Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
ELENA
It took Elena a moment to recover from the shock of finding the door to Danny’s office wide open and the space empty.
She stepped inside and looked around. Everything had gone.
His desk, the filing cabinets, and all his law books.
There wasn’t a trace of Daniel J Jackson left in the building, just his name stencilled on the glass panelled door.
A lump wedged in her throat, accompanied by a dull thumping in her chest. She should feel relieved. This was what she’d wanted, so why wasn’t she happy? Instead of a good feeling, a heavy sickness filled her stomach—that feeling of dread when you realised too late you’d made a colossal mistake.
She’d wanted to come here in the hope of thanking him for withdrawing from Sofia’s case, and to see if their connection could be repaired. Instead, she’d found him gone.
The walk home was slow and heavy. The onset of rain had the Portobello Road stallholders scurrying around, packing up their wares.
The buzz of market activity usually made her smile, but not tonight.
The chaos added to her misery, reflecting the torment she felt.
She’d been out all day treating the residents of a care home, and only stopped off at work to dump her things and speak to Danny.
Now she wished she hadn’t. Her mood was even more morose than it had been before.
It was hard to believe she wouldn’t see him every day. They wouldn’t chat, or argue, or flirt. Her life would return to how it was before they’d met. What a depressing thought.
Rubbing her chest, she tried to soothe the ache in her ribs, but it refused to shift.
Even when she arrived home and found the Romero household in full ‘party’ mode, her mood didn’t lift, despite the sound of loud Latin music assaulting her ears as she opened the front door.
An invite to Hugh’s film-themed birthday party had given the whole family an excuse to dress up—as evidenced when she came across Princess Fiona doing the merengue with Indiana Jones in the lounge.
Despite her despondency, she couldn’t help smiling at the sight of Papi and a green-faced Yulitza dancing.
Yulitza’s arrival from the airport last night had been met with excited screams, hugging, kissing, and an abundance of crying. After the loss of their mum, having Yulitza join the family was like a healing balm being spread over their collective grief.
Waving a greeting, Elena escaped upstairs to avoid being coerced into joining in. She needed a moment to collect her thoughts.
Her quick escape was scuppered when Luisa appeared from her bedroom dressed in a sparkly pink ballgown and diamanté tiara. Her skin shimmered with glitter as she spun around, lifting her skirts to reveal bright pink trainers beneath.
‘Welcome to Munchkinland!’ Luisa sang, tap-dancing across the landing, wine bottle in one hand, fairy-wand in the other. ‘I am Glinda, Good Witch of the North. Hurry now and get into costume, for the Wizard doesn’t like to be kept waiting.’ She skipped downstairs, slugging from the wine bottle.
Shaking her head, Elena went into her bedroom and flopped onto the bed.
A tap on the door ended any hope of a respite.
‘Come in,’ she said, resigned to having an audience while she changed.
It was a surprise when Papi entered. He was minus his Indiana Jones hat, but still had the bullwhip attached to his belt.
He came over and laid next to her, his big hand searching out hers. It was enough to bring her to tears. She wasn’t sure why she was feeling so unsettled.
He rested on one elbow to look at her. ‘Are you looking forward to the party?’
‘Not really,’ she admitted, too weary to bother lying.
‘Why is that, mi hija? You normally like parties.’
‘I’m not feeling very sociable right now.’
‘Because of Danny?’
She inwardly cringed. ‘Who told you?’
‘No one needed to tell me, I can see the pain for myself. Your sisters provided the man’s name, that’s all.’ He watched her carefully. ‘If it helps, I approve.’
‘You’ve never met him.’
‘I had lunch with him yesterday.’
Elena nearly gave herself whiplash twisting to look at him. ‘You had lunch with Danny?’
He nodded. ‘Connor wanted me to meet the man who’d raised him.’
Elena covered her face with a pillow in the hope it would smother her and end her suffering. ‘You talked about me?’
‘We talked about many things,’ he said, removing the pillow from her face. ‘Family, work, life. He’s an honourable man. He has good principles and a kindness that is admirable. I like him. I liked him more when Sofia mentioned you and I saw the expression on his face. It was a look I recognised.’
‘Telling me how great he is doesn’t help, Papi. I’m painfully aware how wonderful Danny is, everyone keeps bloody-well telling me. It’s me that’s the problem. I’m the fly in the ointment.’
