Southern Belles 4 Blissmas (7 page)

Tromping through the fresh snow, she looked
up and stuck out her tongue to capture a few of the frozen
snowflakes. This Christmas was going to be amazing. Snow and all.
She smiled. Then she sloshed over to the shed to get the
ladder.

Marti walked into the living room with Mamá.
"I'm so sorry, ma'am. I know yesterday was a bit tense. I…I just
don't know what's going on with me."

She turned and looked at Marti. "It's okay,
hija
, I know Nick can be demanding and sometimes he buries
himself in his work, but he is a good man."

"Mamá Lupita, do you know anything about
Ellie? Has he ever said anything?"

"Ellie? His secretary? No, she is a good
secretary and she keeps him in line. Why do you ask?"

Nodding her head, she sat down on the couch.
"No reason, just curious. What do you know about Maria Del Santos?
He won't tell me."

"Yes, yes… I know all about Maria, she was a
young, beautiful woman. But she is no longer with us." She sighed
and motioned the sign of the cross across her body and then kissed
her fingers. "She went to be with the Lord many, many years
ago."

"What happened to her?"

Mamá inhaled deeply. "I should not tell you
this, this is something you and my son should talk about, but you
should know. He hurt for many years." She paused. "You see, Nick
was in love when he was young. And Maria, well, she was a good girl
from L.A. A nice girl. They met in college and he was so in love
with her." She exhaled and added, "They were going to get married,
you know."

She was on her way to pick up her wedding
dress, it was raining very hard in Los Angeles and….and a truck
swerved,
Aye, Dios
, she - she tried to slow down to miss it
and she lost control of the car. The rain made it impossible for
her to stop, the car spun around and around, hitting more cars and
Diosito Santo
." Mamá shook her head; her eyes welled up with
tears. "The - there was a big crash on the freeway. Three people
died that night. It was very sad."

"Oh my God! How sad! Where was Nick? Was he
with her?" A look of horror covered Marti's face.

"No,
hija
, he was at work helping his
father, trying to save some money for their wedding. We weren't
very successful back then. In fact, we were struggling. And when
Maria passed away, we had to borrow a lot of money for her funeral.
Her family was struggling to send her to college as well. Nick
wanted her to have a big, beautiful service, but we couldn't afford
it. Neither could her family. He vowed to never be poor again."

"So that's where he gets his drive? From
Maria passing away?" Marti was shocked that he had never spoken
about her.

"Yes,
hija
, he changed his studies and
starting working with his father all day long, talking to people,
bringing in more business. We were small back then, maybe two,
three trucks.
Aye
, that was such a long time ago. He went to
school at night. But my son, my son worked hard and he has brought
us to where we are today."

"Gosh, Mamá, no wonder he doesn't want to
talk about it, it must be so hard for him." She heard the door
creak open and Annie came in with the ladder. "Thanks for all the
help, girlfriend. Glad you're here." Marti's face was white. "You
okay?" Annie asked as she sat down the ladder.

"Yeah, Lupita was just telling me about
Nick's fiancé from like twenty years ago. She had a really bad car
accident...just right before they were married. Damn, he never told
me, he always says 'tomorrow’ or 'later.' God, that must hurt. I
never knew. Shit." She looked down at the floor, kicking a fuzz
ball with her toe.

Annie set the ladder by the entrance to the
attic. "That must have been hard. Damn. Poor guy. Wow."

Lupita looked up and smiled, "Oh yes, it was
really sad, but now my son has found love and he can live his life
with his beautiful wife." She looked up at Marti. "You are going
back to Memphis with us,
no
?" Lupita was beaming, her eyes
sparkling.

"I don't know. I just…" Stepping up the
ladder, her voice faded as she reached the attic. "Annie, where's
this stuff at?"

Annie held the ladder, hollering up at Marti.
"Should be right there to the left. Do you see it?"

"Yeah," clearing the cobwebs from her face.
"What say we don't put this in the attic anymore? This is nasty! I
think we could find someplace in this huge freakin' house to put
it." Marti scooted the Christmas boxes toward the opening to the
attic as Annie stood waiting at the bottom. Marti handed her down a
box. "Here ya go…." her phone rang and she sat back in the attic
and fished it out of her pocket.

