Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

ALONDRA

I close the door and stand still, inspecting the room. I didn’t notice the king-size canopy bed with the pristine white linen drapery. The comforter and sheets are the same color, and the bedside tables look new, with modern lamps and USB ports. There are lots of pillows for me to get lost in. It almost makes me smile. There’s a white desk on one side of the room and a matching dresser on the other. There are mirror doors, which I can only assume belong to a closet. I can see the bathroom subway tile reflected on them.

The room is breathtaking, but I’m shaken. Vale’s here . The ghost of my past is back. I rush to the window, suddenly needing air, opening it just in time to see him walking down the beach.

Without wasting time, I pull out my phone and dial Esme. She answers on the second ring.

“This was a mistake,” I blurt out before she can say anything.

“Why? What happened?” Her voice is ladened with worry.

“Vale’s here.”

“Vale?” She parrots.

“Valentin Rosario.”

Her gasp fills the line. “Oh shit. Girl. How the hell?”

“He owns the B&B. He named it after his great grandma.” The words coming out of my mouth sound incredible.

“My heart dropped to my feet when I saw his face,” I say as the familiar pang hits my belly.

I would recognize those honey-dripping eyes and full lips anywhere. But he’s no longer a kid with peach fuzz and his hair isn’t braided back in corn rows. He sports a buzz cut. His skin is still golden brown, and he’s always been so tall, but he filled out. God, he filled out nicely. His shoulders are wide, and his arms muscled.

“How does he look?” she asks.

“Good. Same but different. He’s…a man now.”

“I bet.” Her tone is familiar, but before I warn her, she adds, “And you’re a woman.”

“Stop it right there. I don’t like where this is going.”

“Yet, you’re still there.”

“I have no choice,” I almost scream. “The road is closed, and there’s nowhere else to stay.”

“Damn. You’ll have to work it out with Vale, then.”

“Goodbye, Esmeralda.”

“Don’t be mad. I think this is a good opportunity to clear the air with him. You’ve always wondered about him and you.”

I sigh. “Yeah, but he thought I was part of the corruption.”

“What?” she screams this time.

“Yeah, apparently, everyone has heard. He asked me if I was running from the law.”

“Minus five points for that. But you can set him straight. Seriously, use this time as you intended.”

“Esme, how can I? I want to be in a place where no one knows me. He’s the worst person for me to be around now. He not only knows me, but we have history.”

“He’s a familiar face. A friend. Someone who’s had your back in the past like you had his. You’ve been up for hours. Get some sleep and things will be clearer.”

We hang up, and I head to the shower. The bathroom is beautifully done with white subway tiling, wide tile floors, and a matching clawed foot tub. I wish I could take a bath, but instead, I close the curtains around it and let the water run from my head to my toes. I am ruining my blowout, but I don’t care.

When I’m done, I slip between the covers in my pajama shorts and a tank top. I need to find a way to leave. I won’t ever be able to rest here.

I close my eyes and pray for sleep.

When I open them again, the room is brighter and cooler. I reach for my phone and realize it’s five in the afternoon. And it all comes back to me. Vale…no, Valentin is here. That has my world back upside down.

When I crossed into North Carolina, I couldn’t get into Nags Head. One detour after another brought me to Susurration. Two towns away, I ran out of physical and emotional energy and was beginning to panic. The hotels were either booked or closed. When someone guided me to the last hotel, and it was closed, I almost screamed, but a nice lady came around and told me to come to the B&B down the road.

Only to find the past I worked hard to put behind, right in front of me. It’s a new version of him, larger than life, fine as hell, but just as problematic.

My stomach grumbles. I haven’t eaten a proper meal in two days. I push off the bed and grab some khaki shorts and a sweatshirt from my suitcase. I look at myself in the mirror and yelp. My super poofy curls remind me why I don’t go to bed with wet hair. I could scare the birds out of a cornfield. I rewet it and add some curly pudding before heading down the stairs. When I land on the first floor, I set off to find the kitchen, passing a living room, formal dining room, and a bathroom.

Everything is spotless, and the kitchen is big, with a massive island in the middle and four chairs. The door on the far side swings open, and Valentin steps in. His clothes are filthy, and there is dust on his face and arms. He openly stares at me, and I at him.

Then he smiles, his lips stretching until the dimples appear on his cheeks, and the corners of his eyes crinkle. “You were always more hair than anything.”

It’s the last thing I expect him to say, but it’s the most ‘ us’ thing that could come out of his mouth.

I laugh. “Surprisingly, it has survived all the stress in my life.” I point at his clothes. “Where the heck were you?”

He looks down and shrugs. “We are fixing the damage to the school.”

“Oh. That’s really kind of you.”

He shrugs again, like the boy who didn’t care where we got lunch back in the day. “It’s our community. We’re going to fix it.”

His answer hits me in my chest. I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. I don’t have that where I live. It’s a beautiful apartment building full of young professionals, but I don’t even know my neighbors’ names.

“You must be hungry,” he says.

I nod and clear my throat. “Is there a place we can get food?”

He points at his stove. “Restaurants are not open yet, but I have frozen meals I ordered for guests before the storm. I’ll set one to defrost and go shower. Grab something from the pantry in the meantime.”

I bob my head up and down. He lingers but says nothing else.

I pull out my phone and sift through the disaster that is my inbox. I don’t breathe again until he’s gone.