I huffed and flailed my arms in frustration just as we reached a clearing in the trees that gave us a perfect view of the Valencia estate. I couldn’t help but to stop and stare, imagining Leo inside probably dutifully doing everything his mother asked to lessen his own remorse.
“What if it’s as bad as Jorge said it would be?” I wondered out loud. “If we’re rejected by everyone.”
“Marco and Felix assure me that could never happen as long as our families are tied through our marriage,” Elaina assured me. “Then there’s Jada’s arrangement. That will only help matters.”
Jada looked away, wringing her hands in front of her. She had accepted her fate and was even becoming a little excited to meet her husband to be. But it only added to my guilt. Elaina’s insistence on her being married off instead of me hinged on whatever hopes she had for Leo and I. All of that was squashed now, and aside from having wasted our money on the start of the now abandoned fence and running our name through the dirt, I felt more useless than ever.
My sisters urged me to move on from gawking at the taunting Valencia estate. We went back home to make crumb sandwiches for lunch, which we enjoyed around the table with Mama. Our meals together had always done so much to lift our spirits no matter what we were going through, but even that felt tainted now. Everything was darkened by my thoughts of Leo and that terrible last day at the creek. To have gone from such unbridled pleasure to complete shame so fast was traumatic to say the least.
Our mother decided to lay down for a nap after we ate, leaving me and my sisters alone again. They did their best to cheer me up. They reminded me how we had come from absolutely nothing - resorting to selling ourselves off at the auction just to make ends meet. No matter what had happened with the Valencias, we still had our inheritance and our estate. And we had hope for what the future could hold. We had each other. According to them, there was really nothing so bad to be upset about at all.
I didn’t bother telling them how my body still longed for Leo, and my heart ached for his absence. I had avoided admitting to how I felt for so long, and now that it had been unleashed, there didn’t seem to be any hope of cramming it all back inside. I tried to cling to every bad memory of Leo, because there were plenty to choose from. I hoped that would be enough to bring me to my senses. But looking back, so much of my hatred and vengeance against him eventually became fueled by nothing more than my desire for him. Now it seemed like nothing would ever be the same, even without him.
Elaina stayed longer than usual that day, and I suspected it was out of a sense of obligation to me. She didn’t seem to be able to let things rest until I at least faked feeling better again. She had left the baby with a caregiver earlier in the day, but soon had her brought to our house so she could visit with Mama once she had woken up from her nap. As the day went on, I did find my spirits lifting a little. I just suspected that once I was alone in my room again later that night, all of my despair would return.
As Jada and Elaina started preparing dinner, and Mama played with the baby on a blanket spread in the floor, I worked my way around the hacienda to water all of the plants. I had just started on the big pots that lined our entryway when a figure moving outside caught my eye.
I looked up and my heart stopped. Leonardo was walking towards our house, and he wasn’t sauntering off to my bedroom window in hiding. He was strolling right up to the front door. After days of not hearing from him, I assumed I would never see him again, but now he was moments away from knocking on our front door.
I bolted into the kitchen in a frenzy. “He’s coming!” I exclaimed, pivoting back and forth on my heels as if I might notice a hiding spot to run to.
“Who?” they asked.
“Leonardo!”
As soon as I said his name, the knock came to the door. I expected them to tell me what to do or maybe even let me run into a closet somewhere, but instead, they set to untying the apron from around my waist and smoothing down my hair. Once I was apparently presentable, they shoved me to the door to answer it and face him.
He had already knocked again by the time I finally answered. I tried to ignore the way my heart swelled with hope at the sight of him.
“Lucia Chavez,” he stated formally with a polite smile. “May I come in?”
“Now?” I gaped. “My sisters...my mother…”
“Yes, if I’m not interrupting anything...I hoped I might visit with all of you.”
I swallowed hard and stepped aside to wave him in. This couldn’t be good, I thought. He was acting too stiff and rigid and made no apologies about barging right in with my family around. It had to be some sort of legal matter or something his mother put him up to. I was convinced it had nothing to do with me...or with us.
“We halted construction on the fence,” I informed him as we walked through the foyer. “Permanently. So, if that’s why you’re here…”
“That’s not why I’m here,” he cut me off briskly before giving an equally formal greeting to both of my sisters.
