Page 64 of Twisted Beauty

She nodded. “Absolutely. We’re good here. Go.”

She watched him cross the street to Galerías Colectiva and when she turned back to Tito a broad smile swept across his face, crinkling the skin around his eyes. “You two take good care of each other through storm, sí?”

Crap. How the hell was she supposed to respond to that? “Um, we got on fine, I guess. I’m just glad everything’s okay here. Matt was really concerned. Why don’t you keep relaxing out here and I’ll go clean up? It won’t take long.”

“I come inside,” Tito stood and slowly folded up the chair. Liv tried to take it from him but he held tight. He really was as stubborn as Matt said. He dragged it just inside the doorway and propped it up against the wall.

Tito pointed Liv toward the storage closet and she grabbed an old mop and a bucket. There was less water on the floor than she’d first thought, little more than a thin sheen stretching several feet into the shop. Lucky for Tito, the sidewalk dipped around his front door, leaving an uneven step up to get inside. A safety hazard for sure, but apparently an asset in a flood.

Turned out Liv would need to slide a few tables out of the way to finish mopping, and she wondered if she could do it without knocking over all of Tito’s treasures. He shuffled over and handed her a couple of empty boxes before she’d even asked. “Perfect, thank you.”

“Matt say I have too much. He call it junk.”

Liv looked around. Every available surface was packed with trinkets, making everything look less impressive and less valuable. Less magical. “None of it’s junk, I’m sure he knows that. It’s just a little too crowded together for people to see how special everything is. I could help rearrange if you want. There’s so much we could do here to show off all your wonderful items.”

Tito glanced slowly around his shop, looking sad, and Liv realized this was probably the sum of his life’s work, and that of his beloved wife and his father. She hoped she hadn’t insulted him. But he finally nodded. “Sí, maybe we—”

A phone rang, and Tito wandered toward the back of the shop to answer without finishing his thought. The phone he reached for wasn’t just a landline, it was an antique phone with a rotary dial and a handset attached with a coiled cord. He had to stand right next to it to talk.

Liv went back to mopping, but couldn’t help overhearing part of the conversation. He was speaking mostly English.

“Sí, sí, Mateo he fine. Everything okay here. I know, sí. I don’t tell him you call.” Tito paused, and then said, “You come visit for Christmas, Amanda. I know he love you. I talk with him and make everything okay.”

Amanda?

Liv realized she was staring at Tito when he hung up and caught her eye. She went back to mopping immediately. When the floor was dry enough, she dragged the empty tables back into place and started setting out some of his most intriguing pieces.

She tried to ignore what she’d just heard. Whoever this Amanda person was, it wasn’t her business. And it shouldn’t bother her. “Do you want me to create a new display for you or put everything back just as it was?”

“Later. I give something for you,” Tito said. “A gift.”

What? No. She didn’t want him giving her gifts. “Why?”

“For help.”

“You don’t need to give me anything, Tito. I wanted to help. And I should really finish up here.”

“I save this for you. Come.”

Liv followed him into the storage room, and he pulled a small silver box out from the back of an empty shelf and held it out to her.

“Tito—” It looked like jewelry. God, she hoped it wasn’t jewelry. She needed to let Tito down gently, tell him there was nothing going on between her and Matt. Nothing that would justify him giving her an expensive gift.

“Open.”

Liv cracked open the box, and inside was a pendant. An intricately carved silver pendant with fragments of red stone embedded around the edges and a detailed silver etching in the center. Liv ran her fingers over the carving and felt her eyes puddle. He was such a sweet old man, and he managed to make her feel special every time she saw him. It hit her that she already loved him as if he were her own grandpa. She wished he was, so she’d never have to say goodbye. “This is stunning, Tito, but you can’t give this to me. It’s too much.”

“Is meant for you, cariña. I tell by vibrations. It brings love and life you deserve.”

Five minutes ago, Liv would have guessed what type of love and life Tito thought she deserved. The type where she donned some magical amulet, and his grandson dropped to his knees, proposed marriage, and they rode off into the sunset together to make lots of babies, or rather great-grandchildren for Tito.

But now? Now she was confused. Didn’t he just tell this Amanda person Matt still loved her? Katie said he had an ex-wife. Was she the reason he didn’t “do” relationships? Because he was still in love with her?

And yet, Tito had been trying to push her and Matt together for days. None of it made any sense.

She rubbed her thumb over the center stone. “Is it…magical?” she asked.

Tito shrugged. “It gather love. You wear it.”