Valaquez Bride

by Donna Vitek

  At the mention of his name, the rotund man beside Juliet opened his eyes, lifted his chin off his collarbone, and fought back a sleepy yawn. His warm brown eyes laughed understandingly at Benny but it was Juliet at whom he smiled. "You say something to me, señorita?"

  "No, not to you. About you," Juliet explained. "I was telling Benny that he should follow your example and relax. You don't seem unduly worried about your wife."

  "He had a few stiff drinks before he got here, I bet," Benny interceded. "He wouldn't be acting so calm if he hadn't."

  The older man laughed. "Is not drink that has made me calm, señor. Is the experience I have. For Rosa and me, this will be baby numero cinco."

  "Five! You mean you've been through this hell four times before?" Benny exclaimed, horrified. "How have you lived through it? Man, if I have my way, this will be our first and last baby. I couldn't stand the guilt of getting Holly pregnant again. It makes me sick to think about the pain she's having to endure right now."

  Señor Perez shook his head admonishingly, while lifting his shoulders in a fatalistic shrug. "Women, they have the babies, señor. Men can-not do it. Is meant to be," he philosophized. "You have no need to feel the guilt."

  "Well, I don't happen to see it that way," Benny shot back, tension making him uncharacteristically grumpy. "This is my baby too, but Holly has to do all the suffering."

  "Benny, don't snap at the señor just because you're a nervous wreck," Juliet said gently, catching her friend's hand as he paced by her. "Sit down a minute. We'll talk." When he reluctantly acquiesced and slumped down beside her on the orange vinyl sofa, she released his hand and smiled compassionately. "Señor Perez is right, you shouldn't be feeling guilty. Holly wanted to have a baby right away so I don't know what you're blaming yourself for."

  "Oh, this whole pregnancy's been so miserable for her. First she was sick in the mornings, then she had to stay in the hospital bed so many weeks and now, to top the whole mess off, she's having to go through labor pains."

  "That's usually the way pregnancies end," Juliet reminded him wryly, but her slight smile faded when it wasn't returned. Her tone grew more serious. "Look, I know Holly wouldn't want you to worry like this. You're wearing yourself out for no good reason. Isn't that right, Señor Perez?"

  "Oh, si," the older man replied with a wise smile. "Is better to save your strength for when the baby goes home and cries all the nights."

  "Cries all night! Why should babies cry all night? Are they always sick?"

  "Babies, they cry," the señor philosophized again. "Feed them. They stop for a while but soon they cry again. Is the way they are. You cannot change it."

  "Yeah, yeah, is meant to be," Benny mumbled, then jumped up to resume pacing again.

  The next two hours passed slowly and Benny's unceasing movement began to make Juliet nearly as nervous as he was. Señor Perez's vigil was ended when a nurse came to tell him his wife had just had a healthy nine pound boy, his third son. After accepting Juliet's congratulations, he left the waiting room with a beaming smile on his way to call relatives to tell them the news.

  As he disappeared into a phone booth down the hall, Benny turned to Juliet, horror widening his eyes. "Nine pounds! Do you think something's wrong with it? Isn't that awfully small?"

  "Lord, no. A nine pound baby is fairly large," Juliet told him laughingly. "I think most babies weigh less than that, about seven or eight pounds."

  "Oh, God, then what if our baby's nine pounds?" Benny groaned. "That's too big. Holly's such a little girl. She can't have a nine pound baby!"

  "Oh, will you be quiet," Juliet pleaded. "Stop looking for trouble everywhere. First nine pounds was too small; now it's too big. You've got to calm down, Benny. This will all be over soon and everything will be just fine. Someday, you'll look back at tonight and laugh at how nervous you were."

  "Huh, I doubt that," he snorted as he stared glumly out the window. "I'm not even sure I'll survive tonight so it won't be possible to look back on it."

  Juliet didn't answer. Nothing she said helped anyway. For the next half hour, she idled away the time by rearranging the contents of her purse, then making neat stacks of all the magazines in the waiting room. By the time she finished, Benny was reduced to muttering to himself as he continued walking back and forth across the room. Taking pity on him, she tried to initiate another conversation.

