by Reeni Austin
Mama was still asleep when Armando checked on her. He wanted desperately to tell Ramon what was going on, but he could barely make sense of it himself. What is Henry not telling me? he wondered.
But as Armando changed clothes and walked outside to Henry’s truck, he felt a little happier, realizing he would soon see Katie. She would make everything better. The trauma of the last five days. This new worry about Mama’s health. In Katie’s arms, his troubles always melted away. She made him feel like he was capable of anything. All the shit that didn’t make sense wouldn’t matter anymore. They would be together. Somehow.
Henry was wrong—she still wanted him. Armando was absolutely certain of it. Their love was stronger than whatever power her asshole father possessed. Even if Armando had to go through the last five days a million times, that’s what he’d do if it meant making her his bride.
Ten minutes later, Henry’s truck stopped in front of the McCormack’s house. Henry asked, “Want me to go to the door with ya?”
Armando recognized Dwayne’s vehicle in the driveway and assumed he was home. He stared at the front door and said, “Yeah,” knowing Henry always carried a concealed handgun. But hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.
Henry calmly replied, “You got it.”
Then they both opened their doors and headed to the house.
As soon as Armando rang the doorbell, the door opened. He quickly glanced down at himself to make sure he looked presentable for her. God, he missed her. His heart swelled with joyous anticipation, hoping Katie was the one behind that door.
And she was. She stood there in shorts and a tank top. As pretty as ever. But her eyes were red, like she’d been crying. She stared at Armando for at least five seconds before giving him a shy wave and saying, “Hi.”
“Hi.” Armando nervously cleared his throat. “Hi Katie. I’ve missed you. Can we sit down and talk?”
Her head immediately shook. “No.” She choked back tears. “You have to go. I can’t see you again.”
“What?” Armando squinted, trying to look behind her to see if someone was around. “Did your dad threaten you? Did he punish you? Beat you?” He balled up his fists, ready for a fight. “Where is he?”
“No!” Katie held her hand out, as if pushing him away. “We can’t see each other anymore. Just go away.”
“I know your dad’s putting you up to this. Where is he? If he hurt you I’ll fuckin’ kill him.” He took one step toward her.
Lisa, Katie’s mom, sidled up to her and put her arm around her daughter’s waist. “Armando, you need to leave. Katie’s made her choice. It was all her doin’. You kids are too young to know what you want.” She sighed. “Now, I’m real sorry about everything that’s happened to you, but we thought you needed some distance to reflect on things.”
“Distance?” Armando grimaced. “Yeah, San Pedro. That’s five hundred fuckin’ miles of distance. That was to get me to reflect?”
Lisa smirked. “Don’t you use that foul language with me.” She glanced at Henry, then Armando. “You listen to Katie. She’s telling you the truth.” Lisa slowly backed away.
Katie nodded and wiped a tear from her cheek. “It’s true. Please, just leave. I don’t wanna see you anymore. I’m leaving tomorrow to go on a mission with my cousin’s church. I’ll be gone the rest of the summer.” She sniffled. “And I already changed where I’m going to college in the fall. It was your idea to go to the University of Texas. I’m going somewhere else now.”
Armando stared into her eyes, looking for a sign. Something to tell him she was lying for her parents’ sake, like she had for so many months when they kept their relationship a secret.
But there was something different about her. Where there used to be a spark in her eyes, she was cold and distant. But why was she crying?
Armando said, “Katie, this doesn’t make any sense. I love you. And I know you love me. They can’t stop us forever.”
“They didn’t stop us,” Katie said. “I did. It was my choice. I told you. I’m leaving town tomorrow.”
“Where are you going?” he asked. “I’ll come with you.”
“No, Armando.” Katie’s voice softened as she wiped away more tears. “No. It’s really over. We shouldn’t get married so young. I’m sorry for everything you went through. But it’s over.” She paused for a moment, then added, “I don’t think I ever really loved you.”
