by Amy Reece
“You think I’m gorgeous?” she whispered.
He rolled his eyes and crossed the kitchen to ruffle her hair. “No. I know you are. Now stop fishing for compliments and let’s talk about Thanksgiving. It’s this Thursday.”
“Oh. Yeah. You want me to get out your hair for the day?”
“No. I want you to go with us to my grandparents’ house. And I want you to help me make the pies.”
***
He followed her at a distance Monday morning as she approached her locker. She’d said she would try to talk to Diego before first period, and Josh found he had a pathological need to see. He watched her approach a short Hispanic guy with a douchey little mustache and put her hand on his arm. The guy turned and flashed a shit-eating grin at her that made Josh grind his teeth. She simpered at him a bit, and before he knew it, the guy was nodding and smiling. Then he leaned forward and kissed Bernie. Josh slammed his palm against his locker and cursed.
“Whoa! What’s wrong, man?” Tony appeared at his side and began twisting his combination lock. “Is it the breakup? I’m really sorry to hear about that. I thought you and Kayleigh were solid.”
“Yeah, the breakup.” He’d completely forgotten about it.
“That sucks hard-core, man!”
“Yep.” He had no idea. “Listen, I gotta go. See you at lunch, okay?” He was antsy all morning; he waited impatiently for her outside the cafeteria before lunch. When she finally appeared, he pulled her into a side hallway. “So? Is it a go?”
“Yes, Double O Seven. It’s a go.”
“Hilarious. When?”
“Tonight, actually. I don’t work. Can you be there?” She looked up into his face and bit her lip.
“Yeah, I’ll be there. Where?” He had to look away from those lips.
“The movies again.”
“Not very original, is he?”
She shrugged. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. I’ll try to get him to go for coffee or ice cream afterward.”
***
He returned home late in the afternoon to find Bernie at the breakfast bar, doing calculus homework. He set the bag he’d brought in front of her.
“What’s this?” She looked up from her textbook.
“Something I need you to not throw a fit about.”
“A present?”
He said nothing while she reached into the bag and pulled out the cell phone.
“Oh, Josh. No. This is unnecessary.”
“Bernie. Please. It’s just a safety precaution. I can’t let you go out with this guy and have no way to reach you. Plus, you work alone in a pretty sketchy area of town.”
“You’re going to be there tonight and there’s a phone at work. I don’t need a cell phone. I’m already living here rent-free. I can’t take any more charity from you and your mom.”
“I have nothing to do with the rent, and she had nothing to do with the phone. Please, Bernie. I’ll sleep better knowing you have a way to get in touch with me.” It was a fairly low blow to bring in his inability to sleep, but he was determined to do whatever it took to keep her safe.
“If I take it, you have to promise to stop paying for everything when we go somewhere together. No more whipping out your debit card while I’m reaching for my wallet.”
“Fair enough, although I would like to point out I let you pay for ice cream Saturday night.” She narrowed her eyes and squared her jaw, so he wisely shut his mouth and showed her how to operate her new phone.
Two hours later he stood behind them in line at the movie theater with one couple in between. He made sure he stepped forward enough to hear which movie Diego bought tickets for and purchased a single for himself. He chose a seat two rows behind them and settled in to watch the completely predictable romantic comedy. He wished he could text Bernie to see how she was holding up, but he couldn’t risk Diego seeing it. Instead, he fought to stay awake during the interminable movie. He followed them at a distance as they crossed the parking lot to the ice cream shop and managed to snag the table behind them, sitting with his back to Diego, able to easily overhear their conversation.
“What did you think of the movie?”
Josh angled sideways in his chair so he could see Bernie’s face as she answered.
“It was, uh, okay. What did you think?” She should probably never play poker—she was a terrible liar.
Josh listened as they chatted for about ten minutes until he caught Bernie’s eye and gestured for her to move it along. He smothered a smile at the annoyed look she flashed him.
