California Sunrise (12 page)

Someone had talent.

Alicia was hugging the dog when he walked in. “You being a good girl, Daisy?”

A thumping tail answered her.

As soon as she saw him, Alicia abandoned the dog to give him a warm, if awkward, hug.

“Glad you’re here.”

“Me, too.”

He took in the rest of the people in the large, industrial kitchen. Mandy stood next to Sarah, a woman he vaguely remembered from office visits with her little girl. He’d never realized how much her smile bore an eerie resemblance to the one he’d often seen on Alicia’s face.

“I’m Sarah.” She pointed to the little girl. “Hopefully, you remember Hannah.

He nodded.

“You’ve already met Mandy. This is Mandy’s husband, James.”

A man who looked about his age thrust out his hand. “Glad to meet you. Let me take this.” He accepted the bag of wine and beer from Raúl.

Without something to shield him in his hands, he felt exposed. They all seemed friendly so far, but would that last?

“Do you mind watching Luis for a bit?” Alicia asked. “I’d like to show Raúl around.”

“No problem,” Sarah said. “Would you take a couple of beers to Hunter and Marcos? They’re in the garden setting up. My mom’s out there decorating, but she’s never been a beer person.”

More people.

As Alicia showed him around, he noticed the furniture in the inn suited its nineteenth-century roots, looking uncomfortable and unstable.

“It’s sturdier than it looks,” Alicia said with a grin. “Hunter reinforced everything.”

“Did he do the hall piece, too?”

“Yeah. He was courting Sarah and made it for her.”

“And who’s Marcos?”

“Elizabeth’s husband. He’s a winemaker from Italy.”

Alicia’s family must have high expectations of the men in their lives. Good thing he was a doctor.

“What about Mandy and James?” he asked. “Where do they fit in?”

“Sarah can’t cook.”

He hoped there was more explanation coming. There wasn’t.

“How can she run an inn?”

“She cons people into cooking for her. First there was Mandy, but she escaped to Hollywood to be with James, and now Sarah gets interns from the college.”

“And what does James do in Hollywood?” Maybe Mandy’s husband was a perpetually out-of-work actor, and he’d have a chance to shine.

“He’s an assistant producer—really becoming quite popular, according to Mandy.”

Of course.

As they entered the wooded area, the sound of loud banging interspersed with bitten-off curses, wafted toward them. Sounds of a man’s man—capable of wrestling inanimate objects into submission.

Men like his uncle.

Raúl’s heart rate skittered, and he took a steadying breath. He wasn’t that little boy anymore.

In an attractive clearing, a well-built man with a prosthetic leg balanced a sheet of plywood on two trestles. A slighter, dark-haired man was twisting a socket wrench underneath.

“That should do it.” The man stood. “Oh, hi, Alicia.”

“Hi, Marcos, Hunter.”

The man she’d called Hunter, the one with the prosthetic, gave her a hug before holding out his hand to Raúl. In the brief moment before their hands clasped, he sensed Hunter had taken his measure and knew more about him than he knew himself.

“Raúl Mendez.”

“Yes, I’ve heard about you. The pediatrician. Sarah’s happy and Hannah’s healthy, so you must be doing a good job.” Hunter smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“We brought beer,” Alicia said. “Where’s Elizabeth?”

“Getting some more doodads from the car,” Marcos said. He held out his hand as well. “It is good to meet you, Raúl.” To his relief, the winemaker’s expression was more open.

“How many guests do you have?” Alicia asked.

“Four couples, one single,” Hunter said. “Most will be joining us later. Say, Raúl, can you give us a hand with this other table?”

“Sure.”

“I’ll go help in the kitchen,” Alicia said.

“Sure. I’ll be fine.” He tried to ignore the tension in his upper back.

“If you help us set this up ...” Hunter gestured to another plank and trestles.

Raúl nodded and grabbed a trestle.

“Alicia says you think Luis might have Asperger’s. What does that mean, exactly?”

Raúl told him about the symptoms and prospects of the diagnosis while they worked. Hunter and Marcos asked insightful questions, increasing his respect for them and easing the muscles in his back.

“The biggest problem is the burden on the parents. Since Alicia is a single mom, it’s twice as bad. She’s trying to go to college and keep a job.”

