“When?” Mom asks.
“On Dad’s birthday. There’s a business wedding I need to attend.”
Lorena’s fork clacks down on the plate, stealing all our attention. The look on her face is throwing me off. She looks like she’s thinking so hard, her brain is about to explode.
“Yes?”
“Hold on, did you say Colorado?” A grin stretches her lips. “This wedding wouldn’t happen to be withSarina, would it?”
Fuck, here we go.
“Sarina as in…”
Lorena cuts off my mom. “My friend Ri, from NYU. She works with Tomás now.”
“Oh, I see.” The inflection in my mom’s voice lifts as she darts her suspicious gaze my way while my sister carries on with how amused she appears by all of this.
“Did you two talk about this in the office or when you were dancing all night at Hummingbirds?”
The air conditioning is failing me. I can feel sweat beading on my temples.
If there were popcorn at the table, Adrian and Tino would have two fists full the way they are both intently spectating. Shit. Mom is right there with them. Staring, likely full of questions.
“It came up at the office actually.”
“That’s fucking random.”
“Lorena, language!” our mom scolds.
“Seriously, Ma? We’re all adults here. I bet if Tomás cursed at the table, you’d just laugh.”
“Oh please.” Mom swats her hand in Lorena’s direction. “Enough, I want to know more about this date your brother has.”
“It’s not a date.” My mom’s expression deflates a bit at the correction. “It’s a business meeting that so happens to be at a wedding.”
“Dios mio, Tomás. How do you ever expect to find someone to settle down with if you refer to dates as meetings?”
“It’s not like that.”
A ringing noise captures my attention, I follow it to my sister —who now has her phone in her hand.
“What are you doing?” I ask through a tight throat. The sweat on my forehead now intensifying to a steady drip.
“FaceTiming Sarina.”
Innocent enough, except if Sarina answers there’s a high probability that she’s still inmybed, given that she stayed the night.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Feeling out of sorts I rise from my chair, shooting Tino a look in the hopes that he can say something to convince my sister to hang up. But he knows as well as I do that there’s nothing any of us can do to deter Lorena from doing what she wants.
Still, he tries. “It’s family dinner time anyway, why don’t you…”
My mom clicks her tongue. “Hush you two. Let’s see if she answers.” The curiosity in mom’s voice is ripe.
“Yeah, you heard Ma, you two hush. I’m calling for more details since getting any from Tomás is like pulling teeth. My without-a-filter friend will surely fill in the gaps for us.”
Exactly what I’m afraid of.
“Seriously, Lo, leave her alone.” I’m practically begging her at this point, but it’s too late. My heart leaps in my chest as the phone rings and I feel lightheaded when I hear Sarina’s voice.
