“But I’ll be back to visit,” he said. “I promise, I’ll come see you when I do.”
“I’d like that,” she said with a wan smile.
He twined his fingers with Vero’s as he watched his mother go. Norma wiped her eyes. Gloria’s chest rose and fell with a stuttering breath.
Vero put a hand on Javi’s shoulder, and he turned on his crutches to face her.
“Are we okay?” he asked her. “After all that bullshit with Sophiaand Theo? And that mess with my mother? Can we put it all behind us and stop looking back? From now on, I just want to move forward.”
She looped her arms around his neck. “We’re grown-ass adults. I suppose we can start acting like it.”
A twinkle lit up his eyes. “If we’re going to start behaving like grown-ups, Mrs. Romero, we should probably discuss our living arrangements.”
She frowned up at him. “Who said anything about me taking your last name?”
He smirked. “You didn’t correct my mother when she said we were married. The idea must be growing on you.”
“Maybe you need to shut that mouth before I give you a reason to.” She arched up on her toes to kiss him.
He pulled back before she could, his expression earnest. “I’m serious, V. I know you’re not ready to tie the knot for real. And I’d never push you to change your name or wear that cheesy plastic ring I gave you. You deserve better than that. But I need you to understand something. You can break my heart—hell, you could break every bone in my body, Vero—but until the day you put me in a grave, there will never be anyone else for me but you. The three years I spent without you nearly killed me. And the last three weeks without you only made me more certain that I never want to be away from you again. I want you to move in with me.”
Vero cast a guilty glance at me. The thought of Vero coming home with me only to pack her bags and move out was almost more than I could bear. But it was obvious Vero’s future was with Javi, and we didn’t have to live under the same roof to be a family. Vero and I would always be there for each other, no matter how far we had to travel—or how many crimes we had to commit.
I gave her an encouraging smile.
“If I agree to think about it, will you finally close your mouth?” she asked him with a flirty grin.
“Gladly.” He leaned forward on his crutches and pressed his lips to hers.
While Javi and Vero were busy shutting each other up, I gave Norma and Gloria each a hug. “Thank you for letting me stay with you,” I told them.
“Thankyou, for all you did to help my daughter,” Norma said, dabbing at her eyes. “She’s lucky to have found such a wonderful friend. We’re both very grateful she has you.”
Gloria’s eyes were still a little shiny, too. “Take care of each other. And come back to visit us.”
“Bring the children next time,” Norma insisted. “I want to meet Delia and Zach.”
“Your boyfriend, too,” Gloria added with a wink. She leaned close to my ear and whispered, “I voted for the briefs.”
A laugh burst out of me. It was definitely time to go home.
Vero and I carried the last of her suitcases from the house and loaded them into my minivan. I prayed they would all fit as I slammed the hatch closed. Vero dusted off her hands. She leaned back against the bumper beside me.
“I don’t remember bringing you this many clothes,” I said, taking a moment to catch my breath.
“Essential errands,” she explained. “I did a little shopping while I was on house arrest.”
“A little? You filled three new suitcases.”
“I figured if you ever wrote a book about my life and Sylvia sold it to Hollywood, my mother could sell my wardrobe on eBay after I got famous in prison. I needed enough designer items to sustain her for a while.”
“How noble of you.”
“What’s gotten into you? You’re a little grumpy for someonewho narrowly avoided getting stuck in a prison cell with me. Aren’t you excited to see Nick and the kids?”
“I guess I’m just a little anxious about going home.” I felt guilty saying it out loud. I’d been gone for more than a week, and I did miss them… terribly. But I had this niggling worry that something was wrong. “Nick said there’s something he wants to talk to me about when I get home.”
“So?”
