I tappedaccept callthen snapped at Rain, “You will be telling me how you hooked into my phone, Mr. Rainmaker.”
“A magician should never reveal his—”
“I will find out. It may take an hour long torture session, but I will.”
Silence on the other end, then Rain spoke, “I wouldn’t usually be afraid of a female saying that. However…”
I chuckled. “You are amusing, but I will need you to block my phone from anyone else doing this, got it?”
“Si, Senorita. I called to let you know we will be waiting by your door.”
“Ok. Give us a minute.” I ended the call.
Carlos came out of the bathroom and looked around. “Are they ready?”
I nodded and did what he had just done. I took a look around the room to be sure we didn’t forget anything. Then I pulled a hundred dollar bill from my pocket and set it on the motel notepad that I had scribbled–Muchas Gracias–on.
Finally, I grabbed the handle of my suitcase, rolling it toward the door.
Carlos cocked his head at me. “You are super generous to service people, Selena.” He shrugged. “I think it is muy chulo but I don’t think I’ve seen anyone tip so well before.”
I looked up at him. “For most of her life, my Abuela had been a housekeeper at a tourist hotel back in Mexico. Some of my relatives on my mother’s side are food servers and cooks. Often, tips bought dinner for their families every night. I suppose I will never forget living day to day, like a lot of our people do.”
He reached over and took my hand in his, raising it to kiss my palm. “You said you lived in darkness. But I believe that you were the light in that darkness.”
His words hit me in the chest, where my heart was located. No one had ever said such things to me before. I blinked my eyes at him.
With that dazzling smile of his, Carlos released my hand then took my suitcase handle and added, “And it will be my pleasure to serve you for the rest of my life.” He turned and wheeled our luggage to the door.
Ok…I admit it. This man kept surprising me. He made me feel so many things. He invoked a feeling of being home, being safe and loved. He made me want to give him hisnormal-cotton-candylife. I vowed to myself that someday, I would make that happen.
Chapter Twenty:Bad Seeds
Carlos
The next day…
We landed in Mexico City early in the morning.
The wait at the airport in San Diego hadn’t been long. We all got on the plane within an hour. First class was as nice as we hoped. But for the ticket price, it had better be nice. Selena and I did go to sleep in comfort. The seats were like those recliner lazy boy chairs.
We woke up in less than four hours and had a meal. For plane food, it wastop notch, as Henry put.
Henry and Rain did a 4 hour shift each to watch over us. I slept better knowing this but I highly doubted that anyone on this flight would harm us. In our line of work, you always had to be careful though.
We landed and then after deboarding, Rain went to get the rental SUV.
He pulled up out front and shook his head as he had to get out and open the doors himself.
We could all see that he missed Spartacus.
“Spoiled aren’t you, darling?” Henry quipped.
“Da, sweet Doodlebug. I miss Spartacus for sure.”
“Doodle…” Henry halted. “Where on earth did you learn that word?”
“It’s a Southern thing,” I cut in.
