Page 7 of His to Love
Chapter Four
Alexa
I’ve got to be coming down with something.
Stepping out of the ladies’ bathroom, I tried to ignore the nausea that had crept up on me that morning. It was nearly noon and I was still having bouts with it.
“Hey, Alexa,” Patton called out as he walked toward me.
I’d been looking down and jerked my head up. “Hi, Patton.”
Coming up to me, he pointed at my stomach, which I had covered with my hands. “You okay?”
I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding myself like that and quickly moved my hand. “Yeah, I’m fine.” A burp slipped right out of my mouth, making me turn six shades of red as embarrassment filled me. I threw my hand over my mouth in absolute horror. “Excuse me!”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked again as he put his hand on my shoulder. “You can be honest with me, Alexa. This isn’t your boss talking, it’s your friend.”
“I woke up feeling sick to my stomach,” I admitted. “But I’m sure it’ll go away, and I don’t want to leave anyone hanging here at work.” After six months of working at the resort, I’d grown very close with my co-workers. I knew they wouldn’t be mad if I had to call out sick, but I didn’t want to inconvenience any of them.
Slipping his arm around my shoulders, he began moving me toward the exit where employee parking was located. “I’ll explain things to your supervisor. I’m going to take you home now. You don’t need to be working when you feel sick.”
I didn’t want to be any more of a bother to him. “You don’t have to drive me, Patton. I can drive myself. And thank you for understanding. I think it would be best if I could lie down for a while.”
“You go do that. I’ll go let Hailey know that you’ll be out for the rest of the day. And if you still feel bad tomorrow just call her to let her know that you won’t be coming in.” He gave me a little squeeze. “If you need anything at all just let me know and I’ll be happy to bring it to you.”
“I think rest is all I need.” It was nice to have someone so helpful around when I had no family nearby. “You’re a real sweetheart, Patton.”
“So are you. You get better. Call me if you need to.” He waved as I walked away from him.
“I will,” I called back as I headed out the door and to my car. Now that I was headed home, I wanted to get there as soon as possible. I wanted nothing more than to curl up with a book, a cozy blanket, and a mug of hot tea. That was what my mother had always prescribed whenever I was home sick from school.
Thinking of my mother’s home remedies made me realize that it had been a few days since I’d called her. With free time on my hands, I made the call.
“Alejandra?” she answered on the second ring. “How come you’re not at work?”
“I’m not feeling well, so Patton told me to go home for the rest of the day.”
I couldn’t say anything more before she butted in, “Not feeling well? What’s wrong? Do you have fever? Sore throat? Is it a problem with your bowels? What is it, my angel?”
“My tummy hurts,” I told her. “I keep feeling like I’m going to throw up, but then nothing happens.”
“What have you eaten?” she asked, always the problem-solver. I knew she wouldn’t rest until she had an answer for my sore stomach. “I hope you didn’t eat yogurt. Yogurt has always made you sick. That and watermelon.”
I’d gorged myself on watermelon the first and only time I’d ever eaten it. It had been the Fourth of July and we were at a family picnic. I was only ten, and the juicy, tender red meat of the ice-cold watermelon was just about the best thing I’d ever tasted. So, I ate and ate until I couldn’t eat anymore. Later that night, I threw up it all up. My mother had dubbed me watermelon-intolerant and that was the end of my journey with the fruit.
Yogurt was a different story. I just hated it, and I’d told her that it made me sick so she wouldn’t make me eat it again. “Last night, I had some leftover pizza before I went to bed. I woke up feeling this way.”
“That’s it then—the pizza. You can’t eat leftovers when you don’t know if the food was properly cooled before being put in the fridge,” she chastised me. “And now you’re missing work. That’s no good, Alejandra. You must be careful what you eat.”
“One day in six months isn’t bad, Mamma.” I rolled my eyes as I drove out of the parking garage, heading down the street to go to the Soliz’s home. “The house will be nice and quiet, so I’ll get some rest and hopefully I’ll wake up feeling much better.”
“Their son isn’t home, right?” she asked. “You did say that he went back to college in California, didn’t you?”
“He left a month ago.” My jaw set tightly as I thought about Alejandro. “Why are you bringing him up?” I hated thinking about that womanizing pig.
“I just wanted to make sure that he wasn’t home and that you two wouldn’t be alone in that house together. Your brother doesn’t trust him at all.”
And Luciano was right not to trust him. Alejandro was a true and complete asshole. I’d found that out the hard way, but at least no one would ever find that out. I had a secret, and I was never going to tell a single soul. “Don’t worry, Mamma, I doubt he’ll be coming back anytime soon.” My plan was to get my parents to agree to let me live on my own so I could be long gone before he ever visited his parents again.
