Rigo closed his fingers around Gloria’s hand, connecting them as tightly as woven cloth.
“If you’ll let me, I want to be the last.” He looked in her eyes, gathering strength from the flecks of golden light in the brown irises. He needed it for what he was about to say. “Gloria, I want to kiss you. I want you to know how I feel right now about you, about us. But not here. Not now. Not with all these people around. But later...maybe...would that be okay?”
For the second time tonight, he held his breath. He didn’t know what he’d do if she said no.
Gloria nodded. “Sí, mi sueño.”
She called him her dream. She said yes. That was all he needed to know.
* * *
The sound of a bottle clunking into a metal trash can interrupted the ebb and flow of Gloria’s thoughts.
“Hey, Rigo! Want a drink?” Officer Brock Carpenter held up a small personal cooler. Gloria felt certain it didn’t carry cans of soda.
Knowing now that Rigo had been through rehab for alcohol issues, Gloria tensed as she waited for Rigo’s reply.
“No, thanks, guys. We were just about to head home.” Rigo stood and started scooping the shrimp shells onto a plate to throw away.
“Hey, wait. That’s Rodriguez’s wife.” Carpenter’s voice boomed across the three tables between them and rang in Gloria’s ear. “Glo! Haven’t seen you in a while. What are you doing here?”
The force in the officer’s tone nearly pushed her backward. What was the best way to answer that loaded question?
Rigo jumped in. “Dinner. We came to have dinner, guys, same as you.” She knew the sound of a trained law enforcement official trying to defuse a situation. She’d heard Felipe use this tone many times before.
Sometimes, she smiled slightly with the memories.
“That’s interesting, Vasquez. Get her husband killed, then take off and when you come back to town, take her out on a date. Nice work.” Carpenter saluted Rigo with a tip of the brown longneck bottle in his hand.
Gloria’s blood began to heat up, bubbles crowding into her veins, feeling as though they would soon burst into a boil. She picked up her plate and plastic cup and turned to put them in the trash can. She didn’t want to face Carpenter anymore. He’d always been a bully. She remembered Felipe didn’t like to have anything to do with him. “Carpenter, shut it. You’re letting that bottle do the talking and you’re upsetting Gloria.” Rigo closed two tables’ worth of distance, putting himself squarely between Carpenter and Gloria.
“Upsetting? It’s upsetting to see an officer’s widow out with the man who was there the night her husband was killed, then didn’t even show up for the man’s funeral. It’s like seeing something out of one of those bad chick TV movies.” He leaned over to the officer sitting next to him, a man Gloria didn’t recognize. His voice dipped low and smooth, like a mock television announcer. “He couldn’t save her husband, but he was the only man who could save her heart...tonight on the Life and Love TV chick movie of the week.”
A roar of laughter went up from the table.
“Good one, Carpenter,” said another officer in the pack. He took a slow swig from his own brown bottle.
“Yeah, Rigo was always there for the damsels in distress.” Carpenter winked for emphasis. “What the ladies didn’t know is he always worked it so he was the cause of the distress, then he could come in and save ’em.”
Ice began to form in the pit of her stomach. She couldn’t believe it was staying there so solidly since her blood continued to boil at a fast roll. Surely Rigo wasn’t manipulating the trust she had placed in him the past few days?
Rigo began to walk back toward Gloria.
“Come on, Glo, let’s go. And you, Milton—” Rigo pointed at Ricky Milton, one of his friends on the force, seated at the end of the table “—you shouldn’t even be with these guys. Don’t do something you’re going to regret—you can call me anytime, instead.”
“The only thing Milton regrets is not calling her first, since she’s back to dating cops.” Carpenter stood up and gave Rigo a forceful shove to the shoulder, knocking him off balance and into the table.
Like a well-timed SWAT attack, a swarm of officers leaped up from their own meals and pulled Rigo and the bully apart. Carpenter spewed a string of words that made Gloria, who’d spent the better part of her adult life around police officers, blanch with shock.
