What was happening?
She read the email again, then ran from her house to the café.
Was he serious? Was this some joke?
Señora Flores was at the espresso machine, making a Mexican mocha.
Señora Flores asked, “Did you get the email?”
“Yes.”
“Is it for real?”
“I don’t know. Let me call him.”Again.
She dialed his number, but he still didn’t answer. She couldn’t blame him—she had been so awful to him.
The street buzzed with theories. No one believed the email, though all the owners on the block received the same one. They were certain he would flip-flop tomorrow.
They gathered in front of what used to be Las Pescas. Julieta tried to open the door, hoping that Ramón would be inside waiting for her, but it was locked.
Seconds later, Linda emerged from around the corner with a set of keys. She opened Las Pescas. Hadn’t Arturo changed the locks?
Whoa, what was happening?
Linda held a piece of paper and flashed it to the business owners.
“What is that, Amá?”
She spoke loudly to everyone in the street. “Everyone! It’s my deed to this land. I’m the owner of the block! Barrio Logan will never change!”
The tenants from the street erupted in applause and hugged one another.
Julieta grabbed the paper. “What? How did that happen?”
“Ramón fixed everything. He told Señor Gomez about what his father was going to do to Barrio Logan and convinced Señor to sell to Ramón instead.”
Julieta’s face contorted. “Then why do you have it?”
“Because he gave it to me. For his father stealing my recipe. It’s ours, mija.”
Ay, Dios mío. She had been so wrong to doubt him. How could she have been so foolish? She had to go find him.
She hugged Mamá. “I have to go.”
Julieta got in her car and drove to Ramón’s house. She spied him sitting on his balcony, drinking a beer and staring at the waves.
She parked her car in front of his house and grabbed a rock, which she threw on his deck.
“ ‘O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?’ ”
He stood up, walked over to the edge of the railing, and smiled.
He disappeared in his house, only to emerge a few minutes later on his lawn.
It had been too long. Tall, dark, and handsome. This Aztec god stepped toward her, and her heart fluttered.
She reached up and touched his chin. “Is it true?”
