Chapter Thirteen
Jackie
Have dinner with me.
His words had crawled in-between the broken corners of her heart, spurring it into rapid-fire heartbeats since yesterday morning.
Today, after two hours of failing to concentrate on spreadsheets detailing the hotel’s expenses, as her gaze kept drifting to the clock, Jackie slammed her laptop shut and decided to head out for a horse ride.
She’d barely pulled up into a small gravel driveway and closed her Jeep’s door, when a familiar booming voice greeted her.
“Jackie! So good to see you again,” Rea’s mother exclaimed, bustling out from the front door onto the green-painted porch.
Her flowery skirt brushed the wood, the jingle of her bracelets accenting her footsteps.
She ambled down the stairs, her hair fashioned into a voluminous bun bouncing with each step she took.
Jackie beamed at her. “How are you doing, Estrella?”
“Good, good. Keeping busy.” Estrella wiped her hands on a yellow apron tied around her waist. They left distinct flour patches on the material. “Baking some conchas. Should I pack you some?”
Her mouth watered. “What sort of question is that? You know I’d eat your food every day if I could.”
Estrella’s chest rumbled with a low laugh. Her cheeks flamed. “Chula, you’re too kind. I’ll box some for you.” Then her gaze moved down Jackie’s riding clothes. “But you’re here for Bella, not me. She’ll be glad to see you.”
“Was she out this morning? If someone has already ridden her, I don’t need to.”
“Nonsense. Bruno’s been keeping her off the excursions lately.” Estrella’s gaze flicked to Jackie’s face, the unspoken “in case you want to take her out” hanging between them.
Jackie sighed. Bruno was Rea’s father. He was the most patient man she’d ever met and, after her own father, the kindest. “You know you don’t have to do that.”
They’d been through this conversation many times.
After Rea had first mentioned that her parents ran horseback-riding excursions from their farm a fifteen-minute drive from Mexican Jewel, Jackie had visited them the next day.
She’d longed to be on a horse again, after months in Paris.
There was much to be said about the hustle and bustle of a major European capital, but she yearned for fresh air and a saddle between her legs.
At first, neither of Rea’s parents knew how to act around Jackie. In their eyes, she was Rea’s boss, which was true, even though Jackie didn’t like to see it that way.
Her face tightened when she recalled Estrella’s apologies over their “humble home”.
To Jackie, the house was gorgeous. Airy, spacious and colorful; filled with well-loved furniture and works of art from the days when Bruno painted oil on canvas, before Parkinson’s disease pushed him to hang his brush.
Jackie loved coming over here and didn’t need much of an excuse to visit. Riding Bella was the highlight, sure, but so was sharing a cup of Agua de Jamaica with Estrella or listening to Bruno’s tales of his art exhibitions all over the world.
In a way, Estrella reminded her of Mimi, and Bruno’s stories could rival Dustin’s.
Gods, how she missed them. The last time she’d seen them was April last year, when she’d gone to Brooke’s Plains.
Nowadays, being at the ranch robbed her of breath.
There were too many memories she shared with Mitch lurking around every corner.
Three summers he’d spent working and living there, as well as all the weekends they visited and snuck out of their bedrooms …
Mimi had never relented on putting them in rooms as far away from each other as physically possible.
Estrella watched her with a mix of sadness and worry, like she could peek into her soul and see her aching spirit. “It’s not a problem, chula. No bother at all.”
“Thank you. But—”
“No more of this nonsense.” Estrella linked her arm with Jackie’s, pulling her toward the barn. “Come, let’s get you to Bella.”
They trundled past open chicken coops and a vegetable patch, from which Jackie caught a whiff of ripe tomatoes. “How’s Lina doing?”
“Good. Not long left for her now until the foal comes.” Estrella dipped her chin. “Bruno’s a bit worried about her. Says she lies down more often than she used to and isn’t eating as much. I tell him she’s pregnant, that’s all.”
Jackie furrowed her brow. “Did you have a vet look in on her?”
“Last week. Said Lina’s all good, she didn’t see any reason to worry about the birth. She’s away now, went to visit her daughter in Mexico City who broke her leg, poor thing. She’ll be back in a week or two.”
Jackie knew all too well how many things could go wrong during labor for both the mare and the foal. She didn’t want to add extra worry onto Estrella and Bruno’s shoulders without a reason. If their vet thought Lina was fine, who was she to contradict her?
“How’s my Rea doing? Working hard, I hope?” Estrella opened a metal gate in front of the barn entrance.
“Rea’s fantastic. She’s the one keeping the place running, really. No idea what the hotel would do without her.”