Especially since some of them were about her.
She felt as though the rogue punch had pushed her to the ground instead. The force of Carpenter’s crude words hurt as surely as a fistfight.
“I’m done, I’m done...” Rigo said as he tried to shake an officer off of each arm. “Don’t worry, McLellan. I’m not going to finish off Carpenter. Even though I should.”
Gloria could see the heat in his eyes and the steel on his face. It was taking every ounce of self-control he had not to further defend her honor, but this time not just with words.
“You need to go, Chief Vasquez.” McLellan stared down Carpenter, warning him to keep his mouth shut. “Gloria, you need to go, too. But remember what I said.”
The implication with his simple sentence seemed clear to Gloria. He saw this as yet another bad situation Rigo found himself in. Another reason why Gloria couldn’t trust Rigo’s judgment. Another reason she shouldn’t let him back into her life.
But that wasn’t how she saw it at all.
“Come on, Rigo.” She took him by the arm, then tucked her hand firmly into the crook of his elbow.
Carpenter’s shove may have brought the assembled group of first responders to their feet, but Gloria’s hand on Rigo’s arm dropped their jaws.
And she knew without a doubt she was strong enough right now not to care what they thought.
* * *
“You okay?” Rigo reached out and patted Gloria gently on the leg as they drove down Gulfview Boulevard. There was no longer hesitation in his touch, nor in how she felt about it. He wanted to be with her. She wanted to be with him.
“That was some dinner, wasn’t it?”
Rigo laughed, the sound tinged with gentle irony. “That it was. The shrimp sure tasted good. Carpenter’s a jerk, Gloria. Always has been. Don’t let him get to you.”
“Oh, believe me, I’m not. This isn’t the first time I’ve been around him. Felipe had words with him at a Christmas party several years ago.”
“Really?” Rigo took his eyes off the road for a second to look at Gloria. “That was one of the greatest things about Felipe—nothing ever got to him. He was Unflappable Felipe.”
“Maybe on the job, but he brought a lot of that frustration home with him.” She stopped herself. She’d never spoken of Felipe’s mood swings to anyone. She knew he’d kept them hidden well from his brothers on the force. He hadn’t always been able to keep them hidden from her, though.
“Wait.” Rigo hit the brake on his truck and pulled quickly into an open parking space along the sidewalk that twisted along the Gulf’s edge. “Are you saying he hurt you?”
“No, no. Not physically, nothing like that. I knew he still loved me, but he didn’t know how to deal with the stress of the job, then coming home to miscarriages and disappointment. He couldn’t fix it and so he eventually tried to distance himself from it and threw himself into his work.”
“But he didn’t hurt you?” Rigo’s eyes said more than his words. Wide, open, searching. He focused on her face with a hyperintensity, trying to make sure she wasn’t holding anything back.
The concern he showed pulled at Gloria’s heart. She didn’t want to speak badly of Felipe. He’d been a good man, a good husband—even if they’d had some problems in the last years.
But even more than that, she didn’t want any more secrets between her and Rigo. No more misunderstandings.
Th
ey’d weathered enough mistakes that had changed the course of their lives. She didn’t know where this newfound trust and redeveloping closeness was leading them. But she knew where she didn’t want it to lead: right back to secrets and lies.
“No. But that night, when I learned he stopped to help you instead of coming straight to me...” She let her words trail off as she gathered a breath. She’d come too far to stop. “It hurt. I lost my husband and my child that night. And on top of that, I had to deal with knowing that backing up a suspicious traffic stop was more important than being at my side. He chose his work over me and Mateo.”
“Gloria, I’m sorry. I didn’t call him to cause a problem—I needed backup—but I am the reason he wasn’t there with you. My call is the reason he was killed. I’ve made so many mistakes, Gloria. I’d do anything I could to change them, but I don’t know where to start.” Rigo’s voice was as flat as the glass-smooth water just beyond them. There was no wind tonight, no waves.
