Page 34 of Just for the Holidays
Perla didn’t believe for a second that Esme was put out about spending time with her mother and aunts. Esmeralda adored those women and she took every chance she got to pamper them. “We’ll give them the morning and afternoon. We can party like rock stars in the evening,” she told her with a wink. “I’ll have the chef make us some treats.”
As she watched her older sister walk away already talking into her phone, Perla wished she could muster up more enthusiasm, but all she wanted was to curl up in her bed and cry. Losing Gael a second time hurt as much as she’d known it would.
“So what’s your plan again?” Gabi was leaning against the door frame, watching him frantically pack a bag.
“I am going to grovel and let her know I made the biggest mistake of my life when I let Manolo convince me she was a liability all those years ago. And then I’ll do whatever it takes to convince her that I would give up everything for her, including my career.”
“Okay, I like the basics of that plan, but how do you know she wants you there?” his twin sister asked as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. “Do you even have a flight secured?”
“Yes, Gabriela,” Gael snapped as he zipped his small bag. “I called the crew and they have the jet ready at the Westchester airport. We fly out in a couple of hours. And I’ve been in touch with Esmeralda.”
“Sambrano?” Gabi inquired, obviously surprised.
“Yes, you’re not the only one who can call people. I reached out to her when I couldn’t find Perla. We’ve been talking and she told me that she wouldn’t tell me where they were until she was sure Perla wanted to see me. But she texted and said she thought Perla would be up for talking to me. So I’m flying down there.”
“And what are you telling her once you get there, son?” His mother challenged him as she shuffled into his bedroom, because his sister, his mother and his grandmother were all in his house. Not one of them, as they promised they would, had left him alone. They’d stayed with him all day and watched him pace his apartment when he couldn’t find Perla. They’d all reminded him a thousand times that he deserved to be happy. That Perla loved him, too. That all wasn’t lost. It had been good to have them there.
Gael turned to his mother. She still looked frail wrapped in his robe, but he knew the steel that hid in those brown eyes. Manolo had helped with money, that was true, but his mother had raised him in every way that counted.
“I’m going to tell her I love her, Mami,” he stated and felt the truth of those words settle in him. “I just hope I deserve her.”
His mother walked up to him and placed her hands on either side of his face. “I want you to hear me. Your father was who he was, and no matter what you think that means, I want you to remember that you’re half mine. I raised you and you’re a good man. The best.” She poked his chest, and he let out a yelp, making her laugh. “Believe that, mijo.”
He wondered how his mother had known that it was exactly what he needed to hear. For so long he’d believed there was something in him that would eventually break Perla’s heart. And there had been. But it wasn’t a curse. It was his own insecurity. It was him letting his past dictate his present. He was done with that.
“I believe it, Ma,” he assured her.
“Good,” his mother told him as she kissed him on the cheek. “Now, go get your girl, mijo. We’ll be here waiting for you both when you get back.”
Nineteen
“Here we are. We have a slip on the end. We needed the extra space because we fancy,” Esme said with a waggle of her eyebrows as she maneuvered the car in the parking lot of the marina. “I’m excited about this and you look great,” her sister said, gesturing at Perla’s black maxi dress and her silver sandals. She had to admit it was very nice to switch from snowy New York to beach weather.
“I’m looking forward to taking my mind off...” She didn’t even know where to start. It would be impossible to not think about Gael. He was ever present in her mind. It was like she thought about him even when she didn’t. Everything she saw, heard, smelled somehow reminded her of him. Or reminded her that she missed him, that she’d almost had him and she’d lost him again. Since those initial attempts to reach her, he hadn’t called, not even once. She wished it didn’t hurt like it did. She’d tried so hard to convince herself she was past this. And she knew she wasn’t the same insecure, lonely girl who had fallen for Gael.
She was different now, stronger. She knew that. Shefeltthat. It just so happened that this new version of her loved him, too. She couldn’t deny that fact any more than she could deny her own name. That man had always felt like he’d been made for her. Even when she felt inconsequential and undesirable, he looked at her like she was all he could see. And one didn’t forget being wanted like that.
“Perlita, did you hear me?” Her sister’s voice jolted her out of her thoughts, and she realized she’d been sitting there staring out the windshield.
“Sorry,” she said, more than a little embarrassed. “My mind keeps drifting.”
“Pobrecita,” Esmeralda clucked like a mother hen, and leaned to pat her cheek. “It’ll be okay. I promise.” Perla tried her best to smile at her sister’s optimism, but knew she likely looked more like she was in pain. “Here, why don’t you head over to the boat. I just need to make a call. I’ll be right behind you,” Esme said as she tapped something on her phone.
Perla laughed at her sister calling a fifteen-million-dollar yacht aboat.
“Your boat has a gym, five staterooms and a swimming pool, but okay, sis.”
Esme grinned at that. “Ourboat, Perlita. Rodrigo and I want our family to enjoy it, and you’re family.”
Perla felt a stone lodge in her throat as tears filled her eyes. It was such a small thing to say, probably just out of politeness, but it meant so much. She’d needed to hear it. It’s not like she’d never been on a yacht. Her father’s was in a berth in a marina in Florida. But she was no longer welcome to use that. Her mother had been more than clear. Not that she’d miss it; there were too many bad memories attached to it. Like so many things connected to her mother.
“Go, the crew is expecting you. It’s right at the end of the dock.” Perla noticed that Esme was looking a little frazzled as she read the message that had just come in on her phone and wondered if something was wrong.
“Are you sure? I can wait for you.”
Her sister beamed at her as she nodded. “I’m sure. Rodrigo just wanted to get some details about the honeymoon. You know how he is.” Esme winked, and Perla laughed. Rodrigo was devoted to Esmeralda. The man worshipped the ground her sister walked on. She couldn’t even be jealous of what they had. It was too pure. That didn’t mean that she didn’t feel a pang of yearning in her chest at the reminder that she’d never have that. Gael’s career would always come first.
“Okay, I’ll see you there,” she told her sister after she opened the car door. She grabbed her purse and her hat as her sister gestured in the direction she should go.
