by Julia Amante
“Hey,” she said in her cute sleepy voice.
“I went shopping,” he said, and gave her the flowers and store bag.
She sat up in bed and frowned, the blankets and comforter dropping to her waist. “Shopping?” She rubbed her eyes.
“I didn’t want you to be mad at me. It’s a bribe.”
“But I’m not mad at you.” She peeked inside the shopping bag and pulled out the Louis Vuitton purse, wallet, and key chain. Her eyes grew to the size of golf balls. “Eric… oh, my God. What did you do? Cheat on me? This must have cost you a fortune.”
Yeah, he’d almost fainted when the girl gave him the total. He hoped she would keep this for the rest of her life. He smiled. “I’m just sorry for walking out tonight, like I did. I wanted to be alone. Wanted to think.”
She turned concerned eyes on him, her gifts completely forgotten. “What’s wrong? Whatever it is, you can talk to me.”
“I will, but not tonight.”
“Is it me? Are you—?”
“You’re perfect. It’s just… business. The house. I’m a little stressed.”
“Stressed,” she said, as if she knew there was more to it than that.
“Yeah.”
She sat there, just looking at him. Waiting. Finally she nodded. “I can relieve your stress,” she said, lowering her eyelids, a sexy invitation that had him immediately aroused.
He pushed the items he’d purchased to the floor and moved the blankets aside. He climbed into bed with her. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. If you had said that to begin with, we could have taken care of it hours ago, and saved you a lot of money.” She wrapped her arms around him. “Though I do love the bribes. Great taste.”
“Thanks.” He reached between them and pulled her nightgown off. “I’ll remember that next time.”
His hands covered her breasts. She placed her hands over his. “Hey. I’m serious, though. I’m happy to give you alone time, or to listen, or to hold you if that’s what you need. Just tell me, okay?”
God, he loved her. “I need you.”
“You can have me.”
Gratefully, he lost himself in her. In her kisses, in her caresses, in her body. And he didn’t care if he never got out of this bed or moved out of this house. He just didn’t care anymore.
Chapter Twenty
Lucia prepared Thanksgiving dinner, going all out this year. With Eric home, Victoria at his side, and Jaqueline joining them, her house was full of the people she loved most. Eric and Antonio watched football while Victoria and Jaqueline helped out with the last-minute preparations.
During dinner, they bragged about the wonderful cruise.
“I hope you enjoyed it, because you’re never going anywhere without me again,” Antonio teased her. Though she was sure he wasn’t really teasing.
“We wanted to take more trips together. Once a year to renew our spirits.”
“Your spirit is going to clash seriously with mine if you decide to do that,” he said.
Jaqueline changed the subject, describing the feeling of being surrounded by water. “I think I should have chosen to live closer to the ocean in my life. I would have felt more at peace.”
“It’s never too late,” Eric said.
“Oh, honey,” Jaqueline said. “It’s too late for me.”
“Why? Tell me your dream house on the beach and I’ll find it for you.”
Jaqueline laughed, but then played along. “Okay, well, it’s on the beach.”
“Okay,” he said, and laughed.
“I mean on the beach. It’s small, but comfortable, but sort of rustic. Has a fireplace made of river rock. A nice kitchen with a breakfast nook. A couple of bedrooms. And only one story,” she said. “Oh, and it has a small yard for a little flower garden.”
Eric listened and ate as she spoke. “Easy enough.”
“Then every morning I can go for a walk on the beach. I could even get a little dog to walk with me.”
Lucia enjoyed Jaqueline’s daydream. “Don’t forget that you can always invite your good friend over on the weekends to walk with you.”
Everyone laughed.
Jaqueline enjoyed spending Thanksgiving with Lucia and Antonio, but it wasn’t the same as cooking for her family. Carmen called her earlier that day promising that she’d be home for Christmas. She had a cold and would be spending Thanksgiving alone in bed. Jaqueline wanted to fly out to Pennsylvania and make sure she ate and took care of herself. She even mentioned it to her, but Carmen told her she was being silly. That it was just a cold and that she’d be fine in a few days.
As she and Lucia cleaned up, Victoria and Eric snuggled on the couch. He continually whispered in her ear and made her laugh. He never let her out of his sight for long, and always seemed to make an effort to touch her.
“What do you think about Eric and Victoria?” Jaqueline asked Lucia.
“You know I think it’s wonderful.”
“Do you think they’re in love?”
“Or do I think they’re just playing house?” Lucia asked. She wiped the dishes dry and put them away.
“Exactly.”
“Doesn’t make any difference.” She placed the towel on the rack. “As long as they’re happy.”
“I don’t agree. Happiness comes and goes. Love and commitment makes you stay together during the times when things aren’t so happy.”
“Does it really?” Lucia asked, lifting an eyebrow that reminded her that even love and commitment ran its course in time.
“Yes,” she said stubbornly.
“I knew I loved Antonio from the first day I met him. How about you and Victor?”
“I didn’t love him right away. I’m not sure I even liked him.” She smiled when she remembered how cocky and annoying he was.
