Summer Dreams (4 page)

Natalia ground her teeth together, clamping her jaws and silently willing her reply to sound mature and reasonable, rather than telling Sonia off. "What do you mean by that?"

"Hector, of course. You say you broke the engagement, but he doesn't seem to mind. He's already dating an older sister of---"

"Spare me the details." Natalia squeezed her eyes shut, willing the stinging tears away.  Her stomach executed a bow-knot, and she trembled from head to toe, as if she'd been exposed to a New Mexico blizzard.

But why was she hurting? After all, she'd broken up with Hector, not the other way around. So, was she feeling wounded love or wounded pride? She hadn't expected Hector to pine for her, had she? He'd been kind, giving her the summer to think it over, but she hadn't expected him to ... to ...

She closed her eyes again.

Sonia's voice, a shade lower and sounding almost penitent, said, "I'm sorry,
mi hermana
, that was spiteful of me. I didn't think---"

"It's okay. You were upset."

"It's not okay. I think it's just too terrible for words. I don't understand why you broke  off your engagement. I thought you two were as good as married. Not like me, I change boyfriends every few weeks." She laughed again, but her laughter sounded brittle.

Natalia felt suddenly exhausted, as if she'd climbed the mountain to the waterfall. She just wanted to end the conversation and go to bed. "I'll tell Pura about your change of plans.  How much do you need? I'll wire you the money."

"No, I can't accept it. Not now. I'll get the money on my own. I just wish I hadn't---"

"It doesn't matter, I would have found out, sooner or later. Better sooner."

"Oh, I hope you mean that, Nieta." Sonia said. "Because I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know. I better ring off and put Pura to bed."

"Hey, wait a minute. Mami
y
Papi want to talk to you."

But Natalia didn't want to talk to her parents, not now. Like her sister, they hadn't understood her decision to break her three-year engagement.

"Hey, too tired. Tell them I'm fine, and I'll call tomorrow night."

"Okay. Give Pura my love."

"I will.
Adios
." Natalia clicked off her cell. It glistened wetly, slick with her perspiration even though the night air was cool with the windows open to the mountain breeze. She hadn't realized the depth of her hurt, hearing about Hector. 

But it shouldn't have come as a surprise. She had guessed Hector dated other people when she went away for the summer. There had been small clues, which had added up, over time. Errant remarks by friends, unanswered late night calls, and lame excuses.

She balled her hands into fists, allowing her manicured nails to bite deeply into her palms. Why had she been stupid for so long? Because she feared she couldn't find another man to meet her standards? Because she feared living her life alone?

And was her sister right? Was she too serious-minded, too dreary to love? 

***

Natalia outlined the major points for teaching dyslexic children. Most of it, she had heard a dozen times before, but this professor, had some new insights and theories. And there was an exam tomorrow. She wanted to pull an A, so she needed to study her notes tonight.

The bell sounded, and she gathered her notebook, text, and pen together in a worn backpack. She put her arms through the backpack straps and filed from class with the rest of the students. When she exited the building, the thin mountain air made her dizzy. She needed to accustom herself to the altitude if she wanted to live and teach in New Mexico.

Dallas was a big place, but she and Hector had numerous mutual friends, established over six years of being a couple. New Mexico had always felt like home. She wanted to live here and take care of Pura.

It would be a good beginning ... to start over without Hector. All she had to do was break the news to her parents. She paused on the top step of the education building to adjust her backpack and glanced across the street. Her gaze rested on a familiar figure. She narrowed her eyes and stared, surprised to see him here.   

Esteban was standing at the corner of the business building, one leg doubled behind him and braced against the wall. He looked raffish in faded jeans and an old work shirt, open at the neck. A well-endowed co-ed clad in a leather mini-skirt stood beside him, gesturing and laughing. The girl was flirting with him.  

Natalia felt a strange thrill travel through her. Esteban obviously hadn't noticed her, and she could watch without him knowing. Why she wanted to do so and why the thought made her giddy, was a question she pushed aside. Hoping he wouldn't accidentally spot her, she moved behind a column and squatted down.

