Blaze a Trail (The Flanagan Sisters, #3)

by Claire Boston

  David smiled. “That’s great. I wanted to talk to you about it. The assessment process takes too long. There’s a family in El Salvador who are in danger, but it could be six months before their application is processed.”

  “They should go to their own government for help.”

  David leaned back in surprise. “It’s not that —”

  “But I agree with the lengthy process,” Bob continued. “It should be quick — process them and send them home.” He checked his watch. “I’ve got to run. We’ll talk about this more later. The information you’re gathering will be useful.” He strode out of the room.

  David stared after him. His father had it all wrong. He couldn’t possibly believe it was so cut and dried.

  Shaking his head, he opened the file. Maybe he hadn’t made it clear. He’d go through it again, add some more detail and then sit down with Bob and explain. Make sure he understood.

  His cell rang and he checked the display. “Hi, Zita.”

  “Hey! We’re celebrating tonight. Beatriz’s application was approved, which means she gets to stay in the States. Do you want to come for dinner?”

  “Sure. That’s fantastic news.” He was so pleased. After hearing her story, he would have hated her to have to return home.

  “Can you be here by six-thirty?”

  “Yeah.” He’d leave work a little early. The prospect of seeing Zita when he hadn’t expected to was exciting.

  “If you want, you can stay the night.”

  He hesitated. It was kind of weird to stay at Carmen’s house, but it did mean he got to spend more time with Zita. “All right. See you then.”

  David hung up and the immigration file caught his eye. He’d get some more information about Beatriz’s case tonight and show his father how wrong he was. He’d change his stance when he knew the facts.

  David was sure.

  Chapter 10

  Zita was practically floating when she arrived home with Beatriz. At the front door, Carmen and the girls crowded around Beatriz, hugging and congratulating her. Elena wasn’t there, but she was probably with Xaviera. As Carmen fussed, Zita went into the kitchen and unpacked the groceries she’d bought on the way home. Tonight they would prepare a huge meal to celebrate with all of Beatriz’s favorite foods: tamales, stuffed cucumbers and fried fritters.

  Carmen walked in, wiping her eyes with the back of her sleeve.

  “Happy, Mama?”

  “Sí. Of course. It is such good news.” She hugged Zita, holding her tightly. “We saved another one.”

  Tears welled up in Zita’s eyes and a lump lodged in her throat. “We did,” she whispered. This was why she did this. To give these girls a better chance at life. She swallowed. “Have you invited the others yet?”

  Carmen nodded. “They will be here. I couldn’t get in touch with Daniella, though.”

  “I’ll go check her cabin,” Zita said. “Her cell might have run flat again.”

  She walked outside, taking a deep breath and calming her emotions. Beatriz was safe and no longer needed to fear her stepfather. She would stay with them and grow up with the other girls. If Elena and Teresa were also accepted, that would be it for a while because they could only foster six girls at a time. This was one of the reasons studying law was so important. Zita would be able to help other immigrants who they weren’t able to foster.

  She stopped at Daniella’s cabin and knocked. There was a murmur of voices inside before Daniella opened the door, adjusting her top. Zita glanced over Daniella’s shoulder and saw a guy sitting at the table, seemingly engrossed in the notes strewn across it. She hid her smile as she said, “I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

  Daniella waved her hand, slightly flustered. “No, I was just studying.”

  Zita bet it wasn’t all they were doing. “We’re having a party over at the house if you want to come. Beatriz’s application was approved.”

  “That’s fantastic!” Daniella grinned. She glanced at the guy.

  “You can bring your friend as well,” Zita said.

  “Ah, maybe.”

  Zita smiled. “Drop by any time.” She left, walking slowly back through the garden. It was nice to see Daniella with a guy. It meant she was letting men back into her life, which she hadn’t been able to do earlier.