“I think the kids have loved each other since they were… well, kids. Not like now, of course, but they’ve always been so perfect together.”
Jaqueline looked past the door into the living room. She watched them sit side by side on the couch and wondered at how perfect things could be in a world where a generation of young people thought pretending to be in love was the same as the real thing.
She left soon afterward, leaving the two couples to enjoy coffee and dessert. She parked in the driveway and glanced at the garage. Victor stood at the side door of the garage.
“Happy Thanksgiving,” he called.
Through a lump in her throat, she thanked him and wished him the same. “Did you eat?” she asked.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “I bought a turkey dinner from the grocery store. It had everything, and it was good.”
Jaqueline’s heart ached, knowing he’d spent Thanksgiving alone.
“Not as good as yours, of course,” he added.
“Do you want to… come inside for coffee?”
“Sure,” he said.
She unlocked the house and they walked in. She went into the kitchen and he followed. He sat at the kitchen table. The sight of him at the table looked so familiar she almost started crying right there and then.
“I heard you went on a nice cruise.”
She turned away and started making the coffee. “Yes.”
“Did you like it?”
“Beautiful.”
“Good.” He tapped his fingers on the table. “I talked to Carmen this morning. She’s sick.”
“I know. I told her to get some rest.”
“She promised to come home for Christmas,” Victor said.
“It’ll be wonderful to see her.” Jaqueline sat at the table and waited for the coffee to drip into the carafe. “Have you spoken to Victoria?”
“Yes.”
“I’m glad to hear that. She needs you in her life, Victor.”
“I’m sorry I told her to move out. I never thought she’d move in with that man.”
“They put that house up for sale. Maybe she’ll get her own place now.”
Victor scowled. “I doubt it.”
“Why
?”
“She told me she loves him.”
Jaqueline stared wide-eyed at Victor. Victoria hadn’t told her that. “Love? She used that word?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, boy.”
Victor smiled, then stood and started pouring the coffee.
“Oh, I’ll do that.”
“No, stay there. I’ll do it.” He poured both their cups and placed them on the table.
Neither of them spoke as they added sugar and cream.
Then he stared at her with his smoky gray eyes, searching and warm. Jaqueline stared back. He looked away first.
“The restaurants are almost finished. Except for the interior.”
“Great.”
“I’d love it if you came to see them on opening day.”
“Of course I’ll go. I’d love to.”
“Are you still planning a trip to Argentina?”
“I don’t know. I’d like to go and see what our country looks like after so many years. Walk the streets that I did as a child. See our flag flying proudly in the capital. But I don’t need to go to figure things out anymore.”
He drank his coffee. “No?”
“No, my life isn’t there anymore. It’s here.” She wanted to say with you, but she wasn’t sure it was with him anymore.
“I feel like I should apologize about that.”
“About bringing me here? No. I’ve had a good life here with you and the girls.”
“But not what you thought it would be. Away from your family and friends.”
“I made new friends.”
He nodded and gazed at her for a long time again.
“Besides,” she said, her voice cracking, “nothing ever turns out the way you think it will. That doesn’t make it bad. Just different.”
He cradled his coffee cup, not meeting her eyes anymore. Then he stood. “I’d better go. Thanks for the coffee.”
“You’re welcome. Victor, I…”
“Yeah?”
“Are you okay out there? Do you need anything?”
He shook his head sadly. “No, I don’t need anything.”
“Okay,” she said, wishing that for once, he’d tell her he needed her.
“What about you?”
What about her? She missed him and was lonely. She needed what she always needed: his arms around her, wanting her. But she hugged her arms around herself. “I’m fine, too.”
“Okay. Good night, Jaqui.”
“Good night.”
He walked out and closed the door. She locked it and shook her head. Why couldn’t she stop loving him once and for all?
Victoria stopped by La Parrilla to see if she could lend a hand, see how things were going. She found the manager that her father hired to be very efficient. The cooks and waiters worked as well as, if not better than, when Victor ran the restaurant. With Victor, they had wiggle room. They were family to him, and though he worked everyone hard, he also didn’t mind if they took care of personal matters or just rested during the lulls. The new manager wasn’t their friend. He was their boss, and they knew it.
Victoria spent Saturday and Sunday with him, and when she told him she was there to help, he gave her specific tasks in the office, nothing in the restaurant itself. Here, too, he had reorganized the office. On the desk, Victoria found bids from various interior designers for the new restaurants. She studied each. When Victor stopped by on Sunday night, Victoria asked him about them.
“I haven’t had time to look at those very closely. But I have to,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “What to you think of ’em?”
“I don’t think any of them are capturing the essence of La Parrilla, the Argentine tone that will distinguish it from other steak houses.”
Victor put his feet up on the desk and leaned back in the chair. He drank a bottle of cold water. “Those were exactly my thoughts when I scanned them.”
She picked up one of the proposals. “This looks too much like any other chain restaurant. There’s no warmth to it.”
“I told those people I wanted an outdoorsy look, but not too outdoorsy. Leather. Cows. As if the customers were spending the day at an estancia.”
She nodded. “Right. This isn’t it.”
