“I don’t understand. How did you even know…” Javy’s voice trailed off. The answer was obvious.
Emily. She’d done this for him.
“Emily told me you didn’t think the varnish would be dry in time, so that’s why you didn’t bring the tables and chairs in before. She asked me to check on them one more time, and sure enough, they’re perfect,” Alex explained.
The stain and varnish had dried days ago, but Emily had given an excuse so Javy could save face with his cousin.
“Are you mad?” a hesitant voice asked.
As Emily stepped out from behind Alex, Javy could no longer deny what his heart had known all along. He loved this woman.
“No, I’m not mad. I’m…” A whirlwind of emotions twisted Javy up inside, but he couldn’t possibly pull one from the restless storm. “Not mad,” he finished lamely.
But Emily smiled as if he’d given her a golden compliment. “Good. I couldn’t let you give up on these pieces.” Walking up to him, her eyes glowing, she brushed a kiss against his cheek as she whispered, “They’re too precious to waste.”
“I know,” Javy said.
Just like he knew this time, this opportunity with Emily was too precious to let slip by. He’d known from the start that she wasn’t like the other women he’d dated—she was unique, special. He’d made a mistake with Stephanie, thinking that he could bide his time and that she’d still be waiting for him.
He wasn’t going to make that mistake with Emily.
He took her hands into his, wanting to hold on and never let go. He opened his mouth to tell her how he felt, but just then his mother stepped into the dining area, stopping short just as he had when he saw the tables and chairs.
“What is this? Is this…Javy, what have you done?” Maria gasped.
Emily squeezed his hands as he met his mother’s shocked gaze. “I refinished the damaged pieces the best I could. I know they aren’t an exact match—”
He didn’t have the chance to give whatever explanation he might have made. Holding out a hand to stop him from talking, her eyes downcast, Maria shook her head and fled the room.
Silence fell over the restaurant, a sharp, painful contrast to the excitement and laughter only seconds before.
“Javy, I am so sorry.” Regret filled Emily’s gaze, dimming the excitement brimming there only seconds earlier. “This is all my fault.”
“No, it isn’t. What you did, having Alex bring these back here, it means a lot to me. And I’m sorry my mother isn’t happy with what I’ve done, but the truth is what I told her. I did my best. And that’s all I can do.”
And he was tired of settling for second best—in his relationships and in his work at the restaurant. It was time to give life his all. Starting with the woman standing in front of him.
Emily knew little about the restaurant business, but she knew a success when she saw one, and the reopening was definitely a success. The dining area and bar were packed, and a few brave souls had even opted for outdoor seating despite the unrelenting heat.
Javy was amazing. Emily was willing to bet he talked with every patron to step through the doors, amid coordinating the staff, checking on the kitchen and taking time to introduce the band. If his mother’s earlier silence had any lasting effect, Emily was unable to spot it.
They hadn’t had much of a chance to talk since she’d arrived, but Emily didn’t mind. It gave her a chance to watch him in action, and every now and then, their eyes would meet. Each look held a wealth of promises—promises she planned to hold him to as soon as they were done—but Emily was starting to think the closing would never happen as the band played one set after another and patrons ordered round after round. Finally, the crowd started to disperse, with nearly every customer stopping by to congratulate Javy.
“You must be exhausted,” Emily murmured as he said good-night to the last of his staff.
Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he anchored her to his side. “I’m sure I’ll crash soon, but right now I’m feeling pretty invincible.”
“Wow!” Emily raised her eyebrows suggestively. She reached up and gave his bicep a squeeze. “Man of steel, huh?”
Javy groaned. “Don’t tempt me.”
But that was exactly what Emily wanted to do—to tempt Javy beyond the restraint he’d shown the night before. “I can stay until you’re done here,” she offered. Even though everyone had already left, the restaurant was in nowhere near the shape it needed to be in for opening the next day. And she knew Javy would be methodical in shutting down the place before he left. Nerves jumping in her stomach, she added, “Or I could go back to my place, and you could come by when you’re finished….”
Heat flared in Javy’s eyes, and she waited, heart pounding, for him to say yes. The pace only picked up when he caught her hand and led the way outside to the back patio. With the starry night overhead, Emily immediately thought of the night of Kelsey and Connor’s wedding. The first time she’d really talked to Javy and the first time he’d kissed her.
Had that really only been two weeks ago? It seemed too crazy that she could have fallen so far, so fast.
Don’t look down, she reminded herself even as Javy pulled her into his arms in a kiss that battled with the sultry summer night with its intensity. When he finally eased away to take a much-needed breath, Emily waited for him to agree with her earlier suggestion, to go back to her place, to finish that they’d started, to…
“Marry me.”
Emily blinked. The pulse still pounding in her ears was messing with her hearing. It was the only explanation. He couldn’t have said…
“Marry me, Emily.”
“What?”
“I love you. I want us to spend the rest of our lives together. To have kids and watch them grow…”
Even in the dim light of the patio, Emily could see the certainty and sincerity written in his dark eyes. And she absolutely wasn’t imagining this—because not in a million years would she have imagined Javier Delgado proposing. But the more she listened to Javy—to his plans—the more the frantic feeling of panic threatened to crawl out from inside of her and devour her whole.