  Zita entered the kitchen where she found Carmen cooking and Beatriz sitting at the breakfast bar, nibbling on some chips. Elena walked in with Xaviera, and Beatriz jumped off her stool.

  “Did you hear, Elena? They’ve approved my application! I’m staying!” She beamed and held her hands out to take Xaviera.

  Elena scowled and shifted Xaviera away from Beatriz. “There’s no need to brag,” she said in Spanish. “It’s insensitive. I should have never brought you with me.”

  Beatriz’s face fell and her bottom lip trembled.

  “Elena . . .” Carmen began.

  Elena shoved Xaviera into Zita’s arms and ran outside, crying.

  Zita exchanged a look with her mother as she soothed the baby. It was understandable that Elena was upset, but she was taking her anger and fear out on Beatriz more often.

  “I’ll talk with her,” Carmen said and followed Elena outside.

  Moving over to Beatriz, Zita put an arm around her shoulders. “She didn’t mean it, Bea,” she said. “She’s just emotional at the moment.”

  Beatriz brushed away the tears and nodded, climbing back onto the stool. “I should have thought. I won’t say anything else.”

  “You’re allowed to celebrate. I’m sure Elena will come around.”

  “I hope so.” Bea looked so upset.

  Zita sighed.

  A couple of hours later, dinner was prepared and Bridget, Jack, Carly and Evan had arrived. Zita checked the time, just as Bess and Saint started barking. She hurried to the front door and opened it. David was getting out of his car. She grinned, thrilled he’d agreed to celebrate with them.

  “Hi.” She trotted down the steps and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him. The kiss sent warmth all the way to her toes and the tension of the last few hours dissolved. She stepped back.

  “Hi.” He smiled slowly. “I’m not late, am I?”

  Zita needed a second to get her heart rate under control. “Not at all.” She turned to go back inside, but he tugged her back and kissed her again. She wanted to drag him up to her room and have some alone time with him, but that would have to wait.

  As they walked up the steps, he asked, “Would some of your foster sisters be willing to talk to me about their experiences?”

  “I can ask. Why?”

  “Dad’s running for governor, and wants to make immigration one of his top priorities.”

  “In what way?” she asked. Bob Randall didn’t appear to be someone who would be pro-immigration.

  “He’s got it wrong at the moment. I want to show him what you do at Casa Flanagan and how you help so many people.”

  “And you believe you’ll be able to change his mind?”

  “Of course. He’s not unreasonable.”

  Zita debated whether to disagree with him. Bridget had had first-hand experience of how unreasonable Bob could be, and Zita’s own experience with him hadn’t been that great. But David knew his father better than she did. “We can ask the girls tonight.”

  “Great.”

  She pushed aside her concern as they entered the house.

  ***

  Zita had been busy over the past few days sorting out Beatriz’s paperwork. She closed her bedroom door and exhaled. Every time she’d wanted to study for her LSAT, her mother was around and she couldn’t risk Carmen asking what she was doing. She’d felt so guilty even reading the documents, but the test was only ten days away.

  Firing up her laptop, she settled on her bed. Was there any point doing the test? The colleges she’d called suggested they would consider her application if her test scores were good enough, even though she had no undergraduate degree. The fact that she had so much experie
nce with immigration law was a plus, but no guarantee. So she might be wasting her time.

  She shook her head. It wasn’t like her to be so pessimistic. Opening the preparation material she’d downloaded, she settled down to read.

  After an hour, she rubbed her eyes. The reading comprehension section was dense and she was tired, but that was no excuse. The material she would have to read if she actually passed the test and got into law school would be far more complicated than this. And she would have much more work to do.

  Did she really want to go through with this?

  Was it worth the time and the effort?

  Her mind wandered to the immigration courtroom and the expression on Beatriz’s face when she understood she was safe. Yes, she did want to go through with this. She wanted to offer people like Beatriz hope, to fight for their right to live without fear.

  Which meant she needed to focus.

  She set the timer on her phone and started the next section.

