Chapter Nineteen
CACHI
I was sitting at the dinner table eating some delicious flan my auntie had made while Mamá poured coffee for us.
Time seemed to drag on and without a word from Rex almost three months after he’d sent me away, I felt myself getting more and more depressed. The flowers I’d planted had long ago grown into plants with small buds and the vegetable garden I’d sprouted from seeds, was growing like a weed. Soon, we’d be able to pick juicy, red tomatoes which I’d grown from seedlings to huge plants in cages. But as much as I loved tending the garden just to have something to do to keep my mind off the big Texan, I was still going crazy. Bouncing off four walls was never good.
I looked up and smiled at Mamá as she set down two cups of coffee and slid into the chair across from me.
“Gracias, Mamá.”
She smiled sadly, reaching across the table. I met her halfway, taking her hand. “Cachi, you need to get job.” She squeezed my hand to punctuate the sentence.
I blinked. “What?”
“You need job.” She abruptly got up and left the room, coming back half a minute later. In her hand was the local throwaway newspaper one of the FBI guys had picked up from the market whenever they went shopping for us. She slid back into her chair and picked up her coffee as she set down the paper. It was opened to the neighborhood classifieds, andseveral were circled. “See? I find for you.” She slid it across the table, and I picked it up.
I stared at it for a few seconds and then looked up at her. “You think I need job?”
She nodded vigorously. “Si, mijo. You need a job.” She waved at the paper in my hands. “You pick or I pick for you.”
“I no think they’ll let me do that,” I said.
“Maybe is okay.”
I stared at her determined expression for a few seconds and then finally looked back down at the paper. She’d circled several want ads and I read them over. Washing dishes sounded horrible, working at a drug store as a clerk sounded better, but when I spotted a job listed as lot attendant for Elegant Gardens Nursery, I got a sudden rush. I’d bought most of my seedlings from them online. It looked like a sprawling nursery located only five minutes from my house by bus. I tapped my finger on the page as I looked up. “Elegant Gardens.”
She grinned. “Si, I think you like that one.”
I lifted my coffee cup and toasted her. “I call tomorrow. Just in case.”
“Good.” She waved at my dessert. “Eat your flan.”
I dug into the dessert, wondering if getting a job was going to be okay with the FBI. They hadn’t given me a new name, so applying with my real name might be tricky. On top of that, we’d been given specific instructions not to leave the house for any reason, which is why the FBI guys brought us groceries, or things from the drugstore whenever they stopped by. “Maybe I call Captain Sorensen, Mamá.”
She furrowed her brow. “Porque?”
“Mi nombre.”
“Ah,” she said, eyebrows elevated. “Si, you call and ask. Then, you go get job.”
I nodded. “Okay, Mamá.”
I went to bed thinking about trying to get a new start in the morning…one that didn’t include having Rex in my life. But it didn’t stop me from dreaming about the big, beautiful man, and the single most passionate afternoon of my life.
“Captain Sorensen? It’s Cachi. I have a question,” I said when the captain answered the phone in the morning.
“Hi, Cachi. It’s nice to hear from you. Is everything okay?”
“Si…yes, Captain. There is no trouble. I just have question about a job.”
“A job? What job?”
“My mamá thinks I need job and I think so too. I go crazy here, and Mamá…she see that. I can get job, no?”
There was a long pause before he cleared his throat. “Well, Cachi, you know people may still be looking for you and your family. Getting a job using your name is dangerous.” There was another long pause.
“I really want one,” I begged.
