15
Isa
Time passed. The days faded in and out. I spent time with Regina, learning to cook her favorite dishes and doing the groundwork for the Spanish I desperately needed to learn.
But restlessness settled in my bones, waiting for the day when the doctor would clear me for more activity. When Rafe could begin training me, and when I could go out and explore the island I called home without Rafael pressuring me to remain in the safety of the house, where he was only a shout away if something happened.
If I’d thought he would smother me with his toxic obsession before the pregnancy, I never could have imagined what the sweet version of him would do when he was concerned.
Finally, after a week, I couldn’t take it any longer. I needed to get out of the house and explore. Rafael’s people were my people now. Ineededto know them.
Joaquin and I walked through the streets once Rafe finally conceded, making me promise to rest at the first sign of fatigue. The stroll through the grassy field beyond the pool area made my heart leap into my throat. The basket tucked under my arm was filled withbuñuelos ibicencosI’d made that morning under Regina’s supervision, and my hand trembled as I reached in and gave one to Joaquin. He groaned as he took a bite of the fried potato doughnut coated in sugar.
“You and Regina are going to make the lot of us fat,” he said as we approached the main road that extended through the center of the village. I’d only ever ventured there during my run from Rafael, never truly realizing how large the town itself was. I knew some people lived outside of the central village, preferring the privacy that the more remote spots on the island offered, and that even more of Rafe’s people lived on Ibiza itself since they conducted business there too regularly to commute.
I heaved a sigh as the bottom of my flip flop touched the road. We made our way down the street, nodding at everyone who looked my way. No one seemed interested in approaching, keeping their distance in a way I didn’t want, and it felt hopeless.
I didn’t know the first thing about interacting with strangers on this level, not knowing what they must think of me. A girl who wasn’t one of them takingEl Diablofrom the potential matches I had no doubt the people who worshiped him had dreamed of for their daughters.
A young boy raced up finally, pulling free from his mother’s grasp to hurry to stand in front of me. I knelt down with a smile, reaching into the basket as my eyes met his mother’s. She nodded, though she looked tense as she did it and bowed her head with an apology on her lips. “Mi reina?” the boy asked, his eyes wide as I handed him the pastry.
“Now you see that’s just not fair,” I murmured with a laugh. “You know my name, but I don’t know yours.”
“Luis,” he said with a beaming smile, biting into his doughnut and smiling around a mouthful of sugar. He ate happily, groaning his satisfaction with each of the bites that seemed far too big for his face. His mother watched, her wariness transforming to a subtle smile as I stood up. Reaching out a hand to touch the top of his head, I paused and held her eyes as I wondered if I’d crossed a line.
I didn’t know her, and part of me completely expected to be an unwelcome figure in their lives.
An older woman approached at our side, and I watched her in uncertainty as Joaquin’s face tensed. She studied my face with weathered eyes, the skin around them wrinkled with age. The hair upon her head was a stark white next to the deep tan of her olive skin, and I couldn’t help but be reminded of my grandmother as I watched her.
Of a woman who saw through all the bullshit and straight into a person’s heart.
Finally, her lips curved into a soft smile, her feet taking her a step closer as the boy scurried off. Her frail and wrinkled hand stretched forward, closing the distance between us to touch my belly that was still mostly flat. The slightest of bumps had appeared in the mirror a few days prior, making me question my sanity.
It was so small, it could have been a trick of the mind, but with her knowing gaze on me and that hand touching my stomach, I knew it hadn’t been my imagination. “Mi reina está embarazada?” she said, her voice filled with wonder. Soft murmurs came from the people who’d emerged from the buildings and houses to observe our interaction, the weight of their gazes heavy on me.
Even though the words were a jumble spoken too quickly for me to follow, the hand on my stomach conveyed her meaning. “Yes,”I agreed, smiling as I nodded for those who wouldn’t be able to hear the soft admission. I covered her hand with mine, willing it to still be true.
And knowing in my heart that it was.
She pulled her hand from my stomach, reaching up with both hands to grasp my face in her hands and touch her forehead to mine. “Nosotras pensamos que este día nunca vendría,” she murmured, pressing a shaky kiss to the top of my head before she walked back into the crowd and disappeared.
“What did she say?” I asked Joaquin, trying to listen to the excited chatter of all the people around me as I waited for his response. They spoke too fast in Spanish, and my vocabulary wasfartoo basic to understand even bits of it.
“She said they thought this day would never come,” Joaquin said, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “You have given them a gift,mi reina. One that I hope you will come to understand in time.”
“What gift is my baby to them? I don’t understand.” I shook my head.
“A future,” he said. “For our way of life here. A littleprincipitoorprincesato love as they should have been able to do with Rafael. His father took that from all of them. You’ve given them a second chance.”
I thought over his words, turning a smile to the woman who approached at my side. She held a bunch of wild flowers in her hands, tied together with a blade of grass. She handed them to me, taking the basket from my other arm with a smile. “Gracias, mi reina.These look delicious,” she said, turning and calling out to the group of children that I hadn’t even seen. They raced forward, each taking one of the doughnuts until the entire basket was emptied.
Once that was finished, she tucked the basket back under my arms and placed the flowers from my hand within it. Slowly, the same children came from the fields beyond the buildings. Flowers were clutched in their grip, and one by one they dropped those into the basket alongside the ones she’d given me.
“That’s really very sweet, but you didn’t have to give me flowers. I’m happy to feed the children treats,” I said with a laugh, reaching out to ruffle a little girl’s hair as she dropped the periwinkle flowers she’d gathered in the basket with a playful grin.
“Para tu madre,”she said, and my heart clenched, because even not knowing much Spanish,thatI knew. I bit back the sting of tears, forcing a smile to my face as another older woman stepped up. She touched my stomach compulsively, holding out a hand for me that I had no choice but to take.
Even knowing that wherever she would lead me might break me, I let her guide me farther up the hill. Just before the summit, she followed a narrow path off to the side and we made our way along in silence. Joaquin kept his distance, trailing behind us as if he knew I was absolutely safe with the older woman.