Page 165 of Now and Forever

The day I get back to Madrid after my week in Llanes, my heart is split even farther in two. Knowing Eric is looking for me makes me unsure of even the very air I breathe. Time has not healed the pain but rather has raised it to levels I never thought existed.

I call my father, and we have a long talk.

“Papá, Eric makes me so mad and ...”

“You’re no saint yourself, darling. You’re pigheaded and challenging. You’ve always been that way, and you’ve finally met your match.”

“Papá!”

My father laughs.

“C’mon, sweetheart! Don’t you remember what your mother used to say?”

“No.”

“She would always say, ‘The man who falls in love with Raquel will have a peaceful life, but the man who falls in love with Judith, poor thing! He’s gonna be in a ruckus day in and day out.’”

I grin at the memory.

“And she was right, sweetheart. Raquel is how she is, and you’re like your mother, a warrior! And to put up with a warrior, there are only two options: either you find some fool who never opens his mouth, or you find another warrior like Eric.”

“And what are you, Papá, a fool or a warrior?”

My father laughs again.

“I’m a warrior like Eric. How do you think I could have put up with your mother any other way? And even if God took her from my life too soon, no other woman has touched my heart, because your mother set the bar very, very high. And that’s what’s happening to Eric, my treasure. After meeting you, he knows he won’t find anyone like you.”

“Yeah, anyone as dumb as me,” I joke.

“No, darling. He won’t find anyone as smart. As bright. As fun. As funny. As grumpy. As aggressive. As wonderful. As beautiful. He won’t find anyone like you at all, sweetheart ... at all.”

“Papá ...”

“Just as I suspected, Eric belongs to you, and you belong to him. I know it.”

I can’t help laughing. “Oh, Papá, you’d make a priceless soap-opera writer!” As always, talking to my father relaxes me. He wants the best for me, and he thinks the best thing for me is that German, even though I’m still not sure.

That night, when I open my laptop, I have a new message from Eric.

From: Eric Zimmerman

Date: May 31, 2013, 14:23

For: Judith Flores

Subject: Don’t leave me

I know you love me even though you won’t answer. I saw it in your eyes the last night at the hotel. You threw me out, but you love me as much as I love you. Think about it, darling. You and I, now and forever.

I love you. I want you. I miss you. I need you.

Eric

Why is he so romantic?

When I turn off the light in my room, I think again about the only thing I’ve thought about lately. Eric. Eric Zimmerman. I smell his T-shirt.

I wake up with a start at six o’clock in the morning. I dreamed about Eric. I can’t get him out of my mind even in dreams.

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