Page 24 of Just for the Holidays
“I know you’re fine, but you’ve also been cooking all day since you refused to let the chef help you.”
“I like to make my family’s Nochebuena dinner myself.” He grinned at his mother’s stubbornness.
“And we appreciate your efforts. That arroz con gandules was really the best I’ve ever had,” Perla interjected as she joined them.
“See, this is why I like you better than my kids. You always know what to say,” Veronica teased as she leaned to place a hand on Perla’s cheek. “We’re so happy to have you here with us this year, Perlita. I hope we get you for many more Nochebuenas.” Guilt pierced Gael’s chest, and right underneath that he felt the undeniable yearning that his mother’s words evoked. No matter how much he knew things with Perla could never work, he still wanted her forever. Especially now when she was moving around their house like she belonged here. When he could barely keep it together, knowing what awaited them once they were alone. But he was still a Montez, and no matter how hard he tried he would end up breaking her heart.
“Ay, mi canción,” his mother squealed, bringing both Perla and his attention to the older woman. “Ven, Gaelito, take your mother out on the dance floor for a song or two. You know I can’t sit still when El Gran Combo is playing.”
“You heard your mother, Gael. A bailar.” Perla fluttered her hands in the direction of the clearing in the living room.
He resisted the urge to pull her hand and bring her in for a kiss and did as he was told. When he and his mother were moving around the living room, dancing to the old salsa classic, he couldn’t help looking back in Perla’s direction.
“Your uncle has been trying to call you. He said that you hadn’t picked up the phone.” The mention of Manolo was a bucket of cold water on his fevered thoughts about Perla.
“We’ve talked twice already, and I have nothing more to say to him right now.” Gael sighed, causing his mother to raise an eyebrow in question.
“What’s going on, mijo?”
Manolo was supposed to come back for Nochebuena, but the same snowstorm that stranded Perla with them ended up keeping his uncle in the city. And even if he’d never tell his mother, he was glad his uncle hadn’t been here to interfere with this decision about the Rios project. He suppressed another sigh as his mother scrutinized whatever she was seeing in his face. “Is something going on with you two?”
“Tio doesn’t want me to take the project Perla’s studio is producing.” His mother pursed her lips at that but didn’t interrupt. “He thinks it will hurt my career to pigeonhole me by playing such a ‘Latinx’ role.”
She scoffed at that, making Gael grin. “And since when does Manolo know better than you do where you can take your career?” His mother was a beautiful dancer and could move to the music instinctually, so she had no problem having a serious conversation and keeping to the beat.
“Manolo has been a good manager. I take his advice seriously. And for the most part it hasn’t led me astray.” He admitted this because it was the truth, mostly. No one knew about the advice Manolo had given Gael about Perla six years ago. He never told his mother, not even when she rebuked Gael for “breaking that sweet girl’s heart,” that it had been Manolo pressuring him that pushed him to end things.
His mother was sentimental and would’ve seen the decision as mercenary. But Gael had understood Manolo’s reasoning. He’d been on the rise, and the media loved an eligible bachelor. His career had skyrocketed after the news got out that he was single. It had made sense at the time, but it was undeniable that the cost turned out to be much higher than he’d imagined.
“Manolo has been good to us, that’s true,” his mother said, bringing him out of his thoughts. “But you have made him a very rich man, son.” His mother raised her hand to caress his cheek and gave a regretful little shake of the head. “He stepped in to be a father figure to you when Gabriel left, but he did thatby choice. Besides, that’s my debt to Manolo, not yours.”
People saw his mother and her gentle demeanor and didn’t realize there was a lioness hidden inside her. He owed everything he was to this woman. But even if she was right about not being beholden to Manolo, things were still complicated when it came to him and Perla.
“Mami, even if I take the role—”
“If?”his mother asked, making him laugh.
“Okay, mujer. Fine. I have decided to take the role, but that still doesn’t mean things between Perla and me are fine. I don’t—”
“You don’t what?” Telling his mother he was certain he’d hurt Perla would not go over well, since the woman was convinced both her children were angels. But not even she couldn’t deny that his lifestyle didn’t exactly allow for relationships. And it was probably smart to start planting the seed that Perla would not be a permanent addition to family gatherings, even if the very thought of that hit him like a punch to the gut.
“I don’t know if I can be the type of person Perla needs for the long run,” he said, and his eyes instinctually scanned the room, searching for the woman in question, until he found her. As if she could sense him looking at her, she turned around and smiled at him. The effect of those gray eyes on him was forceful and absolute. He would never want anything like he wanted Perla Sambrano.
“I like how you look at her. And Ilovethe way she looks at you. I can tell she sees in you the same thing I do.”
“And what’s that, Mami?” he asked, unable to help himself.
“A good man. A good son. A good brother. A keeper,” his mother told him happily. And his gut clenched at the reckoning he knew was coming.
“How doIlook at her?” he asked, eager to keep hearing what his mother saw between them, as if that wouldn’t just make all this worse later.
“With fire in your eyes, querido. You always did, and that passion has been gone since you two split up.” His mother clicked her tongue, head shaking as if the situation had been a very sorry one indeed. “I know you love your job, and what a blessing it is that the world sees and values your gift. You’re a wonder, my son, so remarkable.” Sadness moved through her face from whatever she was recalling. “But I know you’re not happy. I know you said you’d both decided to end it, but I knew you still had feelings for her and now I see it. The light is back in your eyes.”
“I’m happy because you’re healthy again, Mami,” he assured her.
“I know you are,” she told him, squeezing the hand he was holding as he led her across the dance floor. “But maybe now that I’m doing better you’ll be a little selfish and focus on your woman. And I don’t care what Manolo says. You do whatever you want to do. If he doesn’t like it, too bad.”
“Mami...you’re being pushy,” he warned as a surge of possessiveness coursed through him at the wordsyour woman.