It was a moment before he spoke. ‘Do you know the story of how I met your mother?’
Elena sighed. ‘Yes, she was travelling South America and you had a holiday fling.’
‘For me it was more than that.’ His voice was so tender it forced her to look at him.
‘By the time she returned home to the UK I was in love with her. My heart ached, and I feared I would never see her again. This beautiful woman, who had brought light and joy into my life, was leaving. I was at a crossroads. Stay and be safe, or take a risk. I borrowed money from your abuela and flew to London. I had never been abroad before. I didn’t speak good English. It was very scary.’
It was hard to imagine Papi being afraid of anything, he always seemed so fearless—until their mum had died, anyway. Then he was a broken man.
‘I turned up at your mother’s house, and your grandfather opened the door, he did not look pleased to see me. He looked more unhappy when I proposed to your mother.’
‘You proposed?’ Elena blinked at him. ‘After a couple of weeks? How come I never knew about this?’
‘She said no.’ He gave a nonchalant shrug. ‘But she admitted she liked me, so I stayed for a few weeks. By the time I left, she was in love with me.’ His grin had turned smug. ‘I made sure of it. Next time I proposed, she said yes.’
Elena knew the rest of the story. ‘And she moved country to be with you.’
‘Your grandfather was very unhappy about that.’
‘But it was what she wanted, you made her happy.’
‘Yes, I did.’ His expression turned serious. ‘I worked hard to make her happy. Every day of our life together. Falling in love is the easy part. After that you have to make the decision to commit and show that love every day. It is not always easy, but it is always worth it.’
Elena kicked off her trainers and rolled to face him. ‘Why are you telling me this?’
‘Because I see that same look on this man’s face.’ He tucked her hair behind her ear. ‘The look I had when your mother left. He is at a crossroads too.’
Elena shook her head. ‘It’s too late. He’s already made his decision. Moving out of his office is a pretty definitive statement.’
‘Maybe.’ Papi shrugged. ‘He will be at the party tonight. You must talk to him.’
‘There’s nothing left to say.’ She stuffed the pillow under her head. ‘I agree he’s a good man, you don’t need to tell me that. But is he the right man for me? I’m not so sure. We’re so different. It feels like the Felix situation all over again.’
Papi frowned. ‘Why do you say that?’
‘I was more invested in the relationship than he was,’ she said, hating the rise of humiliation she still felt at getting things so wrong.
‘He put his career ahead of me. We liked different things. More than that, he actively disliked the way I behaved at times. It’s not a great feeling knowing someone disapproves of you.
Plus, he had no respect or understanding when it came to Luisa, or my need to be near her. There was a wedge between us.’
‘This is true.’ He nodded. ‘He was not right for you. It was clear to see.’
Elena gave him a shove. ‘Gee, thanks, Papi. You didn’t think to tell me this?’
‘Would you have listened?’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘A parent disliking their child’s partner is not something that should be voiced. He was your choice, but he was not mine.’
Elena couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘You kept it well hidden. I knew Luisa didn’t approve, but I had no idea you didn’t like him either.’ Although in hindsight, maybe she did have an inkling, she’d just chosen to ignore it.
‘It wasn’t that I didn’t like him. He wasn’t right for you.
People are like planets, Elena. Independent and spinning in orbit, each one with a different climate and atmosphere.
That is okay.’ He tapped the end of her nose.
‘You are an independent woman, this is good. But there are many planets in the sky, and sometimes gravity pulls us towards another life form. That can be a good thing too, to be co-dependent.’
‘Have you been watching Brian Cox tutorials again?’
His gaze remained intense. ‘Felix wasn’t in the same universe as you. Your planets were not compatible to sustain life. Your love would have died.’
Brutal, but most probably true.
‘Danny is different from you, yes. But his planet is compatible with yours. Your love would not die, it would last for infinity.’
She laughed, mostly to disguise the sudden lump in her throat. Annoyingly, he was right. Danny was the kind of man you would love forever. Maybe that’s what scared her so much. ‘You’re a hopeless romantic, do you know that?’
‘It is the key to a happy life, mi hija.’ He kissed her forehead. ‘Get ready for tonight’s party. You are at a crossroads too. You have a decision to make.’ He climbed off of the bed, pausing when he reached the doorway. ‘Be brave, mi hija. Solo tienes una vida.’
Elena flopped back on the bed. You only have one life. Wasn’t that the truth.