  "Uncle Will said to tell you he certainly appreciates you staying at the house. It's a relief to him not to have to worry about break-ins."

  Benny halted mid-stride. "How's he doing anyway? Leg mending all right?"

  "Not fast enough for Uncle Will," Juliet answered, smiling affectionately. "He's very eager to get that cast off, mainly because he is about ready to murder that tyrannical nurse of his. He can't stand her."

  Benny frowned. "Maybe I should be looking for a place for us to move if you think you and your uncle will be going back to his house soon. With the baby, Holly and I will need something bigger than a hotel room, maybe a little apartment. I just hope I can find something cheap."

  "You don't need to do that," Juliet insisted. "The doctor doesn't plan to remove Uncle Will's cast for several more weeks. So you and Holly will have the house to yourselves for a while and even after we move back, you won't need to leave. We'd both be happy to have you stay on."

  "Nope. We'll move out when you two come back. We wouldn't want to get in the way. I just hope I'll be able to find us a place inexpensive enough to allow us to save some money for our airfares back to the States."

  "You still plan to go back then?" Juliet asked, suppressing a sad little sigh when he nodded. "I was sort of hoping you'd change your mind. I'm really going to miss you both."

  "We have to go though; it's the only way for us to have a stable life." Benny smiled teasingly. "Besides, you won't have much time to miss us. Raul Valaquez will provide you with plenty of excitement, I'm sure."

  Juliet tried to smile in response, but couldn't quite succeed. "I doubt I'll even see Raul very much after Uncle Will and I leave the casa. So I guess I'll just be at loose ends until I can get back into college for the second semester."

  "From what Holly told me about you and Raul, maybe you shouldn't be so sure you won't be seeing him," Benny suggested. "He might…"

  "Señor Talmadge," a nurse from the doorway interrupted. And when she beckoned to him, he simply stared at Juliet rather sillily.

  "Well, go on," she urged, waving him forward and following after, excitement rising in her. As Benny stopped before the nurse, gesturing nervously, she gave him a broad smile.

  "You have a daughter, señor," she announced, her English much better than Señor Perez's had been. "The baby is little but that should be no trouble. She seems perfectly healthy."

  "And my wife?" Benny whispered urgently. "Is she all right?"

  "The little señora is perfect too," the nurse assured him. "She is tired now but there was no trouble with the delivery."

  As Benny swayed slightly, Juliet feared he might actually faint. After breathing a deep sigh of relief, however, he grabbed the nurse's hand and shook it so enthusiastically that the poor woman flexed it gingerly when he finally released it.

  "I will return in a few minutes to take you to see the baby," the nurse told him as she turned to leave. "But it will be about an hour before your wife is returned to her room. Then, you may visit her also."

  Nodding, Benny spun around and enveloped Juliet in a nearly suffocating bear hug. "Holly's fine; the baby's fine; they're both fine! Isn't it fantastic?"

  "It's wonderful, Benny," Juliet said raspingly, striving to catch her breath again. "Congratulations, papa."

  "Papa. Me," he whispered incredulously. "I can hardly believe it."

  He repeated those words innumerable times during the next several minutes but when the nurse returned to lead them down the corridor to peer through the glass at the nursery, he suddenly became speechless. Yet when a bassinet was pushed up to the window, he gazed down a
t the flannel-bundled baby with awe.

  "Gosh, she's tiny, isn't she. But look how beautiful she is. Don't you think she's beautiful?"

  "Very beautiful," Juliet agreed though she really couldn't tell. Obviously incensed, the baby was howling, her small red face contorted so much that her eyes were squeezed shut and her mouth was wide open. But Juliet was certain that in a more pacified frame of mind, Benny and Holly's daughter would be beautiful.

  "She has thick black hair, like Holly's. See?" Benny commented happily, then muttered with disappointment when a nurse inside the nursery picked up the baby to pat her bottom comfortingly. Then she carried her away to sit down with her in a rocking chair in the far corner.

