Chapter 43
forty-three
My long-awaited dinner with my father was scheduled for tonight, but Valentina begged me to cancel, or at the very least to move it to tomorrow. Which is something I never would have done a few weeks ago, but now had no qualms about.
First, because Valentina clearly needs me tonight, and I would never leave her hanging. And second, because I’ve spent far too long being at my father’s beck and call. This time around, he can wait on me.
It’s been two weeks since Luke’s birthday party, and I’ve been slowly trying to coax her back into hanging out with us.
So when she told me she’d be waiting at home for me, I jumped at the chance to finally have that one-on-one time with her.
I try to ignore the fact that it’s Mother’s Day, the one holiday I’ve never been able to celebrate with my own mom, as I rush through the rest of my workload.
Unfortunately, I get tied up with all the holiday festivities since we threw a private brunch for the players’ wives and moms, and since I was already working on a Sunday, I decided to get a head start on prepping for the big game coming up this weekend.
That’s why I’m arriving an hour later than intended. When I slip inside my apartment, I instantly bump into a wall of solid muscle. “Oh, hey. What are you doing here?”
Luke frowns before taking my purse from my hands and planting a quick kiss on my lips. “Aren’t you supposed to say “honey I’m home” or “get naked immediately” when you greet me after a long day at work?”
I smirk as I lift up onto my tiptoes. “You were at work with me all day, even though it was your day off. Or have you forgotten that you’re technically my coworker?”
“How could I forget? You won’t let me fuck you in my office,” he complains.
“Luke! Seriously? We have more important matters at hand.” Valentina comes up from behind him and slaps him behind the head.
“Ouch. Stop eavesdropping on me and my girl.”
“Ugh, men.” She shakes her head, but when her eyes land on me, they shine with happiness. “Hey, Daisy. I’m sorry to spring this on you, but I didn’t want to say anything in case it didn’t pan out.”
“What are you talking about?” I chuckle awkwardly, looking at Luke’s anxious expression.
She takes my hand, and Luke places his warm one on my lower back, guiding me to the living room. “I think it’s better if I show you.”
I hear a low murmur of voices and halt when I see a group of strangers sitting on my couches, eyeing me nervously.
“Oh, we have guests,” I say lamely.
“Daisy girl, Val and I have some people we’d like you to meet.”
I plaster on a smile. “I see that. Um, hi I’m Daisy. Sorry I’m late. I didn’t know we were throwing a party.” I laugh timidly as one woman stands, eyes watering the closer she walks toward me.
I find myself inching backward, but Luke’s steady hand on my back keeps me in place as the woman with curly gray hair comes to a stop before me.
She shakes her head, eyes raking over my face in awe.
“Hi, Daisy. My name is Carla. And I—” Her voice wobbles before she clears it. “I was your mother’s best friend.”
Luke’s other hand is on my hip now. How he knew my knees were about to buckle is beyond me.
“You’re… what did you say?” My voice barely registers to my own ears.
“Hi, Daisy,” a dark-skinned man who looks to be in his fifties stands but stays by the couch as he speaks. “I’m Amaury, your mom’s cousin. We grew up together in Jarabacoa,” he says with a thick Dominican accent.
My head whips back and forth between the two strangers before a new voice pipes up.
“Daisy, yo soy Marlene. Yo era vecina de tus abuelos y mamá.”
She was neighbors with my mother and grandparents, I translate easily in my head.
“Hello, Daisy, I’m Monica,” a sharply dressed blond woman with an English accent says. “I studied and worked alongside Carmen in London.”
I look up at Luke’s watery gaze, one that must mirror my own. “Wh-what’s happening right now?” I whisper.
“My sister.” he answers shakily before clearing his throat.
“She was able to track down Carla via a social media post memorializing the anniversary of your mother’s death.
Once they got into contact with one another, Carla introduced Val to everyone who’s here today.
These are only the ones I could convince to hop on a plane with twenty-four hours’ notice.
But there are more family, friends, and loved ones out there.
People who never forgot about you and Nick and are waiting for us to video call them whenever you’re ready.
Many of them don’t have visas to travel to the U.S.
, but I can talk to an immigration attorney and get the process started on that or we can fly down there and visit whenever you want.
” He turns me so I’m fully facing him, his soothing hands on my shoulders as a single tear slips down his cheek.
“Your mother is here in this room with us, Daisy. In your heart, in the memories that are about to be shared. In your eyes and spirit. She’s here.
Always has been and always will be. So what do you say?
Are you ready to be reintroduced to her?
Because from the little I heard while we were waiting for you, she sounds just as incredible as the woman I’ve fallen madly and deeply in love with. ”
My head slumps against his chest as a sob breaks free.
It’s slowly sinking in what Valentina and Luke have done for me. It’s the most precious gift I’ve ever been given.
And in this moment, I feel her.
Luke was right. My mother is here with me tonight. And I can’t wait a second longer to learn about the woman I’ve been daydreaming about my entire life.
I turn, facing the crowd with tentative smiles on their faces.
The first woman, Carla, speaks up again. “I brought pictures. Would you like to sit down and look at them with me?” Her hand reaches out slowly, and I take it in mine immediately, gripping stronger than appropriate for a first-time meeting, but I don’t care.
Because if this woman was my mother’s best friend, then that means my mother held these hands. Shared secrets and jokes with this woman. Which makes her an endless pool of invaluable knowledge to me.
I nod and walk over to my couch, greeting everyone as I go.
I settle, and when Carla sits next to me, I gently tap the free seat next to me for my mother’s cousin, Amaury, to take. Luke gently squeezes my shoulders before quietly announcing that he and Valentina will be bringing out more drinks and snacks.
Everyone reintroduces themselves, most likely understanding that I needed a minute to really grasp their names and their relation to my mother.
I look back to thank the two people responsible for this miracle, only to catch Luke giving his sister a bear hug, his eyes shut tightly as he embraces her, his lips mouthing “thank you so much” repeatedly.
Carla squeezes my hand and pulls a thick photo album off my coffee table. “Are you ready, Daisy?” Her voice wobbles on my name, and I think I’m going to need an entire box of tissues to get through the night.
I nod. “I’m ready, but first I’m going to need to call my brother, Nick. He deserves to be here for this.”
Everyone brightens and nods with enthusiasm.
After a tearful call I’m sure made absolutely no sense whatsoever, Nick bursts into my apartment with Luisa hot on his heels.
He looks perplexed as he takes in the scene before him. And this time, I get to be the person that helps another remain upright, with the help of Luke of course, after he was introduced to our guests.
He excuses himself before we get started, and when he walks back into the room with red, but smiling eyes, we all act as if we didn’t hear the anguished cry coming from my guest bathroom.
Luke silently hands him a glass of the scotch I always keep on hand for him, and we all shuffle around so Nick and I are seated side by side, hands clasped tightly, when Carla opens the first photo album.
And finally, I’m introduced to my mom.