Esteban spoke to the girl. She moved nearer and offered him a cigarette. He waved it away. 

Natalia felt like a spy, but she couldn't stop. She needed to know what he was like when he wasn't at the farm. Was he really the bad boy of her imagination or as her grandmother believed, had he reformed himself? 

More important, was he interested in every available female that crossed his path? Was that why he'd asked her out, because she was female and available? Was that why he was on campus, looking as if he was waiting for someone? 

His mini-skirted companion moved in front of him, pulling on his sleeve. He shrugged her off and then placed his hand on her shoulder in a conciliatory gesture. His lips moved, but Natalia was too far away to hear the words. The girl moved away from him and tossed her head. She pointed her finger at him, talking rapidly and with obvious vehemence. 

He shrugged again.

The co-ed shot him a one-fingered salute and strode away, her hips swinging like a samba. But Esteban stayed where he was, braced against the building. He appeared to have ignored her final gesture and kept watching groups of students as they passed. After about five minutes, he pushed away from the wall and headed south, leaving campus.

Natalia got to her feet and lifted her heavy backpack, wondering at the scene she'd secretly witnessed. The girl had been attractive and had a dynamite figure. And the co-ed had appeared keenly interested in Esteban. But he hadn't returned her interest. In fact, his rejection had earned him a very crude gesture.

Was she a spurned girlfriend or merely another hopeful female? If the former, Natalia felt a surge of empathy for the unknown girl, knowing what it felt like, to be yesterday's news.   

Watching him had been a revelation, despite her unanswered questions. He wasn't the old Esteban she remembered, the guy that was quick to take a smoke and latch onto a pretty girl.

So why was he here on campus?

***

Pura opened her mouth and extended her tongue, welcoming the Host. Natalia followed suit, taking the wafer from the priest's outstretched hand and sipping the cup of wine.  Communion in the Holy Catholic Church comforted her, relieving her of worldly cares. 

When they left the church, they were greeted by a swarm of Pura's friends and admirers.  Each summer, Natalia had to accustom herself to her grandmother's popularity in Tres Piedras. Her
abuela
was beloved by all. Parents jockeyed to get their children into her classes.  Charity matrons sought her support for causes. The saintly urged her to give lay talks about Christian virtues. And the merely friendly, invited her to their homes for dinner.

Once they were free of Pura's friends, Natalia helped her grandmother into the passenger side of the Chevy pickup. She took the driver's seat. After several coughing refusals, the truck started and they lurched down the road.

"It's Sunday afternoon," Pura declared. "Time for baseball. Esteban will be playing. Will you come? We should go home and change first, though."

Natalia clasped the wide steering wheel, and suddenly, her palms were perspiring. Did she want to see Esteban play baseball? It was a temptation almost beyond words. Baseball ... the magic antidote that had turned around a wrong-headed kid and made him a responsible adult.

Esteban's mother had died when he was four. After a scant year, his father had remarried.  The new stepmother was demanding and strict. And Esteban's father was demanding, too.  Esteban and his father were too much alike, based on what Pura thought; they flamed like flint and tinder. The stepmother added fuel to the fire. Predictably, Esteban rebelled, hanging out with the wrong kids. He cursed, smoked, drank and got into minor hassles with the law---all by the tender age of fourteen.

And then he went for a joyride in someone else's car. 

His father and stepmother washed their hands of him, refusing to hire an attorney. That was when Pura stepped in. He was in her class, and like other youths she'd helped before, she must have glimpsed his hidden potential. She hired the best lawyer in Taos and took responsibility. Her stature as a teacher and her attorney's defense got Esteban a suspended sentence.

He was remanded to her custody and given community service hours. At the time, it was considered an enlightened punishment. Esteban lived with Pura for several months, working around the farm, going to school, and fulfilling his obligation to the community.

After he'd redeemed himself, his parents accepted him back, but by that time, he'd been fired with the passion for baseball. Again, Pura had been the catalyst. She'd encouraged him to channel his restless energy into a sport. He chose baseball, but at the age of fourteen, he was late getting started. His peers had been playing ball since they could toddle to home plate.

