She avoided his eyes as she skirted past him and opened the door. The driver waited on the other side, taking her bags from her.
Rico stepped in front of her, barring her exit. 4“Mariah, if you walk out that door, don’t ever expect to come back.” He wanted her to hurt like he hurt, but her determined expression backed him up a step.
“Do you love me, Rico? Do you?” She searched his eyes for the answer, placing her hands on his chest.
He said nothing. He felt choked, strangled. The words he wanted to say wouldn’t come out of his mouth. Hell, he wasn’t even sure what words those were. He stared at her tear-stained face and knew he’d broken her heart. And what about his own?
“If you’d only say those words, I’d stay by your side forever, through all the good and bad times.”
He clamped his jaw shut and maintained his stubborn silence and mulish pride.
She sighed with resignation. “I won’t be back. It’s over. Good bye, my love.” Tenderly, she kissed his cheek one last time and touched his face. She shook her head. “I took a chance with you, Rico. More than once. Why wouldn’t you take a chance with me?”
“I did,” he insisted defensively.
“No, you didn’t. You didn’t give the most special part of yourself. You never trusted me enough to give me your heart.”
Her tortured sob nearly ripped him in two, but he didn’t cave. Stiff and unyielding, he clenched his fists tightly to his sides.
“I love you, Rico. I’ll always love you.” Grabbing the last of her bags, she whirled around and stumbled down the steps.
She never looked back. Rico stood on the front porch, paralyzed by disbelief until the taxi disappeared around a corner. He’d been dropped to the bottom of the ocean without a lifeline. She’d been his lifeline, the key to his soul. Grief tore through him, a tidal wave devastating everything in its wake. Tears streamed down his face. His heart sunk to his knees. His chest constricted, making breathing a painful chore.
“Nooooo! Nooooo! Mariah! Mariah, I need you!”
He didn’t recognize that tortured cry as coming from his mouth. Sinking to his knees, he buried his face in his hands and sobbed without shame as his world crashed down around him.
Chapter 23—The Realization
“What’s that song you’re singing? It’s incredible.”
Rico glanced up to discover Ramon standing on his patio. “Who let you in?”
“Your housekeeper. She’s concerned about you. We all are, Rico. I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“Thanks, but I don’t need your concern. I’ll be fine.”
Ramon settled next to him in a lounge chair. “You don’t look fine.” He studied Rico as helped himself to his brother’s untouched beer. “In fact, you look like shit.”
“I don’t need you to tell me that.” He knew what Ramon saw. Several days’ stubble darkened his face. His rumpled clothes, unkempt hair, and black circles under his bloodshot eyes made him look like he’d been on a three-day drunk. Yet, orange juice was the strongest thing he’d had to drink.
“Dad’s worried about you. You haven’t been to work in almost a week.” Ramon laced his fingers behind his head and put his feet on Rico’s glass table in a deceptively casual pose, as casual as a cobra ready to strike.
“Tomorrow. I’ll be there tomorrow. Before Ed runs my business into the ground.”
“Don’t worry. Angel’s keeping him out of trouble, but it’s a full-time job. Especially since Mariah isn’t around.”
“Mariah? What did she have to do with the business?” Puzzled, Rico met his brother’s eyes.
“You really weren’t paying attention, were you? Too wrapped up in yourself or what?”
Rico didn’t answer. Even Ramon’s needling didn’t have the usual effect on him. He couldn’t even manage to muster any self-righteous indignation.
“Mariah’s been working in your business ever since you married her, and you didn’t even notice. Dad actually listened to her. She kept him in line. He ran all his ideas through her, and she approved all the ordering.”
“She did? I thought our sales were way up because Dad finally figured it out.”
Ramon laughed. “Come on, Rico. That’d be a miracle. Mariah controlled him, but she did it so well, he never realized it. He was wrapped around her perfectly manicured little finger. She took your import business and ran with it. She’s got a knack for buying the right things. Of course, with her background, I’m not sure why that would come as a surprise to you.”
