Ross chuckled. “I don’t know why you haven’t already busted him, but I’m glad that it works in our favor.”
She shrugged. “I’m not the news police, and it’s a minor issue so far as the public goes. Besides, my paper isn’t in the business of outing their competition, although I doubt Alton even understands why the Gazette would hesitate to publish dirt on a fellow reporter. He certainly doesn’t care whether or not what he does reflects unfavorably on the rest of our profession, and I doubt his publisher does, either.”
Ross nodded. “I understand, and I thank you for using whatever leverage you have. Can you give me a call as soon as you talk to him?”
“No problem.”
They returned to the gazebo. Lucia was waking and making the sorts of noises guaranteed to embarrass any parent, much to the amusement of Sandra and Tony. Lori excused herself to go and change the baby. Afterward she gave Lucia a bottle and a good burping, then tucked her back into the stroller, content and smelling sweet, before setting off in search of Alton Kessler.
She pushed the stroller toward the parking area, intending to see if she could spot Alton’s luxury sedan. She was halfway there when she spied the Estes family arrayed around a picnic table draped with a cheery, vibrantly striped cloth.
Pilar, her pregnant stomach swollen, rested on a folding chaise longue, her bare feet peeking out from beneath the skirt of her bright, heavily embroidered dress, while her husband, Zach, helped their little almost-adopted-daughter, Adrianna, toss a blue plastic ball at her big brother, Eduardo, who brandished a fat, yellow plastic bat. Eduardo missed, but his grandparents applauded, nevertheless, from a blanket spread on the grass. Pilar laughed, caught sight of Lori and sat up straight, calling out to her.
“Hello, Lori! Come. Come, join us!”
Lori glanced at Ramon, who sat alone at the picnic table, which was spread with all manner of food. His head had jerked up at the sound of her name and he seemed to be drilling her with his black stare through his mirrored shades. Lori caught her breath, stunned by the muscular torso delineated by the close fit of a simple dark blue T-shirt. No wonder he looked so good in a suit, with those broad shoulders and that ripped chest.
Lori smiled, lifted a hand to Pilar in recognition and intended to pretend to have urgent business elsewhere, which she did, in a way. To her surprise, Ramon rose, stepped over the bench seat of the picnic table and calmly strode toward her with an easy, loose-hipped stride that made her gulp.
She thought of the mustard stain hidden beneath her red tank top from an earlier attempt at lunch and cringed inwardly. The man always made her feel grungy and unkempt. Her heartbeat sped up as he drew near. Then, just before he reached her, he removed his sunglasses. Glancing back at his sister, he finally spoke.
“Won’t you join us? Pilar will worry that you’re avoiding her, if you don’t.” His gaze met hers and the next instant he devastated her with a genuine smile. “Please. Otherwise, I might think you’re avoiding me,” he added, black eyes twinkling.
A bark of stunned laughter escaped Lori. His eyes crinkled at the outer corners with shared mirth, and she found herself utterly charmed. Mutely, she nodded and felt the warm glow of his pleasure sweep over her. She was already walking at his side, pushing the stroller, before she even asked herself what it could hurt to join the Estes family for a while. Surely it could only help her cause to show him what a devoted mommy she was. Provided, of course, that she didn’t sit drooling over his good looks like some besotted schoolgirl. Swallowing, she resolved to be unmoved.
“No, no, no,” Rita Estes admonished kindly, dishing another helping of black beans and rice onto Lori’s plate. “Eat! Eat! It is fiesta time.”
Sitting beside Lori on the bench at the table, Ramon chuckled. “For Mami, fiesta means food.”
Since Lori was already forking rice and shredded pork into her mouth, he assumed that she wasn’t too put out by his mother’s habitual need to feed everyone who came into her orbit.
“Mmm, this is so good, Mrs. Estes, and I was so hungry. Thank you.”
Over on the chaise, Pilar had Lucia in her lap, cooing happily while the kids and Zach looked on. Ramon had the strong sense that the Fletcher family was practicing for their own new arrival. Lori kept a watchful eye on the byplay, doing her best to appear unconcerned, though Ramon sensed that she could barely allow Lucia out of her grasp. Did she fear that he might snatch the baby and run with her to Yesenia?
The thought irked him. Clearly, he made her nervous; yet he could not deny that she seemed at ease with his family, chatting with his mother and sister, patiently answering the incessant questions of his niece and nephew, trading quips with his father and observations with his brother-in-law. Earlier she’d helped Adrianna toss the ball to Eduardo, who’d finally made contact with his bat, much to the delight of the adults. With Lucia tucked up against her side, Lori had then walked Pilar to the ladies’ room, one of several trips his pregnant sister had made in the past couple of hours, and upon her return had succumbed graciously to his mother’s attempts to feed her.
Mami refilled Lori’s glass of lemonade, wiped her hands on the dish towel tied around her trim waist and smoothed the lay of her salt-and-pepper bob, the thick bangles at her wrists tinkling merrily. “Salvador,” she called to her husband, who immediately began hauling himself up from the blanket on which he reclined, “chop some ice, eh, from the block in the little cooler.”
“I’ll do it,” Ramon said, waving his father down and reaching for the ice pick.
Rita snatched it up before he could get his hand on it. “Ah, ah, ah.” In Spanish she told him to entertain his “bonita amiga.”
From the widening of her eyes, he concluded that Lori understood at least those two words, but he did not correct his mother by telling her that Lori Sumner was definitely not his “pretty friend.” His mother nattered on, in English, thankfully, about how Ramon worked too hard and his father was used to a certain amount of physical labor at the hardware shop that they owned and operated on Main Street.
Dutifully, Salvador rose to do as his wife requested, and Ramon just as dutifully subsided. Behind him, Lucia suddenly let out a wail. Lori shot to her feet, had the baby in hand and returned to her seat before he even managed to pivot around.
“There, there, sweetheart.” She quieted the child with an expert pat and jiggle.
“Was it something I did?” Pilar inquired worriedly.
“No, of course not. She’s been a little fussy lately, that’s all. Eli says she’s too young to be teething, so we’ve switched her formula, but since she hasn’t run a temperature or exhibited any other symptoms of illness, we’re assuming it’s just a phase she’s going through.” She lifted the baby and brought her nose-to-little-nose. “You’re a growing girl, aren’t you, precious? Before I know it you’ll be running circles around me.”
The baby cooed and got both of her little hands into Lori’s hair. Pilar laughed delightedly, obviously looking forward to just such a scene with her own infant. Lori tucked the baby into the crook of her arm and tickled her belly through the thin cotton of her pink-and-white polka-dotted dress. Lucia squirmed and kicked out with both feet, dislodging a soft white shoe piped with pink ribbon. Ramon bent and quickly swiped it up from the dirt. Rising, he handed it to Lori.
“Thanks.”
Somehow, while the rest of them watched and with only one hand, she managed to get that tiny shoe back onto that constantly moving little foot. Lucia waved her arms and cooed as if in congratulations. Ramon looked away, struck to the heart by the domestic picture.
Lori seemed to be a natural mother, her love for children, Lucia, in particular, painfully obvious. Crouching beside her, he thought of Yesenia, wondering if she was truly capable of giving Lucia the same level of care as Lori. Perhaps Lucia should stay with Lori, after all. It would certainly be best for Lori. But what then of Yesenia? Ramon no longer felt certain that he knew the right