Page 65 of A Lot Like Adiós
“Hi, Mom!” she said, aiming for a combination of cheerful andnothing to see here.
“Is Gabriel Aguilar in my house?”
Wow, trust Mom to cut to the chase.No matter. Michelle could play this cool.
“Yes, he is. Did you want to talk to him?”
Gabe appeared in the kitchen doorway, eyes wide with horror. He mouthedNO!at her.
On the phone, Valentina stifled a begrudging laugh. “Ha. Don’t get smart with me. Why is Gabriel there?”
Time to spin this thing. “You know how we were really close when we were younger? Well, we recently reconnected online, and you know, one thing led to another. We wanted to test it out, but we knew if we toldanyonein our families, you’d all make it a big deal.”
She paused, to imply that her mom calling her right this moment was proof of their concerns.
“So we decided to keep it a secret for a little while. You know how it goes, Mom.”
It was a well-known family story that her mom had started dating her father while she was still in high school, and there had been a fair amount of sneaking around. Michelle’s mom couldn’t begrudge her having a secret relationship in her early thirties.
“Fine, but why is he inmyhouse?”
“Your house is bigger,” Michelle replied, and Gabe slapped a hand over his face in exasperation. “And because minejustgot a toilet yesterday.”
“Oh, they installed the new toilet? How is it?”
“Amazing. You wouldn’t believe how quiet the flush is.”
“I keep telling your father we need to upgrade the toilets in the house to ones that use less water.”
“We’ll make him test mine, and then he’ll see how great it is.”
“I can’t believe you’re talking about toilets right now,” Gabe hissed at her.
“Is that Gabriel?” Valentina asked. “Tell him I said hi.”
“Mom says hi,” Michelle repeated dutifully.
Gabe shut his eyes like he wanted to disappear. “Hi, Valentina,” he called.
“He says hi,” Michelle reported back.
Gabe’s phone rang and he took it out of his pocket. “Coño. It’s my sister.”
Michelle’s phone buzzed and she pulled it away from her ear to look at the screen while her mom reported all the gossip from her friends and extended family in Florida.
Jasmine:What
Jasmine:The
Jasmine:Fuck
Oh hell. Jasmine knew. Michelle wasnevergoing to live this down after all the shit she’d given Jas about dating Ashton.
In her defense, she and Gabe weren’t working togeth—
Wait. Yes, they were. He’d hired her to consult for his business.Damn it.
Another text popped up.
