Page 24 of After the Fire
I closed the door on him and made my way to the dresser, thinking about the way Santiago’s smile made me feel. The way he had been looking at me the last few days made me feelalive. I should be mourning the end of my relationship with Manuel, but instead I was thinking about how fast my heart beat when I was with Santiago, how his gaze tortured my dreams, how his mouth lifted at the corners every time he looked at me.
I put on a pair of old jeans and a white t-shirt, then grabbed a sweater out of the closet. I opened the door and Santiago was standing across the hall, his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes lifted and sparkled as soon as they reached my face.
He cleared his throat. “You look good,” he said and then frowned and turned towards the stairs.
I closed the door and followed him out of the hotel.
* * *
“I thought you said we were going to get an early lunch. What are we doing here?” We stood by the front door of his parents’ house. The one I’d been in and where I saw that image of my grandfather. “No, no, no. Let’s go back. I can’t go back there.”
“Nope, we’re going in there and asking questions. We need to figure this out, one step at a time. I can’t help you figure out your shit with your grandmother, but I can for damn sure help you with this. Besides, I already texted my grandmother, and she’s expecting us for lunch.”
“Santiago, please.” What if it was a dead end? What if I was holding on to hope, and there was nothing to hold on to?
“Victoria.” He looked at me, completely serious. “In you go.”
He opened the door to the massive house like he owned it, then let me go through first, his hand finding the small of my back and guiding me to the end of the hallway right into the dining room.
The room was massive, something I’d noticed when I had been here before, but now that it was empty, it was much more evident.
“We never eat in the dining room. Usually we hang out in the eat-in kitchen with them unless we’re having a large gathering like the other night,” he said, reading my mind. “But I guess my mom wants to impress you or something because she really decked it out today.”His smile turned up, a little mischief in his eye.
“I hope you’re not tricking me into yet another family gathering. I really can’t handle it,” I said, almost without thinking. But I could feel myself trying to smile a shy smile, remembering how much love and happiness and laughter was in the air in this house. Santiago looked at me, grinning from ear to ear.
“I’m home!” he yelled, loud enough so that there was movement immediately. I heard a few murmurs coming from the kitchen and some footsteps descending down the stairs.
My stomach churned.You are not ready for this. Tell him.
“Hey,” Santiago said, his voice close to me. I could feel his breath right by my ear. “I’ll ask some questions and as soon as we have at least a little bit of detail—a name, maybe an address—we can go to the records office and poke around. Deal?”
His grandmother, Adelaida, emerged through the butler’s pantry door, walking directly to me, completely ignoring her grandson.
“Victoria, thank you so much for coming. I didn’t have much chance to chat with you on my birthday. These grandkids of mine really hogged you up.” I frowned. I wasn’t under the impression she was looking to chat with me—an outsider—but this wasn’t surprising. It was like Santiago had prepared everyone for my visit. “I’m glad Santiago dragged you here today to have lunch with us. Please, sit.”
“Oh my goodness, thank you for having me again. It was such a fun time. I’m sorry I left so soon, but I needed to take care of some things back at the hotel.” I smiled, imagining this could easily be one of my grandmother’s friends. Santiago kept looking at me, his smile plastered on his face.
“Where’s Grandpa?” he asked as he pulled a chair out for me to sit. “Is he joining us for lunch?”
She smiled fondly as she took her seat at the head of the table and nodded at someone by the door to the kitchen. “He’s at Julia’s hotel with your parents. She needed help with the water heater or something, so off they went.”
Huh, so I guess this is a family thing? Considerate and helpful and nice.Nicepeople.
“Oh, okay, well, maybe we can come back? I don’t want to intrude,” I said directly to her. Santiago’s hand landed on my knee, and he squeezed a little, sending shivers down my back. He looked at me, but I shook my head and widened my eyes.
“Nonsense! They’ll join us for dessert later,” she added, waving her hand and dismissing my comment. The woman acted like shewantedto have me here for lunch. “Santi tells me you are a lawyer too. What do you do?”
“Oh, um… I focus on mergers and acquisitions. I work for my family’s firm in the city. It’s run by my older brother now, but it used to be run by my grandfather. He founded it with his best friend,” I said, feeling Santiago’s heated gaze on my face.
“Interesting. You also come from a line of lawyers, then?” she asked, a gentle smile on her lips. “My husband and all of our sons are lawyers too. The only one who chose a different path is Santiago’s sister. She’s the town’s pediatrician.”
I looked at Santiago, who had a stiff, uncomfortable smile on his face. If anything, he looked worried, like I would betray his trust and tell his grandmother that he in fact did not like being a lawyer.
“We are so proud of all our grandchildren, really. I’m surprised all of them chose to become lawyers,” she said in between giggles. “What are the odds, right?”
My father was one of seven children, and he was the only one who followed in my grandfather’s footsteps, but both my brother and I were lawyers, so I understood. Maybe it was different. Maybe for us, it was a mandatory suggestion. It didn’t seem like Santiago’s family would make him become a lawyer.
I looked at Santiago, who was silent sitting right next to me. He turned slowly, smiling softly up at me in reassurance, and the moment was broken when a woman—the housekeeper?—walked in, carrying a tray with hot food, and set the different serving bowls right in front of us.
