“What?” Outrage burned through her. These were the parents he wanted to please? She would have gone on, but he faced her again and reached out to cup her face in his hands.
“Ssssh. Don’t. She didn’t mean it, Esmeralda. It’s like a wound between us that doesn’t heal, because it hurts so much. She can’t forgive herself for saying it, and I can’t help thinking I could have done more to save my sister.” His voice was ragged.
“But to say something like that—”
“It’s all right. Really. But your aunt and Doug—Esmeralda, I’d never ask you to leave your family. Your aunt is what she is, and I don’t like her, but I can’t tell you to stay away from her. But I have to ask—tell you—that I can’t handle seeing you with Harper. Under any circumstances.”
“Look, Rafa, I didn’t know who he was. I thought he was a creep when I met him, and I won’t see him again.”
“That easy?” Rafael teased, and she nodded.
“Just that easy,” she agreed. “I can’t stand the man. Lucky you.”
“Anything else I should know?”
“I’m running away from home.” She stood on tiptoes, placed her hands on his shoulders, and brushed his lips with hers, then danced quickly away as he reached for her. “Need a roommate?”
Chapter Seventeen
Esmeralda packed the last of her toiletries into their case and picked it up, looking around the room carefully. She didn’t think she’d forgotten anything. Sadness weighed on her as she turned off the switch and carried the bag downstairs. She’d really wanted a better outcome with Tina, but she’d reacted with her usual decisiveness, leaving no wiggle room. Tina was in her bedroom, pretending not to know anything. When Esmeralda first started carrying her things out, Tina had wheedled and begged, but Esme didn’t change her mind about leaving.
She tried to soften her departure, pointing out that she would have left after the wedding anyway. She took some of the blame, claiming that she could be proud and stubborn, “just like you, Tía.”
Andy came in, friendlier than he had been during her whole brief stay. “So sorry to lose you,” he told her, relieving her of the small case. “But you’ll be so comfortable at the devil’s place—and you’re marrying him anyway.”
Esme ignored him, but paused as Angel came down the stairs, her face weary and worried. “I’ll miss you. Will I see you around?” Angel asked.
“Of course. I don’t know if I’ll be welcome in Tía’s, but you’ll know where to find me.” She hugged Angel. “Thanks for sticking with Tía. I don’t know if she realizes how alone she is without you.” She kissed Angel on the cheek. “Take care.”
Angel left, picking her purse up on the way, en route, undoubtedly, to stir up menudo for the early crowd at Tía’s.
Esmeralda looked around a final time, letting the pain register. She’d walked out the door to escape her mother and father. Now, she’d do the same, closing off the very different relationship she’d hoped for with her aunt. She’d never had trouble sharing a few hours or nights with a man. But she’d never stayed, except with Toby, and she’d been a stupid, starry-eyed teenager then. Toby had wanted her up until he stepped on the bus to leave Texas. Family? They’d never made her feel loved enough to stay.
“So you’re really going?” Tina asked, pausing in the hall between the kitchen door and the living area. “Hard to believe you came here begging to stay and now you’re gone without a second thought.”
Calm. Stay calm. “Tía, I’m sorry I imposed on you. I hope someday you’ll understand how much I wanted to know you.”
“But not love me? No matter. You’ve got your little gold box, Esmeralda. I hope you enjoy your payday. Others would.”
Esme walked over to her aunt, and this time the alcohol on her breath and clinging around her like cheap perfume was overwhelming. “Tina, you need help. Won’t you see someone?”
“I don’t need help, I need money. Do you think I drink because I have to? I just want out. Out of this bottomless well that leaves me penniless because no one’s got money anymore. I won’t need alcohol a minute after I pay off the loan I took out from . . . the loan I took out.”
“I accepted this position as Rafael’s wife largely because I thought I might be able to help you. The money is still yours.”
“And why would you do that?” Tía asked, her voice slurred.
Esme shrugged. “Because I don’t sell myself, Tía. I bought my own wedding dress. I’ll take as little as I can until the charade is over, and then you’ll have your money. And I’ll have my freedom.”