  "You'll get to see her again," Juliet assured him as they walked back to the waiting room. And when he immediately collapsed onto the orange sofa, she smiled sympathetically. "Why don't you stretch out and try to take a nap until you can see Holly? I think I'll leave now. You don't need me anymore; you'll want to see her alone. Tell her I'll visit tomorrow."

  "You're not driving all the way back to the casa now, are you? You shouldn't drive that far alone, Juliet. It's nearly four o'clock."

  "Well, maybe it would be wiser for me to just go to Uncle Will's house," Juliet conceded. "I told him I'd probably be at the hospital all night so he won't be worried about me. And it would be nice to get home in five minutes and fall right into bed. I'm tired."

  "I don't know what I would have done without you," Benny said earnestly. "Gone absolutely batty, I guess. Thanks for staying with me and trying to calm all my fears. I suppose I acted pretty silly."

  "Maniacal," Juliet teased. "But very, very normal for first-time fathers, I suspect. And you don't have to thank me for staying. I wouldn't have missed this event for anything."

  "You're sure you'll be all right at the house alone."

  "I'm a big girl, Benny, and it'll be morning in a couple hours anyway. I'll be fine. But I do need the key I gave you. I'll leave it by the trunk of the potted ornamental yew tree by the door so you can get in later without waking me." As he handed her the key and yawned behind one hand, she added, "Now you take a nap. And for heaven's sake, comb your hair before you see Holly. She'll think you've been hit by a truck if she sees you the way you look right now."

  "Yes, mommy," he quipped. "I'll take my nap and comb my hair like a good boy."

  Juliet wrinkled her nose at him but his eyes were already fluttering shut so she tiptoed from the waiting room.

  During the five minute drive to her uncle's house, Juliet's own eyelids began to droop. Benny's nervousness had been contagious and now that the excitement was over, she felt drained and more than ready for a few hours sleep. After parking the Esprit by the curb, she hurried to the front door, anxious to get inside. The dark moonless night was too eerily silent for her peace of mind. She turned the key in the lock, slipped into the hall, and firmly closed the door behind her, as she switched on the light. The long vigil at the hospital had made her a bit hungry so she went to the kitchen to slice off a morsel of sharp but smooth Manchego cheese. Tiredly nibbling it, she walked back through the hall and started up the stairs.

  A sudden soft tapping on the front door halted her progress immediately. Her heart jerked against her breastbone and the last bite of cheese, which she had just swallowed skidded to a standstill somewhere in the vicinity of mid-throat. She swallowed repeatedly until at last the cheese continued its downward journey but her heart was still pounding rapidly as she stood immobile on the stairs, wondering if she had merely imagined she heard the tapping.

  She hadn't. It came again, slightly louder this time. Pressing her fist between her breasts, she tiptoed down the stairs, knowing it wouldn't be Benny knocking. She had left the key where she had promised and, besides, he couldn't have seen Holly and left the hospital already. Moistening dry lips with the tip of her tongue, she moved toward the door and as she passed a side table she impulsively picked up a brass candle holder for use as a possible weapon. By the door, she took several deep voice-steadying breaths before softly calling, "Who is it?"

  "It's Raul," his deep voice came back. "Let me in, Juliet."

  Her fingers shook as she fumbled with the lock but she jerked open the door eagerly. As he entered the brightly lighted hall, she fought the desire to fly into his arms but it was good to see him. Until yesterday, he had been in Madrid for nearly a week and for several days before that he had kept himself so busy in his office at the casa that she had rarely seen him. Though she didn't mean to stare at him, she couldn't drag her gaze away. Dressed in casual khaki trousers and a dark green rugby styled shirt, he was so overwhelmingly masculine that she suddenly felt safer merely because he was in the house with her.

  But why was he here? she wondered, wrinkling her forehead questioningly. There was a certain drowsy look in his eyes that made her suspect he had just risen out of bed. But whose bed? Jimena Ruiz's? That certainly made sense because to leave Jimena's hotel to go home, he had to pass this house. Perhaps he had seen the Esprit and stopped to discover why she was here. The thought that he had probably spent most of the night with Jimena was rather nauseating, but needing to know the truth Juliet asked evasively, "How did you know I was here?"

  "Benny told me."

