When the house was full that way, Marimar wondered if it could have been like this always. But that was the way of missing people. You wished for them, you longed for them, you forgot them. Then you wished for them again.
“Do you think they’re really here?” Rey asked, as he set the table. There was paint on his cheek. Sometimes Marimar wondered if there was more paint on her cousin than on actual canvas, but he was the expert.
“I don’t know. I don’t think it matters.” She touched the orchid petals at her throat. She didn’t know the species, but he was still making her way through the pictures of the four thousand types of orchids that grew in Ecuador. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever find it, if the bloom was made especially for her. The petals were pitch black rimmed in red, with a shimmering white heart. Tiny green thorns sprouted along the bones of her clavicles.
“¡A comer!” Tía Silvia shouted from the halls.
The dining table Enrique and Caleb Jr. had built was long enough for all the Montoyas, past, present, and future. A crackling pernil was placed at the center, bowls of rice, lentils, red onion, and tomato salsa. Golden coins of plantains and a bowl of French fries for Rhiannon.
Marimar looked across the table at Orquídea and watched her grandmother hold court. She knew it wouldn’t always be like this. She knew they would fight and leave and return again. She knew they would always be a little bit afraid of the dark and silence and loneliness, but the valley adapted with them.
Sometimes Marimar needed to leave, too. She tested the limits of her father’s gift. She thought of the things she was made of—flesh and bone, thorns and salt, bruises and promises, the sigh of the universe.
Marimar Montoya flew into the unknown, but she always, always knew how to find her way back.
35
THEN
Orquídea Divina stepped inside. She walked into every room, down every hall. Then, she found her way back to the living room. She took a seat in front of the fireplace. She wished for a spark, an ember, and it flew from her palm and into the dry logs. She’d need more. Music, laughter, safety. But for now, on her first day in Four Rivers, she toed off the shoes from her aching feet. She basked in that feeling, that certainty that this was the perfect place to put down her roots.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book has lived in my mind since I wrote a short story called “Divine Are the Stars” for the anthology Toil & Trouble, which celebrated stories about women and witchcraft. Marimar and her grandmother have remained the same people—wayward, magical, and searching for a place to put down their roots, like so many families all around the world. When I had the opportunity to turn the magical valley of Four Rivers into a novel, it became the greatest challenge of my career thus far. For that, there are several people I want to thank.
Adrienne Rosado, who represented the project at the time. Thank you for being one of Marimar’s first champions.
Johanna Castillo, who took a chance on my strange little book about an incredible family that shares roots in our beloved city of Guayaquil, Ecuador.
My Ecuadorian tribe, forever and always. Parts of this book are set in La Atarazana, where the story of our family began. The same river. The same road that led us there. Here’s to my grandmother, Alejandrina Guerrero, who is the pillar of our family. Caco and Tío Robert for always supporting me and giving me a place to write. Liliana and Joe Vescuso. My beautiful cousins Adriana, Ginelle, Adrian, Alan, Denise, Steven, Gastóncito. Jeannet and Danilo Medina, Román Medina, Milton Medina, Jacqueline and Mark Stern.
My brother Danny Córdova, who might be younger than I am, but his music talent and dreams always keep inspiring me.
I thank my father, Francisco Javier Córdova, his wife Jenny Coronel Córdova. My brothers and sisters of the Córdova Legion: Paola, Angelita, Francisco, Anabel, Jamil, Joselyn, Enoch, Leonel.
Melanie Iglesias Pérez, for taking over this project and being incredibly patient as the book morphed into several different iterations. Thank you for understanding these characters and what I was trying to do at the core. You made each version clearer, better. To the rest of the wonderful Atria team at Simon & Schuster, especially Libby McGuire, Gena Lanzi, Maudee Genao, and Hercilia Mendizabal.
Erick Davila for the exquisite cover art that exceeded my wildest dreams.
My agent, Suzie Townsend, and the New Leaf Literary team. I know Orquídea is in the best hands.
My incredible friends have watched my often-chaotic process. Sarah Younger and Natalie Horbachevsky. Dhonielle Clayton, for always giving me the kick in the ass I deserve when I doubt myself, and Victoria Schwab for putting up with my writerly torment. To Natalie C. Parker for being one of the first people to ever read this book and give me a different perspective about my characters. To Miriam Weinberg for seeing who the true villain in the story was. To Alys Arden for witch stories and New Orleans.
Finally, to the pearl of the pacific, and the city that will always be home to myself and Orquídea Divina—Guayaquil de mis ensueños.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Zoraida Córdova is the acclaimed author of more than a dozen novels and short stories, including the Brooklyn Brujas series and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge: A Crash of Fate. In addition to writing novels, she serves on the board of We Need Diverse Books, is the coeditor of the bestselling anthology Vampires Never Get Old, and cohosts the writing podcast Deadline City. She writes romance novels as Zoey Castile. Zoraida was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and calls New York City home. When she’s not working, she’s roaming the world in search of magical stories. For more information, visit her at zoraidacordova.com.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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Interior design by Dana Sloan
Jacket design by Kelli McAdams
Jacket illustration by Erick Dávila
Illustration on pages viii–ix by Jason Snyder
Author photo © Melanie Barbosa
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.
ISBN 978-1-9821-0254-8
ISBN 978-1-9821-0256-2 (ebook)
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The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina Page 30
