It was the best gift I'd ever be able to give them. The peace of believing their daughter was safe.
"Why would you do that? And why wouldn't you call?" my mom asked, her voice raising an octave as she tried to come to terms with what I'd done.
"I didn't know what to say," I admitted. That part felt like the truth, because I still didn't know what I could say to them to explain the drastic change in my life. I didn't think anyone could ever understand what pulsed between Rafael and me.
Not when I didn't even understand it myself.
"Just come home, Isa," my dad said, his voice cracking with the words. "We can make sense out of all of this once you're home."
"I'm not coming home, Dad. I need to get settled into my life here. I'll come visit when I can," I said.
"Isabel! You will get your ass on a plane right now and come home!" he snapped. "Your life is here. Your family is here."
Rafael's face darkened with anger as my father raised his voice to me, and I knew I had to do what I could to diffuse the situation before he got involved. Still, the words caught in my throat. "Rafael is my family now," I said, swallowing back bile at the harshness of my words. "I've never felt this way about anyone.” Whether I loved Rafael or not, he brought out all the parts of me I'd thought long dead.
"I don't understand," she said. "You've been gone for less than three weeks, Isa. It isn’t like you to act so rashly.”
"Please try to give me the benefit of the doubt. I don't make impulsive decisions, so trust that I made this one in the same way. I made the choice very carefully," I whispered, watching Rafael's posture relax slightly. “Is Grandmother there?” I asked.
“She’s at the center. She can’t bear to be here knowing you’re gone,” my mother said, trailing off as she struggled to find what else she could say.
"Mom!" a voice so similar to mine said in the background as I heard the front door close.
"We're in here, honey!" my mom called back to my sister.
"Odina's home?" I asked, my face dropping in my dejection.
"She came home shortly after you left for Ibiza. She seems...better," my mom said hesitantly. "Isa, please just come home. We can figure this out."
"Maybe this is for the best. Maybe without me there to get in the way, you can mend your relationship with her," I said, trying to fight back the hurt. But I'd always been in Odina's way. I'd always been a reminder to her of the day she died. "Everything happens for a reason, right?" I asked, trying to keep back the bitterness I felt at knowing that Odina had swept in the moment I was gone. That she'd moved to claim our family as hers alone with me gone.
I glared at Rafael, wondering if she'd somehow known I wouldn't be coming home. His face was a careful mask, designed to keep his secrets away from me.
"Isa, that's not fair," my mom said.
"Life's not fair," I said back, smiling despite the harsh words. "I'll call you soon. I love you," I said, ending the call with a stab to the phone screen. In my frustration, I hadn't even waited for them to say goodbye.
Maybe Rafael was my penance for what I'd done. The price I'd have to pay to make amends with Odina.
I'd gladly pay it.
But first, I needed to know why she'd thought it safe to come home.