Rico leaned forward and clutched his head. He felt a major headache coming on. He’d been blind and stupid. She’d been running his business, taking the heat off him, so he could concentrate on getting his new recording company on its feet. The entire time she’d allowed Ed to take the credit.
“Rico, that song you were singing a minute ago. Did you write that?” Ramon smoothly changed the subject.
“Yeah. Yeah, I wrote it.” Rico looked at the guitar he’d leaned against the table. Expensive and brand new, it didn’t have the sound or feel of his old Gibson. The Gibson was irreplaceable, just like Mariah, and he’d thrown them both away.
“It’s incredible.”
“Thanks.” He’d written several sad love songs since she’d left. They flowed out of him like someone had let the cork out of the bottle. One good thing came out of all this pain.
“I’d like to put that on my next CD. Do you have anything else?”
“Yeah, plenty.” Rico nodded, grateful for the distraction, anything to take his mind off of her. Not that every song he’d written didn’t have her in mind. They all did.
“Can I hear them?”
Rico begrudgingly obliged. He sang every one of them. Ramon listened and offered no comment until he finished.
“Why don’t you go after her, Rico?”
Rico shook his head. “I can’t.”
“Why not? She loves you. Damn, I’d give anything to have a woman as devoted to me as she is to you. She’s special, Rico. Can’t you see that?”
He could. In fact, he saw it more every day. “She deserves someone better than me.”
Ramon laughed. “Well, I can’t argue that, but she wants you. She’s a one-man woman, and you’re the lucky sucker she picked. Hell, I’m insanely jealous.”
Rico looked at his brother, really looked at him for the first time in a long time. Concern furrowed Ramon’s forehead and softened his eyes. The little punk actually cared. He’d expected Ramon to gloat about Mariah leaving, to tell him he deserved the heartache. Instead, his brother sympathized and encouraged him to go after her. Maybe hell had frozen over while he’d been wallowing in self-pity.
“You’re all right for a little brother, you know that?”
His brother beamed, looking happier than when he’d won his first Grammy. Ramon brushed his hand across his face and looked away. Swallowing, he spoke in a husky tone. “Thanks. You don’t know how much that means to me.”
“I think I do,” Rico murmured. “I think I do.”
They sat in silence, deep in their own thoughts. Ramon eventually interrupted the quiet. “Rico, do you love her?”
Rico looked up. The question shocked him, but not as much as his answer. Love her? He’d spent all these years carrying a torch for Carmen. Loving Carmen had become second nature, a part of him like a fingernail or a big toe. Somewhere in the last several months, he’d forgotten to pine for her. Slowly, her part in his life faded until she became a good friend and nothing more. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment when the transition took place. Maybe it happened in the San Juans. Maybe later. Yet, she rarely entered his thoughts anymore. Instead, a green-eyed beauty with a wicked sense of humor, a brilliant smile, and a penchant for changing her moods as often as she changed clothes invaded his every waking moment and all his dreams.
He loved Mariah.
God, he’d loved her for months. Maybe he’d loved her from the moment he’d found her face first in the mud. That was w
hy the sex had been so good. It’d been the only way he’d been able to show her how much he cared.
Rico’s eyes met Ramon’s. “Shit.”
Ramon raised one eyebrow. “Excuse me.”
“I do love her.” An anvil lifted from his chest. Those words freed his heart from a life-sentence of loneliness.
“Then what are you waiting for?” Ramon grinned from ear to ear. “Go get her and bring her back.”
“I will, but first I have one piece of unfinished business. Tell all the relatives and my managers to meet me here in an hour.”
“But...”
“Do it. It’s time for a change.” He had to make his life his own before he could make a life with Mariah.
An hour later every freeloading aunt, uncle, cousin, and other assorted family members sat in his living room, including his father. Rico glanced around the room. They all regarded him with interest. Most likely, each one trying to figure out how to exploit whatever he had to say to their advantage. Taking a deep breath, Rico uttered the words he should have said years ago.
