44. Elias
44
Elias
M amá stepped through the front door dressed in all black with a veil covering half of her face, Rafael on one side and Valaria on the other, their church clothes as pristine as someone who'd attended a Presidential dinner.
"Service was wonderful today, Elias. I wish you would come with me again."
I met her halfway and looped her arm in mine, walking her into the conservatory, where the puzzle remained untouched for the past seven weeks.
"In due time, Mamá."
She gave a slight nod and sat in her plush chair beside the vast windows overlooking the backyard flower gardens with bird feeders filled to the brim every day. "Father Henley asked about you today."
"Oh?" I sat across from her and spread my knees, commanding the area around me, my hand sprawled on my healed thigh.
A Brown-backed Solitaire sat on the branch at eye level and puffed its red-breasted chest out while singing its notable song.
"He asked if you would consider donating to the orphanage. They've run short on supplies."
I nodded and pushed my long sleeve up a quarter of the way. "I can work something out."
"That's my good boy." She flipped the veil over her head and glanced out the window as Alba stepped in with a tray of tea. She placed the tray on the table and passed the cup to Mamá. "How is she?"
"Who?" I raised a brow.
"Grace. "
I pushed my other sleeve up my arm and declined the cup Alba offered. "She's…as good as one can be given the circumstances." My hand brushed down my tight jaw. "She's walking around now, not staring out the window."
Mamá nodded. " Mmm . That's good." She sipped her tea and winced, then plopped a sugar cube inside. "Tell her to step outside and eat some of my tomatoes."
I let loose a quiet sigh and glanced at the dried-up garden that had gone dormant a few weeks ago. "I'm sure she'll enjoy that."
Grace ventured outside only when the sun went down and the staff had left for the evening. She'd sit by the poolside, staring at the rosary, and kick her feet in the warm waters.
I'd sit beside her in silence, allowing her to process for as long as it took, then follow her back inside, where she'd fall asleep in my arms.
Standing, I stole one last glance at the bird, then left Mamá to her tea.
"Do you love her?"
My feet stuck as though I'd walked into sticky swamp mud.
It's more than that.
She's my everything.
"I do, Mamá."
She hummed, and I glanced back, catching the tail end of her nod. "You take care of her, then. She's too good to let go."
A tranquil smile settled on my face. "I will, Mamá."
" Eh , Elias." Javier met me in the hall and handed me a manila envelope. "You'll never guess what I found."
I turned into my office, my confession looming like a gentle perfume, and dropped it on the desk. "You're right. So just tell me."
"The girl." He sat in his chair on one side of my office.
I raised a brow and opened the flap at the top. "Already?"
"Yeah, of course." He shrugged. "It was easy once I had the right location, contact, last name—"
I held up my hand. "I got it." Reaching into the envelope, I pulled out the photograph and paper, including her information. "She's not far."
"El Paso. We could drive." He pulled out his knife and scraped it beneath his nail. "When do we want to go?"
"It 'll be a while." I shook my head. "She needs time to recover and be herself to fully appreciate this."
"Okay."
Okay .
"Thanks for this." I dropped the information back into the envelope and sealed it away in my desk.
"No problem."
Rounding my desk, I stepped over the pristine space, not a drop of evidence left behind, then ventured to my room, where Grace and I spent most of our time. "Grace?"
Her somber frame perked up, and she turned towards me, a smile pulling at her lips. "Hi."
My serene happiness matched hers as I stepped into the bright room, her knees drawn up in the bay window, staring out over the valley.
"Where did you go?"
"Mamá came home." I tucked my hands into my pockets and stalked towards her. "She wishes you'd go outside." My shoulder hit the wall as I leaned against it in front of her.
Grace stared up at me with her round emerald eyes and a smile, the physical remnants of her ordeal long gone. "Does she?"
“Mhmm ." I nodded. "You know her memory is fading, but the one thing she seems to remember is you and that damn puzzle." I gave a slight chuckle, my ankle crossing over my other as I stood.
Grace's delicate smile spread to her eyes. "She's still working on it?"