Armando sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, then looked straight down at his feet. Before anyone could see him cry, he turned around, almost knocking Henry down as he bolted to the truck.
A minute later, Henry was driving them both back to the ranch, waiting for Armando to speak. But the boy was too upset. Instead, he slumped against the door, in so much pain that he fantasized about opening the truck door and sending himself tumbling to the ground where he could cut his head open against the hard ground.
However, his next thought was, with his recent bad luck, he’d probably live through it.
But hell. Nothing could be more painful than losing Katie. It hurt so bad he could barely see straight. The pain he felt when he woke up in the dirt yesterday was nothing compared to the agony in his heart right now. To hear her say she never really loved him...
If she never meant it, she sure was one hell of an actor.
Armando steeled himself, refusing to cry in front of Henry. He asked, “You knew about this all along, didn’t you? That’s why you offered to bring me yourself. You knew what was gonna happen.”
With a slow sigh, Henry said, “I knew you had to hear it straight from her mouth.”
Armando’s voice was soft. “Do you think she really meant it?”
“Sounded like she did, to me.” Henry shook his head. “Look boy, I know what you’re thinkin’. Her daddy must’ve put her up to it. But it don’t matter. It’s over. She’s leavin’ town tomorrow. The best thing you can do is get on with your life. If she comes crawlin’ back in a few months, well...whatever. But it sounds to me like she’s gonna do whatever Daddy wants her to do.”
Tears filled Armando’s eyes but he blinked until they went away.
Henry continued. “And remember what I said. Don’t tell your brothers or your mama about what happened. Let ‘em think you got arrested and I bailed you out. No use gettin’ everyone all worked up about takin’ revenge on Dwayne McCormack. Trust me. He ain’t nothin’ to be scared of. And he can be real useful, sometimes.”
“He could’ve killed me.”
Henry huffed a breath out of the side of his mouth. “Nah. He was just sendin’ you a message. Throwin’ his weight around. He’d never kill nobody.”
Armando sighed. “Whatever.”
For the rest of the trip home, Armando sat with his eyes closed and his palm stuck to his forehead, trying to make sense of it all. Praying for a way to ease his sorrow. Her callous words repeated in his thoughts, hurting him more each time. Nothing in his life made sense anymore. And maybe nothing would ever make sense again.
When Armando got home, he went against Henry’s admonition to keep the past five days under wraps. A furious Ramon received the same speech from Henry, encouraging him to keep it a secret. Victor was dumbfounded to hear Armando’s story, but after a few fruitless days of calling the authorities, the brothers turned their attention to their mother. She confessed to them that she was dying of liver cancer and she had known about it for a while. But by the time she found out, she was beyond treatment. All she wanted was to spend her remaining days surrounded by her precious boys, and that’s what she did.
Chapter 3
Ten Years Later…
“Katie?” Jennifer, a bubbly blond server, snapped her fingers and waved to get Katie’s attention. “You busy? There’s a man at the front who wants to rent the patio.”
“I’ll be there shortly.” Katie was in the kitchen, discussing the evening special with the chef. Her official title was, “Events Coordinator,” at Cortez Inn, a restaurant on the San Antonio Riverwalk. She had worked there for
two years, and with the recent, abrupt departure of the restaurant’s general manager, the employees now looked to her for guidance. Her title and pay had not officially changed—yet—but she was currently the restaurant’s day manager. In addition to her new duties, she always had to attend to customers who wanted to reserve the restaurant for a party.
Jennifer giggled uncomfortably, knowing she was about to give Katie some bad news. “He wants it Friday evening.”
Katie nodded a quick approval to the chef, then turned her attention to Jennifer, her eyes widening. “This Friday evening? Did you tell him we need more notice?”
“Yeah, but he’s here from out of town. I didn’t know what to say.”
Katie started toward the front of the restaurant with Jennifer following along. “Did you get his name?”
“He told me but I forget. It was something Hispanic.” Jennifer let out an unconcerned sigh and veered off to the main dining room. “Oh well. I think he’s sitting at the bar. Good luck.”
