Dona Maria waved Gaby’s offer away, shaking her head. “I’m fine. Actually, I feel wonderful. I just received news from Spain that dear friends of ours are on their way here for an extended visit.”
Gaby smiled, sharing her enthusiasm. “Wonderful. Has it been long since you have seen them?”
“Much too long,” Dona Maria added with a touch of sadness. “But they are on their way and we have much to do before their arrival.”
“Si,” Gaby said. “Where do you wish me to start?”
Dona Maria looked at the young girl with a hint of regret. She had grown to care deeply for Gaby. She was so vibrant and full of life. Her smile alone could melt the coldest heart. If only she were not of peasant stock... if only.
Dona Maria reached out and squeezed Gaby’s hand. “You are a good girl. I am glad you are here to help me.”
Gaby was surprised by the show of affection, but remained silent.
“We will start by going through my wardrobe. I have many dresses that require alterations and pressing.” She walked to the tall wide wardrobe that held her dresses and flung the doors open with a flourish.
Dona Maria was soon inspecting each garment and issuing instructions. An older woman, the hacienda seamstress, was summoned to make the alterations. Her hands were small and delicate and worked with lightning speed as she pinned and poked the material into shape.
“I want new outfits for the house servants,” —Dona Maria ordered with a wave of her hand—”especially for Gaby. I want her to look special since she is my companion.”
Gaby was about to protest, but Dona Maria continued. “Lupe, make certain the hacienda sparkles. Have the servants polish and scrub everything in sight and everything not in sight. Fresh flowers are to be everywhere. Arrange them in my best vases and change them at first sign of withering.”
“These people must be important,” Lupe whispered to Gaby.
Dona Maria overheard the remark. “Very important, Lupe, and there will be no gossiping while they are about.”
“Si, Senora,” Lupe said.
“You will make certain the meals are excellent. The Galvezes are accustomed to the finest foods and wine. They dine often with Spanish royalty.”
Gaby half-listened as Dona Maria droned on about the distinguished couple who were to visit. The name Galvez struck a familiar cord. She had heard it before, though not in the village.
“After all,” Dona Maria continued, “Rafael would have been part of their family. We would have remained in Spain and become an important part of court life, had not his betrothed been kidnapped and lost to him forever.”
Gaby caught the hint of a tear in the older woman’s eyes and a shadow of sorrow slipped over her. She spoke more to herself than to the servants. “My Rafael, he has suffered much. How I pray he finds happiness.”
Dona Maria took a quick deep breath. Her eyes fluttered and her hand flew to grab at her chest. “Gaby,” she cried with fear.
Gaby was instantly beside her, taking her frail weight in her arms. She collapsed slowly to the floor, cradling the older woman. She quickly used her one free hand to loosen the high-necked collar of her black dress and then pulled her clean white apron from her lap to wipe Dona Maria’s perspiring brow.
“You are all right,” Gaby said with insistence. “You have attempted to do too much too fast.” She raised her eyes to Lupe with silent instruction to get Raphael. Lupe obeyed without question, shooing the other servants from the room.
Dona Maria grabbed hold of Gaby’s hand, clinging tightly to it.
“Do not worry,” Gaby offered in a soothing tone. “It is not your time. There is much for you to do here yet.”
“Yes, much,” Dona Maria agreed in a faint whisper.
Gaby smiled, although a bit of fear crept along her heart. “You must see to your son’s marriage and of course the birth of a grandchild. You will be a perfect grandmother, kind, gentle, yet strong when you must be... like now.”
“Yes,” Dona Maria said, taking a deep breath, her anxiousness and fear dissipating. “Yes, I must be strong.”
“All women must be strong, Dona Maria, otherwise how would the men survive without us?”
Dona Maria grinned. “I envy you your courage, Gaby, and your strength.”
“You have just as much if not more,” she encouraged. “You have lived many more years and have learned much more than I. I envy and respect what the years have taught you.”
