Page 7 of The Guardian

“And you did not interrupt,” Gabriela said to me. “That was an interesting cookie lesson.”

The twins giggled.

“Cookie lesson,” Alex mumbled under his breath. “My favorite kind of lesson.”

Gabriela looked over at him. “I can see you have your father’s humor. He was the funniest person I had ever known…”

Alex stared at her. “I have always wanted to know about him and you.”

“Me too,” Hope agreed.

“And now you will,” Gabriela told them as she dipped her cookie into the milk.

Hope gasped. “Oh, wow.”

Gabriela’s head shot up and she asked Hope, “What?”

Hope motioned to her own cup while dipping her cookie into it. “I do that too, dip cookies into the milk. Alex thinks it is how you say um…”

“…Gross!” Alex made a face. “It makes it turn into batter again like it never cooked.”

“Does not,” Hope argued.

“Does so,” he argued back.

I quietly raised my pointer finger at them.

They both quieted down and set their hand in their laps.

No, they weren’t afraid of me. That wasn’t it. I taught them that only beggars, thieves and troublemakers argued loudly. Only people who never had any learning did that. Yes, they could disagree but there were places where you did not do that. A dinner table was one, then in church, which the old women never let me take them. I then gave them a nod. They knew I meant to keep on eating.

Gabriela smiled at them then at me. “So, I am wondering which cookie will get the most votes.” She nodded at my plate. “Try the last one.” She looked around the table. “Have you tasted all three?” she asked the twins.

They both nodded at her, their mouths full of cookies.

I took a bite of the Amaretti. They were like macaroons. Puff balls made from almond flour with a powdered sugar coating. They were yummy too. This all made me think of home. It reminded me of why I was even here. The last three years I spent searching and coming up empty. It was hard to keep my emotions in check. Before I could prevent it, tears filled my eyes.

Chapter Three: Don’t Clap

Henry

I was supposed to be guarding the twins. But all I could do was stare at this young woman who was their nanny. When it came to Maya, I kept feeling impressed by her. The twins adored her and they respected her too. And I could see why.

On the plane to America, they were well behaved even if they looked excited and amazed. They had never been out of Mexico. In fact, they’d never been allowed to leave that old house and street where we found them. I already felt bad for what their lives had been like. Then again, their world had improved greatly once Maya came along. Carlos had told me that if not for her, the kids would have been emotionally damaged and uneducated. He also felt sure she gave up her own money just to keep their nutrition up. She was just a wonderful person all the way around.

It wasn’t common for me to think about a woman with such glowing praise. My experience with the fairer sex was not very good. I had been in love with two women in my past. The first was in school. They called this high school sweethearts in the United States. In England we just called it childhood sweethearts. And it was sweet until university or college as Americans call it, when she then became a little too friendly…with every guy she met. Being a teen, this betrayal hit me more than hard. Broken up over it was a mild description of what I felt at twenty.

Then later in my life, I dared to love again. I took a chance despite feeling hesitant. We were happy until she got greedy. All I can say about that one was that if a woman could be called disloyal and untrustworthy, then she met all the requirements for those qualities. After that romantic disaster, I dated casually. Just to scratch that itch as it is called. I always made sure the women knew I wasn’t dating them in a serious way. I would take them out and treat them like queens. Then if we got along, I would try to go to their residence, so leaving the next morning would be easier. Yes, I make it sound sorted and shifty… and that it was. I admit it. I went after the sex and no ties. It had been because I didn’t trust females and I knew that was unfair but I never found one that… did it for me.

I again looked up at Maya. I somehow knew that this woman might just do it for me. I winced inwardly. But just look at her…intelligent, polite, shy and beautiful. I paused and kicked myself. I needed to stop looking at her like she was a cookie to eat. But damn, I bet she tasted better than any on the plates here. I hid my smirk by taking a bite of the cookie. Since we sat down at the table, I’d followed her example and ate them in the same order she had. I figured that would be my safest route. After all, I knew absolutely nothing about cookies. Where I’m from, cookies weren’t that great. At least not like Italian and American cookies. What the British called a cookie was traditionally a biscuit. British biscuits were typically crisp, flat, and designed to be dunked into tea. My favorite here in America had to be chocolate chip. Now I was discovering Italian cookies and they were tasty.

I glanced up and saw Maya’s expression had changed and her eyes were watery. I hoped this wasn’t an allergic reaction to the cookies or something. However, after looking at her, I think she had actual tears in her eyes. Like the kind that came with sadness. What the hell?

Our eyes met and she looked away from me, which she did quite often. She quickly grabbed a napkin to dab the tears before they rolled from her eyes.

I removed my gaze from her as I did not mean to embarrass her. I gazed around the large kitchen while attempting to do my job which was as Rain had put it…guarding the kids and Maya. Finally, I swung my gaze back to the occupants at the table as it had gotten super quiet. My attention landed on the twins.

They were now sitting with their hands in their laps and their heads bowed. All the animation and enjoyment that they exhibited a few minutes ago was absent.