Page 55 of Love at First Ink

“You’re taking an awfully long time here. I figured you got lost.” She tried to peer around Lola to see Marisol, disapproval coloring her features.

“We were just coming out. Weren’t we?” Lola grabbed water off the table. She offered their mother a tight smile and headed back outside. Back to safety.

Trying to make the same clean escape, Marisol grabbed her wine glass and followed her sister. Right before she could make it to the door, her mother reached out to touch her arm. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing a guest,” she said, her voice deceptively friendly. Marisol had heard it many times before, though, and knew the anger lurking underneath.

“Yeah, sorry. It was a last-minute decision. He was at the house?—”

“He was at your home?”

Fuck. She said too much. Marisol shrugged, which only irritated her mother more. She knew how she felt about nonverbal responses. “Yeah.”

“I see.” She pursed her lips together in a tight line. “He’s…different from the men I usually see you with. Quite different from Archie.”

That was the point. She never wanted to date an Archie again. She had her fill of those types of men. “He treats me well.” Better than well, but her mother didn’t need to know more.

Marisol thought that was the end of the conversation, but her mother couldn’t let it go. “You’re still married, though, aren’t you, dear?”

“Technically,” she gritted out.

“I see.” More judgment. More anxious nerves coiling low in her belly. “Not ideal, would you say? People talk about these kinds of things. Reputation is everything, dear. Archie’s. Yours. Our family’s.”

This was why she didn’t want to be here. She knew her mother would have a problem and start to make Marisol doubt all of her decisions. She hated how easily her mother could stir up doubt within her. The familiar need to make her mother happy and give in was strong, but she had worked so hard to make strides for herself. She refused to let her mother set her back.

“No one’s reputation is at stake here. This is a family dinner, one you invited me to?—”

“Yes, just you,” her mother interrupted.

“Well, it’s not just me anymore, Mom. It’s Cisco too. I know you thought Archie was the man I should marry…that we should simply work out our problems, but we can’t. I don’t love him, nor do I want him as a husband. I’m happy, Mom. Can’t you just be happy for me?”

Luciana’s lips pursed into a tight line, nostrils flaring with quiet anger. Marisol knew what she was going to say before she spoke. “I’m so disappointed in you, Marisol. Whether you likeit or not, you are still a married woman and must behave like one.”

A mixture of anger and shame rose inside her, but before she could respond, her dad stuck his head inside the door. “Camilia is calling for you two. You better get out here before she comes and gets you.”

Marisol was saved for now, which was good. She feared she’d say something to her mother she’d regret later. But she still had the entire dinner ahead of them to survive.

“They don’t make‘em like this at the steakhouse,” Travis said, placing the steaks down on the glass table, opting to eat out by the pool rather than use their formal dining room in the house. “Cooked to perfection. Anything above medium rare is a crime.”

Their father always gave the same speech every time he made steaks. Marisol met her sister’s eye, and they shared a silent laugh.

Amongst the plate of steaks was one grilled chicken for their mother. Luciana avoided most red meats like the plague, so she always made sure chicken was available. For the longest time, Marisol had followed in her footsteps, but a person could only eat so much poultry before the very thought of it made her sick. Usually, her mother would make a comment about Marisol’s food choice, but keeping silent told Marisol just how upset her mother was about Cisco being here. It made her blood run cold.

There were also hot dogs for the kids, since steak didn’t impress them. Javi was getting their plates ready, adding extraketchup for Fabian while Lola scooped fruit onto Camilia’s plate.

Without prompting, Cisco made her plate, picking out the steak and mixing up a Caesar salad to pair with it. He placed it down in front of her, kissing her temple when he was done. In front of her whole family, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Marisol rarely, if ever, showed any displays of affection with past partners, but her feelings for Cisco needed to be expressed in the open. Even if that meant her family were witnesses.

Her mother’s cold gaze bore into her, but Marisol did her best to ignore her as she cut into her steak. Her mom was a ticking time bomb, and she'd have to deal with the explosion eventually, but not until she absolutely had to.

Conversations around the table flowed easily, mostly led by her father. He asked Javi about his contracting jobs. Marisol didn’t quite understand how it worked, but apparently he took a big job for some fancy hotel. By the looks of it, Lola seemed incredibly proud of him.

And Lola’s bookstore was flourishing. She had officially hired two new people to help around the store and promoted another one to manager. This allowed her to take some much-needed time off to spend with her family. And now that they were trying for a third child—which she didn’t share at the table—it would give her peace of mind, knowing her shop was in good hands.

Javi updated her father about his sister, Ofelia, and Ofelia’s baseball player husband, Maverick. Although their children, Arturo and Violeta, weren’t technically Travis’s grandchildren, her father always treated them as if they were. Currently, they were traveling with Maverick for his season but promised to catch up with everyone over dinner soon.

Eventually, the conversation circled around to Marisol and Cisco. At first, the answers were innocent enough for her father. He wanted to know what was going on in her life, so Marisol divulged a little information about how she adopted a cat named Snowball and that she would probably start volunteering at the shelter. Her dad asked about the shelter a bit, excited that Marisol found a “positive” way to spend her time.

After leaving the winery business, Marisol had been lost. She was fortunate enough to not have to worry about money because her father took care of her, and she had a good amount of money saved away in an account she had since birth. It wasn’t the money he was worried about though. It was her loneliness.

Then, the conversation took a shift when her mother spoke up. “So, how did the two of you meet?” She eyed Cisco like he was the leftover trash she forgot to take out. If Cisco noticed, he didn’t show it. His face remained calm, even smiling at times.

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