Just before pressing the 'answer call' button
on her phone, she muttered to anyone and everyone "Well I'll be
damned. It's the Queen Bitch herself, Mizz Eleanor Poole." She
tapped the button. "Hello?"

"Martha dear, this is Eleanor. I don't wish
to disturb you, but I am trying to contact Mr. Vargas on an urgent
business matter. If he there with you? I would like to speak to
him, please."

Martha sat up, stuck her nose in the air and
in her best posh voice. "Eleanor dear, how looverly to hear from
you," she teased. She pushed the rest of the boxes to the opening
with her feet and started down the ladder. Annie whispered, "Who is
it?"

Still mimicking Ellie, "I wish I could let
you speak with him, but he's not here. He is outside in this
beautiful snow… chopping down a tree…..for me. Chop. Chop." Marti
busted out laughing. "Oh shit! Ellie, loosen up, how the hell are
ya?"

"Martha, I really don't have time for your
childish games," said Ellie. "I need to speak to Mr. Vargas.
NOW!"

"Damn girl, don't get your panties in a
bunch, he's not here. Did you try his cell?"

"Yes, Martha, I did try his cell, he's not
answering and that's why I called you. Can you please tell him we
have an emergency and I need to talk to him as soon as possible?
Are you capable of doing that?"

"Ellie, dear, do you like your job?" Marti
sneered; Ellie's snobbish attitude was getting on her last
nerve.

The venom oozed out of Ellie's mouth. "Yes, I
do like my job, and I do it well. Have you ever had a job? Or are
you just leeching off successful men to take care of you because
you obviously don't have the wherewithal to take care of yourself.
Please tell Mr. Vargas I need to speak to him."

"Damn Ellie, you are such a bitch! If you
like
your job and want to
keep
it, you better learn
some respect! Especially to your boss’s wife!"

"Respect? I apologize. I don't have any
respect for some small town white trash whore who thinks she can
move in on Mr. Vargas! You don't deser -"

"Woah! Now hold on a second! Did you just
call me a white trash whore? Oh. My. God! You did not call me a
whore! You stuck up bitch! You couldn't get a man if you paid him,
but calling me a whore? Girl, you don't know me at all.” She
inhaled sharply. “So, if you wanna keep your high-paid, high
falutin' job with Vargas International… then by God you better
learn some fucking respect and learn it fast. Got it? Good!" She
hit the End button, wishing she was on a landline so she could slam
the phone in her face.

"Oh my God! Annie, did you hear what that
bitch called me? White trash? Whore? Ahhhh!" Her hands were visibly
shaking and she took a second to calm herself down, "Fuck that
bitch!"

Lupita was looking through the boxes of
ornaments, silently waiting for her as she hung up the phone, she
had heard everything. She reached over and grabbed Marti's hands
and held them in her own. "Marti,
hija
, come, sit down,
don't worry about that mean lady. I will talk to my son. He will
take care of it."

Marti felt close to this wonderfully warm
lady, even though they'd only just met. She actually felt closer to
Lupita than she did to her own mother, who lived just down the
street. They walked over to the kitchen table and sat down. Lupita
started to speak quietly, meeting Marti's gaze with her soft brown
eyes.

"You know
cariñosa
, I know we've only
just met." She tapped the side of her head. "But I know that you
are a good girl for my Nick. Ellie? She no good for him. She's not
a nice lady. But I tell you something… my son? He is in love with
you and he can't get you out of his mind."

Marti stood up to pour some tea. Offering
some to Lupita and carried both glasses back to the table. "You're
just saying that to make me feel better."

Mamá looked straight into her eyes and said,
"Oh no,
hija
, not to make you feel better, to tell you the
truth. Why do you think we drive all the way here on Thanksgiving?
Es
amor
, he loves you. He has not been this way since Maria
all those years ago."

Marti thought about what Mamá said for a
minute before she answered, "Ma'am, you know how we met, right? How
we got married and why we stayed married?"