Tears came to Dona Maria’s eyes. “How I wish...”
Her words trailed off and Gaby scolded her gently. “Wishes can come true if we wish with all our heart.”
Dona Maria nodded and clung even more tightly to Gaby.
“Mother!” Rafael’s deep voice was filled with fright. “What happened?” He bent beside her afraid to move or touch her.
She looked at her son, but her grip remained firm on Gaby and that was not lost to Rafael. “A slight pain, my own fault. I’ve done too much.”
“I’ll summon the doctor,” Rafael said.
“It isn’t necessary,” his mother insisted.
Rafael looked to Gaby and she nodded.
“I insist, Mother. I want to make certain you are well. I love you and wish to take no chance with your health.”
Gaby was moved by his open declaration of love for his mother and she felt close to tears herself. Why, she wasn’t certain, or perhaps she was. Did she want Rafael to love her so unconditionally?
After issuing instructions for the doctor to be summoned immediately, Rafael effortlessly lifted his mother into his arms and placed her on the bed.
Gaby, without hesitation, attended to her at once. She wiped the woman’s brow with a damp cloth and adjusted her pillows, closed the shutters against the afternoon sun, and finally instructed Rafael to leave while she saw to making her more comfortable.
Rafael kissed his mother on the cheek and promised to return as soon as Gaby was finished. And he did. He took a chair next to his mother’s bed and watched as Gaby bustled about, talking constantly to his mother.
It was inconsequential conversation, but it kept his mother alert. He also noticed how cool and comfortable his mother appeared and not at all in any pain. She sat cuddled by fat white pillows, wearing a pink lace nightdress opened at the neck and covering only part of her arms. Her black hair was swept up off her face and neck and pinned to the top of her head. A cool cloth sat on her brow and Gaby insisted that she sip at the cold water she kept in a glass by her bed table. Her cheeks were flushed with color, and she appeared to him in perfect health.
Gaby’s appearance, however, was in stark contrast to his mother’s. Strands of her dark hair had loosened from her braid and fell about her face. Her white blouse was wet from the water that trickled onto it every time she rinsed the cloth for his mother’s brow. She looked tired, worn, and worried.
When the doctor finished his examination and announced she had overtaxed herself, Rafael issued strict orders.
“You are to do only so much preparation for the Galvezes’ visit. The servants are more than capable of handling all that needs to be done. Lupe is efficient enough in her duties to see to the meals without your interference. I will make certain the house staff sees to the cleaning of the hacienda. You, Mother, are to rest and be well for their arrival, and nothing more.”
Dona Maria agreed with only a bit of reluctance. “All right, Rafael. I suppose Gaby can do all that I need done.”
“No,” he snapped. “She will do only so much. I have need of her elsewhere.”
“Where?” Dona Maria asked.
Gaby wondered the same thing.
Rafael leaned over his mother and kissed her cheek once again. “Don’t worry about it. Gaby will be available to you for so many hours during the day. The other part of the day you will rest... that is an order.”
Dona Maria didn’t care for this turn of events. As soon as she felt stronger, she planned on being up and about. There was trouble brewing. She could s
mell it, and she didn’t like the scent.
~~~
The days that followed Gaby found her chores light. She had more free time, but usually spent it helping the other household servants. She was confused since she had assumed Rafael would have much for her to do.
This bright, sunny morning she and Elena were busy cleaning the large receiving room. The chairs and massive wooden chests required polishing and that was what the two women were about. Both wore white scarves secured over their dark hair. Aprons, bright in color, hugged their chests and waists. Elena was busy with the chairs while Gaby stood balanced on a sturdy ladder wiping the tops of a tall chest.
“What are you doing?” Rafael shouted startling both women and causing Gaby to grab the top rung of the ladder to prevent herself from falling.
“Get down,” he demanded standing at the bottom and looking up at her.
“I’m not finished,” she answered with an edge of obstinacy in her tone.