“A job she does very well.” An attractive brunette, her hands full of red, white, and blue linens, stepped into the clearing. “You must be Raúl. I’m Elizabeth.”

“Here, let me help you with those.”

“Thanks.”

“Raúl was speaking about Luis,” Marcos said. “He said it is difficult for Alicia to do everything she wants to do.”

“I can see that,” Elizabeth said. “I’m being as flexible as possible with her hours.”

How much should he reveal of Alicia’s struggles?

“I think it might be more than that.” Hunter gestured for Raúl to grab the other end of the plywood tabletop. “She needs help with Luis,” Raúl said. “And she’s having trouble finding it.”

“I thought her grandmother was taking care of him,” Elizabeth said.

“She is.” He held the top steady while Marcos tightened the bolts to hold it to the trestles. “But Alicia thinks it’s wearing her out.”

“Probably. Her grandmother isn’t a young woman.” Elizabeth smoothed the linens on the first table. “I think we’ll set up Mandy’s dishes, buns, and condiments here. We can have plates out by the barbeque. People can get their dogs and burgers and finish up here. We’ll put drinks and desserts over there.”

A highly efficient woman. No wonder she ran a successful business.

A moment later, she was in front of him, hands on her hips. “How do we help her?”

“I’m not sure I can answer that.”

Hunter and Marcos moved behind her, presenting a solid front. He took a step back.

“Look, man,” Hunter said. “Alicia’s pretty rotten at asking for help.”

Elizabeth cleared her throat.

“Okay, she’s not the only one.” This time Hunter’s smile did reach his eyes. “If she needs help, surely we can figure out something.”

“I think what she needs is babysitting help,” Elizabeth said.

“Sarah and I can take him at times—especially when the inn is empty.”

Elizabeth glanced at Marcos.

”We are good until harvest,” he said.

Hunter raised an eyebrow. “Maybe you can help out, too?”

He hesitated. “I’m not sure our relationship is ready for that. Will she trust me with Luis? I’ll offer, but it’s up to her.”

“She might want to see how you handle it.” A smile played on Elizabeth’s lips.

“It’s settled then,” Hunter said. “We’ll provide the help. Raúl gets to figure out how to make her take it.”

He had the most difficult task of all.

His phone buzzed. The number was unfamiliar, but it could be someone in trouble.

“Raúl?” The voice on the other end of the line had heavy overtones of Spanish.

“
Sí
?”

“It’s Juan. I’m in the States. I need help. They’re going to kill me.”

What had the guys said to Raúl after she left them alone? When he returned to the kitchen, a spark had gone from his eyes, and the worried crease that always occupied the middle of his forehead was deeper.

“Is something wrong?” she asked when they were finally alone for a few moments.

“No. Nothing.”

“You look worried.”

“It’s nothing. Nothing for you to concern yourself with.” He patted her arm, picked up an armload of salads, and left the kitchen.

She yearned to stomp after him and tell him what she thought, but Luis was finally asleep, and she didn’t want to wake him.

Daisy thumped her tail on the floor, as if understanding how patronizing a man could be without even thinking about it.

“Grrr ...” She busied herself with kitchen cleanup. It was a good thing they weren’t using fine china during the party, because she would have broken some of it. As it was, there may have been a few new dents in the well-used pots.

When Luis finally woke, she coaxed him out to the party, despite his protests. Her temples throbbed as she looked around for Raúl.

“Here, let me take him.” Hunter’s firm voice brooked no disagreement.

She let go of her son, who looked at Hunter and shrieked.

“None of that, Luis,” Hunter said calmly.

Luis opened his mouth again and shut it.

“Good. Let your mother enjoy herself while we take a tour of the premises. Got to make sure there aren’t any bad guys here.”

Sarah was a lucky girl.

Alicia went to the grill where James was flipping burgers. “I’ll take one of those.”

“Coming right up.”

“I see you have duty.” Mandy slipped an arm around her husband.

“Yep. You hungry again?”

“I feel like I’m hungry all the time.” Mandy shrugged. “I’m only four months. I’ll be a small house before I’m through. Were you hungry like this?”

“Sometimes,” Alicia said. “But my family carries well, so it wasn’t a problem.”

