He has a disarming way about him, and I laugh. “Rafael. It’s so nice to see you. I almost didn’t recognize you without that FC Porto cap you always wore.”
He chuckles. “It was signed by members of the championship team. Of course I always wore it.” His grin spans from ear to ear. “You remember my hat?”
I nod. “I never saw you without it, except at Mass.”
It’s a little awkward, because although we know each other, it doesn’t seem right to greet each other with a hug, or a kiss on each cheek, in the traditional way.
“Please come in. Have a seat.”
“I won’t stay long. I just came to say hello.”
I don’t know if it’s because he’s so much younger than Tomas and Antonio, or if it’s because I remember him as a little boy, but Rafael doesn’t scare me in the way his brother does. Maybe because he doesn’t look much like him.
Rafael resembles Tomas, but only marginally. He favors his mother’s side of the family more than the Huntsman side—like Antonio. Maybe that’s why there was so much gossip about him being Antonio’s son.And his brother.Unlike Antonio and the other Huntsmans, who have dark-brown eyes, Rafael’s are crystal blue, like a pristine lake, and they sparkle with fun.
Antonio’s eyes once sparkled with fun too.
Rafael makes himself comfortable in a chair near the windows. “I’m still having trouble imagining Antonio married—especially to you.”
I open my mouth, pretending to be aghast. “Are you insulting me?”
“No,” he replies with great exuberance. “Not at all.”
“To be honest, I’m having trouble imagining it myself.”More than you’ll ever know.
He gazes at me, grinning again.
“Are you going to share what you’re thinking?” I tease. “I can always use more reasons to smile.”
“I was thinking about the last time I saw you. You were with your little girlfriends, looking for Antonio.” He shakes his head. “Always looking for Antonio, like I was chopped liver.”
Yes. I remember.It touches something inside me. “Those certainly were simpler times. But had I known that you would eventually take off that silly cap, and that all your teeth would grow in, I might have chased you instead.”
He laughs. “I bet you never thought you’d end up here. Or maybe you did.”
I dreamed about it, but in my dreams, I was a cherished bride, not a prisoner.Oh God. I hope he doesn’t share the story with Antonio.That’s all I need.
“Rafael, this is our little secret. Antonio doesn’t need to know I was an infamous stalker in my youth.”
His eyes twinkle, but he makes no promises.
“Where did you go?” he asks. “There was a lot of speculation when you left Porto.”
“Across the Atlantic, to take care of family. My father had an aunt in Canada. She was old, and very sick.”It’s mostly true. Although the family I was taking care of wasn’t a Canadian aunt.
He eyes me carefully, but doesn’t press for more details.
“How long are you staying?”
“I leave tomorrow,” he replies. “My exams start next week.”
“As happy as I am to see you, I’m sorry you had to come home under these circumstances.”
Rafael lifts a brow. “My father?”
I nod.
“Nothing to be sorry about. I’m not close to my father. We haven’t spoken more than a few words in years.” His chest expands as he draws a ragged breath. He might blow it off, but I don’t believe the estrangement is as easy as he pretends. Especially now, with his father dying.