Page 62 of A Lot Like Adiós
Gabe stifled a laugh at the thought, then found the MAGNUM condoms. There, decision made. But wait, there were “thin” and “ribbed” options. He bit back a groan. Did condom companieswantto cause decision fatigue?
Fuck it. He had to call Fabian. Grabbing both boxes, Gabe turned toward the pharmacy desk to pay.
And came face-to-face with his father.
Chapter 14
This was his own fault, really. Gabe should’ve known better. Yesterday, he’d joked about brujería then talked about his father, all but summoning him. And now here the man was, as if conjured by the Universe to appear at theworst possible moment.
A myriad of emotional responses battled within Gabe. There was the adolescent embarrassment of getting caught by hisdadwhile buyingcondoms, amplified by the fact that they hadn’t seen each other innine years. Add to that approximately thirty years’ worth of pent-up anger and resentment, along with a sprinkling of something like regret as he noted the signs of aging on his father’s face. There were lines around Esteban Aguilar’s eyes, and his hair was almost entirely gray, which surprised Gabe almost more than anything else.
Gabe did the math quickly in his head. His father would be sixty now. How the fuck had that happened?
But regret was a feeling Gabe didn’t have time for.
Underlying the other emotions was the familiar urge to run. How could he possibly explain what he was doing here? The absolute last thing Gabe wanted to do was tell his father about the gym and everything else. He didn’t need a single secondmore of this man doubting him, interrogating him about his life choices, or making him feel small and stupid and worthless. Those days wereover.
All this passed through Gabe’s mind in an instant. Maybe his father hadn’t recognized him. Maybe Esteban would pretend not to know him, or deliver some cutting remark likeI told you not to come back.Maybe Gabe could just slip his sunglasses back on and—
“Gabriel?”
The shock of recognition reverberated through Gabe at the sound of the voice he knew better than his own, but hadn’t heard in years.
“Papi,” he said, even though he hadn’t called his father Papi since he was small.
The last time they’d seen each other, they’d said horrible things, and Gabe braced himself for an argument, for accusations and recriminations. All the things he’d been running from.
Adrenaline and training meant he noticed when his father lurched toward him. Gabe flinched—
But Esteban only caught him in a tight hug.
The air whooshed out of Gabe in a rush. Not from the force of the embrace, but from shock. Of all the reunions Gabe had imagined over the years... he’d never pictured this.
“Ay, mijo,” Esteban murmured. He clapped Gabe hard on the back, and Gabe was struck by another sense memory. His dad smelled the same—like aftershave and the slight whiff of cigar smoke. Back then, Esteban had enjoyed one a week, sitting out in the backyard. Gabe and his sister weren’t allowed outside while Esteban smoked, and while Gabe was sure part of thereason was their tender lungs, he suspected as he got older that it was also his father’s only downtime during the whole week.
Belatedly, Gabe raised his arms and hugged his dad back, just before Esteban finally released him.
“¿Qué estás haciendo aquí?” Esteban asked, then looked at Gabe’s hands.
That was when Gabe remembered he was still holding a box of condoms in each hand.
“Um...”
“This part is obvious,” Esteban said, his mouth twitching like he was trying not to laugh. “I mean, ¿qué haces en el Bronx?”
As much as Gabe wanted to throw the success of Agility Gym in his father’s face, he didn’t want to do it now, like this. He wanted to do it at the right moment, when the New York location was an indisputable fact. So Gabe did something he wasn’t totally proud of.
“Michelle,” he blurted out. He couldn’t tell his father about the gym, and Michelle was the only other reason Gabe’s poor misfiring brain could think of in the moment. “Michelle and I are...”
Gabe trailed off, and his father filled in the blanks on his own.
“¡Por fin!” Esteban threw up his arms like this was something to celebrate. “Estabas tan enamorado de ella.”
That brought Gabe up short. He hadn’t realized his father had known Gabe wasso in love with herback then.
“Yeah, we... um. Yeah.” Gabe shrugged.
“¿Por qué no nos dijiste?” Esteban crossed his arms.