“Javy, this is crazy. My wedding was less than a month ago.”
“It wasn’t your wedding, Emily.”
“No, of course not, but it should have been.” Javy’s jaw tightened, and she hurried to explain. “Not that I think I should have married Todd. That’s not what I mean, but—”
“But what?”
“I rushed into an engagement with Todd. If I had taken more time, if I’d thought things through, I would have realized it was a mistake.”
“And you think I’m a mistake.” He took a step back, barriers slamming down like steel bars.
“No, I don’t think that. But I never expected…I didn’t think you were serious about all this. We were supposed to be having fun….” And she’d warned herself time and time again not to fall in love—for all the good it had done.
But at her words, barbed wire and electric fencing added to the barricade already erected. “Fun?” he echoed with a harsh tone. “Funny thing about fun and good times…they always come to an end.”
Her heart lurching inside her chest like a wounded animal desperate to escape, Emily ignored the “Do Not Cross” warning signs. “Please, Javy…I love you. I do,” she said, her voice trembling with emotion. She’d never imagined telling him how she felt, never imagined that it would hurt so bad. “But…”
She’d thought she loved Todd, too. She’d closed her eyes to everything she hadn’t wanted to see—Todd’s silences, his secrets, his manipulation. And while she didn’t want to believe Javy was anything like her former fiancé, she couldn’t deny the way he’d initially brushed aside her questions about Stephanie, the way he still hadn’t confided his plans for the restaurant to her, and now…now he was talking about the future—their future—as if it was written in stone and she had no say about the house with the white picket fence and about the two-po
int-five kids he saw living there.
“I just need time. We both need time. You’ve had a lot to deal with recently, and now tonight you’re riding high on success and emotion, just like you must have been the night you and Stephanie graduated and you proposed—”
“That was ten years ago, Emily. You think I’m still some reckless kid who doesn’t know better?” He gave a rough laugh. “Maybe you’re right. I sure as hell don’t seem to have learned my lesson.”
“Javy, that’s not fair. I just need some time—”
“To do what?” he demanded. “Find a better offer?”
Emily swallowed hard, no less hurt than if he’d reached out and slapped her. “No,” she whispered. “Of course not.”
“Then what’s the problem? Either you love me enough to make a commitment or you don’t.” When Emily struggled to find a way to explain, Javy shook his head. His jaw hardened as he backed away from her. “Obviously you don’t.”
Signs of the party the night before still littered the restaurant when Javy stepped inside the next morning—straw wrappers, discarded napkins and dropped receipts. The night had been filled with laughter, excitement and anticipation but now…now he had nothing to do but clean up the mess. Too bad the debris of his relationship with Emily couldn’t be swept away so easily.
He swore beneath his breath as he grabbed a broom and dustpan from the back. It sure as hell should have been. After all, she’d thrown his proposal—his heart—away like so much trash.
He was in the middle of turning sweeping into a full-contact sport when the back door opened. His heart gave an involuntary lurch when he had no reason to believe Emily would come back to him.
But the woman who stepped into the restaurant was not the one he expected, even though he probably should have.
“Mama, I didn’t think you’d be here this morning.”
As busy as the restaurant had been the night before and wanting to give the employees a chance to celebrate, Javy had instructed the staff to leave the cleaning for the next day. He’d thought he’d be there early enough to have everything done before the first shift. He certainly hadn’t counted on his mother coming in and seeing the mess left behind.
Another mark against him—careless, irresponsible Javier—but he couldn’t bring himself to care. “I’ll get this cleaned up—”
“It is fine, Javier.” Despite her words, he heard the tremor in her voice, saw the tears she surreptitiously tried to wipe from her cheeks.
“Mama, what’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “Nothing is wrong.” Running a lined hand over the tabletop, she said, “The restaurant, it has not looked so good in years. The work you have done here, all of it, your father would be so proud of.”
As compliments went, Javy couldn’t think of one that would mean more to Maria or to him…if he could bring himself to believe it. “You think?” he asked, the casual question unable to hide his doubt.
“Of course.” Turning his face toward her, she asked, “Why do you think he wouldn’t be?”
After ten years of silence, the admission didn’t come easily. The words stalled in his throat, trapped by guilt and regret. Finally, though, he started talking. “We fought. Right before he got sick, the night I told you both I’d proposed to Stephanie.”
Maria’s eyes widened. “I told him not to talk to you when he was so angry. He needed time to calm down.” They’d both needed time, but they had never had that chance.
“He said I didn’t have what it took to be a good husband, that I’d never stuck with anything in my life, and when the going got tough, I was the first to get going.” And when he hadn’t been able to keep his promise to Stephanie, when he hadn’t been able to handle the stress of running the restaurant, he’d been so sure his father was right—about everything.
“Oh, mijo.” Sorrow and regret filled Maria’s eyes as she ran a lined hand over the back of one of the chairs. “You would think a man who could do such work would have patience but…” She shrugged. “He was a perfectionist, carving away until the piece matched the picture in his head. Maybe it works with wood, but with people, it is not so easy.”