“Diego, I was wondering if I could ask just a couple more questions about Gabby?”
“Aw shit. I should have known that’s what this was about. Did you even want to go out with me?”
“Please don’t be mad. I like you, but I can’t really concentrate on any kind of relationship until I know what happened to Gabby. I swear, just a couple of questions.” Diego was a stronger man than Josh if he could resist her liquid brown eyes pleading with him.
“Okay, fine, but this is the last date unless you swear to never ask about her again.”
It was the last date—period—if Josh had any say in the matter.
“You said you two were fighting a lot right before she disappeared. What were you fighting about?”
He blew out a breath and took a bite of ice cream before answering her. “A lot of stuff. She was crazy jealous if I so much as talked to another girl. And I wanted her to stop spending so much time with those two bitchy girlfriends of hers.”
“Why? You’re talking about Natalia and Sofia, right? What did you have against them?”
“They just didn’t treat her right, you know what I’m sayin’? They were so controlling.”
Josh watched as she toyed with her ice cream, not eating it. She bit her lip, and it looked like she was trying to figure out what else to ask.
“Was she fighting with them too?”
He shrugged and nodded. “She was fighting with pretty much everybody in her life, even her dad. She wasn’t happy, Bernie. That’s why she ran away.”
“She didn’t run away, Diego.”
“What? What are you talking about? What do you think happened to her?” Diego pushed his ice cream away and sat up, leaning toward Bernie. Josh watched carefully, ready to step in if necessary.
“I don’t know. I just know she didn’t run away.”
“You think something bad happened to her? Wait, do you think I did something to her?” He pushed away from the table and stood up. “Shit! That’s what you think, isn’t it? You never wanted to go out with me! You just wanted to find out what I know about Gabby! Well, screw you, Bernie! I didn’t do nothing to that crazy bitch!” He threw down his napkin and stormed out, leaving the rest of the patrons in the shop to stare awkwardly at Bernie.
“Nothing to see, people!” Josh stood in front of Bernie to give her a moment to collect herself away from prying eyes. “Let’s get out of here.” He held out his hand and pulled her to her feet. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Embarrassed, but fine. I’ve never made a scene before.” She looked around at the other patrons, who were avoiding her gaze, yet whispering noticeably.
“Who cares what they think? You’ll never see them again.” He held the door for her. “Besides, you were magnificent.”
***
“I need your help with something.”
Josh wiped his floury hands on a kitchen towel and turned to Bernie. “Sure. You need me to finish the dough?”
She laughed and pulled the mixing bowl closer. “No. Empanadas are one thing I can make without your expert advice. I used to make these with my abuela all the time. I need your mad computer skills.”
“Okay.” He returned his attention to the pie crust he was rolling out. “What do you need?”
“Can you help me cyber-stalk Gabby’s friends? I want to find out what Natalia and Sofia talk about on social media, but I have no idea how to go about it.”
“I can he
lp. Has Diego bothered you at school or anything?”
“No. He’s ignoring me, which is for the best. I feel kinda bad about how I treated him.” She finished rolling the dough into small balls, then flattened them and placed them in the refrigerator to chill. She stirred the apple filling and spooned a small taste into her mouth. “Can you check their Facebook, Twitter, and whatever else they might be into?”
“Sure. We need to look at Instagram and Pinterest. Girls are usually into Pinterest. They probably have Snapchat and other apps that are harder to track too.”
“God, I had no idea! Who has time for all that stuff? Whatever happened to just passing notes?”
“Welcome to the twenty-first century, Bernie.” He concentrated for a moment on crimping his piecrust into a perfect fluted pattern. “Anyway, we can probably find some way to check out what they’ve been posting.”
“Good. I’m going to try to make nice with them at school and see if I can find out what they know.”