Too stubborn to back down from his choice, he worked like a Trojan to perfect his skills.  With only the barest equipment, he threw the ball against the barn and caught it ... thousands of times. He batted rocks into the fields. He played high school ball with fierce tenacity. Bit by bit, he improved, but he was twenty before an amateur team accepted him. Along with his dedication to baseball, his school grades improved dramatically, all because of Pura's interest and encouragement.

"
Sí
, I would like to see Esteban play baseball," Natalia said.

***

Natalia clutched the rough wooden bench and leaned forward, her gaze riveted on the playing field. Around her, the bleachers rocked, the cheering and cat-calls crested, pounding in her ears, thudding in syncopated beat with her heart.

The game was in the bottom of the ninth inning. The score was six to five, in favor of the other team. Do or die time. Taos' Double A team, the Mountain Cougars, Esteban's team, was at bat. Two men were on base. They had two outs, and Esteban was at the plate. The pressure was on. If Esteban hit a double, he would be a hero. Anything less wouldn't be enough.

Fingering the gold cross at her throat, Natalia mouthed a silent prayer. 

Pura leaned forward and shook her fist. "Belt it out of the park, Esteban!"

The pitcher postured and wound up. Natalia closed her eyes at the last moment, afraid to watch, but praying for the solid crack of wood against leather.    

"Strike one!"

Their side wailed and booed. The opposite side of the bleachers cheered and jeered. The locals took their baseball seriously. Natalia had already witnessed two fist fights between zealous fans this afternoon.

Slanting one eye open, she watched Esteban approach the plate again, going through his own individual ritual. First, he knocked the bat against his cleats, as if to dislodge the clods of dirt. Next, he reached for something at his throat, and she knew he was touching his own crucifix. Then, he crossed himself and assumed the position, crouched low, the bat making lazy arcs behind his head.

Natalia couldn't help but notice the swell of his biceps, bulging from beneath the short sleeves of his team's uniform. His stretchy baseball pants fit like a second skin, outlining the powerful musculature of his legs. Watching him, her chest grew tight and her mouth went dry.

He was so beautiful! Strong and graceful, with his gray, hawk-like eyes peering from beneath the bill of his baseball cap. 

She remembered his muscular arms lifting her from the mountain pool and holding her as if she were a precious treasure. And his lips, warm and supple, fitting with hers, lingering and pleasuring, not taking but giving.

Was it any surprise women chased him? Who could resist him?

The pitch rocketed home, low and inside. Esteban corrected his stance, swinging with almost poetic grace, trying to reach the ball but missing.

"Strike two!"

Closing her eyes again, Natalia decided she couldn't look anymore.

The electricity around her was a vibrant thing, the air thrumming with a life of its own.  Her grandmother reached for her hand and clasped it. Coward that she was, Natalia clung to Pura's hand and kept her eyes shut. Now she was praying in earnest. Her
abuela
nudged her, and she opened her eyes.

She followed Pura's gaze and saw an elaborate display of signs from the Taos coach. Esteban shook his head. The coach frowned and repeated the signals. Esteban executed a kind of hop and lowered his bat, walking around home plate as if he was studying it.

"¿Qué pasa?"
She asked her grandmother.

"I think the coach wants him to bunt."

"¿Por qué?"

"Because he has two strikes against him, and the coach wants to surprise the other team."

"But if you figured it out, it won't be a surprise for the other team."

"I agree and so does Esteban. The coach is an idiot." Pura snorted. "Esteban can hit the ball; he just needs to read the pitcher."

"But he'll try to bunt?" 

"
Sí
, or the coach will suspend him from the team."

Esteban suspended from his team. For her childhood friend, it would be a fate worse than death. He lived for baseball.

"Baseball is an unforgiving sport, Abuelita. Why have you encouraged him in this?  Wouldn't it be better if he pursued a real career, full time?"

Pura lifted her head and snagged Natalia's gaze. "Life is an unforgiving sport,
mi
Nieta.  Can you think of a better training ground?"