Katie rolled her eyes and kept going. It was the middle of the afternoon, the slowest time of the day. At least this customer hadn’t shown up during the middle of the dinner rush.
She arrived at the bar area, seeing only empty chairs. She was just about to get the bartender’s attention when out of the corner of her eye she saw a man hovering nearby, his back to her as he scanned the sparsely populated restaurant. She cleared her throat and turned in his direction. “Sir, may I—”
That’s when he turned around.
Katie’s pulse quickened and she forgot what she was saying. Dear Lord, the resemblance. Those warm brown eyes. She’d never forget those eyes. Victor was away in college when she dated Armando. They had never been formally introduced, but she knew him instantly.
He extended his hand, smiling as he walked up to her. “Hi. I’m—”
“You’re Armando’s brother.” The words slipped past her lips as if they had a mind of their own.
He laughed for a moment, nodding. “Yeah. I hope that’s a good thing. My name’s Victor.”
Katie gulped and reached numbly for his hand to shake it. “Katie. Katie McCormack.”
“Nice to meet you.” Victor met her eyes with a quizzical stare as he let go of her hand. “So, you know my brother well?”
“Oh.” She felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment, aware that she had been gaping at him. He doesn’t even recognize my name? The thought that maybe she wasn’t important enough for Armando to mention to his older brother made her heart sink. “We were...uh...close...in high school. Senior year. You’d moved away by then. I haven’t seen him in years. How’s he doing?”
She nodded along as Victor caught her up on Armando’s life, telling her what she already knew. Armando Barboza was not hard to find online. She knew he had done well for himself as a venture capitalist and he was currently living in Los Angeles. She did an occasional search for his name, finding a picture of him once in a while, attending events or having dinner with various celebrities. But those pictures were nothing like seeing Victor in person. They didn’t look exactly the same, but there was no mistaking they were brothers.
Unlike Ramon. Katie scowled inside as she thought about him. She had seen Ramon in passing a few times since she moved back to the area after college. Maybe it was just the cold silence he always shot her way. Maybe that’s why she didn’t see Armando’s face in Ramon’s on those rare instances. She naturally assumed Ramon would hate her and her family forever.
Victor, on the other hand, seemed blissfully unaware of their sordid history. He paused, lifting his eyebrows as he proposed an innocent question. “He’s single as far as I know.”
“Oh.” Katie flashed him a huge smile, caught off guard by her own relief at this bit of information. But she immediately shook her head and glanced down at her hand where a new engagement ring adorned her finger. “That’s okay. I just got engaged.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to assume—”
“No, no, it’s okay.” Katie fidgeted mindlessly with a lock of her long red hair, feeling guilty about her giddiness. “It just happened a few weeks ago. He’s a lawyer.” She took a deep breath. “So, are you here to reserve the patio?”
“Yeah, hopefully. I tried another place but they were booked and they told me to check here.”
Katie took another breath to steady herself, then motioned toward a table close by where they sat. Victor explained that he wanted to propose to his girlfriend, Cara, at sunset on the river. If it had been anyone else, Katie may have told him to go elsewhere with such short notice.
But when she handed her business card to Victor, she secretly hoped it would find its way to Armando. And she knew she shouldn’t feel that way. Heck, what would she even say if he called? She had no idea. And as a result, she struggled to keep her mind on the conversation with Victor. Thankfully, all he wanted was a private dinner for two with some added romantic ambience. It would be easy to arrange.
Before Victor left, he gave Katie his private cell phone number and said, “Please, call me if something changes, even at the last minute.”
“I will.”
“Good. I appreciate you letting me do this on short notice. Do you want me to say hi to Armando for you?”
“Yes. Please,” Katie said without missing a beat.
“Sure thing. It was Katie,” he paused as if he was trying to remember, “McCormack, right?” Victor nodded and narrowed his eyes, reaching out to shake her hand.
She took his hand and said, “Yes.”