“Freedom for what? To show your money-maker all over Truth, Texas?” Tía’s voice was acid. “You oughta take Rafael Benton for every penny you can. You think he cares about you, even as an employee? Hah! He let his own sister die of heartbreak because he wouldn’t let her marry Doug. How sick is that, a brother being put at his sister’s door to keep her lover away because he wasn’t good enough? Sound familiar, sobrina?”
“Goodbye, Tina.”
“Go! Go ahead and run to that arrogant bastard. But ask him—no, ask Marie, so you’ll get an honest answer—ask her if they cut a check for me. A ten-thousand-dollar check in my name, because I did what he couldn’t do. I got him the perfect little summer playmate!”
Esme stared at her aunt in shock, then wheeled and raced out of the kitchen. Outside the heat and the shame slammed her, and she stopped and retched until her legs shook. She took Cattle Guard Road for the last time, stopping indecisively at the highway. She could turn left and head into Truth. She could turn right and go to Witches Haven, where Rafael was waiting for her. She could turn right and drive on, beyond Witches Haven to the interstate and not stop until she hit Rose Creek. She turned right and headed home.
• • •
Esmeralda turned in front of the mirror and looked at the too thin woman modeling a dress that looked pretty and meant nothing. Empty. Like a model at a photo shoot, she’d taken a job. She’d do it to the best of her ability.
Tears stung her eyes and she blotted them with a lace handkerchief—the something borrowed and blue, Lillie Mae explained in a scribbled note she sent upstairs along with the handkerchief.
She walked over and glanced out the window. So many people were scattered around, ruining the landscaping. Her mother and father were center front, conversing with the justice of the peace who’d driven out to administer the vows. Her eyes narrowed. She didn’t see Beto anywhere. God help him if he ruined the wedding.
She flinched at the thought that the wedding could be ruined. How did you ruin a summer job? If anyone could, though, it would be the Salinas family. Her parents and brother had been in the house since Wednesday, interfering, sponging, taking advantage of every moment of hospitality and luxury they could. She’d stayed away from them, mostly, not even feeling guilty as Connie and Rafael tried to please them. Watching Rafael reassured her that at least he had his anger issues under control. If he could stand Beto, then she was perfectly safe.
A knock on the door startled her. She opened it and Marc stepped into the room, smiling. “You look amazing!” Then he turned his head a little, studying her from different angles, and frowned. “Although I bet that dress didn’t fit so loosely when you bought it. How long ago?”
“A week.”
“Ha! I knew it. You’ve lost weight since I met you in Cotulla. My guess is you’re a little worried about this job. But I’m convinced you can help Rafael. He’s been so different since Cody died. He blames himself for letting his parents down, and he actually thinks he can make them feel better like this.” Marc caught one of her hands and gave it a comforting squeeze. “You know, Rafa’s staying here in Truth. He’s decided he’s ready to quit globetrotting.”
“I’ve heard that.”
Marc smiled gently. “You stood this town on its ear from what I’ve heard. Knocking a town on its ass and showing it you’re not afraid is a good way to go in.”
“I can see why Nana Ellen calls yo
u ‘los cuates.’ You behave like twins. Marc, if I asked you something, would you be honest?”
“If it’s not about me, sure.”
“What kind of woman do you think I am—really? I’m marrying a man for money. For maybe two months.”
“No.” He shook his head slowly. “You’re taking a temporary job to bring happiness to two people Rafa and I both love. You’re making Rafael forget some of his pain over Cody by making it easier for him to try to win custody of a kid he loves. Why would anyone look down on that, Esme?” He glanced at his watch. “Almost time, my cold-footed bride.” He made it to the door, then added, “You know what I’d do if I were you, though? I mean, if the temporary part bothers you?”
“Stand him up at the altar?” Esme asked hopefully and he laughed.
“Nope, just turn it into a permanent position. You know it’s yours if you want it.” He closed the door between them, and she could hear him whistling all the way down the stairs.
