“Yep. Let me just finish cleaning up in here.”
* * *
THE DRIVE FROM downtown Charleston to the rural church halfway to Beaufort took a solid forty-five minutes. Which meant she had to wake up, on purpose, before nine on a Sunday morning. Lena sighed as she wiggled into a suitable church dress. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see her family. Well, that wasn’t quite true. The unspoken question was always hanging in the air. How had Sadie snagged a husband before her?
Not that anyone would ever actually say it out loud. Except Estrella. She’d probably do it. Estrella had been a giant bag of disapproval since Lito, Lena’s grandfather, died. For what, Lena wasn’t sure but only the deeply ingrained respect for her elders kept her from pointing out to her aunt that it had been her hard work that lifted the family out of poverty. Estrella would still be in that trailer park if not for her. Not that she begrudged helping her family, but a little gratitude might be nice.
Pulling into the gravel parking lot beside the tidy, small white church relaxed something inside her. Maybe it was the way the ancient oak trees surrounded the church like sentinels. Or the quiet of the countryside. Perhaps she should go to confession. She’d been venial sinning up a storm lately. She checked her lipstick in the rearview mirror before climbing out of her BMW. A thin thread of suspicion wound around her peacefulness when she saw her mother and Aunt Estrella waiting on the porch steps.
“Mamacita,” she said as she approached and kissed her mother on both cheeks, before pulling her into a hug.
“Lena,” her mother said as she wrapped strong arms around her. “It’s been too long.”
“Lo siento. It’s just work has been crazy busy.”
Estrella snorted rudely. “You work too much.”
Lena kept the fire out of her eyes and forced her lips up in a small smile. “I’m the boss, Tia. If I don’t do the work, it doesn’t get done.”
Ana hooked her arm through Lena’s. “Enough of all that. Today is for family.”
The familiar rituals of the service soothed away Lena’s irritation. It was true she didn’t go to church often, but she found comfort in the tradition of it. The litany and the responses that never changed. The rising and kneeling. Making the cross. She found herself relaxing for what felt like the first time in forever.
Until mass was over. As the crowd milled around in the aisles on the way out, Lena felt a strong hand grip her elbow. Estrella wasn’t going to let go anytime soon. “Maria! It’s so good to see you.”
Estrella chirped out the greeting while dragging Lena with her toward the woman. And, aw crap. A guy. It’s a setup. This whole thing is a setup. Every bit of relaxation she’d felt slipped away.
“Is this your son? Qué guapo.”
Only the fact that they were in a church kept Lena from rolling her eyes. She jerked her elbow away from the vise grip.
“And this must be your niece I hear so much about. Magdalena, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Smiling and nodding, she shook the woman’s hand. “A pleasure to meet you also.” She looked at the guy. He looked as blindsided as she felt. Meddling aunties. Where would we be without them? She extended a hand to him. “Lena Reyes.”
“Eduardo Jiminez.”
Ana joined them and put an arm around Lena’s waist. “Maria, please, you and Eddie must come to the house for dinner with us.”
The fake smile melted from Lena’s lips as she gave her mother some epic side-eye. Which Ana pretended she didn’t see.
Maria put a hand on Estrella’s shoulder. “That is so kind of you. As I recall, there isn’t a chef in any fancy restaurant downtown who can cook as well as the three of you. Eduardo? We’d be delighted to join you, right?”
Lena didn’t miss the slight change in tone of voice on the word right. She was definitely in on this. Eduardo’s cheeks darkened and his shoulders slumped. “Of course, Mamacita.”
* * *
DINNER WAS AN awkward hour of competitive bragging by Maria and Estrella. The only comfort she had was that Eduardo looked as horrifyingly embarrassed as she felt. Then, as if prearranged, everyone disappeared and left the two of them alone.
“So, I guess this is the part where we fall madly in love at first sight, get married tomorrow and start having grandbabies immediately?” Lena asked.
“I’m so sorry. I had no idea they’d planned this.”
Lena dismissed his apology with a shrug and a wave. “I understand. I had no idea either. Don’t worry about it.”
“But, I’m kind of glad they did,” he said.
Lena’s stomach dropped. No, no. Go back to being embarrassed so we can both run like hell. She looked him over. Dark complexion. Black glasses that gave him a good-looking-nerd vibe to match his job as a software engineer. Thinner than she liked. “Oh?” she asked through numb lips.
“You’re very pretty.” His cheeks darkened with the words.
Blushing? You’ve got to be kidding me. Hoping the smile on her lips didn’t look as fake as it felt, she rose. “Thank you. It was nice to meet you. I have to go now.”
Before he could say anything more, she fled to the kitchen. She shot Estrella a look that should have burned the flesh from her bones. “Do. Not. Ever. Do. That. Again.”
“Lena...” her mother began.
“Lo siento, Mamacita, but I can’t take any more of this. Do you understand? No more.” She left through the back door so she wouldn’t have to face Eduardo again. Footsteps chased her across the porch.
“Magdalena Teresa Reyes!”
Wow. It’d been a long time since her mother three-named her. She turned. Still mad but wilting under her mother’s glare. “I’m sorry, Momma. But that was embarrassing.”
The look in Ana’s eyes softened and she took Lena’s hand. “Lena. We want you to be happy. You’ve worked so long and so hard and you’ve always put the family first but we’re okay now. You’re okay now. It’s safe to slow down a little.”
Tears stung at her eyes. Is that what it was? Is that what was wrong with her? Was she still that same little girl terrified of failure? Of letting her family down? “It’s not that,” she said.
“Then what is it?”
Lena looked away. Across the expanse of lawn to the forest behind the house. Fifty acres. There was a path through the woods that led to a creek where her parents caught fish and sank crab traps. She’d given them this. Built all this. All these things. This house. Her fancy car. The expensive condominium. The Jimmy Choos on her feet.
“I want the magic, Mamacita. I want the romance. The whirlwind. I don’t want to be set up by my meddling aunt.”
“No reason you can’t have both. Give him a chance. He’s a nice guy.”
Lena smiled. She leaned in to hug her mother so she couldn’t see her dubious expression. Nice guys weren’t her type. No. She liked the bad boys but knew they weren’t in it for the long haul. She needed a nice bad boy. Matt rose in her mind’s eye. All long blond hair and that beard. Sort of Viking-ish. Those blue eyes and rakish grin. God, no. Overgrown frat boys were definitely not her type.
“I understand that, Momma. But no more ambushes. It made me feel like a yard-sale item.” She waved her hands in the air and adopted a carnival barker’s voice. “Over here! Fifty percent off the old maid. Come check ’er out.”
Ana