“No more free rides.” His statement was blunt and to the point, but nothing less would work for this group.
Everyone frowned, glancing at each other as if trying figure out who he was referring to. His father’s face tightened, and he opened his mouth to speak. Rico held up a hand to stop him. “No, hear me out. Most of all—you.” He pointed at Ed. “From now on I’m taking control of my business. Angel will be my Vice President. You will not purchase anything without Angel’s signature. I will see to it that our vendors know this. Any unauthorized purchases will be your financial responsibility.”
Ed said nothing. He just nodded.
Rico swung his gaze to the rest of them. They were fidgeting and avoiding his eyes, as well they should. “Every one of you will have a place in my business as my relatives. That’s where the charity stops. You will be treated like any other employee. If you don’t perform your work to the standards set by my managers, they have my full authority to release you. At that time, I also release any responsibility I have to you as family.”
Sighing, he took a deep breath and continued. “I haven’t done myself or any of you favors by letting you drain my bank account with nothing in return. It stops now. Every one of you is welcome in my business and in my home as long as you respect me and do an honest day’s work. That is all I ask. Questions?”
No one said a word, not even Ed.
“Good, Angel will outline our employee expectations.” Nodding to Angel, Rico left the room.
He had more important matters. He had to attend to his heart.
* * *
Getting her and bringing her back turned out to be easier said than done. The woman appeared to have disappeared from the face of the earth. Rico searched everywhere, hired a team of detectives, and called everyone he could think of. No one had seen her. She’d withdrawn enough money from the bank before leaving town that she would be able to hide out somewhere for quite a while without telltale credit card slips or checks surfacing. His gut instincts told him she’d gone back to the San Juans, yet the investigators found nothing after several searches. She was there. Somewhere. And he’d find her.
* * *
Mariah hid from the world for the first three weeks in Seattle. She cried for her lost love, her life that might have been, for her parents, her aunt, Sueño, and the loss of her farm.
Nothing hurt like saying goodbye to Rico. Her heart had shattered into a million pieces. Picking up the shards and assembling them back together would be a hard arduous process.
She needed the comfort of the islands. She rented a cabin on neighboring Lopez Island. She wouldn’t be able to hide out on Orcas without being discovered, nor did she want to run into Warren.
One night she snuck over to the old farm, hoping for a glimpse of Sueño. She found nothing. The entire place was deserted. The horses were gone, same as all the equipment and furniture. She sat down on the grass between the barn and arena. Surprised she had any tears left in her and cried until all emotion drained from her body.
“Mariah?”
Mariah looked up. “Eva? What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you.”
“How did you find me?”
Eva gave her one of those what-a-stupid-question looks. “You shouldn’t be alone right now.”
Mariah smiled through her tears. “Thank you.”
Eva looked around at the empty farm. “Where is everything?”
“It’s gone. All gone. They’re gone. My mother. My father. My aunt. Sueño.” She choked on a sob. “And Rico. I’m alone. All alone.”
Eva sat down next to her and put her arms around her. “Rye, you’re not alone. You have me, Jamal, all your friends.”
Mariah wiped the tears from her eyes and stood up. “There’s nothing here for me now.”
“Rico loves you, Mariah.”
“No, he doesn’t. He still loves Carmen.”
“Loving Carmen became a habit. He doesn’t love her. He needs to figure that out.”
“I’ve been gone almost a month. He hasn’t figured it out yet.”
“He will. Give him time.” Eva’s voice oozed with confidence.
Mariah met her friend’s eyes. “Is that the psychic in you speaking? Or just a friend?”
“A psychic and a friend to both of you.” Eva’s mysterious smile graced her face. “There is magic in this place.”
“I know. That’s why I came here. But it hurts to see the farm and to know it’s not mine.”
“He’s thinking of you.”
“Eva, please, don’t give me false hope.”
