Page 10 of Freedom's Kiss
Chapter 5
Present Day, Florida
Olivia leaned over the center console of her car and gripped the handle of the plastic bag she’d deposited in the passenger seat minutes before. The smell filling her Ford Focus had caused her middle to cramp the few miles from her favorite El Salvadoran restaurant to home. Her original plan had been to snag some food from Southern Comfort, but since she and Adam had eighty-sixed everything on Adam’s menu, she’d gone to plan B.
Her stomach gurgled as she pushed open the car door and trotted up the porch steps. Depositing her keys on a hook on the wall, she turned to make sure the front door didn’t slam behind her. The lights were still on, but that didn’t mean her parents hadn’t gone to bed yet.
“Ah, you’re home.” Eileen Arroyo stepped from the hallway and stopped in the foyer, looking up from the book in her hand. “No need for stealth. Your dad’s on the couch, doing a crossword puzzle.” She used the book to point in front of her, turned the page, and stepped around a half wall and down into a sunken living room.
Olivia’s father, David, removed the reading glasses perched on top of his nose and set them down alongside a pen and folded-over puzzle book. He pushed himself up off the couch and held his arms out to her.
She stepped close and placed a kiss on his rough cheek. “Any mail for me today?”
He leaned back. “That’s the third day in a row you’ve asked. Expecting something?”
She shrugged, but that nonchalant action doubtlessly didn’t dampen the excitement that probably had her eyes sparkling. “Maybe.” For the first time in her life, she had planned ahead for her parents’ Christmas gift. Usually she waited until the last minute and ended up giving them a gift card to their favorite restaurant. Not this year. Even though Christmas was more than five months away, she needed the time if she was going to pull off their present—a complete family tree.
She’d decided the best place to start would be with one of those DNA test search things. Thank goodness Lily had agreed to help her and keep the whole thing secret, or Olivia wouldn’t have been able to pull it off. Her best friend was working on her PhD in genetics and did research at the university’s lab. Lily had texted a few days ago to say that she was running Olivia’s DNA through their system since her supervisor was out of the lab for a few days. Olivia hated that Lily was doing her a favor that could get her friend in trouble, but she’d insisted it was no big deal. And no amount of wishing changed the truth—with the extra bills Olivia had taken on to help her parents out, she couldn’t afford one of those send-off services. Lily had said she’d mail the results so there wouldn’t be any extra digital trails leading back to this little side project.
Olivia had a fair idea what the results would come back with. No question there would be a large chunk in the pie graph that indicated a Mayan heritage and possibly some Spanish blood, too, from her dad’s side since his family had all immigrated to the US from Guatemala. She figured there was either German or Scandinavian on her mom’s side given the family folklore her aunts liked to tell at reunions.
Lily would know not to put a return address on the envelope, right? Her friend was super smart but sometimes lacked in the common-sense department. A stamp on the corner of the envelope with the genetics department would ruin the surprise. Maybe Olivia should start stalking the mail carrier just to be sure. She’d shoot a message off to Lily, but the chances Lily would see past her dissertation paper that she’d been working so hard on lately was slim to none.
Another pang of hunger brought her attention back to more pressing issues. Wiggling the plastic bag in her hand so it would crinkle, she stepped toward the kitchen. “Anyone hungry?”
Dad sniffed the air. “Papusas?”
“With extracurtido.”
He patted his soft belly. “You spoil me.”
She pulled down plates while her mother took out the containers of spicy cabbage slaw and tomato salsa and stuck serving spoons in the centers. Shaking out two cheese-filled, hand-stuffed mesa tortillas onto her plate, Olivia passed the to-go container to her mom. Piling the slaw and salsa on top, Oliva took a bite too big for her mouth. After a few chews, she pushed the food into her cheek with her tongue and looked up at her dad. “How’d the interview go?”
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” her mom reprimanded in an automatic voice as she filled a glass with tap water.
Her dad winked at her, and Olivia hid her grin behind a palm. His lips barely closed as he chewed, but since Mom’s back faced them, she hadn’t seen.
“Da interview wav a dead end,” he said around the food rolling back and forth in his mouth.
Mom turned and narrowed her eyes at them, then shook her head and threw up her hands. “I give up. Be disgusting animals if you choose.”
Dad swallowed hard before setting his plate down and wrapping his wife in a hug she squirmed to get away from. He leaned his head down and spoke intimately into her ear. Mom’s cheeks turned rosy, and she giggled before swatting at his chest. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.”
He stared at her through hooded lids and grinned. “I have some ideas.”
Smiling, Olivia took another bite and looked away. They’d been this way for as long as she could remember. Dad personifying the passions of a Latin man, and Mom the modest and reserved girl of European ancestry—complete with the blue eyes and blond hair. Her mom would protest and demure and blush at her dad’s advances, but it was all a show. Eileen Arroyo loved every rascally moment of attention her husband showered on her.
Olivia studied the potted bromeliad on the screened-in back porch like she was memorizing for a botany test. Smooching noises sounded behind her, and she took another forkful of curtido, hoping the sound of her crunching on raw cabbage would drown out her parents’ amorous pursuits. She loved that they still showed affection for one another. She just wished her dad would finally learn what the wordprivacymeant.
“The coast is clear,mija.” Laughter danced on the timbre of Dad’s voice, and Olivia turned.
Her mom’s lips were red and slightly swollen, her hair a bit mussed as she cut a small piece off her papusa, her attention riveted to her plate.
Olivia swallowed a chuckle before returning her gaze to her dad. “So what was the problem this time? Don’t tell me they said you were over qualified again.”
Her dad’s shoulders slumped. “By the time they got to me, they’d already filled the position. Same as last time.”
“It’ll happen. You’ll see.” Mom covered his forearm with a hand.