“Bernie, I know you feel like you need to investigate this, but I’m sure the police talked to them.” He poured the pumpkin filling into the pie shells and carefully lifted them into the oven. He turned to find her stirring the apple mixture for her empanadas; he could tell by the stiffness of her back she was pissed. He sighed and stepped forward to massage her shoulders. “I’m just worried about you. I hate the thought of you getting mixed up in whatever happened to Gabby.”
“I have to keep trying,” she whispered.
“I know. I’ll help, I promise. But I’ll worry.”
She flashed a grateful smile over her shoulder, and he reached to brush a bit of flour from her eyebrow. His thumb, entirely of its own accord, caressed her soft cheek. Her startled eyes met his and then drifted to his mouth. They paused for an infinite moment before he lowered his head, intent on tasting her full lips.
“Hey, kids. I’m home.” Claire’s arms were full of grocery bags as she entered the kitchen.
Josh stepped away from Bernie quickly and turned to take the bags from his mother. Holy crap, I almost kissed Bernie. Am I glad or upset my mom interrupted us? “Is there more in the car?”
“Yes, thanks, sweetie. It smells great in here! What are you making, Bernie?”
Josh retreated to the garage while she told his mom all about the pastries she had insisted on preparing. Was it his imagination or was she babbling? Perhaps she was as flustered as he was. He took his time retrieving the rest of the groceries from his mom’s trunk, needing a few moments to process what had just happened in the kitchen. On the surface it was no surprise, of course. She was a beautiful girl and he was a normal, red-blooded American guy. But there were all kinds of reasons kissing her was a terrible idea. He groaned and scrubbed his hands over his face, then gathered the remaining grocery bags from the trunk of his mom’s car.
He put away the groceries and then left his mom and Bernie in the kitchen while he retreated to take a shower. The knock on his door fifteen minutes later shouldn’t have surprised him.
“Josh, sweetie, are you decent?”
“Most of the time. Maybe more like fifty-fifty. But I’m mostly dressed, so come in.”
“You’re so funny.” Claire rolled her eyes as she closed his bedroom door. “I need to talk to you about something.”
“Sure, Mom. What’s up?” He was 99.99 percent certain he didn’t want to hear it, but he pulled on a t-shirt and leaned against his dresser.
Instead of answering, Claire walked across the room and picked up a photo from the desk. “I think this is my absolute favorite of you and Caleb.” The little boys in the picture were hoisting a large bass each and grinning for the camera. “I remember Caleb caught the smaller fish, and when he cried, you gave him your bigger one. You’re an amazing big brother, Josh.”
He thought about the way she used the present tense. Did I cease to be a brother when Caleb died? He was still pondering when she continued.
“I need to talk to you about Bernie.” She let the statement simmer for a moment.
“Okay.” He drew the syllables out. “What’s wrong with her?”
“Nothing.” She was quick to correct. “Absolutely nothing! She’s a wonderful girl. I’m so glad she found us, and I love having her here. But—”
“What? Spit it out, Mom!”
“You like her. I’d have to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to see there’s something between you two.”
“And you don’t approve? You don’t think she’s good enough—”
“No. That’s not it.” She crossed to where he was standing and grasped one of his arms and put her other hand on his face. “It’s not about approving or thinking she’s not good enough. Nobody will ever be quite good enough for my son, but Bernie is pretty special.”
“Then what—?”
“What I object to is the timing.” She actually raised her voice, something she hardly ever had to do. Then she continued, more subdued. “Josh, she lives in our house. She is under your protection right now, and that means she is strictly hands-off. Any romantic involvement could be seen as you taking advantage of her.”
“I would never—”
“Sweetheart, I know! Of course you wouldn’t, but are you perfectly sure Bernie wouldn’t see it that way?”
He reached his hands up and ran them through his wet hair as he groaned in frustration. “Yeah, okay. I get it. I haven’t done anything, just so you know.”
