“I miss him.” Papa sighs.
“I do too,” I say, making a mental note to arrange for a weekend getaway for my parents to Tío Felipe’s vineyard. Papa will love that.
“We should ask him to come down. His boys can man the vineyard just fine,” Tío Manny says. “They’re smart ki
ds.”
Seated opposite me, Hugo pours me water from a pitcher on the table, and Pablo places it near me. I nibble on my food.
“So, Pablo was just telling us about this girl he’s crazy about before you showed up,” Rafael says.
“Apparently his Bugs Bunny ties haven’t scared her off yet,” Angel adds with a grin.
“I’m not that bad.” Pablo gives me a wink. “Besides, Jo gave me some new clothes to wear. Not a cartoon tie in the wardrobe.”
Well, that’s nice. At least somebody’s on the right track with their relationship. Pablo deserves all the happiness.
“Maybe you should start a new service—dress to romance.” Tío Manny passes me a bowl of guacamole.
Mama nods vigorously. “Some men are clueless. Like today, I had to help pick out this customer’s engagement ring. He said he wanted to be unique and picked out a pearl ring, which would’ve been great if he were trying to propose to his grandma.”
I surreptitiously put my left hand under the table, suddenly extra self-conscious about the ugly ring from Aaron. I can only imagine what Mama’s going to say about it.
“What were you doing in a store? Didn’t you work from the office today?” Papa asks.
“Sometimes I visit the stores to see how things look. Reports are fine, but there’s no substitute for an in-person inspection.”
“She’s right,” Jorge says. “I do that too to keep my crew on their toes.” He’s a general contractor and does tons of luxury home construction.
“There’s no one our little Jo can’t make look great, eh?” Tío Manny says with a jovial laugh.
My phone pings.
“Excuse me.” I check it, in case of a client emergency. I almost wish somebody ripped their Versace, so I could leave without lying to everyone. But it’s a text from Hugo instead.
–Hugo: I’ve been thinking.
–Me: Please don’t.
–Hugo: Kim told me she’s 100% certain you never slept with Aaron after you broke up with him.
–Me: OMG, you spoke with her?
–Hugo: I had to. She told me you slept with Edgar Blackwood, which is why I thought it was his baby.
Well. That explains where he got his info. And he isn’t wrong, but Kim shouldn’t have told him anything. Ugh.
On the other hand, I never told her it was secret, so it isn’t exactly her fault. Right now, Kim and her man are working with Samantha over some custody issue, and she has no reason to hide things from my cousin. Hugo can be very sneaky about getting information he wants. He just flashes his puppy eyes and dimple, and women spill everything. He really should’ve been a trial lawyer, specializing in cross-examining female witnesses.
“Is everything okay?” Mama asks.
I jerk my head up and shove the phone back into my purse. “Yeah. Everything’s fine.”
Conversation buzzes around me. I pick up my fork again and look at the food on my plate. My appetite is nonexistent. Not even Tía Bea’s cooking seems tempting.
Just get it over with.
I really should. It’s like pulling a Band-Aid off—the anticipation is worse than the actual pain. Besides, I only have to make this disgusting announcement once.