  A knock on her door startled Zita from her work. “Yes?”

  The door opened and Carmen poked her head in. “Are you still up?”

  Zita shut her screen quickly and said, “Just surfing the net.” The guilt crept over her. Maybe she should tell her mother.

  Carmen smiled. “Don’t stay up too late. We’ve got the swap meet tomorrow.”

  Feck. She’d forgotten about it. She forced a smile on her face. “I won’t. Night, Mama.” Zita waited until Carmen had closed the door before opening the screen again. She should turn it off. It was already past midnight and she’d have to be up at six. On Friday mornings, they brought any excess produce from their garden to a market largely attended by migrants. It was a busy morning catching up with friends and helping those who needed it.

  There wasn’t a lot more she was going to take in tonight anyway.

  Switching off her computer, she then snuggled under her covers and went to sleep.

  ***

  David really looked forward to poker night with his friends, and after the day he’d had he needed a drink as well. He poured a bag of chips into a bowl, and then added a selection of antipasto to the table. Poker night was always held at his place now, because his three friends were all married, and Lee even had a baby on the way.

  He opened a bottle of wine to breathe and checked the time. His doorbell rang. It had to be Colin, he was right on time.

  Answering the door, he found both Colin and Garth standing there.

  “Randy Randall,” Garth greeted him. “How’s it going?”

  David scowled at the nickname. “Cut it out and come in.” As he was about to shut the door, the elevator dinged and Lee stepped out.

  “Damn, I thought I was going to beat Colin this time,” Lee said, winking at him.

  “Never gonna happen,” Colin stated. “Unless of course you’re early.”

  David grinned at his friends. Colin’s punctuality had been a running gag since college.

  “What’s new?” he asked, handing Lee and Garth bottles of beer and pouring Colin and himself a glass of wine each.

  “Mom and Dad are handing the business over to me,” Colin said and sipped his wine.

  David raised his eyebrows. “Is one of them sick?” None of them ever thought Colin’s parents would let go of the accounting firm they ran.

  “No. They decided on an early retirement. They’re going back to Hong Kong for a few months to visit with family and then they’re going to travel the world.”

  “And they’re leaving the entire business to you?” Garth asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “This calls for a celebration,” Lee said, raising his beer. “To bringing the firm into the twenty-first century.”

  They all laughed.

  “Damn, it might mean I’ll have some decent competition,” Garth complained. He turned to David. “Want to dump your old man and join me?”

  “Actually, I’ll be acting CEO as of next month.” He chuckled at the absolute shock on his friends’ faces.

  “Your dad’s retiring?” Garth asked.

  “He’s going into politics.”

  “Shit, that can’t be good,” Colin said.

  David frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Colin exchanged a glance with Lee. “Your father’s not known for his political correctness.”

  David laughed. “Sure, he’s conservative, and he can be stubborn at times, but he’s always got the good of the company on his mind.”

  Lee shook his head. “Maybe so, but politics isn’t Dionysus. He can’t get away with that stuff in the public arena.”

  David frowned.

  “Lee’s right,” Garth said. “Bob going into politics isn’t going to be good for anyone, unless they’re white and rich.”

  “You think so?”

  “Of course,” Colin said. Lee nodded.

  David took a handful of chips and ate them. Were they right? The conversation with Bob on Monday came to mind. Would his father be blind to the immigrants’ fate after David showed him the facts? No, his father always listened to him. Plus, he had more information to sway him. David had spoken to all of Zita’s foster sisters the other night, and had added their stories to his file.

  “Anyone else got work-related news they want to share?” Lee asked. “’Cause I’ve got news of a different nature.”

  “What’s up?” Colin asked.

  “We’re having a girl.” He grinned and pulled a photo out of his jacket pocket, dropping it on the table in front of them.

  “You poor bastard,” Garth said. “She’s going to have you wrapped around her little finger.”

