Page 120 of Duty

Once inside the house, warmth instantly spread through her chilled bones, and she started to fell less like a block of goddamn ice, and more like a real human woman. It kind of felt like Valeria had probably turned up the heat a little bit, too.

Her relief came out in a long, grateful groan. “Oh, my God.”

“Cold?” Valeria popped her head around the corner of the kitchen entryway with a sly smile. She kept the same expression up even while Haven shrugged off her thick sweater, pulled off her cap and mittens, and hung them up. “I told you to buy a damn treadmill, Haven. At least for the winter.”

“It’s never this cold, though.”

“Is it cold like this in Mexico, too, Ma?”

Valeria gave Haven a look, and disappeared back into the kitchen to indulge her ever curious daughter while Haven finished getting undressed. “No, we don’t even see snow.”

“Ever?”

“Not where I came from, anyway.”

“Cool.”

Valeria’s laughter filtered out from the kitchen as Haven headed down the hall. She entered the room just in enough time to see Maria stand from her chair where she was currently drawing something at her seat at the table.

“Will I ever get to visit there, Ma?”

Haven didn’t miss the way her friend stiffened at the island. Valeria was smart, though—she had her back turned to her daughter so that Maria couldn’t see how uncomfortable the simple question made her, and kept it that way even as she let a lie slip through her lips as though she had said it a thousand times before.

“One day,” Valeria said. “One day, we will visit.”

“Okay!”

Satisfied with the answer, Maria went back to her doodling. Haven, on the other hand, went to her friend. “You okay?”

Valeria kept her head down on the vegetables she was chopping. “Yeah, fine.”

“You’re sure?”

“She’s going to ask, Haven.”

True.

“But are you ever going to tell her the truth?”

Haven figured that was the better question. Although, frankly, it wasn’t any of her goddamn business, and she shouldn’t be asking. It wasn’t that she was trying to pry for herself, but more that she was trying to prepare her friend for the inevitable.

Valeria seemed to understand.

“One day,” Valeria echoed. “One day, I will tell her.”

“You speak that lie so well.”

Valeria laughed. “Yeah, chica, I know.”

Assuming they were done with the conversation, Haven checked the oven to see what her friend was cooking up considering Valeria was prepping a salad, too. She found a casserole cooking, likely made from one of Valeria’s special recipes.

“That looks—”

Riiiiiiiing.

A familiar tune lit up the house; it echoed from the spot in the living room where Haven had left her phone charging before going on her run. She didn’t even need to act fast to catch the phone as she knew who the caller was without checking the ID, and he didn’t mind her calling back. She kept a special ringtone for Andino.

“Give me a sec,” Haven said.