Jackie wondered whether she should tell Estrella about Rea’s upcoming promotion to assistant manager. But no one knew yet, not even Rea. She bit back a smile, imagining the happy scene of Rea telling her parents the news; it was hers to share.
“She works hard. We’re very proud of her,” Estrella said.
Jackie gave a vacant nod.
Were her parents proud of her? They used to be, once upon a time, when she was thriving at school and then in college.
Her father had puffed out his chest at parties and told anyone who’d listen that his daughter would be a doctor.
There was an unmistakable glint in his eye whenever he’d said it, like imagining her donning a white coat was in part his achievement.
Now, as a thirty-two-year-old college dropout, she doubted anyone was proud of her. She definitely wasn’t proud of herself.
“Here she is. Bella, look who came to take you out on a nice ride,” Estrella cooed, resting her forearms on top of the stall’s gate.
Jackie’s lips split into a wide smile when she reached across to pat Bella’s stunning neck. She was the first horse of this coloring she’d ever seen. Estrella called her azulejo. A dark blue roan coat color guaranteed Bella would stand out anywhere they went.
“Attagirl,” she spoke to Bella in a soft voice. “We’re going to go on a little adventure. I need to think, and nature might be the only answer.”
“I’ll leave you to it. Need to get back to my conchas, or else Bruno will be rambling all afternoon.” Estrella’s fingers cocooned Jackie’s wrist. “I’m not blind, chula. I can see something isn’t right with you today. I won’t ask, but if you ever want to talk … I can listen.”
Jackie blew out her cheeks. “Thank you.”
Estrella nodded before leaving the barn.
Bella nuzzled her nose into Jackie’s open palm.
She threaded her fingers through Bella’s mane. “Let’s saddle you up.”
Three hours of trotting through the magnificent depths of emerald jungle on Bella’s back did little to slow Jackie’s thundering heart.
When she got back to the hotel—two pink tins filled with conchas under her arm—she expertly navigated through the lobby, avoiding being pulled into conversations by employees unless there was something that demanded her attention, like authorizing reaching out to an alternative balloon supplier for their New Year’s Eve party. It was her day off, after all.
Jackie spotted Rea talking with Luis in hushed voices behind the reception desk. She waved to her, almost dropping the tins when she loosened her grip on them.
Rea beelined to her. “Yes, Miss van Moetlier?” She caught Jackie’s stern gaze. “Jackie,” she corrected herself with a wince.
Jackie chuckled as she passed Rea one of the tins. “This is for you. I took Bella out for a ride. Your mom sends her love.”
Rea eyed the tin suspiciously. “What’s in it? I hope it isn’t more pan dulce.”
“It is, freshly baked conchas,” Jackie confirmed, her brow scrunched. “What’s wrong with pan dulce?”
“Nothing. But if you grew up with someone who loves it as much as my dad, you’d get fed up with it too.”
“My grandmother is obsessed with stew. When I first moved abroad, I couldn’t stand the look of stew anywhere. Felt like I had stew coming out of my ears.”
Rea hugged the tin to her chest and coughed out a laugh. “Good stew isn’t bad. Thank you for bringing me a piece of home.”
“You’re very welcome. Though, I wouldn’t have been allowed to leave without taking these.” Jackie lifted the second tin. “I’m all stocked-up, too.”
“Mom sees it as her duty to sweeten everybody’s lives. Speaking of …” Rea’s voice dropped. “That new guest, Mr. Craigton. He isn’t bothering you, is he?”
Jackie blinked, wide-eyed.
“Only that the other day you seemed quite distressed when he interrupted us outside your room. I didn’t want to get in the middle of whatever it was, but it seemed like you two know each other.” Rea looked at her expectantly.
An ache prowled about Jackie’s ribs, her chest throbbing recklessly.
She’d spent the past ten years keeping everyone at arm’s length.
Friendships became redundant when all she wanted was to be anonymous.
To appear and disappear from people’s lives, without anyone missing her once she was gone.
After Mitch, she couldn’t handle being the source of such pain again.
But hadn’t she already broken that rule since she got here?
Meeting Rea’s parents, spending time with Estrella and Bruno, starting to care about them …
It might’ve been too late to lock her heart and ward it against human connections.
“We knew each other in college,” she said finally.
Well, that wasn’t a lie. Just a very trimmed-down truth.
Rea’s brows knitted. “I didn’t know you went to college.”
Jackie fought hard to keep her demeanor impassive. “I didn’t like it much so didn’t stick around for long.” She glanced at her watch. “I better go. I have plans.”