someone to make you acafe, I can make myself available.” Abuela joked from the back seat.
Lizzie grinned, thankful to her for cutting the tension.
They pulled into Lizzie’s house, and Abuela insisted that Will come inside for acoladabefore heading back. They walked into the kitchen, Will taking a seat at the counter, and Lizzie about to excuse herself to shower and change when Lidia burst in, eyes red-rimmed and looking like she barely slept.
“Lizzieeeeee…” she wailed, throwing herself into her sister’s arms. “Where have you been?!”