I gave a subtle shake. "She hasn't touched it. I think she's waiting for you."
She sucked her lower lip into her mouth and touched the healing two-week-old phoenix tattoo behind her ear. "I think I might be ready for that."
"Yeah?" My brow raised, and I inhaled a deep, heavy breath through my nose.
"I've missed feeling normal, Elias. I just want that again."
My fingers traced the contours of my phone in my pocket. "Nothing says normal like sitting in silence for hours with Mamá while she hunts for the perfect spot."
Grace giggled, and my chest filled with lightness, warmth, and saccharin.
"Come on." I held out my hand, and she dropped her feet to the floor, her warm hand sliding into mine. "I'll sit with you if you want."
She shook her head and straightened out her sweater. "I told you, you don't have to baby me."
"I'm not babying you." My fingers slid between hers. "I'm making sure you have everything you need."
"You do more than enough, Elias." We walked out through the bedroom door, her breaths growing heavy. "I'm sure you have lots of work to get done."
"It can wait." For you .
"Well, thank you." Her fingers squeezed mine as I led her down to the foyer and into the conservatory where Mamá still sat with her tea, gazing out the window.
"Look who I found, Mamá."
She turned, her face brightening as she set down her cup. "Grace." Mamá moved to stand, and Valaria rushed forward, gripping her elbow. "Where have you been?"
" Hola , Rosa." Grace's lip turned up as she withdrew her hand from mine and stepped towards the table. "Do you want to finish our puzzle?"
"I haven't touched a single piece."
Mamá shuffled towards her seat, and Grace leaned into me. "Why is she in mourning clothes?"
"Church," I whispered. "She's worn them since you came home."
She scrunched her chin and nodded as she left my side, her fragile frame sitting beside Mamá.
"You can go, Elias. Grace and I are just fine without you hovering."
My chest tightened, and my gaze darted to Grace, her sheepish smile half hidden behind her fingertips. "You'll be okay?"
She nodded, the regal sun shining through her chestnut hair, brightening her eyes.
"I'll be just outside if you need me."
"Okay." Grace smiled and picked up a puzzle piece as if her nightmares dripped away from her fingertips and melted to the floor. As if the horrors plaguing her hadn't sucked her into an abysmal state for the past few weeks.
She glanced up at me through her lashes and gave a muted chuckle, my feet unmoving as I soaked in her happiness.
"Elias, you're blocking my light." Mamá waved her hand, shooing me away.
"Right." I tucked my hands in my pockets and walked through the doorway, glancing over my shoulder before I turned the corner.
"Remember when I told you she had you wrapped around her finger?" Javier's voice traveled down the hall, shrinking my stature a fraction.
"I vaguely recall." My back rested against the wall outside the conservatory, the silence stretching out like imposing shadows into the hall from within.
"Well, I may have underestimated her hold on you."
My head hung down as he smiled in my peripheral vision. "I love her, Javier."
"After everything, I'm not surprised." His shoulders fell as he exhaled. "I am surprised you're finally admitting it, though." He crossed his arms over his chest and stood square to me. "I had a running bet with Ramirez that it would take you at least a year. He said three months…and no thanks to you, I owe him fifty Pesos." He held his finger out. "Although, he never heard you say it, so keep it under wraps for…" he wagged his palm side to side. "Six or seven months, I'd say."
I let loose a mild snicker. "Just pay him fifty Pesos."
"I thought you were my friend." He hung his head with a subtle shake, feigning contempt painting his face.
A tender giggle shot out from the conservatory, stealing my heart midbeat.
Silence fell over the hall as I strained to hear it again.
"He does?"
Mamá muffled her low response.
"How do you know?"
"He told me, dolce ."
"This feels like I'm delving deeper into Hell," Javier muttered, stepping back. "I'm going to go."
I narrowed my gaze and pressed my back to the wall, my ear trained in their direction.
"I… I had no idea."
"You haven't seen the way he looks at you? His face lights up like the houses during the festival de Las Posadas ."
Christmas lights…Mamá?
Jesus.