“That’s not my intention. He’ll come for you. Give him time.”
“I wouldn’t go back to him in a million years.”
“Yes, you will. He’s learned from all this. So have you.”
Mariah sighed. She knew Eva meant to help, but her mystical garbage didn’t make her feel much better. “I did the worst thing I could do to him, I lied to him. I deceived him about Ramon. Maybe he didn’t talk to me about his life, but I didn’t talk to him either.”
“Are you going to file for a divorce?”
“No, I’ll leave that up to him. If that’s what he wants.”
“It’s not what he wants. Trust me.”
Chapter 24—The Magic
The tide glided onto the sandy beach then receded slowly into the inlet beyond the sheltered cove. A lone figure walked through the salt water. Barefoot, her jeans were rolled up to her knees. A ponytail held her dark hair back from her face. Lost in thought, she bent down to pick up a rock and tossed it. After a small splash, it sank to the bottom.
Rico sat on steps he’d built for her months ago and watched her for several minutes. She never turned his way or noticed him. Gathering his courage and his resolve, he rose. He patted his jeans to assure himself that the gift still nestled safely in his pocket.
If she heard him coming, she didn’t turn around. Perhaps, the rustling of the tree branches in the breeze muffled his approach. A brilliant sunset painted the sky in vivid oranges, reds, and golds. Mother Nature must be on his side. He couldn’t ask for a more romantic setting.
Within five feet of her, he cleared his throat. She turned slowly to face him, as if she knew who stood behind her.
“Hi.” His voice cracked, betraying his nerves.
She said nothing. Yet when their eyes met, he saw it all. The pain, the sleepless nights, the shattered dreams. All of it. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and erase her heartache. Start over. Make it up to her. Tonight would be a start, if she’d forgive him.
She smiled a sad smile, touching the couple days’ growth of stubble on his face. “Did you lose your razor?”
“No. You always said you missed your scruffy Rodrigo.”
“Is he back?”
“He never left.” Rico took her hands in his. She didn’t pull away as he’d feared. His eyes never left her beautiful, sweet face. She watch
ed him curiously, yet passively, uncertain what he planned for her.
He cleared his throat, so nervous he felt sick. Heartsick, head sick, every kind of sick. His palms were sweaty, and he trembled as he held her hands.
“Mariah.” He gathered his courage, took a deep breath, and plunged in without a life preserver. It would be up to her to save him or let him drown. He forced his mouth to speak the words in his heart.
“You are every love song I’ve ever sung. You are my light at the end of a long day. Your voice is like the comforting whisper of the wind. You are the passion in my soul. You are the fire that feeds the flame in my body. Your laughter lightens my spirit no matter how heavily it is weighed down. Your smile is my guide in this journey through my life.” He hesitated, searched her face for a moment then he continued. “It’s a journey I don’t want to make alone, Mariah. I want to make it with you by my side every step of the way. I want to share my joys, my sorrows, my failures, my triumphs with you. I want to feel your soft skin moving under mine in the heat of the night, every night.”
Her hands shook, and he gave them a gentle, encouraging squeeze. Her eyes widened in shock as he dropped to one knee before her in the sand. Rico grasped her hands tightly. Her green eyes held him captive as they had since the day they’d met. A lone tear slid down Mariah’s face as she gazed down at him.
“Mariah....” He stopped in mid-sentence, trying to compose himself. “I want to do this right this time. Will you do me the honor of being my partner for life?”
She stared at him, as if she wasn’t sure what he was asking and didn’t dare jump to conclusions.
He looked up at her, waiting for her answer. When she didn’t answer, he prodded her, “Mariah?”
She continued to stare at him, chewing on her lower lip nervously. His heart lodged in his throat. Rico bent his head and kissed each palm tenderly. He looked up at her again. His chocolate brown eyes gazed deeply into her emerald green eyes. The world swirled around them and dispersed like so many grains of sand, leaving just the two of them in their own private place.
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