Javy recalled his father’s pursuit of perfection in his work. How many times had he seen Miguel toss aside a carving he didn’t think good enough? After their fight, Javy had felt like his father had done the same to him. “I know he was disappointed in me.”
Maria shook her head. “We were worried. Stephanie was trouble, and you were both too young to get married and run off to chase some dream. But that was then. A long time ago, when you were just a boy. I am so sorry your papa isn’t here to see you now. To see the man you’ve become. He would be proud of you, and he would be so ashamed of me. That is why I had to leave last night. I couldn’t face what I had done.”
“He would never be ashamed of you,” Javy argued.
“I should have listened when you asked to change the restaurant. I should have seen you weren’t my little boy anymore, but I was still seeing my chico pequeño. But this…” Maria waved a hand around the restaurant. “All the hard work you’ve done, all the time you’ve spent, I have no choice but to see the man you are now.”
All he’d done…all the time he’d spent…Like a smack upside the head, Javy realized now where he’d gone wrong. “It’s not your fault. I should have realized it would take more than words to prove I’ve changed.”
And that was where he’d failed Emily. He’d told her all his grand plans. He hadn’t even bothered to ask her to marry him, telling her instead about the future he already had planned, brushing aside her hard-won independence as if it meant nothing.
Was he really surprised that she saw him as no different from Todd Dunworthy or her parents, pushing her into what he wanted, into what he thought was best without asking what she wanted?
“But I still should have let you change the restaurant,” Maria insisted. Lifting her chin bravely, she said, “It’s not too late, mijo. We can still remodel, to make the place what you want it to be.”
What he wanted, but not what his mother wanted…
For the first time in years, Javy could sense his father’s presence beyond the shadow of their final words to each other. He could hear his boisterous voice in the echo of the laughter and music from the night before, see his strong, work-roughened hands in the carved furniture’s painstaking detail, feel his love and pride in the restaurant Maria had preserved in his memory. And he understood, too, why his mother couldn’t bear to change anything.
“No, Mama. That wouldn’t be right, either.” Taking a deep breath, he voiced the idea he’d refused to even consider for so long. The idea he’d never even had the chance to tell Emily about. “I want to look into opening a restaurant of my own. Another Delgado’s, with the kind of bar and patio I’ve always pictured.” Seeing his mother’s eyes widen, he added, “It wouldn’t be around here. Somewhere across town.”
“Oh, Javy. It was always your papa’s dream. That is why it was so hard for him to hear you wanted to leave. He knew you would need to run your own place. But me, I was selfish. I wanted you here. After Miguel died, I needed you here. But now it’s time for you to grow up. Time to prove yourself to the girl you love.”
Javy pulled back in surprise. “How did you know?”
“A mother always knows, and I did not think Emily was right for you. I thought her too much like the other girls, who made it too easy for you to walk away. But she is different.”
“Yeah, she’s different, all right. She’s the one who walked away.”
Reaching out, Maria pushed her index finger against his chest. “Then it is up to you.”
“Up to me?” Yeah, okay, maybe he’d handled things badly with Emily, rushing forward when he should have taken things slow, but he’d poured his heart out. What more was he supposed to do?
“It’s up to you,” Maria repeated, “to give her a reason to come back.”
Chapter Fifteen
Emily didn’t know w
hat she would have done without the fund-raiser and fashion show to keep her busy. She’d thrown herself into the event, coordinating the clothes, the alterations and the “models.” She’d found supporters to donate the items for the auction, as well as backers to match what money they raised.
When she’d initially balked at the suggested asking price per person for the dinner to follow the fashion show, it had been her mother who had reassured her.
“It isn’t like women my age are frequently asked to walk the runway,” her mother had said wryly. “Believe me, they will pay whatever the price to make sure friends and family are in the audience, watching.”
So Emily had agreed to the price, and they’d sold enough tickets to move into a larger ballroom.
Given the chance, she would likely have panicked at the thought of so many people attending an event she’d coordinated, an event that could fall apart and be her second biggest, most public failure in a whole month. But she’d simply made sure she didn’t have time to think. Not about the fund-raiser’s possible failure or about the definite failure of her relationship with Javy.
Standing backstage as the women primped for the show, Emily felt a small smile tug at her lips. No use telling them this wasn’t fashion week in Paris; they were giving their one shot as models all they had.
“I still can’t believe you’ve done all this hard work, and you’re not even going to have a little fun.”
As Emily turned to face her cousin, her smile grew. Kelsey looked amazing in a strapless emerald-green cocktail dress. A few weeks ago she never would have worn such a revealing outfit, forget taking a stroll down a catwalk, but her love for Connor had given her an added confidence and a spark in her eyes, which left Emily quietly sighing with envy.
“Are you kidding? I worked with the design students, picking out perfect clothes for Lauren and the other women from the shelter to model. I don’t think I would have enjoyed anything more.”
“I know, and everyone’s raving about the job you did. Not that it’s any surprise. No one is ever better dressed than you are. I mean, look at you.” Kelsey gestured to Emily’s gown—a gold sheath with rhinestone straps and a beaded bodice that whispered down the length of her body. “So why aren’t you modeling any of the clothes?”
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