I shook my head.
"What is that?"
"Never mind that. Can you place that piece right…there, yes, perfect."
I pushed off the wall and ventured into the office, the heavy stone in my belly lifting as the door closed.
The manila envelope sat tucked inside the drawer, and I pulled it out, studying the girl and her papers, which was the final act for Grace' s closure.
Do I tell her or sit on it?
Does she need it now or appreciate it later?
The decision poisoned my soul, the weight pressing on my shoulders more than the lives of my own men.
Knock. Knock.
"Come in."
The door swung open as I gathered the images and shoved them inside the envelope.
Grace stepped inside with a sheepish smile. "I didn't want to bother you, but your mother decided to change out of her church clothes, and I didn't want to sit by myself."
My chest swelled.
"Have a seat." I stood from behind the desk and sauntered towards the liquor cart. "Do you want a drink?"
"No, thank you." She sat down in the reupholstered chair where Nadia died for betraying me, and Grace, her feet tucked under the seat, her hands writhing in her lap.
"What's wrong?" I sat beside her, the ice clinking in my glass.
"Is it true?"
I cocked my head to the side. "You'll have to be more specific."
"Right. Sorry." Her shoulders hunched, and a tinge of pink hit her cheeks. "Your mom, she um…" Her gaze hit the ceiling. "God, how do I put this?"
"As plainly as possible."
She gave a nervous laugh. "Okay, then." She swallowed, her throat bobbing. "She said…you loved me."
Grace bolted from her seat, and my heart clenched in my chest. I clutched the collar of my shirt and pulled it from my throat. "Well, she knew how to keep secrets before…"
"Is that true?" Grace whipped around, facing me. Her lips parted, her tongue slipping out across her bottom lip.
"Of course it is. After everything—"
She rushed towards me like a whirlwind, leaping into my lap with reckless abandon. The tumbler slipped from my grasp, crashing to the floor in a clangor of shattered glass, its contents spilling out like my secrets laid bare.
Her lips pressed against mine as she cupped my cheeks, then slid them around the back of my neck, her arms wrapping tight.
I slide mine around her waist, holding her tight around me, pressing her chest against mine .
Her heart beat and mine.
Our breaths together.
As one.
She pulled away with a suddenness that left me reeling. "I was so afraid to tell you how I felt."
"How you felt? Why?"
"Yes." Her lips pressed into a thin line. "I wasn't sure how you felt. I was dealing with so much…I couldn't handle the rejection."
"You spilled a glass of Deleón Leona A?ejo all over my rug." I gave her a lopsided grin. "If I were to deny you, it'd be after that."
She glanced down at the liquor soaking into my Persian rug and gasped. "I'm sorry."
"Shut up." I grabbed the back of her neck and captured her lips with mine, our tongues sliding against one another, drawing a sensual whimper from her throat. "Just tell me you feel the same way."
"Yes." My lips trailed down her throat. "I love you, Elias."
A growl rumbled in my chest as I stood and dropped her butt on my desk, her back laid out on my desk, her hair spread across the envelope, driving a dose of sobriety through me.
My cock hardened against her.
I pulled away.
"No. No . Don't do that." She drew up on her elbows. "Don't pull away from me. Not after telling you that."
I shook my head and pressed back into her, my hand driving into her hair, her lips soft against mine. "I'm not. I promise I'm not. I have something I want to tell you, though."
She tipped her head to the side. "What?"
Reaching behind her, I lifted the envelope from the desk and handed it to her. "I was going to wait, but…maybe this will help you."
Her eyes dropped to the packet in her hands as she sat straight, her legs dangling over the edge of my wooden slabbed desk.
"What is it?"
"Look inside."
She flipped open the top and reached inside, pulling out the papers, the picture of the girl falling to the floor image side up. Her brows pulled together as she glanced down, then at the papers in hand. "I don't know what I'm looking at."
I picked up the picture of Gabriela with schoolbooks in her arms, a blue headband in her hair, and a bright smile as she walked to class with her friends and handed it to Grace.
"Meet Jorge's sister.”