AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, it does. The candles are just because we get blackouts during the summer,” he said nonchalantly. “We keep a box of matches right there.” He pointed at a deep bowl on a side table.
I stretched my body to look into it, acknowledging what he said.
“Nothing too bad,” he continued. “A few hours here and there.”
A few hours?My body froze, but Santiago didn’t notice. He kept talking, motioning with his hand towards the back of the house and saying something about his sister that Icouldn’t quite make out. Then he took his phone out and looked at the screen, and his mouth quirked on one side. He rolled his eyes and set the phone down on the coffee table.
I blinked, emerging from my stupor.
“And hopefully,” he added, “it won’t happen at all. Fingers crossed.”
Shit.
6
LUCÍA
I stepped outsideof my office and started my regular walk back to my parents’ house. It had been the same commute for some time now. The only difference was that I was now the person who took care of closing the practice and setting everything up for the next day. Valentina was walking with me, heading to the big house for a quick meal. It had quickly become like a ritual for us, once a week when we closed the office late to have dinner together. Sometimes we would go to the restaurant at The Inn; other times we would go to her place. But this time, we walked to my parents’ house together.
The scent of the summer jasmines hit me like a wall. It was strong, almost overpowering, and filled my nose completely. I took a deep breath—the smell never stopped reminding me of the endless summer evenings in town when we had nothing to do and nowhere to go. It was aheady, almost intoxicating fragrance, full of promise and potential. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, letting the fragrance wash over me, the memory of my grandparents’ home filled with the flowers taking over my brain.
I knew what it meant, the strong smell. These flowers only bloomed in the summer here, and the scent was at its strongest right before a heavy rainfall. They were like nature’s barometer, warning of an impending storm. The air was heavy with moisture, and the sky was darkening by the minute. One of my favorite things about the summers in this town was how late it turned into night, and once it was dark, the stars shone like nowhere else I’d ever seen. But now, in the early evening, the sky was dark. I could feel the electricity in the air, the sense of anticipation that always came before a thunderstorm.
“I love the smell,” Valentina said, like she was reading my mind. “I don’t think it gets that strong back home.” She was from a suburb of Buenos Aires, where there was more space in between houses and people had big yards. She had mentioned once that the small town felt like the country club where she had lived with her parents, but that Tres Fuegos was much nicer, especially because the people were so kind.
I turned the corner onto my parents’ street. There was a rumble of thunder, and the inevitable flash of lightning followed after. There was something so majestic about storms in this town. And they looked so different than what storms looked like back in the city. Storms in our smallmountain town made lightning dance across the sky, and the drops of water pounded against the soil, making it smell fresh and clean and alive. It was a weird thing, how storms took over here. How you were enveloped by their strength. It felt almost like they took over you, even though the large parts of the storm were weathered inside in the comfort of our homes.
Another flash of lightning startled us, hurrying our steps towards the front door. I could hear the rustling of the leaves around me as the wind picked up speed, and the storm clouds rolled in, dark and menacing, warning us of what was to come. The house was dark and lonely, the cars parked in the circular driveway at the front of the lot. It wasn’t normal for it to be so quiet, especially during this time of year, but with the wedding and the out-of-town guests, I guessed everyone was gone on one of the activities Victoria had planned. It was a welcome silence on the eve of the anniversary. It would give me a moment to be alone with my thoughts once Valentina left. Get it together so I could go to bed andpretendto sleep and instead toss and turn all night thinking of them.
I walked up the paver driveway to the front door, my shoes squeaking against the hard surface. I fumbled with the keys in my hand for a second, trying to find the right one among all the options on the key ring. I inserted it into the lock and twisted the door open as big, fat raindrops started to fall.
The rain hit the pavement, creating small splashes as itmade contact and immediately cooling the hot, dense air. The sound of the rain was soothing, a steady drumming that joined me as we walked to the back of the house towards the family room. It was getting heavier, a classic summer thunderstorm, one that could soak a person to the bone in seconds.
I dropped my bag on the kitchen table and walked to the fridge.
“Drink?” I asked as Valentina settled on the couch and looked out the large windows. It was a beautiful sight, the way the droplets danced on the glass and the way the trees swayed in the wind. The sky was completely dark, and the only things illuminating it were the downward streaks of light that would occasionally rumble. She turned to me and nodded, then stood up and walked towards me.
Our nights together were usually quiet. We didn’t need to say much to each other to understand what the other was thinking. I knew Valentina had a small inkling of what really brought me home. Not the homesickness I claimed or the bad breakup. But therealreason.
She never said anything. She was justthere,a steady presence when I needed it the most. Just like my brother.
There was a loud knock on the front door, followed by the sound of the doorbell and more pounding.
“Jesus.” I sighed, bringing my hand to my racing heart. It wasn’t rare to have people over in the evenings—this house was a home to so many people in town beyond our large family. I looked at Valentina, and she made a face, thenheaded to the front of the house. I could still hear the heavy drops on the tiled roof, the sound amplified in the large entryway.
“Hey, Dr. L,” the woman standing outside the door said. She was waiting below the steps that led to the covered porch, a large umbrella covering her and stopping the large amounts of water from soaking into her. Her car was at the edge of the driveway, the lights still on and the windshield wipers going at full speed. There was someone in the driver's seat looking our way. “Can you tell me what this says?”
She took a step forward and held up a white piece of paper: a prescription from my pad. It had my signature and my seal. I squinted and moved closer, the door closing behind me with a large, startling sound. Gladys jumped in her spot and let go of a big, surprised laugh, then shoved the small note in my face.
I smiled politely and took it from her hand, looking over it carefully and chuckling quietly at the words that were written on there. I heard the door open behind me, and a small sigh came from Valentina, who was now quietly standing next to me as the scene unfolded.
“Ibuprofen,” I said. It was hard to give this woman an attitude. She was kind and clearly went above and beyond for her customers at the pharmacy.
“Oh, silly me.” Gladys laughed and rolled her eyes at herself. “I left my glasses at home today, so everything has been extra hard.” She took the paper from my hand andturned towards the car. The person in the driver's seat waved at us, the windows foggy from the temperature difference between both spaces. “Thanks, doc. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said over the rumbling of thunder, then made her way quickly to the car. In a matter of seconds, they were gone.
“What the fuck?” Valentina said right next to me. I turned to face her. Her arms were crossed at her chest, her face hardened with anger. “Does this happen often?”
She had never witnessed one of these moments. It was usually a text or a call. Sometimes I would run into people at the hotel’s restaurant or out on a hike and they would ask me for medical advice, but I’d never told her.
