Mamá held her as Julieta cried. “Mija, you know there’s a chance he won’t leave you. That you will be very happy and rich and give meplenty of grandchildren. But no matter what, if he leaves you, you will be okay. You are smart and beautiful, and honestly, Ramón would be incredibly lucky to have you. He’s a smart man.”
Julieta needed to believe that she was worthy of Ramón, but it was hard for her. She pulled herself together. She walked back out to the family room with her head held high.
“Tres leches cake, anyone?”
Ramón grinned and walked over to help her serve it.
He whispered in her ear, “How did I get so lucky to find you?”
She confidently flipped her hair back and grinned widely. He was lucky. And maybe he was just as afraid of losing her as she was of losing him.
And for once, she didn’t doubt his words.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ramón kissed Julieta goodbye and left her aunt’s house full of liquor and laughter. After he apologized to her mother, she’d relaxed, and Ramón had felt right at home. His family never had fun like that. Ever. Maybe part of that was because he had two younger brothers, and all three of them could beat one another up one minute and be best friends the next.
Even so, he missed his brothers. With the exception of going to college, Ramón had been around them daily his whole life. They’d moved into his place right after they’d graduated from college. But lately, he had been spending so much time with Julieta and working in the restaurant that he hadn’t really hung out with them.
He texted Jaime.
Ramón:Hey. I’m heading back to La Jolla. You around?
Jaime:No. I’m out. But I’ll be home later.
Ramón:Want to play soccer tomorrow?
Jaime:Do you remember how?
Smart-ass.
Ramón:Yes, asshole. See you in the morning.
Ramón drove back home guided by the stars and finally opened his garage and parked his Jeep. Back inside, he sat on the sofa. He wasn’t tired. He flipped through some channels, but nothing captured his attention. Normally, he would read a book, always nonfiction, usually about business, and then go to sleep.
But tonight, he did something different.
He grabbed his guitar off the wall.
Ramón ran through a playlist. From Spanish classics to Mexican rock to American hair metal, Ramón played it all. His fingers burned a bit at the lack of calluses from years of not playing. Why had he quit?
The guitar had been his refuge when he was a boy. When his parents argued, he would lock himself in his bedroom and spend hours learning songs by playing along to his iPod. When he found out his best friend was talking shit behind his back, Ramón drowned himself in the solace of his strings. He used to write songs, too, but lyrics eluded him now.
As he gazed out to the ocean at night, he was truly grateful that he had met Julieta—not just because of how sexy she was, or how she made him feel like a man, but because she had done something no one had in years.
She had brought music back into his life.
•••
The next morning when he rolled out of bed, he found his brothers in the kitchen.
Enrique handed Ramón a green smoothie.
Ramón quickly downed it and grabbed a soccer ball. “Let’s go.”
The three brothers walked out of their place and to Calumet Park, which overlooked the ocean. This was how they bonded best—nowords, just a competitive game of soccer and the view of the ocean to unite them. The park was empty this morning, with only a woman doing yoga by herself and a mother playing with her toddler.
Did Julieta play soccer? What did she like to do for fun?