“You should have never started. You were not instructed to do this work. Now get down.”
“Elena needs help,” she insisted, refusing to budge.
Rafael turned a stern look upon the girl.
Elena’s voice quivered when she spoke. “The other servant who was to help me has fallen ill. Gaby offered to help.”
“See I tol—” Gaby let the rest of the words die on her tongue after seeing Rafael’s expression.
“Did I not tell you I had duties for you?”
“Yes, but you nev—”
“I will issue them when I’m ready.”
“Then, in the meantime, I can help the other—”
“No, you will not,” he said, cutting her off once again. He turned to Elena. “Leave us.”
She hurried from the room, never glancing back.
“You are a tyrant,” she said, annoyed with him for upsetting Elena.
“No, I am a dictator,” he countered.
“At least you have gotten something right.”
“What I have gotten right is your inability to obey my orders.”
“I was only trying to help,” she said quickly, afraid he wouldn’t let her finish.
“You help enough. You wash, you cook, you clean, you play with the children, you pick fruit and vegetables for Lupe, and you tend my mother. Is there anything you do not do around here?”
“I do not take care of you!’ she shouted back. She realized her mistake immediately, but she couldn’t recall the words. She didn’t want to.
Rafael stood silent for a moment, his intense blue eyes fixed on her dark ones. Then he spoke, his voice deep, his words measured. “Do you wish to care for me?”
“If my duties were such I would care for you.”
“Then if I instruct you so, you will obey?”
“Don’t I always?” She smiled.
Rafael couldn’t help but grin, and Gaby’s heart fluttered as his strong features grew even more handsome. She did not think he could be more handsome than he already was but when he smiled... her heart fluttered again.
“That is a debatable question, Gaby.”
Her smile became mischievous. “One you find hard to win.”
He gripped the sides of the ladder. “These are just small skirmishes, querida. In the end, I will win the battle.”
He released the ladder gently and walked to the door.
“Don Rafael.”
He turned.
She grinned wide and patted her chest. “I will win the war!”
“We’ll see about that.” Rafael laughed. He continued to laugh as he walked down the hall, out into the courtyard to the corral. After mounting Bella, he said with joy, “The war has begun.”
Chapter Eleven
“Lupe, do not upset yourself,” Gaby scolded lightheartedly. “You are an excellent cook. The Galvezes will beg Dona Maria to take you back to Spain with them.”
Lupe wiped her plump hands on her apron before crossing herself. “Madre de Dios! Do not talk such nonsense. I was born and raised near the mission. I would never leave this land.”
Gaby laughed and hugged the woman as best she could, since her arms could not fit around her ample size. “I’m teasing, though not about your ability to cook—especially your pepper cornbread—I cannot get enough of it.”
“You better be careful with my cornbread,” Lupe warned only half-seriously.”How do you think I got to be so big?”
Gaby laughed and snatched another piece of the warm bread from the platter on the table.
Lupe playfully swatted at her hand, missing it. “You will grow fat and no man will want you.”
“Miguel, the metalworker, wants you,” Gaby said.
Lupe’s full cheeks bloomed red. “I need some grapes picked. Get a basket and make yourself useful.”
Gaby popped the last piece of bread into her mouth and dusted her hands off before searching out a basket in the small room off the cooking area.
“I was thinking,” she said, returning with a large basket hooked over her arm.
“You think too much,” Lupe remarked.
“So I’ve been told many times. But I was thinking about the Galvezes.”
“Why?” Lupe asked, dusting the table with flour to knead her bread.
“I have heard the name before, but I cannot recall where.”
Lupe shrugged. “Probably the servants.”
“Why would they speak of them?”
Lupe looked at her strangely. “Don’t you know who they are?”
Gaby shook her head. “No, I thought them just friends of the Cabrillos.”
Lupe took the large ball of dough from the bowl and plopped it on the table. “I will tell you, since this visit is bound to bring back unpleasant memories.”