Mama picked the baby up from the blanket and also came over to say hello. It was only then that I realized how oblivious she was to everything that had really happened with him. She knew there was some dispute with the Valencias, but as far as she was concerned - I was handling it, and the rest didn’t matter. He was very polite as he introduced himself, and I could see a spark from his charmingness in her eyes.
“I apologize for dropping in unannounced like this, but there’s a very important matter I need to discuss with you, Lucia.”
“Should we…,” I motioned to the enclosed patio, assuming he would want some privacy.
“No need. Now...it is my understanding that your father passed away last year. Is that correct?”
We all nodded, unsure of where he was going with this. “Then Mrs. Chavez...I believe you are the one I need to speak to first. To ask for your permission to have your daughter’s hand in marriage.”
My mother filled with immediate elation, and tears were already welling up in her eyes as she agreed enthusiastically - not even giving it a second thought. Elaina and Jada swooned behind me. But I couldn’t react at all. I was suspended in stunned silence. My paralysis only intensified as Leo dropped down to one knee at my feet - right there in front of everyone.
“Lucia Chavez, I am madly in love with you. And nothing would make me happier than the honor of calling you my wife. Will you marry me?” He pulled out a small royal blue velvet box and opened it to reveal a diamond ring dazzling enough to elicit a collective gasp from all of us.
“I...I...don’t...I don’t know what to say,” I stuttered.
I accepted that I loved Leo, and I knew from the moment we were found at the creekside that everything would change. But out of all the scenarios I had thought were possible, I hadn’t expected him to show up at our home and get down on one knee.
Leo laughed a little under his breath as he looked up at me. “Well, then...let me see if I can help you. Do you love me?”
“Yes,” I sighed, feeling terrified to say it outloud.
“Do you want to spend your life with me?”
“Yes.”
“So, do you think your answer to my original question might be…”
“Yes!” I cut him off with certainty.
He stood and lifted me up in his arms, drawing me into the most intense kiss we had ever shared - even though it still somehow remained tasteful enough to unfold in front of my entire family. But my heart still pounded with so many fears. I recognized the man in front of me, but he was so formal and dignified. And we were on the spot with everyone around. Something about it didn’t even feel like him.
“I guess I’m sorry I didn’t say yes right away,” I struggled to explain, wondering which of my doubts I should even attempt to voice.
“It’s okay,” he whispered. “I know how indecisive you women can be. Sometimes you just need a man’s help to come to a sensible conclusion.”
I smiled and shook my head, thinking to m
yself - Oh, there he is. This was definitely my Leo, just as much of a smart ass as ever. But one that I loved with all of my heart.
“Matters are only more complicated when you consider that you might have expected Dario or Jorge to show up and propose instead,” he teased. “They might still! Should we look outside and see if either of them followed me?”
I smacked his chest and pulled his lips to mine to make him stop talking. As infuriating as he was, I wanted to be his wife more than anything. A fact I was rapidly realizing with each passing second.
“When we say ‘until death do us part,’ we might as well say ‘until she snaps and murders him,’...if you keep going on like that.”
He chuckled in deep, low grumbling laugh that I loved so much. “All of that when what I really mean to say is...I’ll forgive your pause in answering, if you can forgive my pause in coming here.” He lowered my feet to the ground and pulled out the diamond ring to slide onto my finger. “This was my grandmother’s wedding ring,” he explained.
I studied him carefully, trying to process what that meant. “So...your mother? She...she approves?”
“You will certainly have your work cut out for you in winning her over. I wouldn’t expect the two of you to be best friends any time soon. But...she has given her blessing, yes.”
I was filled with relief and happiness as our lips crashed together again. Our sweet and innocent, family-friendly kissing was quickly in danger of turning to something more. Leo scooped me into his arms as he laughed, turning barely to say his rushed goodbyes to my mother and sisters as he carried me out the front door.
“Where are they going?” I heard my poor, sweet Mama asking.
I knew Elaina and Jada wouldn’t have the heart to tell her the truth, which was that Leo and I were going right back to the creek to finish what we started days before. Only this time...there was nothing scandalous about it.
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© Copyright 2020 by Hollie Hutchins - All rights reserved.
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Bullied Cinderella (Olive Skin Devils Book 2) Page 15