His eyes lit up with a hint of familiarity. “It was nice meeting you, Katie.”
“Likewise. Thanks.” She watched him turn around and exit the restaurant.
Then she rushed off to the restroom to have a moment alone with her thoughts. They flooded her mind like a tidal wave. Maybe Victor will mention me. If this Cara chick accepts his proposal, maybe I can get invited to the wedding and see Armando there. What would I say? What would he say?
Oh crap...what would Mitch say?
She turned her wrist to see the brand new two carat pear-shaped diamond solitaire ring, twinkling brightly. Her beautiful engagement ring from Mitch. Two weeks earlier all she wanted to do was sit and gawk at the back of her hand as co-workers showered her with compliments. But now, she nearly forgot she was wearing it.
And then she looked at her watch. She had to get through the last hour of her workday without anyone noticing her mind was a million miles away.
Thirty minutes later, as Katie was lost in thought, rearranging chairs around a large, round table, she gasped at a sudden tap on her shoulder. “Ah!”
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.” Jennifer giggled nervously. “You seem pretty stressed out today.”
“Oh.” Katie drew in a massive breath and straightened her posture. “Sorry. I have a lot on my mind, I guess.”
“I’m sure you do!” Jennifer nodded. “There were a million things we had to do for my sister’s wedding last summer. You need to start preparing the guest list as soon as possible. Don’t put it off. Also, make sure you register for gifts early, too, because some of your relatives may want to shower you with presents right away, the second you tell ‘em you’re engaged.” Her eyes popped open wide, her words flowing faster. “Oh! And make sure you…”
As Jennifer wound down, her eyes darted thoughtfully around the room. “Hmm. I think that’s about it for now. If I remember anything else I’ll let you know.”
“Thanks. I’ve helped out with so many weddings the past few years I feel like I already know it all. My little sister’s wedding was so stressful. But it’s good to have another perspective.”
“You have a little sister?” Jennifer’s eyebrows furrowed. “How old was she when she got married? Aren’t you only, like, twenty?”
“No.” Katie cleared her throat, thankful for the compliment. “I’m twenty-eight. My sister’s twenty-five.”
“Whoa.” Jennifer’s jaw dropped. “You’re twenty-eight an
d you’re just now getting married?”
Katie stammered. “Uh…”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply you were an old maid or anything. It’s just that…” Jennifer mindlessly twirled a strand of her blond hair. “I don’t know. I’m twenty-two and I think I’ll probably kill myself if I hit twenty-five and I’m not engaged by then.”
Katie rolled her eyes and went back to her task of moving chairs. “Wow. So much for the feminist movement…”
“Listen, I can only speak for me.” She brought her hand to her chest. “And I wanna get married, for sure. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. And you know, my great Gram-Gram had this saying. ‘Sometimes, the older the cow, the sweeter the milk.’” Then she smirked. “But Gram-Gram never touched a single cow in her life, so I don’t know—”
“I was engaged once.”
“Oh,” Jennifer said, with quiet sympathy. “What happened? Was it one of those long engagements that broke up at the last minute? Took up most of your good years and then fizzled out?” She pouted. “It’s so sad when that happens.”
Katie sighed. “No. It was a long time ago.” She took a deep breath, catching herself before accidentally spilling her guts to Jennifer. Katie was dying to talk to someone about what happened all those years ago. It was a secret outside of her immediate family. Katie hadn’t told anyone of the engagement, including her high school friends, for fear that one of them would open their big mouths and the secret would find its way back to her parents. Even the tiny bit of information she just shared with Jennifer nearly gave Katie chills as she thought about how angry her father was that day. And how adamant he was that they never speak of it again.
Katie continued. “Never mind. Was there a reason you came out here to find me?”
“Oh yeah, that.” Jennifer giggled. “I get so distracted. Some other guy just showed up at the front, asking about renting the ballroom for a party—”
“And you’re just now telling me? You left him standing there while we were talking?” Katie turned around and immediately began walking to the front.