Gaby sat on the chair, placing the basket on the floor beside her.
Lupe’s hands worked automatically, kneading the dough as she spoke. “The Galvez family and the Cabrillo family are distant cousins. When Senora Galvez gave birth to twin girls, both families were happy, very happy. Don Felipe and Don Ramon had always planned on uniting the two clans. The first-born twin was betrothed to Rafael. He was only twelve at the time, but from what I’ve been told, he took his responsibilities almost as seriously back then as he does now.”
Gaby shifted in her seat, listening closely. She recalled Rafael telling her that his betrothed had been taken from him, and she had wondered what had happened to cause him so much pain.
“Don Rafael visited his future wife when she was only one month old. From Dona Maria’s stories it sounds as though Rafael loved her on first sight.”
“Or that a small newborn brought out his protective instincts,” Gaby offered.
“You are too wise for one so young,” Lupe said with a smile. “Anyway, that night the twin girls were kidnapped. A search followed, people were questioned.” Lupe lowered her voice. “I even heard that peasants were beaten to discover information.”
“But nothing was discovered?”
“Nothing. It was as though the twins had just vanished.”
“Does this have anything to do with why the Cabrillos left Spain?”
“I don’t know. They left five years later to come here, but it’s never been mentioned why they chose to make a new home here.”
“And the Galvezes and Cabrillos remained in touch?”
Lupe nodded. “Of course. Dona Isabel was the one who arranged Rafael’s marriage. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s engaged to Louisa Ortega before she leaves here. I understand she enjoys matching people together.”
Gaby stood, grabbing the basket. “I better pick the grapes.”
Lupe agreed with a quick nod and continued kneading the dough, not noticing the frown that crossed Gaby’s face.
It was early afternoon. The sun was high in the sky although it had not reached its peak, therefore, Gaby had a couple of hours before the hottest part of the day would send the workers scurrying for their siesta.
Her step was light, and she had forced the f
rown from her face. She refused to allow thoughts of Rafael Cabrillo to enter her head. She had dwelt too much on him of late. It was doing her no good. She would only be hurt, deeply hurt. She must keep her distance and curb her foolish thoughts and desires as difficult as that may be. No good could come of it, not ever.
She entered the grape arbor with a swing to her full hips. She loved it here, so peaceful, so quiet, so much solitude. It was built for Dona Maria by her husband. He had promised her that the red grapes she loved would cover the structure and grow profusely for her to enjoy, and they did. These were the grapes that fed the hacienda and the ones that produced the wine were grown in the vineyards.
Gaby didn’t waste any time. She placed her basket on the ground and set to work, making certain she tested some for their freshness.
Rafael had caught sight of Gaby walking toward the grape arbor with the basket on her arm. He had instructed her to help Lupe, and for once she was obeying him. He smiled at the small victory. He turned his head away determined to ignore her, focusing his attention on the large basket of grapes brought in from the vineyard for his inspection.
It was a useless attempt. His eyes ached to watch the provocative sway of her full hips, her slim legs, and her bare feet. Bare feet! He turned in a flash and caught sight of her bare feet disappearing into the arbor. Without hesitation, he followed her.
Gaby laughed with delight, popping another plump grape into her mouth. It was comfortable in the shade, so cool and of course the sweet grapes only added to the pleasure of her chore. She had several bunches of the red grapes carefully cradled in the basket. A few more would be more than enough, but she took her time, not wanting to hurry.
She reached above her head for a fat juicy grape. It slipped from her grasp and dropped down into her blouse. She squealed, feeling its cool descent and quickly, without thought, pulled her blouse down just enough to capture the elusive grape.
She laughed as she rolled it up her chest tickling her skin. With two fingers she plucked it from between her breasts and popped it into her mouth. She bit into it and, as though in protest, the grape squirted its sweet juice all over her mouth and chin, two small drops dripping onto her chest. She wiped them away with her finger and laughed some more as she continued her task.
Untamed Fire Page 12