• • •
Rafael reluctantly handed Justin back to Nana Ellen when she came again to reclaim the toddler, pointing out that the wedding ceremony was minutes away. He wished he’d stayed on the back porch a few more minutes, watching his nephew play with Chief and Luc. The two dogs were banished to the screened area until the wedding guests left, and Justin was enamored. They kept turning mournful eyes on him as Justin hugged them and chattered at them, but clearly they didn’t know what to make of the baby.
Rafael glanced at his watch and wondered if Esmeralda was up there, worrying too much. She’d moved in a week ago, and though he had insisted she take his bedroom, so that she could get comfortable there, he’d barely seen her. The couch in his study hid a pullout bed, but on most nights, he’d simply crashed on the sofa itself.
The spacious upstairs would have held a small army, and he and Esme had their own space—until guests arrived. On Wednesday, Esmeralda’s parents and brother came in, claiming they wanted to help with preparations. They made themselves completely at home, taking over two of the bedrooms and expecting to be waited on, fed, and entertained constantly. He steered clear of Beto when he could, and noticed that Esme rarely spoke to any of them, a situation that worried him.
Then Nana Ellen arrived with Justin, an assistant nanny named Veronica, and half the nursery items from the Houston house. Esme seemed taken with Justin and in awe of Nana Ellen, who even with her advanced age could bark out orders and organize with the best of them. Luckily, the woman who had spent many years chasing after him seemed to like Esmeralda, too, so he had one less problem there.
Marie, on the other hand, had become sullen and withdrawn. He wasn’t sure why, since he’d explained the whole situation. He’d tried to be positive and professional to his assistant, but when he’d heard her make a snide remark to Beto about Esmeralda, he dressed her down and warned her that he wouldn’t tolerate indiscretion or insults directed at his fiancée. She was off Saturdays, and he hadn’t seen her at Witches Haven the entire day.
A hand on his shoulder startled him.
“Ready?” Marc asked. “We should go to the gazebo, because—wow!”
Rafael’s breath caught a little as Esmeralda paused on the top stair. The dress she’d chosen flowed over her body in a liquid silver stream. Sequins glittered and created tiny rainbows that danced around her in a celebration of color and sparkle. She looked down at him, though, and didn’t smile, and his heart sank a little. Again he wondered why she’d seemed sure of her decision when she’d kissed him that day on the rock, and so withdrawn since she’d moved in after leaving her aunt.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” she told them, as she reached the bottom of the staircase. “Go away.”
“We’re going,” Marc assured her. “Look, if it doesn’t work out, I’m free—”
Rafael glared at him. “Don’t, Marc,” he growled. “Not even joking, okay?”
“Someone twisted his tail awfully early today.” Marc walked over and kissed Esmeralda on the cheek. “Go get married,” he told her. “Your presence is needed outside, Rafael. The groom doesn’t walk the bride down the aisle.”
“I’ll be there in a minute. Are you okay, Esme?”
She laughed, but the apprehension in her face was clear. “Sure. My mom’s been telling me all morning how I’d better not screw up this one shot in my life, my brother’s plastered, and the aunt I came to Truth to live with hates me.”
He wasn’t sure what he could say. He wanted to say “and your fiancé loves you,” but he couldn’t. He didn’t love her. And if the breathlessness he felt around her, the constant dread that he’d wake up and the summer would be over, argued that he might, maybe, love her after all, he refused to accept that. He wasn’t really her fiancé; he was her boss. He reminded himself of that sternly. She didn’t look ready to face any new dilemmas, and he didn’t push her to tell him what was wrong.
But he had to touch her. He caught her hands and squeezed them. “You’re incredibly beautiful, Esmeralda.” He lifted her left hand and kissed it. The diamond and emerald ring on her finger added its own sparkle. “This moment feels real,” he murmured and meant it.
“They told me to come walk Esme out,” her father announced gruffly from behind him, and he nodded.
“Go ahead,” he said, reluctantly letting her hands slip from his.