And no need to hold back anything in their hearts.
“Start here.”
Gloria leaned her head past the center console of the truck. Rigo met her halfway, and the instant she felt the touch of his lips on hers, the past faded away where it belonged.
Rigo slipped a hand behind her neck and pulled Gloria a little closer, a little tighter. She let her head settle a bit on his hand, using his strength to fortify her own.
Her knees weakened a little, and she was happy to let the feeling take over. It meant she could still feel. It meant that spark could still light inside her heart and tickle as it rode through her veins.
She leaned in to Rigo, the solid wall of his chest giving her a strong place to land. She breathed in the faint scent of the cologne he’d put on this evening, the same notes of sandalwood and fir he’d worn since he’d started wearing cologne. It all felt and smelled and tasted so familiar.
She wasn’t in this alone.
And she didn’t want to be without him, without this strength, ever again.
Chapter Ten
“What is that?”
Rigo stepped through the half-open back door of the house on Travis Place the following afternoon and a toxic wave singed the inside of his sinus cavities.
Gloria was a sight for sore eyes. He’d been arguing with tourists who thought it would be fun to come see someone else’s heartache. Disaster tourism just for kicks. The very thought disgusted him and he’d been pretty pointed in his dialogue with the tourists. But seeing Gloria set his emotions to right.
“Fertilizer.”
“It smells like a bomb went off, Glo.”
“Well, yeah, kinda.” The angry tang of ammonia hung heavy in the house and Gloria pointed at the door that led to the garage. “Water got into the cabinet where I keep all my lawn and garden stuff. It melted the bag of fertilizer I had stored in there. When I opened it up, it all poured out. I thought it was going to burn my eyes out.”
“I’m glad it didn’t. Do you need some help getting it cleaned up?” Rigo looked toward the back of the house.
“No, I turned on the hose...after I found a mask to put over my nose. But even though the water’s back on, there’s not enough pressure to wash away this mess. I’ll be glad when all this cleanup is over.” She waved her hand in a dismissive acknowledgment of the disheveled contents of the garage. “It’s as much of a mess in here as it feels like my life is right now.”
“There are some good things going on, though.” He reached out a hand and when she laid her palm in his, Rigo tugged Gloria close.
He couldn’t help himself. Now that the smoke of years of misunderstanding was clearing, all he wanted to do was keep her close and hold her.
Well, in the spirit of honesty, that wasn’t all he wanted to do. Right now, he wanted to kiss her. For a long time. And then do it all over again. And again. And again. Until they had enough new memories to wash the old ones out with the tide.
Rigo ran his free hand up Gloria’s spine and settled his palm at the base of her skull, cupping it gently. She didn’t pull away as he pressed the curve of bone with his fingertips, coaxing her head closer to his own and finding just the right angle.
There were memories to be made.
He leaned down and lowered his mouth to Gloria’s. Her lips slid softly against his. No liquid in any bottle had ever made him feel as wild as this sharp sword of adrenaline that slashed through him, fueling his emotions.
Rigo scolded the eighteen-year-old he’d once been for ever thinking he could have done better than this, for ever thinking he didn’t need this above almost all else in his life, except his relationship with God. It was impossible to tell where his breath ended and hers began.
He let the tension flow out of his shoulders as he reminded himself she was here, now, in his arms where she belonged. And he would never let her get away again.
Gloria slid her hand up Rigo’s chest and rested her forearm in the curve between his neck and shoulder, like two pieces of a puzzle coming together.
It just fit. Like Gloria’s presence back in his life.
He pulled back slightly and Gloria took a half step back. The moment was over. But the lesson forged in the embrace would not be forgotten.
“Never again,” Rigo said. His words came out crisply and sounded low—he’d used his police officer’s voice by instinct.
Gloria began to move her arm from its spot on his shoulder. Rigo placed his hand on hers, gently but in a way that left no room for misunderstanding. Gloria stayed still.
