Page 108 of More Than Pen Pals

“Explain yourself,” I demand.

“Two things,” she says. “First, he presented a challenge. It’s like neither my brain nor my body would accept that he didn’t want me. The more he brushed me off and tried to avoid me, the more I wanted him. It was weird.”

“I don’t think that’s weird. It’s fairly normal.”

“Hmm. I’ll take your word for it. Then second, I knew my obvious crush on Ash kept a few guys here and at the law firm off my back. Since I wasn’t interested in anyone else that was available, I figured why not keep it up?”

I lean forward. “Which guys are you talking about?”

“That’s not important.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “You said you weren’t interested in anyone else that was available. What does that mean? Was there someone else whowasn’tavailable?”

She reaches down and rubs the toe of her shoe like she’s wiping off a scuff, but the cherry red patent leather is flawless. A slow smile spreads across my face when I get what she’s not saying, though I don’t understand why she’s not saying it, considering how open she usually is about her feelings.

“Randall.”

Her cheeks turn pink. “No.”

I thrust a finger toward her. “Yes!”

“Fine. Yes.” Her face is now the color of her shoes. “But he was dating Colleen.”

“Not anymore.” I consider her for a moment. “Why are you being so secretive and embarrassed by this? You were more than willing to let everyone know about your interest in Ash, and you’ve not been subtle about my brother, either. What gives?”

She sighs. “It’s because everybody knows I had a thing for Ash. What if people think I have some weird brother kink?”

I laugh so hard I double over. “Wendy, it’s not like you want to be with both of them at the same time.” My laughter dies. “Do you?”

“No! The very second I knew about you and Ash and your pen pal past, my body and brain knew he was meant for you, and they stopped wanting him. Truly, Leslie. I no longer have anything but friendly feelings for Ash.”

“I believe you. But since when do you care what people think about who you have feelings for?”

“I knew people made fun of my crush on Ash, and I didn’t care.” Her voice softens. “But this is different. I don’t want my feelings for Randall to make him the butt of anyone’s jokes. I don’t want anyone to tease him about me.”

I tilt my head. “You really care for him, don’t you? It’s not just a crush.”

“It’s not.”

fifty-two

On Friday morning, I arrive at work before six o’clock so I can talk to Carmela. I find her vacuuming in Randall’s office. Since she can’t hear my voice over the noise, I’m certain I’ll scare her again, and I do. When she spots me, her hand raises to her heart. Then she shuts off the machine.

“Mr. Hamilton, I did not see you there.”

“I’m sorry I scared you. I wanted to tell you I haven’t forgotten about you and Javier. I’ve made some calls, and I’ll be talking to a few more people soon about your situation. I’m very hopeful we’ll be able to help you, but it might not happen immediately.”

I hope I can get Diego’s help. Even though we’re not supposed to ask him for favors, I’d like to tell Carmela and Javier’s story as part of our presentation to him next week, and my gut tells me he’ll offer to do something about it.

She nods. “I understand. I am thankful for any help you can give us.”

“Do you know others who have had problems like this? Issues with travel and immigration, whether the people are here legally or not?”

She hesitates before nodding. “Yes, many people. I know some who are scared to leave the country and go see their families because they are afraid what happened to Javier will happen to them.”

“Okay. Thank you for telling me that. I hope we’ll be able to help more people than Javier.”

Carmela’s hand goes to her heart again, but not because she’s frightened. “That would be wonderful, Mr. Hamilton. But I feel that is asking too much.”

---