  “I know.” Lee was beaming.

  David put his concern aside and picked up the ultrasound picture. It didn’t look human to him, but he wasn’t going to say so.

  “You going to paint the nursery pink?” Colin cringed.

  “Hell no. She’s not having any of that gender defining stuff. She can choose to play with trucks and cars, or dolls, or both. Whatever she wants, she’s going to have.”

  The baby was one lucky kid. “Congratulations.” David raised his wine glass and they toasted Lee’s unborn child.

  “All right guys, let’s play some poker,” Lee said when they were done. “I need more money to buy my baby girl a monster truck.”

  Amid laughter, David dealt the cards.

  Sometime later, the pizza arrived. They halted the game while they grabbed slices and stood around the kitchen eating.

  “Nice bowl,” Colin commented, picking up the fruit bowl David had bought in the flea market. “Where’d you get it?”

  “Flea market at Discovery Green.”

  The three of them stared at him.

  “What were you doing at a flea market?” Garth asked.

  He wasn’t sure why they were so surprised. “I was on a date.”

  Lee laughed. “I can’t imagine one of your socialites at a flea market.”

  “She’s not a socialite,” David said, refusing to get riled.

  “Sounds intriguing.” Garth waggled his eyebrows. “Tell us more. Where did you meet?”

  “She’s the sister of a friend.” He was kind of reluctant to tell them about Zita. He wanted to keep the relationship to himself until he’d figured out where it was going.

  “What friend? We’re your friends.” Colin was indignant.

  “Carolina Flanagan.”

  Garth whistled. “Now that’s someone in your league.”

  David laughed.

  “Has your dad met her?” Colin asked at the same time as Lee said, “What’s her name?”

  “Zita. She met Dad at a refugee symposium before we were dating.”

  Colin winced. “How did it go?”

  David grinned at the memory. “She called him a racist bigot and walked away.” He wished he had a camera to take a picture of their faces.

  “I have got to meet this woman,” Lee said.

  The others nodded.

  “So are you still dating her?” C
olin asked.

  “Yeah. She’s one of a kind.”

  Lee nudged Garth. “He’s got it bad.”

  “He sure does.”

  “Got what?” David asked.

  “The lurve bug,” Lee told him. “Your face went all sappy just now.”

  David frowned. It was too soon to consider love.

  “What does your father think about that?” Colin asked.

  “He doesn’t know I’m dating her. I haven’t introduced them yet.”

  “Good idea,” Lee said. “Get the ring on her finger before she meets your family.”

  “Hold up there.” David’s heart raced as he backed up. “No one’s talking about rings. Besides, she’s already met Dad.”

  “Give it up, guys,” Garth said. “They’ll be fine. Let’s get back to playing cards.”

  David shot his friend a grateful glance.

  His heart told him they would be fine, but after what Colin had said, his head wasn’t so sure. Perhaps it was time to introduce Zita to his family, if only to prove them wrong. He was sure his mother would like Zita, and Bob would forgive her for the bigot comment as soon as he spoke with her.

  David would arrange something soon.

  Chapter 11

  On Saturday morning, Zita woke early. David was picking her up, and after they’d taken the dogs for a walk, they were going to do something together, just the two of them. Walking into the kitchen, she found Beatriz holding Xaviera, and Alejandra feeding Julio.

  “Buenos días,” she said, heading for the coffee machine.

  “Morning,” the girls replied.

  “Where’s Mama?”

  Alejandra nodded to the back door. “In the garden, of course.”

  “Have you had breakfast?” Zita asked, putting some bread in the toaster.

  The girls shook their head.

  “What do you want?” She was happy to get the girls some food while they held the two babies, who were blissfully quiet at the moment.

  When Zita was done, she took Xaviera from Beatriz so she could eat, and wandered outside to find her mother.

  Carmen was weeding her vegetable beds.

  “Hola, Mamá.”

  “Niñita, how are you today?”