“No.”
“Neither are the other two.”
He studied her. “What would you do?”
“Well.” She shrugged and picked up a pencil. She sketched on a piece of drawing paper as she spoke. “An estancia. Let’s see.”
“You don’t even know what an estancia is, do you?”
“A farm, Dad.”
“No. More than a farm. It was the gaucho’s life. His spirit was part of the land.”
Victoria frowned. “But I thought gauchos were sort of wanderers and the rich Europeans owned the land.”
“Don’t argue with me. Americanos think of Argentina and they think of gauchos. Beef. Tangos. That’s what we have to have.”
“Okay.” She thought. “Gauchos, outdoors, beef, tangos. Outdoors,” she repeated, and started drawing.
Victor watched her sketch. “What’s that in the center there?”
“It’s a grill.”
“What the hell is the grill doing in the middle of the restaurant. The kitchen’s back there.” He pointed to the back on her drawing.
“Well,” she said. “I was thinking that if you wanted to make it like a weekend at an estancia, you should have a big fire pit. Right here in the center of the restaurant. People could choose their cut of beef, barbecue it, and take it back to their table.”
“Cook their own meat! Are you crazy? What if they don’t do it right?”
“Wait a minute,” she said. “Hear me out. You’ll have a cook stationed at the grill, of course. Giving advice and marinating the beef.” She glanced at Victor to see if he was following. A frown wrinkled his forehead. “People love being in control. This way, they’d participate in the making of the meal. And it would be all they could eat. It would give the restaurant a modern feel, and it would look really cool with an open grill in the center of the restaurant.”
Victor seemed to be considering it as he studied the sketch. “Maybe you have a point. The grill could be sort of an attraction bringing everyone together.”
“Right, people could chat and laugh as they’re standing around the huge grill, like they would in their backyard.”
He stared at the drawing. “So would the circle be sort of doughnut shaped? The cook in the middle?”
“Exactly.”
“But what if they don’t want to cook their own food?”
“You’d still have a menu for them to choose from, and cooks in the kitchen.”
He arched an eyebrow. “I think it’s… brilliant,” he said simply. “It will make La Parilla stand out. But I’m going to have to run this by the architects. And probably by the marketing team I hired. See if they think this idea would appeal to customers.”
“Sure.”
“But I like it.” He smiled. “A lot.”
“Thanks. And the name will make more sense since La Parrilla means ‘the grill.’ ”
“So is this something you know how to draw up to give to an architect and design crew?”
“I can do this for you, sure,” she said enthusiastically. This was something she could help him with that she’d actually enjoy.
“Then you’re hired. Give me a real bid to present to the bankers.”
“I wasn’t going to charge you for this, Dad.”
“Of course you’re going to charge me. This is your new career, no?”
“I haven’t opened up my business officially, but yes.”
“Then this will go in your portfolio.”
Victoria was so happy, she dropped to his side, and wrapped her arms around him. “Thanks, Papi.”
He patted her back. “Don’t thank me. Just do it right. I’m counting on you.”
And she wouldn’t let him down. This was the kind of collaboration she’d always dreamed abo
ut having with her father. Having him really listen to her opinions. Taking her suggestions seriously rather than giving orders. Even if she had to go without sleep, she’d make sure she executed every detail of this design flawlessly.
Eric couldn’t believe that a week after Thanksgiving he got an offer on the house. Excited and nervous at the same time, he stopped by the real-estate office to meet with the agent. But when he saw the offer, his good spirits sank. The number was much lower than he expected. He sent a questioning look to the agent.
“Sorry,” she said. “But prices keep dropping. And buyers are few these days.”
Eric stared at the number and nodded. “I’ll get back to you,” he said.
When he got home, Victoria was home for a change. He didn’t mention the offer. She sat in the living room, poring over design books. He sat beside her. She leaned over and offered him a kiss.
After the sweet kiss, he winked. “What do you say we spend the weekend in the mountains. No snow yet, but we can rent a cabin, make love in front of a fireplace, sleep on a bear skin.”
Victoria wrinkled her nose. “Bear skin? Yuck.”
He chuckled and wrapped an arm around her waist, caressing her soft skin where her jeans and her top met. “Okay, we’ll skip that part.”
“I’m going to help my father out at La Parrilla this weekend. I’m sorry.”
Help her father out? That shocked the hell of him. “When did you start working there again?”
“I didn’t start working there again. He offered me the interior design job for the three restaurants,” she said, barely able to contain her excitement. “I’ve got to meet with the architects and go over preliminary sketches, and—why are you looking at me like that?”
He dropped his arm. How was he looking at her? “I guess I’m surprised. Actually, I’m fired up for you. That’s a huge step for your dad. A major compliment.”
“I know.” She placed a hand on her chest. “I wanted to cry, I was so happy.”
He smiled. Way to go, Mr. Torres, he thought.
She angled her head. “What’s wrong?”
“Wrong? Nothing. Like I said, I think it’s awesome.”
“You just don’t seem… that happy.”
“Well.” He sighed. “I wasn’t going to tell you yet, but we got an offer on the house.”