  "Benny? But how…"

  "Will was worried about you so Rosita called the hospital about an hour ago and was told you must not be there because no one could find you in the waiting room."

  "That must have been when Benny and I were down by the nursery."

  "Probably. But Will had no way of knowing that so he got a little upset. He didn't like the idea of you driving back to the casa so late so he asked me to come look for you. When I didn't meet you on the road, I went to the hospital and Benny told me you had come here."

  "Oh. Well, I'm sorry Uncle Will dragged you out of bed unnecessarily," Juliet murmured, "I did tell him I might not be home all night. He shouldn't have been worried. I wish he hadn't bothered you."

  Raul tossed up one hand in a dismissive gesture. "It was no bother. When Rosita told me she couldn't reach you at the hospital, I was worried too."

  "Were you?" Juliet breathed, her heart flip-flopping in response to the curiously strained quality she imagined she had detected in his deep voice. "Really, Raul?"

  "So, Holly had her baby," he remarked, ignoring her question completely. "Was it a boy or girl? I didn't ask Benny."

  "A girl with dark thick hair just like Holly's," Juliet told him enthusiastically. "You should see her, Raul. She's the tiniest thing."

  Dark green eyes swept over her as he smiled indulgently. "You sound very impressed. Was she that pretty?"

  Juliet grimaced comically. "Well, I'm sure she's pretty when she isn't crying but when I saw her tonight, she looked rather like a gnome, to tell the truth. But don't you dare tell Benny I said that. He thought she was the most magnificent child ever born, of course."

  "Of course," Raul agreed wryly.

  When he said nothing more and merely stood gazing at her intently, the drowsy look in his eyes became increasingly more disconcerting. Finally, Juliet gestured hesitantly. "I suppose I should call Uncle Will and tell him I'm fine."

  "I suppose you should. And tell him that I'll stay here with you until morning so he has nothing to worry about."

  His proposal that they spend the rest of the night together alone in the house was stated calmly and matter-of-factly but the idea made Juliet tremble slightly nevertheless. Considering the passion that flared between them at times, she wasn't certain he or she, herself, could resist the temptation that might arise in such a situation. She shook her head. "You don't have to stay. I mean, it's kind of you to offer but it really isn't necessary. As soon as Benny has seen Holly, he'll come home so I won't be alone."

  Raul stepped toward her, his expression hardening with impatience. "You don't really think I'd let you stay here alone with Benny, do you?" he muttered. "If you do, you're badly mistaken."

  "What's the d
ifference in my staying here alone with him and staying here alone with you?" Juliet asked rather sharply, put on the defensive by his commanding tone. "I can't see there's any difference whatsoever."

  "There's a big difference," he answered calmly. "He's a married man and I'm not. And I don't think Holly would be happy to hear the two of you had spent the night together."

  Juliet tensed, amber eyes flashing. "What's that supposed to mean? Are you insinuating again that Benny and I…"

  "I'm not insinuating anything," Raul interrupted curtly. "I'm merely stating a fact: Benny is a married man and here in Granada, it's not socially acceptable for a single girl to spend the night with a man who's married."

  "But it's all right for a single girl and single man to spend the night together," she retorted. "Is that what you're saying?"

  "Let's just say it's a more acceptable arrangement," he replied with infuriating aloofness. "So I'm staying and that's that. Now, I suggest we stop this useless arguing and try to get some sleep. So," he stared pointedly at the telephone. "Are you going to call Will or shall I do it myself?"

  "I'll do it," Juliet muttered indignantly, sweeping past him to snatch up the receiver. It was Rosita she ultimately talked to, and although the housekeeper had to hear all about Holly and the baby, the call was relatively brief. After replacing the receiver, Juliet turned warily to face Raul again.

  He was massaging the back of his neck with one lean hand, his dark face expressionless. "I suggest we go to bed," he said, his voice appealingly low and husky. But when her eyes widened, his took on an icy glint and he added sarcastically, "In separate rooms, of course, if you'd be so kind as to show me to one."

  Tossing up her chin, she marched past him and preceded him up the stairs, down the hall one door past her own room. "This is Uncle Will's room," she told Raul. "I hope you'll be comfortable."