‘We’re not married...yet...but we’re planning on it,’ he said quickly, forcing a smile to his face as Ana spun round in surprise, almost spilling the water. Eyebrows raised, he nodded subtly towards the pendant. Luckily Ana caught on.
‘Forgive us for what you saw earlier, in the park,’ she muttered.
‘We’re just deeply in love,’ Gabriel followed, unable to stop the way his heart felt as if it was pumping an extra pint of blood around his body, lighting up his nerve-endings as he said it.
It was kind of strange, saying it out loud. He had never said it till now. He wasn’t completely sure if he even felt it. He was still getting his head around the change in their relationship—enjoying it, loving the invites that were now coming in for both himself, Ana and Javi, even though Ines would of course have a say about dinner tonight at the Mendezes’ place, seeing as it wasn’t technically supposed to be his night with Javi.
For the most part he was still breathing it all in, loving the way Ana’s mere touch sent electricity running through his veins. Of course what he felt was love. What else could it be? It had a wonderful ring to it, too. He should say it more often, say exactly what he felt. Life was short and the passion he felt even being in the same room as Ana was unprecedented. He would have shouted from the rooftops if he could have, from that stupid antenna his dad wouldn’t take down, how proud he was to be with a woman like...
Oh. Hell.
Ana and Edith were both staring at him.
He’d gone off inside his own head again.
‘I’ll wait outside, doctor,’ he told her quickly, leaving the room. Minutes later, after Edith was gone, he stepped back in to apologise.
‘That wasn’t ideal...’ he started, but Ana drew a deep breath. There was no way to interpret her expression at all. It seemed to shut down and turn cold right in front of him. Then, to his horror, she gathered her clipboard abruptly, excused herself and left the room.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
TO GABRIEL’S SURPRISE, Ines happily agreed to let him have Javi for the evening. She even drove him to his place herself, though left quickly, without even exiting the car.
‘I need him back by nine p.m.!’
‘OK.’ Gabriel watched her go, scratching his head. Something wasn’t right with her, and it hadn’t been quite right for a while, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. She’d given him Javi’s usual bedtime curfew but she hadn’t asked much about their plans for tonight, nor given him an extra set of socks for Javi, as usual.
‘Are we going to Ana’s?’ Javi said now, as he led him down the street under the lamps.
‘We’re having dinner at Ana’s parents’,’ he explained, trying to ignore another bout of dread that had been overshadowing his mood ever since he’d opened his big mouth in front of Edith this afternoon about being in love with Ana. She had been distant with him ever since. Whether he was still welcome for dinner or not in her eyes wasn’t clear, but her mother had asked him personally in a text message, and he could hardly say no to Mrs Mendez. Besides he’d already cleared it with Ines.
The rain had dried up now, and they sat out on the deck, candles and fairy lights flickering across the big courtyard the Mendezes shared with their neighbours. He hadn’t been aware till now that his parents had been invited too, but soon the Romeros were joining the rest of them around the table. One big, happy family, he thought in a moment of contentment, even though things were still somewhat strained between himself and Ana.
‘Are we OK?’ he asked her quietly, catching her arm as she went to pour him sweet, cold tea from a pitcher. ‘You’ve been very careful not to talk to me since I said...that.’
She paused in her chair, and that cool look claimed her eyes again. ‘That what—that we’re deeply in love?’
Gabriel’s next words dried up in his throat. He got the distinct impression suddenly that he shouldn’t have said it, even to appease an old woman’s religious views.
‘She wasn’t happy that she caught us kissing in public when we’re not married,’ he explained in a hush, as if she didn’t already know why he’d done it.
‘I know that. That’s not the point,’ she snapped. ‘We shouldn’t have been so obvious at the clinic, Gabriel. We shouldn’t be doing anything at all besides work! I’ve worked so hard for this opportunity and I need to be taken seriously.’
Her voice caught on the last few words and Gabriel took her hand.
‘Ana. You know I wouldn’t do anything that purposefully threatens your integrity, or anything you’ve worked for. You know that.’
‘Well, you already did,’ she said.
He felt himself stiffen. ‘We both did.’
‘Fair enough. But it has to stop now.’
‘What do you mean, “stop”?’ Gabriel clamped his mouth shut. He could feel their mothers’ eyes on them now and he retracted his hand, realising his passion had completely consumed him yet again. He was about to demand she meet him out front so they could talk alone, but Javi let out a squeal from where Ana’s father was teaching him to spear sausages over at the grill. ‘Look, Papa!’
When he turned back, his mother had taken Ana hostage with another conversation at the end of the table. Their intermittent piercing glances burned into his cheeks as they talked.
Annoyed, he scowled into his drink.
OK, so she was worried about looking unprofessional—understood. She had indeed worked very hard for the clinic, to get where she was, and she already had a thing about needing to prove herself. Maybe he should have been more careful in what he’d said to Edith. But what was he supposed to have done under the circumstances? They couldn’t just stop this now, could they?
The smell of charred meat blended with the aromas of herbs and spices in the balmy air as Ana’s father, along with Javi, prepared the cuts of beef for their dinner. His nose twitched at the paprika, oregano, garlic and parsley as it released its aromas on the open flame, the fat sizzling, popping and shooting even more tantalising odours into the night.
Usually he would have been up and dancing with his mother or Ana’s mother by now. But now he could only sit and watch Ana doing her best to avoid him in her own parents’ courtyard—talk about awkward. He’d probably scared her off, he thought in dismay, coming on too strong, getting over-excited about where this was going. Idiot! Trust him to get completely carried away with a romance when he should be focusing on his son.
Ines had been pretty relaxed about him having Javi tonight, but he was still in her bad books for... He couldn’t remember what for now; there always seemed to be something. Oh yes, apparently the other day Javi had gone home asking Ines if he could have a Ouija board to contact the dead spirits in the cemetery. He supposed that was kind of his fault. Javi had overheard Ana and him laughing about how they’d tried it once, never mind that they’d failed to pick up any messages at all. And, now that he finally had Javi on a rare week night, without Ines firing texts at him every second, he was still getting distracted by a woman!
Eyeing Ana from across the courtyard, Gabriel sobered as he pondered their situation. Perhaps he’d pushed too hard, too fast with her. He should probably back off. Standing up, he crossed to the grill and spent the rest of the night helping Ana’s father show Javi how to man an asado while, as if reading his mind, Ana disappeared to the kitchen with their mothers to help prepare salads, roasted vegetables and sauces.
Gabriel took a break to chase fireflies with Javi. The little bugs always came out at dusk, and Javi was obsessed with them. Every now and then, he’d catch Ana watching them through the window, their eyes would meet and his head would reel all over again.
There was something between them that could not be ignored—something electric and undeniable every time they were in close proximity. From their open conversations about careers and obligations one minute, to passionate whispers about their dreams and desires lying next to each other in one of their beds the next—every moment they spent together felt as if it was charged with an energy all its own. But, right now, she wouldn’t come outside until Javi literally ran over and urged her to come by holding her hands.
‘Ana, Ana, come see what we caught.’
Her wheelchair got stuck on a patch of weeds for a few seconds on her way over. Gabriel saw her father put down the asado utensil he was holding and start to head towards his struggling daughter. The look on Ana’s face was a warning, but her father hadn’t noticed.
Quickly Gabriel held up a hand to stop him. ‘Don’t,’ he mouthed, stopping him in his tracks. All the man saw was his beloved daughter in trouble, and as a father himself Gabriel understood that much, but the last thing Ana needed was everyone rushing to help her all the time. She noticed his little warning gesture, just as her chair came unstuck and her face softened somewhat as she mouthed, ‘Thank you.’