“If I’m out of line, I apologize. It’s just when I came in—”
“Shit. Sorry. You’re not completely out of line. I almost kissed her. I would have if you hadn’t walked in. She’s just so…”
“What?” Claire was smiling, so he knew he wasn’t really in trouble.
“Beautiful. Smart. Adorable. Kind. God, I’m pathetic.”
“No, you’re not. You’re a highly intelligent young man and you have excellent taste. But you can only be friends for now. Until she’s not living here, any romance is strictly off-limits. I mean it, Josh.”
“Okay. My mind agrees completely.”
“But your heart? It is your heart we’re talking about, isn’t it?” The horrified look on her face was so comical he had to laugh.
He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. “Yes, my heart. Let’s not talk about the other. I’m still traumatized from our last sex talk.”
“Yeah, me too. All right, I’m done lecturing. Let’s get ready for Thanksgiving.”
Chapter Eight
“Aren’t you afraid of La Llorona?” Bernie asked. Gabby wanted to sneak out and walk around the trailer park, but it was after midnight and Bernie was scared.
“Who?”
“La Llorona! The Weeping Woman!”
“Never heard of her. You’re making it up!”
“Am not! My abuela told me!” Bernie was near tears but hoped Gabby hadn’t noticed.
“Tell me,” Gabby ordered and flopped on her bed.
Bernie cuddled deeper in the fluffy blanket she’d had since she was three and began her story. “Maria was young and beautiful, and all the men in town wanted to marry her. She chose the richest and most handsome of them all, and they soon had two little children. But the man grew tired of her and started spending his time with other women, only coming home to see the children. This made Maria hate her children, so she drowned them in the river.”
“What a bitch!”
“Gabby! That’s a bad word. Do you want to hear the rest of the story or not?”
Gabby rolled her eyes but nodded for Bernie to finish.
“Maria felt really bad about killing her kids, so she wandered up and down the river, looking for them and calling to them. She forgot to eat and she died. But people still hear her crying for her children and sometimes even see her. You have to be careful not to go out after dark or La Llorona will catch you and drown you in the river.”
“Well, we don’t live anywhere near the river, so we’re safe.”
“She doesn’t need a river! She’ll us
e ditches, creeks, acequias, whatever! I don’t want to go out there.”
“Don’t be such a baby, Bernie! Come on! It’ll be fun!”
Bernie
“And don’t eat too much at this first stop.” Josh lobbed the advice over his shoulder at Bernie, who was in the backseat of Claire’s Lexus. Josh drove at his mother’s insistence while Bernie stared at the interior of the car in amazement, touching the butter-soft leather seats and praying she had wiped her feet adequately before she got in. “Gran isn’t near the cook my grammy is. We’ll go to their house a little later, so save room.”
“Joshua Dane!”
“Sorry, Mom, but it’s true and you know it.” He caught Bernie’s gaze in the rearview mirror and winked. She felt herself flushing as she thought about the near-kiss earlier in the kitchen. He had been about to kiss her, hadn’t he? She wasn’t very experienced, but she also wasn’t completely clueless. She’d been horribly disappointed when Claire interrupted them but in retrospect realized it was probably for the best. She had no business kissing someone like Josh Harris; there was no way he could ever be seriously interested in her.
“Well, yes, but don’t let my mother even suspect we don’t love her cooking. All Josh’s talent came from his father’s side of the family. And be sure to take a very small helping of the stuffing. It’s really terrible. Save most of your appetite for Thanksgiving number two.”
“Do you always do this double holiday thing?”
“Yes.” Claire heaved a sigh. “When both sets of grandparents live in town, how can you choose? They both want equal time with the boys.” She sniffed and turned toward the side window as she must have realized what she’d said—boys. There was only one boy now. Bernie shook her head and wondered how a mother ever got over losing her child. Her heart melted as Josh removed his hand from the steering wheel and put it over Claire’s. “Anyway, holidays are complicated and long.”
“That’s okay. I’ve got no place else to be.”
“Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry! I didn’t think—”