“What do you mean?”
The humid September heat pressed heavy in the room and Rigo wiped a bead of sweat out of Gloria’s hairline.
“I promise you, Gloria Garcia Rodriguez, that never again will I exchange the truth of what we have together for the lie of something that comes in a bottle. Never again will I give you a reason to shed another tear or find love in someone else’s arms.” He knew he should have hesitated. He knew he should have held back. He knew he shouldn’t chance overwhelming Gloria with the force of what he was feeling. But he had to. He had to be honest with her. She had to know. “I love you, Gloria. I always have. I never stopped. Not for a minute—even when my actions said anything but that. I don’t know what’s ahead for this island or for us as we rebuild. But I want to be the one you come home to, wherever that is, whatever that is.”
Gloria’s first reply was a small sound, like a strangled sob. She leaned her head into his chest, and Rigo wasn’t sure if the wetness that immediately pressed through his shirt was sweat or tears. It didn’t matter—she was where she belonged, next to him, in his arms. With time, they could sort everything else out together.
He only hoped she saw things the same way, and he battled to keep his adrenaline in check as he waited for her answer.
Rigo felt her head shift up and down, nodding against his shirt.
“Mi casa es su casa, Rigo.”
My house is your house. He let out his breath as he closed his eyes and thanked God for letting her see things the same way.
“Well, not this house, because it won’t be mine for long.” Gloria pulled away and looked slowly at the stained walls and the last roll of carpet and pad in the corner that was ready to be dragged to the curb for eventual pickup. “But wherever there’s love, there’s home, right?”
Rigo thanked God silently again. He couldn’t believe his dream was coming true. After everything he’d messed up, he was getting a second chance. Maybe he was becoming worthy of her, after all.
“So you feel the same way?” A mosquito buzzed somewhere in the room, the tiny hum breaking the silence as he waited for her answer.
“I do.”
Someday, Rigo hoped to hear her say those words in the sanctuary at La Iglesia de la Luz del Mundo as they stood before their family and friends and finally took the vows
he’d asked Carlos’s permission to take a decade ago.
But for now, just knowing they were moving forward together instead of looking back would have to do.
Hopefully, though, not for long.
* * *
Another hour passed as they moved the soaked contents of Gloria’s garage out to the curb.
The city had announced yesterday afternoon that they were working with a FEMA contractor to begin collecting the mountains of garbage residents were pulling out of their homes. As the day grew longer, Gloria’s pile grew, too.
A drowned lawn mower that would never run again. Disintegrating cardboard boxes that had once stored Christmas decorations, now devoid of their holiday cheer. A framed print of a sunset, the watercolor now waterlogged and warped, mold beginning to creep in a polka-dotted pattern across the faded brushstrokes. They were all there, standing in silent testament to the changes that had befallen Port Provident and all her residents.
Gloria made a few trips back and forth from the front door to the curb, throwing armloads of textbooks on the pile.
“Look at these. Can you believe it? All these huge, expensive nursing textbooks.” She heaved four thick books toward the ground. “The covers look like they need to be ironed and the pages are all stuck together and smell like mold. Ugh. There’s no saving them. I guess when I start medical school, I’ll be starting from scratch in the reference-book arena.”
“So you’re really going to do it?” Rigo couldn’t keep the grin off his face. This sounded like the Gloria he’d fallen in love with so many years ago, a woman not afraid to take chances. A possessive pride took hold of his heart, seeing this Gloria, the real Gloria, eclipse the shadow of the angry Gloria who’d been shackled by the past.
“Yes. I have some friends in the admissions office at the med school connected to Provident Medical Center. Once they get back up and running, I’m going to call Paula and see if she can guide me through the process.”
“And you feel good about that?” She sounded confident, but Rigo wanted to confirm Gloria was truly onboard with this change of events in her life.
Second Chance Sweethearts (Love Inspired) Page 16