"Si,
hija
. At first I was angr - no
not angry, I was sad. Sad that
mi hijo
would marry someone I
didn't know, sad that he didn't tell me before. I wanted so much
for him to find the right person. Someone who could love him and
take care of him...do you know who told me you and him got married?
The news, I saw you on the news. I cry for my son. I wanted my son
to have a happy wedding, a happy wife." Tears welled up in her
eyes, she continued, "he calls me two days later." She paused,
trying to hold back her tears. "He tells me about you, I could hear
alegria
...uhh, how you say…happy, yes, there was
happiness...in his voice, his words. He tells me he finally found
his wife. After all those long years alone."

Marti squeezed her hand. "Mamá, don’t cry. We
tried, I tried. Nick is a good man. But living in a house where I
have to walk on eggshells is not what I want. You heard how Ellie
talked to me. And this isn't the first time. She's a crazy lady and
she's crazy for Nick. I mean look at him. He's gorgeous...and rich.
Any woman who had any brains would want to be with him. I've been
taking care of myself for many years. I refuse to bow down to her.
Yes, having money is nice, but not if I have to sell my soul to
have it. I would rather be broke and starving than to be with that
woman in my house every day. And Nick knows it, and he doesn't do
anything about it."

Mamá looked deep into her green eyes and
Marti knew that she understood everything she was telling her.
"
Hija
, we haven't always been rich. We know what it's like
to struggle. I will talk to him and see what I can do. I know -
"

Just at that moment, they heard the truck
pull up outside and the chatter and laughter of Tommy and Nick as
they approached the ranch house.

"
Ya llegaron
, they are here." Lupita
raised her brow, tapping Marti's hand as she stood up and went into
the living room. Marti followed, opening the front door.

"We're here!" yelled Tommy as they stomped
the snow off their boots outside. A monstrous pine tree covered in
fresh snow leaned against the porch.

"Oh it's beautiful!" exclaimed Marti, running
over to Nick, wrapping her arms around him. "Shit! It's cold out
here! Y'all need to come in and get some hot chocolate and warm
up!"

*****

As the night rolled in, they were all singing
Christmas carols, the tree was decorated and Tommy had warmed up
the leftovers from the day before. Marti loved having Nick all to
herself for a moment, and his mamá, well, she was beautiful and
warm and Marti was falling for her. Mamá Lupita was a wise,
wonderful mother-in-law and Marti could tell Nick had the utmost
respect for her. Then it dawned on her that she forgot to tell Nick
that Ellie had called.

"Crap! Nick I forgot to tell you, The Bitch
called and said it was important."

Nick quickly glanced at Marti, "What? Who?
Why must you talk like that?"

Marti's eyes darted to him. She cocked her
head. "Excuse me?" With attitude, she replied, "Eleanor called,
said it was very important. Why is she calling me? Doesn't she have
your number?"

"When did she call?" His voice sounded
concerned. He stood up, hitting the speed dial as he walked
outside.

Marti slumped back in her chair. “Once again
that bitch has come between us. Did y'all see that? That's exactly
why I can't stand to be there. Crazy bitch calls and he jumps."

She crossed her arms and pouted. One more
time she thought that she and Nick could make something out of
their marriage and one more time, she felt like an outsider.

"Chiquita, he has a business to run, if
Eleanor said it was important, maybe it is important. I promise
you,
hija
, he would not let work ruin another day with you
if he didn't have to."

Just as Nick walked in, Marti stood up from
the table, "What's going on? Is everything okay?"

"No, everything is not okay. Big problem at
the warehouse." He ran his hand through his hair and exhaled.
"Mamá, we need to get back to Memphis."

"So soon?"

"Yes, soon, we should get packed up and on
the road. Marti, are you coming home?"

Marti squinched up her face, puzzled, "Home?
I am home. Why y'all gotta get home so fast?"

"Remember the huge mix up on the tanker truck
I told you about? Well, it has come down to all of the bottles of
salad dressing are being recalled.

Salad dressing, oil, vinegar, we didn't catch
it in time." He ran his hand through his hair, huffing in
desperation.

Tommy looked up from his plate, "Salad
dressing? Y'all make salad dressing?"

Nick turned to him, "Yes, we have quite a few
accounts with food manufacturers here in the States and one of
Vargas' employees that run the tankers wasn't paying attention and
the idiot loaded a truck full of vinegar instead of oil. We thought
we caught it in time, but…unfortunately, he wasn't truthful and
there are thousands of bottles on their way to the stores and it's
our responsibility to stop them and issue a recall."