He rushed to get to the gazebo ahead of the bride, taking his place with Marc, and listening as the music began and guests clapped. Smiles greeted Esmeralda as she made her way toward him, and the sun on her dress was almost blinding. Lillie Mae, leaning a little on the back of her chair, caught her arm and halted the procession, and he saw Esme lean in to listen. He didn’t know what the old woman said, but Esme turned bright red, and she wasn’t easy to embarrass.
By the time the ceremony started, he suddenly realized it didn’t feel like a job. It felt like marrying a woman he could easily love.
• • •
The knock on the door startled her. Rafael? This was his room, and a husband didn’t knock on his wife’s door on their wedding night. Besides, he’d been using the study entrance all week, only coming through the master bedroom to rummage for clothing or take a shower. The first day or two he hadn’t even showered here, and she assumed that he’d used the guest room baths.
He stepped in and collapsed back against the door dramatically. “Please don’t make me go out there again!”
“You brought it all on yourself.”
“Justin’s asleep, and only Marc and your family are still here. Well, plus two nannies. I broke Luc and Chief out of the porch, and they took over the study. Maybe they’ll dissuade Beto from walking in every five minutes.”
“When is everyone leaving?”
“Marc’s flying to Houston tomorrow and then he leaves for New Orleans. Poor guy. Never a moment’s rest.”
“You sound like you care,” Esmeralda snorted. “And my family?”
“Your mother and father are leaving tomorrow. Beto asked if he could stay.”
“No! I knew he’d try to pull something like this! He . . . ”
“He asked me for the room he’s in now until he ‘finds something’ and a thousand dollars.”
Her anger morphed into shame. “God, Rafael, I am so sorry. I—you didn’t agree to anything, did you?” A thousand dollars? She thought suddenly of Paulette, and how Rafael admitted to letting her use him. At least he had thought he loved her. He had thought of her as a fiancée—not the drunk, vulgar brother of a woman who would be gone in eight weeks.
“I explained that with my mother and father coming home, and bringing their old high school friends with them, there wouldn’t be room.”
“Are they bringing friends?”
“Not that I know of. I wanted to let him down easy. So he asked for me to pay for a room for a month while he looked for work, and a thousand dollars to help him get a leg up. Don’t worry about it, Esme. We can’t help who we’re related to. I told him I could pay for one of t
he long-term cabins at River Court and loan him a hundred bucks. Then I told him he could have had five thousand dollars and the room, except he treats you like dirt and I won’t take that crap from anyone.”
“He must have loved that.”
“Yeah. But he took it really well, especially since he knows what I told him after that—that I’d punch him in the face and press extortion charges against him if I saw him again tonight.” He tilted his head, listening to the Lady Antebellum mix she’d been playing all afternoon. “Seems like I’ve heard some of those already,” he said.
She went over and turned them off, knowing that songs about needing someone and good times and not needing anyone were sentiments she couldn’t share with Rafael. Then she turned to the dresser and absently began to brush her hair, hoping he’d leave.
He sighed and walked over to sit on the edge of the bed. She wished he hadn’t.
As if he read her mind, he patted the comforter. “When I used to think about how I’d spend my wedding night, this never occurred to me. Come sit down.” He laughed. “Since that’s probably the closest together we’ll ever be in this bed.”
“No.” She put her brush down, and for a moment, she watched him in the mirror, remembering that first time she’d seen him.
“Refusing a dare, Esmeralda?” he chided.
She turned and leaned against the solid wood for support. “Rafael, you’ve asked me all week if something’s been bothering me. It has.”
“But you wouldn’t talk to me. We need to change that, Esme. Okay, out with whatever it is.”
“I’d started thinking, when we talked that day on those rocks, when you took my word about how I met Doug, when I started really thinking about you,” she hesitated, but wanted him to know. “I thought today—tonight—might be different. I was going to ask you to drop the hands-off promise.” She saw his eyes widen a little and thought he might have taken a deep breath. She knew she had his attention. “And if you said no to breaking the unwritten contract—well, I figured I could get you into that bed if I wanted to.”
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