“Who knows how my family carries?” Mandy laughed. “My mother isn’t speaking to me again. She wanted to come to our house for the entire duration of my pregnancy, and I said no. She got pissed.”

James snorted. “Better annoyed than dead, which is what she would have been if she stayed around you for any length of time.”

“How is she?”

“Fine when she’s on her pills. If not, she winds up being her old bipolar self.”

Alicia must have looked shocked, because Mandy added, “I didn’t mean to be as harsh as that sounded, but I have to maintain a sense of humor, or I start getting sucked into her craziness.”

James slid a burger on a plate and handed it to Alicia before putting his arm around his wife. “It’s okay, Mandy. Once the baby is born, you’ll roll with your mother’s idiosyncrasies more easily.” He rubbed his hand on her stomach. “I love you, sweetie.”

Mandy stretched her arms up and around James’s neck.

“
Madre dios.
Get a room.” Alicia left the grill and headed into the arbor, leaving a laughing couple behind her.

Where the heck is Raúl?

Eventually, she found him standing at the edge of the property, staring at the bay. His shoulders sagged, and his mouth drooped.

Longing for the touch from another human being, she came up behind him and put her arms around his waist. A bold move—probably too bold—but she needed to feel his warmth, a cherry on top of what was turning out to be a lovely day.

But he stiffened in response to her touch.

She let go. “What’s the matter, Raúl?”

“I told you. Nothing.”

“Then what are you doing out here by yourself?”

“Just thinking.”

“Uh-huh.” Sun sparkled on the whitecaps where a stiff breeze roiled the water. The fog was a gray smudge at the horizon.

Secrets.
She hated them.

“I was talking with Marcos and Hunter earlier,” he said. “They seem like nice men.”

“And?” The randomness of the statement put her on guard.

“No ‘and.’”

A seagull’s call, like the squeak of a rusty swing on a playground, filled the silence between them.

“Yes, they are nice. My sister and her mother picked well.” Maybe he hadn’t meant anything, and she was imagining things.

“They could help you, you know.” He looked away from the view. “I mean with Luis.”

“You
talked
to them about me?” Her spine felt like someone had it in a vise.

“Yes. I know you’re looking for someone else to take care of Luis while you go to school.” A frown crossed his face.

“What gave you the right?”

“Look, Alicia, I was looking out for you. You can’t be angry with me about that.”

“I can take care of myself. I don’t need you managing my affairs. I may be young, but I know what I’m doing.”

“I’m just trying to help ...” He splayed his hands.

“Well, don’t. Not unless you’re willing to tell me what’s going on with you.”

“I told you, this is personal. It has nothing to do with you.”

“So’s my situation with Luis.” Her chest was as tight as if she’d been a lifelong smoker.

He ran his hand through his hair and muttered something in Spanish she couldn’t quite make out.

They were making a mess of things, but she couldn’t figure out how to untangle the snarl of words. “Raúl, I—”

“Look, people are willing to help you if you’re willing to accept it. Everyone leans on someone else.”

“Except you.”

“That’s not true. I depend on Hadiya and my staff in the office. Why can’t you stop fighting people who want to help you? You want independence? Fine. Happy Independence Day.”

He stalked down the path to the parking lot.

What the hell had just happened?

“Alicia?” Sarah called out from the other trail, the one leading from the clearing. “I think Luis needs a bottle.”

Her sister emerged from the trees, Luis in her arms.

“Oh, honey, what’s the matter? Where’s Raúl?”

“He’s gone.”

She was all alone. Again.

Slumping onto a nearby bench, she burst into tears.

• • •

Alicia climbed the long stairway to the classrooms the following Tuesday night. The warmth of a coastal summer evening wrapped her in its embrace, but she was still chilled. What had gone so wrong with Raúl?

She needed to put him out of her mind. Hard to do when he was Luis’s doctor. But her child didn’t need another test until he was eighteen months—five months away. She’d be over Raúl by then.

Or she could find another doctor.

“Hi.” Josh came up beside her and smiled, his interest in her shining from his eyes. “Ready for class?”

She nodded.

“How are you doing with the text?”

“It’s fascinating. Who knew people could be so interesting? The more I read, the more I understand why my family acts the way they do.”

Josh laughed. “I think mine is a little crazy.”